September 2004 Draught pint at Redbones.
Pours a deep mahogany brown color with ample beige head, moderate retention receding to a ring. Smells strongly of light wood notes, mashed walnuts and rum, leafy, green resinous hops and thick and dry toffee. Flavor is hugely toffeeish, lightly roasted and rather woody. Fair amount of alcohol warmth on the end and a thick texture, coating, but with quite a bit of carbonation. Quite jumbled and forceful at this point. No doubt time will help.

12/10/2005 Bottle from Suttree, thanks!
Same mahogany brown color with deep auburn tinges on the edges, mostly clear with a foamy and lasting beige-tan head and light lacing. Aroma smells of thick raisins, brown sugar, light oak, dry English toffee, clean alcohol and a chewy caramel. Aroma is quite sniffable, and still vibrant at this point, providing for a more English barleywine-like effect with the hops having fallen off considerably at this point. Flavor is rich and strong though, with more brown sugar, walnut paste, sweet toffee and heavy cream with sugar. Oak on the end provides dryness, as does the light alcohol warmth. But the alcohol does not sting or disrupt the palate, and is well integrated. Raisins and vanilla, with a touch of baker’s chocolate linger. I though Lee’s Mild was a very well-constructed beer, and this carries on the tradition. The filtration works against the mouthfeel, but the carbonation is not heavy. Sort of a fluffy texture, ending lightly watery. Quite complex and dark without the added astringency/acidity of heavily roasted dark strong ales and stouts. Creamy vanilla, wood and raisins really go well together.

Hazy brown color with a quickly dissipating light brown head, A strong molassas aroma with hints of chocolate. Flavor of heavy dark malts with hints of caramel but very little carbonation, but overall, a relatively tasty beer.

This beer is best at room temperature. There is a very nice port aroma. Several flavors including oatmeal, coffee, and rice with soy sauce, with some alcohol taste.

Interesting, a nice smoky character, were the oak chips smoked or charred? Because I got alot more smoke than wood. Also, a fairly sweet beer, a good dose of caramel malting up front, and all around. In fact, this beer was somewhat surprisingly two dimensional with just the smoke and caramel notes dominating. I was left wanting more complexity, and surpisingly, more hops in the finish. Perhaps its not a good candidate for aging, as in, I sampled it at 1 year’s age and I could possibly guess it was more vibrant when younger. Attractive deep rubyish color, large creamy head. Very smooth palate and easily quaffable. Distinctly potable.

A hazy red-orange beer with a disappearing orange head. The aroma is sweet with notes of alcohol and lots of fruit - especially peach, but also some woody notes - reminds me of a sherry. The flavor is of anise, wood fruit - especially over ripe, cinnamon, and alcohol, that burns the mouth. The end is dry from a combination of wood and hops.

Bottle: Poured a deep amber color ale with a medium head with standard retention. Aroma consists of strong malt and lots of hops. Taste is quite bitter but well supported by the malt. I very much enjoyed this typical west coast beer. Now, I’m curious to try some other Stone Anniversary beer.

Dark reddish-brown colour. Dull, no head. aroma of chocolate, nuts, woody/earthy hops. The palate is smooth - a little oily even - with nuts, chocolate and hints of smoke, too. The finish is peanutty and sweet. It has some okay elements, but the package simply is not compelling. Heavy on the Stone yeast, too, also not so compelling (for me, anyway).

8th anniversary: August 2004. Paid $6.25 for a 22oz bottle that I’m drinking out of my 22-oz sampling tulip glass. Pours dark brown, with a small, but frothy tan head. Not that impressive of a smell: sweet malty aroma, but it’s not earthshattering, or even that strong. Flavor is thick and rich: has liquor accents utop sweet malts, with a hint of a licorice flavor. Good, but doesn’t stand out as that "special" special beer.