Stone 9th Anniversary Ale

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

Pours a hazy orange hue with aromas of pine and wheat. Flavors of pine, wheat with a smooth lingering, bitter finish similar to an IPA. BLAS!!

Pours a golden orange colr with a very small white head. Aroma is hoppy with and hints of floral. Flavor is hoppy aswell. Overall not to bad.

By the description on the bottle I was expecting something along the likes of Three Floyds Gumballhead, a beer I enjoy. That’s not exactly what I got. Pours a hazy orange with a towering creamsicle colored head, interesting. Dwindling slowly, lacing left behind is sporadic and thin. Sweet and piney hops appear first in the aroma, followed by caramel, wheat and alcohol. Flavor is less than gratifying. Notes of grapefruit and pine, more caramel and a hefty dose of wheat that tastes tired and ultimately is a little off-putting. Alcohol isn’t masked whatsoever and this ends up tasting like it was thrown together in a hurried manner, haphazardly. Finishes moderately sweet, then with lingering hops providing for a dry finale. Palate is sticky and sharp, not very quaffable. A let down, as I feel an anniversary beer from a brewer is really the ultimate expression of their capabilities, or should be. Granted, in most cases it doesn’t work out that way at all. Creativity is definitely a strong suit of this brewery, but in this case it sails into left field without a hope of being caught.

Bought a whole case of it cause I liked last years a lot. Heard it was a "wheat wine" and got scared. At first I liked it, pours out a nice orange/yellowish color with a good amount of carbonation. Hops on the nose. Taste is mild, but drinkable with notes of some spice and hops. Good beer to try, but gets very old after you’ve had a few

Lots of hops in this bad boy. Maybe there’s wheat in there but you can’t really taste/smell it underneath the hoppy bouquet. Lot’s of bitterness as with all of Stone’s brews. A smooth and undeniably clean finish.

Well, this is one fine looking beer. Poured into my Konings Hoeven (LaTrappe) trappist glass, and it looks wonderful. The thin white head went away leaving a glassy copper body glowing underneath. The aroma is stoney. Stonish? Stone-like. Whatever, it tons of hops. It’s hard to get notes of the wheat, but its there. This beer has some life to it. Flavor is moving, I like this. Its got the initial robust wheat flavor then comes around with the sharp bit of bitterness, spice and some sweet wheat loving.

Thanks Tom! 22oz bottle served at the KC holiday tasting. Orange color, hazy head, sticky foam dots. Honey, orange, flowery aroma. Honey, citrus, pine, and bitteresh taste. Gumballhead-ish. Tasty.

bomber courtesy of Saarlander via trade. aroma is very hoppy, lots of grapefruit and pine. appearance is a slightly hazy yellow gold with a great looking foam cap. flavor was a mixed bag of hops, more hops along with some malt and just a hint of wheat and maybe some peppery type spice. palate was medium to almost full with a dry sort of bitter finish. all I knew going in was that this was an american strong ale, that said, this is not at all what I was expecting. since this is a brew from Stone, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I got something unusual! good brew, thanks Aaron