10-01-2009, 07:39 PM
I scanned the Beer Judge Style Guidelines and was unsuccessful in locating this style. Actually I couldn?t find anything close. This is not an Imperial Porter with Belgian yeast. That would be too easy and not what we would expect from Stone.
Candi sugar, vanilla bean, and tangerine peel were added to this beautiful ale. The beer was then aged with French Oak chips.
The color of the beer is a deep brown with a generous tan head. This complex ale is multifaceted in its aromas. There are coffee and chocolate tones along with the vanilla. I am thinking some of the vanilla is from the vanilla bean and some from the oak. There are discreet banana and clove aromas that get more pronounced as I agitate my glass.
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