15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA - Stone Brewing Co.

Displayed for educational use only; do not reuse.

BA SCORE
94
exceptional
-
1,328 Ratings

rAvg: 4.23
pDev: 12.77%
Reviews: 705
Hads: 623

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
Stone Brewing Co.

California, United States

Style | ABV
American Black Ale | 10.80% ABV

Availability: Limited (brewed once). bottle (620), on-tap (76), growler (8), cask (1).

Notes:
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.

No notes at this time.

View: Beers (85) | Reviews (242) | Events (1)

Reviews

Sort by: Latest | High | Low | Top Reviewers |

Alström Bros | Show Hads:

« first ‹ prev | 1-25 | 26-50 | 51-75 | next › last »

Reviews by morningthief:

morningthief

Massachusetts

4.78/5 rDev +13%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Fresh bottle poured into a Pabst chalice.

A vigorous pour yields a one-finger tan head that settles nicely and all but disappears by the end of the glass.

Putting my nose to the glass I am immediately overwhelmed by the scent of fresh hop and grainy dark malt, with coffee and dark chocolate notes in the finish. If you have ever brewed beer before, you would liken the nose to the scent of the first hop addition during the boil. It's just that fresh. I am honestly more impressed with this smell than I have ever been with a beer.

The taste that follows is absolutely masterful. Tons of fresh hop flavor, roasty dark malt, coffee, chocolate, and exceptionally well-balanced bitterness rounds out the flavor. Offsetting the high IBU count is a delicate sweetness that is a welcome and refreshing resolution to the bold, crisp bitter dark malt and hop flavor. I am often dubious of the black IPA in general, but Stone does it correctly here.

Mouthfeel is medium to heavy, creamy, slick; expected but admittedly a little thick for my tastes. If this were a sweet stout it would be absolutely perfect.

What a triumph this beer is. While I would count myself a casual fan of Stone brews I am often blown away by their seasonals and one-offs, and 15th Anniversary is yet another addition to the line-up. Kudos to Stone for celebrating its 15th year in business with such a tremendous brew.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2011 00:28:12 | More by morningthief

More User Reviews:

beernads

Florida

3.75/5 rDev -11.3%

05-18-2013 06:39:49 | More by beernads

OC_Beer_Fan

California

4/5 rDev -5.4%

05-17-2013 05:22:10 | More by OC_Beer_Fan

Zbeetleman

California

4.5/5 rDev +6.4%

05-15-2013 03:05:13 | More by Zbeetleman

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

4/5 rDev -5.4%

05-13-2013 22:24:50 | More by mikeincharleston

csfcmitchell

Texas

4.25/5 rDev +0.5%

05-13-2013 15:54:17 | More by csfcmitchell

Whiskeydeez

Kansas

4.25/5 rDev +0.5%

05-08-2013 17:19:02 | More by Whiskeydeez

cadaugherty

Illinois

4/5 rDev -5.4%

05-07-2013 23:01:09 | More by cadaugherty

Tom-Peters

California

4.5/5 rDev +6.4%

05-06-2013 19:43:12 | More by Tom-Peters

campfirebrew

New York

4/5 rDev -5.4%

04-04-2013 14:53:21 | More by campfirebrew

Obsidian

California

2.75/5 rDev -35%

04-03-2013 03:18:40 | More by Obsidian

Smurf2055

Washington

3.68/5 rDev -13%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Reviewed Dec 2011

Poured from bottle into a pint glass.

Pours like a stout, with a nice tan head about a finger thick. Good lacing.

It’s got some coffee and licorice, but the pine and hops smell as well. Maybe a bit of caramel. An interesting mix.

Taste really confused me. It’s a light body, very smokey, almost ashy. Greets you with light coffee and finishes with a hop kick near the end. I couldn’t tell it was over 10%. Very powerful. Leaves a nice aftertaste.

Overall, it’s a very interesting beer to say the least. Very complex and very bold. Impressive.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2013 20:11:28 | More by Smurf2055