Stone XIII Anniversary Ale

I think the bottle said Imperial Red Amber Ale. It should have said Barleywine. It was sweet, malty and bitter just like an American Barleywine. Appartently, according to the Stone Rep, it has the most hops ever used by Stone at 4.5lbs per barrel. I think it all went into the bittering.

That all said, I had one 22oz beer and at 9.5% I got seriously messed up. Kinda threw me a curveball as I ate and stuff.

I don't see myself buying this again as it wasn't much my style. I am not comparing, but if you like DFH 60-120 series, then you might dig this beer.

PS...it said Triskaidekaphobia on the bottle. Say that five times fast. It means the phear of the number 13. The banter on the back of the bottle was a little too witty for me though and I gave up on it's tiny little print. It should have read Micrologophobia or the fear of small letters.

PPS...I don't know what he meant by the most hops ever used. I disagree, but hey, what do I know.

It reminded me of Bear Republic's Red Rocket, just bigger. I enjoyed it, and it says 9.5% right on the bottle. It's going to have some heft and a kick.

Yeah, on the alcohol what I meant was that after drinking it, I felt as though I had just woken up and decided to drink it with nothing in my stomach. It hit me like a freaking locomotive. Normally I have a few IIPA's in a night and then hit a trippel before heading off to bed. Not with this one...

I think it will be a nicer beer in 6 months or so... It's a bit too piney and the resiny taste just overwhelmed the rest of the beer.

thedigitale said:

I think it will be a nicer beer in 6 months or so... It's a bit too piney and the resiny taste just overwhelmed the rest of the beer.

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I think letting it age is a bad idea. It will become cloyingly sweet.

I don't think 6 months would sweeten it too much. It's got a long way to go before the hops calm down that much!

Have you tried it or are you just speaking in general terms?

thedigitale said:

I don't think 6 months would sweeten it too much. It's got a long way to go before the hops calm down that much!

Have you tried it or are you just speaking in general terms?

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yeah. I've had a bottle and on tap at Stone. I never usually need more than that for anything Stone makes, and this is no exception. I think that with any big, hoppy beer that you need to drink them as fresh as possible. This beer is already too sweet for me (I like anything big with a lot of hops to be really dry) so letting it age seems like a disservice to the beer.

Yeah Stone claims the same, and honestly I just feel it's too resiny. I'd like to think the hops would mellow a bit, and the beer wouldn't sweeten too much, but I didn't like the beer (or most of the beer Stone makes) enough to experiment.

thedigitale said:

Yeah Stone claims the same, and honestly I just feel it's too resiny. I'd like to think the hops would mellow a bit, and the beer wouldn't sweeten too much, but I didn't like the beer (or most of the beer Stone makes) enough to experiment.

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I'm not a huge fan of their hoppy beers either. We have much better to choose from here, so I'm ok with skipping over them.

Yeah I feel the same. Love hops, just don't think they do them all that well.

Had this last night on tap. Wasn't really my thing. Reminded me of another Anniversary Ale, maybe the 11th? I though it was very piney and that didn't mix well with the darker malts. I also tried Avery's 16th Anniversary Saison, which was perfect: an 8% beer with no distinguishable alcohol taste or smell, more pepper than fruit in terms of the phenols, but in general a pretty straightforward and really well done saison.

Yea, it says on the bottle "Do Not Cellar - Enjoy in 2009". I liked the beer, but would not call it one of my favorites from them. The Sublimely Self Righteous on the other hand...

I didn't really enjoy the Sublimely Self Righteous, but it was a good introduction to the style of Black IPA. In all, I think that all the the Anniversary Stone's are not all that phenomenal. Sweet beer to me should be marked as such. Like sweet wine, if I wanted it I will buy it, so don't trick me into buying it by not marking it as such.

I love the Sublimely Selfrighteous, even back when it was the 11th Anniversary beer. I've gotten a few growler fills of that beer even a year and a half after it was released. It is definately more mellow and sweet with the aging. I still have at least 2 bottles of that in the fridge. In about a year I'm going to plan a big vertical tasting to see how these hugely hopped beers change. I've got the Stone anniversary beers back to the 10th.

Yeah, the Self Righteous wasn't bad, it had a strange nose for me. Other than that though, it was a great example of a Black IPA.

