Beer Tasting: Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

In progress ...

22 oz. bomber of this sucker poured into a nonic shaped pint glass, dark black, one finger head which is surprising as Steve from Summer of Beer couldn't coax a head out of his pour. There's a certain "Stone"ness to the aroma, a certain hop and malt character. The obvious whiff of coffee, but not overpowering which is good. Roasted grain.

Nice creamy first sip, a bit watered down for a craft stout, which is fine by me. No notable alcohol flavor -- again, nice. There's a certain mellow sweetness to this, not just malt, which I'm guessing is the chocolate working its magic. I'm not picking up the bitterness necessarily, but an overall more smooth profile.

There's a ton of writing on the back of the bottle, but the ingredients are the important part: barley, oatmeal, chocolate, hops, water and yeast. Easy does it, right?

I'm curious how this would be on tap (hopefully I'll have a chance to find out at the Stone night at Frisco Grille on the 27th), better yet on cask.

Going down better than expected, as this is my first real roasty, heavy beer in a while. I've been on a major Belgian beer kick, even avoiding my customary ridiculously hopped IPA preference. Maybe the tastes are changing? We'll find out, in time. In the meantime this isn't bad, I'm enjoying it cold but things will almost certainly improve as the beer warms up a few degrees.

Back! OK got sidetracked watching this. A wine guy doing beer, interesting. That's like when I throw a few great beers in my old man's direction. He's coming around to beer a lot more than I'm coming around to wine. I don't think that's an accident, and he's a huuuuuuge wine guy. Moving along.

I'm finally getting the chocolate out of this, it's quite good. The chocolate aspect, not so much the beer, not to knock this painstakingly crafted Anniversary offering from Stone, the beer gods of all beer gods in my world. This thing is getting a little more thick and creamy, without being slick, which I like. The chocolate is starting to come out. Its a little more bitter now, which might be the chocolate or it could be the alcohol too. The back of my tongue is now very much engaged after feeling sort of lonely for a while there.

Wrapping things up ... nice offering, high quality, few complaints although lacking some distinction. Interesting choice with the bitter chocolate. Didn't pick up much of the oatmeal or maybe it presented itself in the creamy character of the beer? Good stuff regardless, be sure to grab a bottle at The Perfect Pour if they have any left.