Stone 13th Anniversary Imperial Red Ale

Stone released the 13th Anniversary back in early Summer and I quickly snatched up as many bottles as I could of this one time release. I've been able to enjoy about case of it while it was available and I'm now down to my last two bombers, well, my last one after drinking it for this review. If I remember correctly I picked it up for about $6 a bomber at Biercraft in Park Slope.

Disclaimer -*- I must admit to having 2 bottles of Stone IPA before tasting this so my palate was already hopped out. All the better for me!

The Pour- A deep mahogany color, unfiltered with a lively, soda-y head. This is definitely a solid imperial red ale. A genre that seems to be getting more and more popular on the West Coast what with the Green Flash Hop Head Red, the Bear Republic Imperial Red, Lagunitas Lucky 13, etc. This is a bit thicker looking than most reds though to go along with it's 9.5% ABV. Loses some points as I prefer a frothier head in beers this big.

7/10

Nose - The hops are milder than I remember then being when the bottle was new but still very pungent and delightful. A particularly West Coast resin and spice are present but much less then I remember. Also present is a smokey malt scent that I definitely haven't detected before in this brew, which is nice. The booze makes a guest appearance towards the finish. Very nice smell here.

8/10

Taste - So much sweeter than I remember! No doubt the hops has died down a bit since the bottling but I didn't realize just how big of a malty beer this was. This is really impressive considering just how drinkable it is without being too filling or ruining that taste buds. Especially after coming from the Stone IPA the Anniversary just tastes so complex with a lot fruitiness and thickness that just isn't found in regular IPA. I do miss the face meltingly bitter hops of the fresh bottling though...

7/10

Mouthfeel - I'm proud to see the Imperial Red finally have standard bearer in the market. There is so much going right in this beer it just reaffirms my belief that Stone is the best brewery in the US today. Their ability to control the character of the hops and bring across all the resiny notes, the spice and the mouth coating oils while at the same time not over doing the bitterness and controlling the massive amount of malt in the Anniversary is nothing short of masterful. This is a fantastic beer and I look forward to it being released again.

10/10

So I'd give the Stone a 32/40. I feel like I was perhaps a little too harsh on it because I miss the fresh hops of the young bottling but also because this is Stone and I expect nothing better than the best beers on the market from them. I still have one bottle of this in the cellar and I'm thinking I'll have to drink it soon as it's not bottle conditioned. Anyway care to join me?