Stone 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA

3.8/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled June 2010. Pours extremely hazy golden straw color with a nice 2-3 finger fairly dense off white head with great retention that reduces to a nice cap. Some decent lacing on the glass. Aromas of lemon zest, orange, herbal spices, floral, some pine resin, and light spicy alcohol. Fairly nice aromas here with good strength. Taste of big lemon, orange, grapefruit, herbal spiciness, pine resin, biscuit, honey-like sweetness; and other light fruits. Good amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of citrus, herbal spice, pine, and bread on the finish for a while. Good balance of flavors and bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a slightly creamy and smooth mouthfeel. Nicely drinkable, but is still a bit of a sipper. Alcohol is well hidden at 8.9%; with only a slight warming on the finish. Overall, for being and DIPA, this has held up quite nicely since 2010. Nice hop flavor profile is still present; with nice flavor balance.

This has held up nicely since the last time I had it. Good hoppy flavor profile and balance.

Stone Double Bastard Ale

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled in 2009. Pours hazy dark brick red color with a nice 2 finger dense khaki head with awesome retention that reduces to a thick cap that lasts. Decent amount of lacing on the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big caramel, molasses, dark fruit, pine, spiciness, grape, biscuit, toasted malt, a bit of chocolate, orange, and light booze. Some nice and interesting aromas, quite a bit different with 2 years on it than when I had it fresh. Taste of big caramel, molasses, dark fruit, pine resin, spices, biscuit, toasted malt, light chocolate, and citrus. Quite strong bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, biscuit, molasses, pine, and spices on the finish for a while. Medium carbonation and quite full bodied; with a very creamy and slick mouthfeel as expected. Alcohol is fairly well hidden with a warming on the finish and a bit of booziness. Nice balance of flavors and bitterness. Fairly smooth drinking, but is still very much a sipper. Overall this is an excellent brew with 2 years of age on it. Still quite bitter with good hop presence, but the malt definitely shines out more.

Quite a bit different than I remember fresh last year. I have another 2010 bottle and an bottle 2011 as well, so I will probably try out the 2010 soon, as well as the 2011 to compare. As it stands from last years review, I enjoy a fresh bottle a bit more.

Alesmith/Mikkeller/Stone Belgian Style Tripel Ale

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

12 ounce bottle into chalice. Released in Sept 2008, so it is over 3 years old now. Pours cloudy golden orange color with a 1 finger dense white head with good retnetion that reduces to a thin cap that lasts. Fair amount of lacing clinging to the glass as well. Aromas of big lemon, orange, clove, pepper, candi sugar, light fruits, grains, bready/spicy yeast, and alcohol esters. Nice and well balanced aromas. Taste of lemon, orange, clove, pepper, bread, candi sugar, apple, pear, herbs, and spicy yeast. Lingering notes of pepper, clove, light fruits, bread, and spice on the finish for a while. Nice balance of flavors, with no cloying at all. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy mouthfeel. Alcohol is fairly well hidden, only a warming on the finish noticed. Quite smooth to drink, but it is still a sipper. Overall this is an excellent Tripel collab, especially at over 3 years old. Glad I got to try this.

Excellent and well balanced Tripel collab offering from Stone. I am glad I found this randomly.

Jason Fields & Kevin Sheppard / Tröegs / Stone Cherry Chocolate Stout

3.8/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

12 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled sometime in July most likely. Pours black as night with a fairly dense 1 finger tan head with very nice retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lasts. Decent amount of lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of big sour cherries, dark chocolate, roasted malts, caramel, coffee, and cherry juice. Decent aromas here, but not as good as I was hoping. Taste of big dark chocolate, tart cherries, bitter coffee, caramel, and molasses. Slight bit of bitterness present on the finish; with lingering notes of big dark chocolate, caramel, tart cherry, and molasses. Decent balance of tartness and sweetness is present, with the sweet chocolate taking over the most. Insanely thick and creamy mouthfeel with light-medium carbonation. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall a really nice stout collaboration. I was hoping for more tart cherry flavor, similar to Bells Cherry Stout.

I had been searching for this since it was released, but I don't think it made it into the state til quite a bit later. I found this one in VA. Overall not as good as I was hoping for, but still very nice.

