Stone 9th Anniversary Ale

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

Lightly hazed golden amber color with a larger bubbly Dark cream head. Fresh green hops aromas, that remind me that I have to pick my batch of Mt. Hood this weekend. A light sweet dough aroma in the background, but still green grassy fields in front. Some hints of floral and sweet fruit perfumes as it warms. Dry sharp flavors collide in the mouth. Presence of wheat noticeable, but quite faint. I like the idea, but the concept does not seem to work here. Not enough body and malt flavors to back up the hops juice burning through the tongue. I’m not sure this will get better, because of the perceived lack of malt depth, but at least the hops should mellow and perhaps meld better with time. Thanks JohnnyFlake for the brews the second will likely be a rerate in a few months.

Golden color, lots of lacing, puffy head. Nose of fragrant hops and lots of creamy malts, some funky hop notes. The flavor is smooth, balanced, a bit much bitterness and, uh, "californianess" to it. Decent body and mouthfeel though. Good!

Bomber bottle. Dark amber color with medium creamy head that diminished slowly with good lacing. Moderate citrus and hop aroma. Medium body with smooth texture. Full citrus, malt spice flavor with a sharp finish. Good brew that was a good change of pace for Stone.

Bottle. Hazy orange colour with an off-white head. Fruity and hoppy aroma. Malty flavor with a nice hoppiness. Dry and hoppy finish.

Bomber from the Beer Yard. This one pours dark straw colored, with a three-finger off-white head, into my Stone Levitation Ale tulip. The aroma presents big resiny hops, florals, some grapefruity citrus, and some black pepper. The palate is fairly dense, similar to the IPA, with tastes of piney hops, grapefruit, some spicy esters, and some floral spices. Complex and unique.

Head is initially small, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is dark yellow. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), heavily hoppy (resin). Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, heavily bitter. Medium to full body, velvety/creamy texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Oh, YE GODS! One of the most medicinal, overwheming Pine Sol hop aromas I’ve had the displeasure of smelling in a long time. Totally destroys any other aromas this thing might have. I threatened to go below a 4 for it, but I do realize that this is what they were going for. So not a flaw, just...very crude and overdone in every way. Based on pure enjoyment, disregarding styles and Stone’s penchant for overhopping everything, I’d probably give this a 1.5. More than being undrinkable, it’s unsmellable. Horrific and a total drain pour.

Tried again and gave the exact same rating. Dark gold and orange body. The head is fluffy and white. The aroma is righ with flowers, orange peels and prunes. There is a nice hops presence here. There is also an herbal quality that is hard to pin down. The taste is nice and rich orange peels with some old toffee candy. There is also a hint of dry hay that comes in after the initial fruit sweetness. I like this one a lot and imagine it would smooth out nicely with a little age.

Dominant citrus hop signature - grapefruit, orange, pine, resin, spruce notes with some underlying malted wheat and sweet pale malts character. Hazy golden body is topped by a generous white head that recedes fairly rapidly to ring with some patchy lacing. Citrus hops battle with very strong alcohol and plenty of rough bitterness in the short, sharp, tangy flavour. Orange, grapefruit and pine-like spiciness linger on the tongue. Light body with fairly strong, large bubbled carbonation that dimples the tongue. Snifter. Just above fridge temperature. Bottle (Half Time, Sep-05).