Rating #4400!: Deep brown body with almost no light getting through at all, with a two centimetre tall rich chocolatey brown head. Aroma of smoked peat, oats, nuts, oak, alcohol, pit fruits, milk chocolate and even some wormwood. Full-bodied; Dense rich malty mouthful with a pungent brandy, cognac and alcohol burn at first then fading to a subdued smoked peat note, a little mushrooms and a hint of spices, but mostly malt. Aftertaste shows some sweetness, a little bit of pit fruits and caramel and a lot more malt with alcohol. Overall, a nice and refined beer that is more complex than I initially thought, and finally showing a Stone beer worthy of a good score! I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from New Beer Distributors in New York, New York on 04-June-2012 for US$7.25 sampled at home in Washington on the opening night of the Sochi Olympics in Russia for Rating #4400 on 07-February-2014.

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled in March 2012. Pours nearly opaque dark brown color with a 1-2 finger dense khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of orange, grapefruit, toast, caramel, brown sugar, roasted malt, brown bread, floral, pine, molasses, light chocolate, light smoke, and roasted/floral earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of malt and hop notes; with good strength. Reminds me of double bastard in a way. Taste of orange zest, grapefruit, caramel, brown sugar, toast, molasses, roasted malt, light chocolate, floral, pine, brown bread, light smoke, and roasted/floral earthiness. Fair amount of earthy pine bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of citrus, caramel, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, roasted malt, molasses, light chocolate, light smoke, and roasted/floral earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice balance and complexity of dark/bready malt and hop flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a creamy, slick, and fairly sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is an excellent strong ale! All around nice balance and complexity of hop and malt flavors; and very smooth to sip on. They may have used 13 hops and 13 grains; but they definitely found a good balance to make it work. A very enjoyable offering.

Bottle. Cocoa, cocoa, cocoa. Damn this brew is good. It almost reminds me of a lighter bodied stout. I need a bottle so I can properly re-rate.