Stone 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Ale

3.6/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20

22 ounce bottle into tulip, over 3 years old now, lets see how this goes. Pours cloudy golden amber color with a nice 1-2 fingers of dense white head with nice retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. A bit of nice lacing clinging to the glass as well. Aromas of big spicy yeast, with some stale hops, orange, pine, bread, and light fruits; maybe a bit of funk in there as well. Some interesting aromas here, but they have good strength. Taste of huge spices, pepper, bread, light fruits, pine, and citrus. Decent amount of bitterness present on the finish, with lingering notes of spice, pepper, pine, bread, and citrus. Medium carbonation and medium bodied; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel. Alcohol is noticed on the finish with a decent amount of warming. Overall a pretty decent Belgian IPA for being 3 years old. I have another bottle of this, so I will see how it is when 12.12.12 rolls around just for kicks.

This was definitely past it's prime. I would have loved to have this fresh, but I wasn't much into craft beer at the time it was released(though I had just turned 21 that year). I could brew up a small homebrew batch of it though since all of the VE recipes are readily available on Stone's website!

Stone 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled August 2011. Pours clear dark brown color with 1-2 fingers of a dense tan head with great retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Some nice thick lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of big grapefruit, pine, orange, caramel, roasted malt, and orange. Very nice and hoppy aromas as I would have expected. Taste of big grapefruit, orange, pine, caramel, chocolate, roasted malt, and some spices. Big amounts of bitterness present on the finish; with lingering notes of orange, pine, spices, roasted malt, and caramel. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel. Alcohol is extremely well hidden, with only a slight warming after the finish noticed. Overall this is an excellent Black IPA that is quite smooth and nicely balanced.

Another excellent Stone offering. Super hoppy and smooth stuff for the level of alcohol.

Baird/Ishii/Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

12 ounce bottle into tulip, unknown bottle date. Pours cloudy orange-amber color with a fairly dense 1-2 fingers of off white head with nice retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap. Some lacing clings to the side of the glass as well. Aromas of big orange, grapefruit, caramel, pine, and herbal green tea in the background. The green tea definitely takes a back seat in the aromas. Very nice stuff and also quite strong. Taste of huge pine, citrus, caramel, and herbal green tea. Big amount of bitterness on the front and finish; with big citrus and pine hops in the flavor with a small amount of green tea in there as well. It adds a nice new dimension to this, without being overpowering at all. Lingering notes of big citrus, pine, and caramel; with a bit of herbal flavors from the green tea. Some nice balance is present as well, with a nice malt load to counter the fairly strong bitterness. Medium-high carbonation and medium-full bodied. The slightly high carbonation does not detract from its smooth and fairly creamy body and mouthfeel. Alcohol is very nicely hidden, with only a warming on the finish. Very nice drinkability as well for 9.2%. Overall, this is definitely the best stone collab I have had yet. They nailed it.

Definitely glad I finally got my hands on this one. The distributors took forever to get it delivered into OH. Excellent DIPA, as I would have expected with Stone being involved.

Stone Imperial Russian Stout

4.7/5

AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

22 ounce bottle into wine glass, 2010 version. Pours opaque black color with a 2 finger dense tan head with outstanding retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Thick lacing clings to the glass as well, beautiful. Aromas of huge coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malts, caramel, and a bit of smoke. Incredible well balanced aromas here, very strong as well. Taste of big bitter espresso, dark chocolate, caramel, roasted malts; with some vanilla, and a small bit of alcohol. Lingering notes of bitter coffee, dark chocolate, and caramel on the finish. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied. Good amount of creaminess as well as it warms up, with a great mouthfeel and smooth drinkability for the alcohol level, but it is still quite a sipper. Overall, this is just a beautiful stout with a year on it, so much great flavor and fantastic aroma with very smooth drinkability.

One year has done great things to this brew. I currently have 6 bottles of 2011 in the cellar, so I plan on letting them sit, as I have plenty of other things to drink haha. I may pick up some older vintages if I see them around too.

