Stone 9th Anniversary Ale

Formerly brewed at Stone Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Escondido, California USA

22oz bomber pours golden with a very nice 2 inch fluffy white head that stays well and laces very well too. Aroma is floral. Like walking through a meadow of blooming flowers and coming to a grapefruit tree and plucking the ripest one from it’s branches.. Hops abound in the aroma. Flavor is a delicious blend of nice earthy malts, yeast, some pepper spice, a bit of molasses, some caramel, a bit of raisin, all attempting to break through the thick layer of grapefruit bitter hops. So many flavors makes this one complex brew and makes it even more amazing that the palate is so smooth and mouthcoating. Carbonated just right to give this a pleasant mouthfeel. No sign of the alcohol all the way to the bottom of this bottle. Beautiful the way the hops blend with the malts in harmonic fashion. I can only compare this to Gumballhead, but I really think that this is more complex, robust, and smooth.

Bottle: Hazy yellow with a thin white head, lemony citrus aroma with some piney hops, medium bodied with a slight alcohol touch, starts and ends lightly bitter, an odd interesting beer.

Pours a lightly hazy orange-copper color with a two finger thick, frothy, pale tan colored head. The aroma is sticky with citrusy, fruity hop notes that remind me of grapefruit, tangerines, candied orange peel, apricot and a backbone of herbal pine. The beer is lightly sweet up front, and the finish is long with a note of herbal astringency and a bit of alcohol. This beer is of course dominated by the fruity hop notes that is dominated by candied notes of orange peel and apricots. This beer has a sharp bitterness that follows this beer from start to finish. The candied note that is in this beer is quite prevalent, really the apricot note is becoming more apparent as this beer warms up a bit. At this point (about a quarter done) this beer is definitely a bit one dimensional in its aggressive hoppiness; this is all good for someone who likes hops. The alcohol is the one detracting note at this point, though it is not that noticeable and in fact actually begins to become quite a bit more tame as the beer warms up. This beer actually probably needs another month or so to calm down and let the hops really shine.

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Bottle from droopy49 (Secret Santa). Thanks! Pours a dense amber with a frothy head and eniticing lace. Aroma is sour malt and faint hints of rose. Flavor is a bitter malt with a hoppy finish. Thick and flowing mouthfeel. Great Strong Ale.

Dark Yellow/Gold Color. Alot of Citrus, Pined Hops on the Nose....Initially Very Sweet, Alchol Very Noticeable. Alot of Malt and Hops Flavors. Something Wierd About the Mix..Perhaps Just Not Quite the Symphony and Balance of Flavors That Stone Normally Has in Their Beer, But Still a Nice Brew. .Lightly Dried Ending.

Beautiful orange colored brew with a perfectly even bih white head on top, which lasts forever. Fizzy carbonation. Intense grapefruit and also honey in the nose. Repeating grapefruit in the taste accomplished by an intense apricot mixed with acacia honey taste. Long lasting medium bitterness on the tongue.

Bottle shared at Immy’s Backyard Gathering. Pours a hazy orange color with a medium head. Good head retention and lacing. Herbal, floral hop aroma with toffee and citrus notes. Taste of toffee, caramel and citrus. Full bodied.

Tasty fresh hoppy wheat - this has the kind of hop going on that I had hoped Gumball head would’ve had. Tangy sweet and citrus. Assertive all around, but believe it or not, Rockinout’s American Indian Wheat was far hoppier than this. Loved the citrus, pine, floral aromas. 2nd bottle tasted a little sweeter (but it was also served a little warmer, so that could explain it). I’ll taste a few more of these while they’re fresh.