I am amazed at how there are a bunch of breweries making beers that are on the sweeter side. I mean, if I was going to try to make something that I was going to age, I would dry that sucker out as much as freaking possible. Once those hops fade, all you have left is a syrupy alcohol bomb.

Brewsmith said:

I love the Sublimely Selfrighteous, even back when it was the 11th Anniversary beer. I've gotten a few growler fills of that beer even a year and a half after it was released. It is definately more mellow and sweet with the aging. I still have at least 2 bottles of that in the fridge. In about a year I'm going to plan a big vertical tasting to see how these hugely hopped beers change. I've got the Stone anniversary beers back to the 10th.

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I have the vertical epics back to 2003 (I'm missing 2002) and I am seriously debating selling them. They're fetching stupid prices on the internet and I know I could make a ton of beer for what they'd get. Doesn't seem right to keep a bottle that someone will pay you 100 bucks for. then again, it doesn't seem right to sell a bottle of beer for 100 bucks.

I'd sell 'em if I had 'em and I wouldn't feel bad about the price. If someone is willing to pay ridiculous $$$ for something, then they want it bad enough. On the other hand, you saved them for a reason.

BreckBastion said:

I'd sell 'em if I had 'em and I wouldn't feel bad about the price. If someone is willing to pay ridiculous $$$ for something, then they want it bad enough. On the other hand, you saved them for a reason.

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I saved them for a reason at the time. Now it is more because I feel like I should keep going.

carne, I'm also in SD but haven't gotten around to very many of our breweries. I have been to stone and like their beer, but just curious, which brewery you like the best.

Sell them Carne, there is no reason to keep beers that you don't like. I mean, if you want to collect them, the do so. If you want to enjoy them later then keep em. But I know that I wouldn't enjoy them later in life and don't need to hold onto them, so if I were you I would sell them and make a ton of beer or get a new piece of equipement

phatuna said:

carne, I'm also in SD but haven't gotten around to very many of our breweries. I have been to stone and like their beer, but just curious, which brewery you like the best.

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What day of the week is it and how warm is it out?

This summer, I've been drinking the a lot of the blonde from Mission Brewing. It is actually a kolsch and is very nice. They make a nice alt and IPA as well.

In the last two weeks, two of my favorite brown ales have shown up on tap. Alesmith Nautical Nut Brown and Port (Pizza Port Carlsbad) Great American Brown. Alesmith also has some of my favorite beer for other times of the year, like the Speedway Stout, Wee Heavy, Grand Cru, and their IPA, Extra pale (called X), ESB, and just about evverything else they do is great.

I mentioned that beer from Port. The Port Carlsbad has the best brewer of the two PP's in town. That said, you can always find amazing beer at either location, and they have plenty of guest taps.

Ballast Point makes one of the better IPAs in the country. It is called Sculpin, and when it comes out, it sells out fast. Their standard lineup is good, but their special releases are their best bet. Sea Monster Stout is great, and Victory at Sea Imperial Porter come to mind. V@Sea has a special place in my heart.

Green Flash makes a good IPA, a better IIPA, a decent pale, and an amazing stout. Their stout is called Double Stout, and it is a big, smooth chocolate explosion. They also have Summer Saison out right now, and if you can find some, I'd go for it.

So... Alesmith, Ballast Point, Pizza Port, Green Flash, Mission... OH! Alpine! More IPAs. That's what they're best at, hands down. Duet is a simcoe/amarillo beer. Nelson is a rye IPA made with Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand and should be tried. Pure Hoppiness is a great IIPA, and Exponential Hoppiness is a 3xIPA that really should be tried if you like big hop flavor.

Some people love Lost Abbey, but I'm not a huge fan. They make a couple of good specialty beer, but meh.

That's a short list. Each of these places have more to be explored.

Carne, thanks for the info, I feel like I have a summer homework assignment. I live near PB and they have a spot there called the Tap Room, and carry many of our locals.

I'm going to make a list of your recommendations and start checking them off. Thanks for the post.

phatuna said:

Carne, thanks for the info, I feel like I have a summer homework assignment. I live near PB and they have a spot there called the Tap Room, and carry many of our locals.

I'm going to make a list of your recommendations and start checking them off. Thanks for the post.

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yeah. I've yet to make it to the Tap Room. PB is not as much my scene. I spend my drinking time at Hamilton's, Blind Lady, Toronado, and O'Briens.