Stone 9th Anniversary Ale

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

amber gold , thick creamy head . Hoppy refreshing nose . Garden vegetable like . Medium bodied , bitter . Green hoppy brew , but not raw. Good hoppy ale .

Clear golden color with a huge fine white head. Aroma is light evergreen and a little citrus. Flavor is fruity with a light lemon start fading to tangerine, some wheat, light citrus tartness, a hint of mint leaf and a dry orange rind finish. Light on the palate, but with a velvet touch.

Slightly hazy, golden orange with a fluffy, white head reducing to a thin layer. Hop-dominated nose chuck full of grapefruit, pine, apricot, bubble gum, cereals, fresh baked bread, tart orange juice, light alcohol, and a bit of creamy mashmellow. The body is just the right thickness, not too thick, but doesn’t leave you wondering where it went. The flavor shows more of the wheat character than the nose. The wheat meets a bit of grain and some sweet caramel. Mild fruitiness joins in as well. The typical Stone hop profile makes this like one of their many IPAs. I guess, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s tasty, smooth, easy drinking and flavorful. How, it’s not that different from many of their other big, hoppy beers. I could drink a lot of this, because I like those beers, but the price will keep me from doing it.

Bottled at Petalax Beer Festival. Hazy golden, rich but brief head. Perfumy tropical fruit aroma. Sweet and soapy with medium to full body. Flavour of pine needles, bubbly esters and alcohol. A bit sweet with Belgian style fruit yyeastiness, Bready syrupy finish with long bitterness. Has that clean, biscuity streamlined typical Stone-style mouthfeel and a juicy concentrated flavour, even though the hop freshenss is lost in this one.

Pours a slightly hazed amber with a nice creamy, thick head. There’s still a nice fresh hoppiness in this, a mix of spruce and apricots. The flavor isn’t small, but there’s something watery about it. Nicely balanced with good hop character.

22 oz capped bottle, sampled October 2005: golden tangerine with an off tan, billowing and fluffy foam. Soft, almost buttery hop aroma, with a good load of resin, pine and bittersweet honey...enjoyable for me – not too powerful and extremely fresh. Strongly bitter flavour, without the alcohol twinge I was expecting…Sweet, sticky pine on the palate, with woody notes on the back of the tongue, along with yellow cake, resiny alcohol, and floral hops.

Bottle… Clear, light golden ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Pine, orange blossom honey and white pepper nose. Beautifully unbalanced flavor. Bitter with big time grapefruit rind. Medium to full-bodied and bone dry with lively carbonation. Along the lines of Bear Republic’s Hop Rod Rye or Smuttynose’s Big A IPA. A new style perhaps… Extreme Wheat? Very nice offering from Stone.

Clear sparkling gold, creamy white head. Not a favorite of mine in the aroma department. Seemed to have a plastic tone early, but thankfully it faded just enough to detect notes of sweet grapefruit, sugared tropical fruit and melon, light pine, with subdued hints of lemongrass. Flavor up front was a boatload of citrus, slightly earthy, with wheat coming out late to dry out the mouth. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, hoppy finish. Stone is one of favorites, but this brew from them unfortunately is not...