So, I saw a bunch of Stone 16th Anniversary Ale (August 2012) on the shelf today, but I hesitated to buy, because it says drink fresh. It's a double IPA, so I'm worried it'll already be stale. Are these generally brewed to keep? It's 10% ABV. What do people think?
Some of the hop notes you would get from a fresh batch might dissipate but really there's only one way to find out. I'd got for it, at least one or two bottles.
Won't be stale, but probably missing some of the original hop presence. 1 bottle to see if you like it would be your best bet. I enjoyed it, but in small doses due to the big lemon character of the beer. Enjoy!
I'm not sure if you've had it before, and this is merely an opinion, but the 16th Anniversary was awful even when fresh. If I were you, I'd skip it altogether and get a fresh Ruination or SSR.
I had a bottle in November and didn't think it was all that bad, but the lemon is pretty damn strong in it for sure. It's a lingering aftertaste that was a little strange at first, but I didn't find it all that bad just took a little while to get used to. I thought it was a decent interpretation from Stone.
Certainly wasn't amazing fresh and like jhartley said, I also thought way too much lemon with a not-so-favorable aftertaste that took some getting used to. But hey, the bottle at my local shop was under $6 so any DIPA from reputable brewer is definitely worth taking that little risk over...IMO.
I think I paid $8.99 at Knightly Spirits in Florida which I didn't think was that bad of a price. Again, I didn't think it was bad, per se, just different. If it's a good price go for it, it couldn't hurt.
Now the 15th, on the other hand, is something that should still be drinking nicely. If you find that (and you probably could) you should snatch it up.
