Beer: Stone 11th Anniversary Ale
Brewery Location: Escondido, CA
Beer Style: IPA
ABV: 8.7%
I haven't had that many of Stone's Anniversary beers. I've only had the 9th, 10th, and now 11th anniversary ales. They just announced they will be doing their 12th anniversary beer and it is going to be a stout. I am assuming that hops prices may have something to do with that. Stone is a beer that I feel pretty lucky we get here in Indy because several states around us do not get Stone distribution (how about that? me praising the beer we get here instead of bitching about beer we don't).
This beer is the darkest IPA I've ever seen. Stone calls this an IBA or India black ale. It is a deep and dark brown color with a full slightly dirty tan head on it. This beer left creamy rings of lacing until the very last sip. The scents that dominate this beer lean heavily towards piney hops, loads of tropical fruit like tangerines, mango, and passion fruit with a touch of caramel waving from the back row. My brain is perplexed at something that looks like this beer but smells the way that it does. The flavor profile starts with heavy floral hops notes providing plenty of bitterness, but the malt begins to show its assertiveness with dark roasted malt and dark fruits (plums and raisins) coming to life as the beer warmed. The finish brings back those hops with plenty of citrus and pine and showing you what Stone Brewing is famous for. The mouthfull is a bit chewy and sticky, but yet the finish is actually quite creamy. The drinkability is quite nice on this beer since the alcohol was extremely well hidden on this offering.
This is another tasty beer from Stone. It is certainly hop heavy, but the malt provides some really good balance on this offering. I only have one more of these, and I am curious how this beer will age. Stone 12th Anniversary will come out next month, and will hopefully be in Indy sometime in last July or early August.
Cheers!
Matt
5 comments:
did you buy that locally or... I'm interested and need to find some.
They've got a lot of Stone 9th at the Crown Liquors just south of Borders on 31. You might know that already.
I bought my two bottles about a year ago. There is still plenty of it around on the trading market for about 7 buck a bottle or so.
I've seen those 9th bottles, but they scare me a bit. Have they been under florescent light for 3-4 years? I doubt they would hold up that long.
We drank some of the 9th recently and it was fine. So for what that's worth..
I also bought a Thomas Hardy from 2004 right off their shelves - but it was the last one. Haven't opened it yet.
Just had a small taste of the 11th Anniversary at J. Gumbo's last week and I completely agree regarding the dark IPA experience. A very unique, tasty brew.
I didn't know that IN was lucky with Stone distribution. I just assumed that anything we got must be distributed around us!
You should hear the complaining when people find out Stone comes to Virginia and not their hometown in [insert state that's geographically closer to California here]. Gotta feel sorry for those guys.
The Stone XI is, to me, an excellent beer for the very reasons you pointed out. I heard a lot of people giving it a bad rap, and it's certainly not for everybody (which is a running theme with Stone). But I still think it deserves its due. Perhaps people got so caught up on the Tenth that they couldn't see the value of the XI.
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