Stone Pale Ale

3.9/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle, best by 6/22/11. Pours cloudy red-orange color with a 2 finger fairly dense off white head with great retention, that reduces to a decent lacing cap. Some decent lacing sticks to the glass as well. Aromas of caramel, orange, pine, and some grapefruit as well. Aromas are on the weak side, but what is there is fairly nice. Taste of caramel, grapefruit, orange, pine, and some spice. A decent amount of bitterness is present on the finish and lingers for a bit with pine and citrus flavors. Very nice balance as well, with very smooth drinkability as expected. Medium carbonation and body. No alcohol noticed in the taste or finish. Overall a very nice pale ale, even though it has a bit of age on it. Very delicious and drinkable.

Nice pale ale, I would like to see what a fresher bottle has to offer in the future.

Stone Smoked Porter

4/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

22 ounce bottle. Pours dark brown color with a 2 finer light tan head with great retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Some slight lacing sticks to the glass as well. Aromas of caramel roasted malt, some chocolate, and smoke. Aromas are pretty standard for a porter with some good strength as well. Taste of caramel, chocolate, roasted malts, coffee, with some smoke and nutty flavor as well. Decent amount of bitterness on the finish that lingers with coffee, chocolate, and smokey flavors for a bit. Medium carbonation and body. No alcohol noticed in the taste or finish. A decent amount of creaminess is also present, with very smooth drinkability and great flavor balance. Overall, a very nice porter, didn’t blow me away but this is an all around solid brew. Very tasty stuff.

No complaints here, a very nice porter indeed. Priced nicely as well for the bomber.

Stone Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout

3.9/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 15/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter. Pours opaque black color with a small 1 finger dark tan head with decent retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lasts. Some ok lacing is left on the glass as well. Aromas of huge spices, oak, anise, chocolate, roasted malt, smoke, and maybe a bit of booze. Aromas are quite interesting indeed, strong too. Taste of huge oak, chocolate, anise, spices, and a bit of smoke. Some decent bitterness present on the finish that lingers with oak, smoke, chocolate, spice, and roasted flavors. Insanely smooth, creamy, and slick body with light-medium carbonation. No alcohol noticed in the taste and a very minimal amount noticed on the finish. Overall, definitely a very interesting imperial stout, but this is highly enjoyable stuff.

Some interesting flavors going on here, and I can see why most people would not like this very much. I would like to see what some age does to this as well.

Stone Old Guardian Belgo-Barley Wine

4/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter, 2011 vintage. Pours clear red orange color with a dense 1 finger light orange head with good retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lasts. Not much lacing left on the glass. Aromas of dark fruits, spices, caramel, citrus, and sweet malt. Definitely some interesting aromas. Taste of sweet caramel, spice, honey, molasses, and fruitiness. Decent amount of bitterness noticed on the finish, but mostly a lot of lingering flavors of caramel, molasses, fruitiness, and some citrus. Very smooth drinking for 12% as well, still quite a sipper though. Medium carbonation and full bodied. No alcohol in the taste and a fairly large warming on the finish. Overall, a very nice barleywine with Belgian characteristics. Tasty stuff!

Another delicious Stone brew, as expected. I don't know why so many people are hating on his one, it is different, unique, and delicious in it's own way.

Stone Ruination IPA

4.5/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

22 ounce bottle into tulip, best by June 1st, 2011. Pours slightly hazy amber color with a nice 2 finger white head with amazing retention. Some slight lacing on the glass. Aromas of strong citrus, grapefruit, pine, and some caramel. Some strong aromas here as well. Taste of strong grapefruit, orange, pine, and some caramel. A strong bitterness on the finish that lingers for a while with citrus and pine flavors. Incredible balance of sweetness and bitterness as well. Super smooth drinking with absolutely no alcohol noticed in taste or finish. Medium carbonation and body. Overall, an amazing DIPA with a fantastic flavor and balance. Has everything I love about IPAs in it.

Just doing a re-review of this one. My palate has evolved, but I still love this beer.

