Look: Pitch Black – no light shone through when held up
Taste: Sharp, smokey kick, with a bitter chocolate after taste
Conclusion: WOW! Stone once again comes through with a different, yet tasty brew.
As I drink this beer watching the World Series of Poker on TV, all I can think is the Stone came up Aces. The brew is nice and thick, but not so thick you cant drink it. There is a nice balance of oatmeal and bitter chocolate hints. The chocolate used is not the super sweet milk chocolate many of you are used to, it is reminiscent of the dark, bitter baking chocolate you may have accidentally stirred into your chocolate milk as a kid.
Now that I think about it, this stout would go great with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream… Mmm, bitter chocolate float.
As I read the back of the glass bottle, I find that the inspiration for this is the world wide hop shortage. In order for Stone to get their trademark bitter bite to this beer without “over hopping” it, they turned to some chocolatier friends. Using bitter chocolate would give the beer their trademark bitterness as well as a complexity in flavor and texture. Good call gents. What better way to celebrate an anniversary than to think outside the box, but stay true to your roots.
Here’s to 12 years of brewing ingenuity and originality, and many, many more years of success. CHEERS!!
I give Stone’s 12 Anniversary brew a 9 out of 10
1 comment:
Cheers! I got my 12th anniversary in exchange for a bicycle, of all things.
It's saddening that this hop shortage is affecting the major craft brewers. Apparently Europeans are upset at Americans for creating the Double IPAs and massively over-hopped brews. Man, this may take some more research. Why can't these brewers grow their own hops?
My "Final Solution" would be to mandate the termination of all mediocre mass breweries: Budweiser, Coors, Miller, etc. The world will be a happier and safter place and the craft brews or Real Beer as I like to call them, will be the only survivors...and for good reason.
Okay rant over. But this is a fantastic brew, even without the beloved hop injection. Superior oatmeal stout that is just nasty thick and hella good(to use a Bay area term)! I'd give it a 9 as well. Probably the or one of the best oatmeal stouts out there. Stone rules!
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