08th Anniversary Ale
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
Brown Ale - Imperial Special Out of Production|
Score
7.23
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This year's 8th anniversary is, like all previous Stone Anniversary Ales, an adaptation of a previous Stone Brewing Co. release. This year we set out to make an "Anniversary-ized" version of Lee's Mild, a limited-release beer from 1999. For this beer we used some of the same malts that we had used in Lee's Mild, added more hops, less water (to bring the alcohol content up), and found a tasty balance of toasty/roastiness from the malt and a subtle (by Stone standards!) hop presence. To add further complexity, oak was employed to round out the character and give the beer a bit of vanilla/bourbon influence from the wood.
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7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle Chocolaty, vanilla and sugary aroma. Hazy red brown, low creamy head. Chocolate, vanilla, vineous, a bit one-dimensional. Solid body, slick mouthfeel. Peters off relatively fast - arrogant bastard stayed longer with me just before.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Oct 2004
at 01:34
5.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 2
Overall 5
Bottled, thanks hopsrus! Dark ruby with richcreamy head. Coffee aroma. Sweet with soft mouthfeel. Raw and sugary, big on coffee. Oaky finish with medium bitterness. Has potential to age, but is too syrupy for me at this point.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Oct 2004
at 01:30
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
This really came on as it warmed. Dark ruby pour with a fair head that faded in time, but left a ring of foam right to the end. The aroma carried lots of caramel, some hops and a characteristic Stone yeastyness. Malty at the start and bitter at the finish. I think this will get really nice after about a year in the cellar. Nice and warming.
Tried
on 10 Oct 2004
at 17:38
8.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
Bottle bought in Ft. Collins Colorado:
What a wonderful strong brown ale!
The alcy didn’t even makes it’s presence known to me cuz for me, it was all about the nutty maltinessin the early and mid stages and the soothing hoppines at the finish. Yum.
Best regards,
Bill
What a wonderful strong brown ale!
The alcy didn’t even makes it’s presence known to me cuz for me, it was all about the nutty maltinessin the early and mid stages and the soothing hoppines at the finish. Yum.
Best regards,
Bill
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Oct 2004
at 15:37
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
An interesting concoction indeed - the closest style I could compare it to would be an English Strong Ale, in color, aroma and flavor - dark red/brown with a slight tan head, aroma and flavor dominated by roastiness, some chocolate, nut and caramel - all the ESA elements are there - but other characteristics defy that classification - the aroma has subtle notes of vanilla and bourbon, and the flavor contains some of those vanilla hints, with touches of spiced rum (perhaps the "spiced" aspect comes from the hops) - top that off with a smokiness much like a scottish ale, and you have one unique and tasty brew.
Tried
on 02 Oct 2004
at 20:45
6.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle. Reddish brown beer with a big beige head. Rpasted malt aroma with a little nuttiness thrown in. Some citrus hops, but low on the threshold. Rich caramel, roasty malt flavors to go with a slight alcohol presence and some fruitiness. Dry finish. Basically a malty beer that gets a little tiring. I love Stone, but this doesn’t do it for me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Oct 2004
at 23:49
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Deep red-brown body, medium-thick light tan head. Nice earthy aroma with caramel and toast balancing classic grapefruit/pine hops. Pretty full-flavored body with chocolate, toast, caramel, plum, and a touch of grapiness mingling with piney hops and hints of citrus rind, finishing bitter and slightly astringent. After a few sips the finish really became rough; this beer is rather harsh around the edges with too much alcohol and bitterness in the finish. Otherwise it’s a nice brown ale.
Tried
on 08 Sep 2004
at 21:58
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Pours a dark amber-brown color with a medium light tan head. Thin and sticky lacing. The aroma is very roasted, sweet and malty. Rich-bodied and very toasty and dry, with a pleasantly sweet malt and nut flavor. Just a bit of hops make it well-balanced and nice to drink. The finish is toasted malt and caramel with a hint of bitterness. Overall this is an amped up Brown Ale that I could enjoy regularly.
Tried
on 06 Sep 2004
at 15:45