Stone Lukcy Basartd Ale

4.5/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

22 ounce bottle into tulip. Pours dark red color with a dense 2 finger off white head with fantastic retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that stays for the rest of the glass. Decent lacing on the glass. Aromas of strong caramel, grapefruit, orange, pine, and a bit of oak. Very prominent aromas. Taste of strong caramel, grapefruit, orange, and toast; with a bit of pine, oak, and lemon. A very strong bitterness on the finish that lingers with grapefruit, orange, and pine flavors. Medium carbonation and full bodied. Very smooth and drinkable for being 8.5%. No alcohol noticed except for a small warming after the finish. Fantastic balance of sweetness and bitterness. Overall this is definitely the best Bastard variation I have had. So tasty and smooth. I hope they make it again.

This is by far the best Bastard variation out of the bunch. I really hope they make another batch of this sometime. Incredible.

Stone/Green Flash/Pizza Port Highway 78 Scotch Ale

3.9/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle into snifter. Pours slightly hazy dark red color with a 1 finger foamy off white head with decent retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap. Aromas of dark fruits, brown sugar sugar, spices, caramel, and some light bourbon. Taste of caramel, dark fruits, molasses, toasted malt and some bourbon. Almost no bitterness noticed on the finish. Fairly dry finish, but there is some lingering tastes on the finish of caramel, roasted flavors, and light bourbon. No alcohol really noticed at all except for a light warming on the finish, plus the bourbon flavor. Very smooth for its alcohol content and has well balanced flavors as well. Has a medium-full body and medium carbonation. Overall some impressive stuff, definitely enjoyed this one.

I don't get to enjoy collaboration beers very often, but this one was very good stuff. Luckily whenever Stone does a collaboration it is basically available everywhere.

Stone 10.10.10 Vertical Epic Ale

3.8/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter. Pours clear amber color with a 2 finger white head with good retention. Aromas of spicy Belgian yeast, grape, honey, and flowers. Taste of Belgian yeast, grapes, flowers, honey, and candy sugar. Very sweet with no bitterness, tastes like a typical Belgian style. Medium body and carbonation. Absolutely no alcohol presence here. This definitely surprised me, after reading the contents of this beer, I was expecting something weird, but this was actually very enjoyable, and it got better as it warmed up. Good stuff!

This one had been sitting in the fridge for a while now, I bought it about 2 weeks after release and did not have it yet. Surprisingly good Belgian style.

Stone Dogfish Head Victory Saison Du BUFF

3.8/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours slightly hazy bright amber color with a 1.5 finger white head with great retention and good lacing. Aromas of malts, rosemary, and sage dominating with floral hops. Taste is strong of rosemary and parsley, with a good amount of bitterness on the finish. Spices sit on the palate for quite a while after the finish. Very interesting beer, never had anything like this before. Solid, I enjoyed it.

Pretty good stuff here, and still available as far as I know. Worth a shot. Also my first collaboration brew.

Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours brick red with a 1.5 finger off white head with good retention and decent lacing. Aromas of caramel, oak, pine. Taste of pine, citrus, and caramel, with some oak in the background at the finish. Strong bitter finish just like the normal AB. Medium mouthfeel, and carbonation. This brew is very close to the original AB, but the oaking gives it a bit sweeter palate, while still awesomely bitter, it makes it a bit smoother going. I’d say love both beers equally haha.

Basically the AB ale with oak background flavors. Just as good as the original in my opinion.

Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale

4/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

22 ounce bottle. Pours dark brown color with a nice thick 2 finger tan head with good retention. Average lacing. Aromas of chocolate, coffee, and some dried fruit. Taste of chocolate and dried fruits. Very malty with a little bit of hoppy bitterness on the finish. Very creamy texture with medium body and carbonation. Highly enjoyable, tastes a lot like a stout though, not what I expected it to be.

More tasty stuff from Stone. I need to go out and find 10.10.10 now lol.

Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 16/20

22 ounce bottle. Pours brick red with a 2 finger off white head with great retention good lacing. Aromas of caramel and pine. Good balance of malts and hops with pine, caramel and some fruits and spiciness. The bitterness lasts for a good time after the finish. Definitely one of my favorites. Delicious.

This is one of my go-to beers and is very widely available. I am a hop head what can I say haha. I remember the first time I ever had it, it was really brutal on my palate with the bitterness, but now it goes down easy, and I can take down 100+ IBU beers and not even flinch.