Stone 6th Anniversary Porter tastes a good bit like all their other smoke beers. A little less smoky (4.5 smokestacks of smokepower taste) and more hoppy. It tastes acidic, which makes sense, this recipe is one of their old recipes that they dusted off from about 15 years ago, started making again, and just this year sent it out into their supply chain. One thing that I know about craft beer 15 years ago was that we were all discovering hops, and Stone was a main offender for pumping copious amounts of hops into just about everything. Nowadays we’re lazered in on gose and barrel aging… (Texas is just now discovering hops). And after a few sips, I’m thinking, “maybe I can’t taste the smoke anymore.” Color =4 smokestacks of darkness. It’s a thinner beer, light penetration at 1.5 inches. Smokepower smell is 4 out of 7 with a light sausage detection, just a touch of meatiness in this beer. The bitter acidity keeps bouncing around in my head though. I must say, I’m a little bummed, I was excited about this one, although I guess I shouldn’t be, assuming that there was a legitimate reason that Stone quit making this in the first place. A friend of mine spotted it on the Crane Alley Champaign, IL menu and alerted me of its whereabouts so I raced down here to drink it, and now I am having a hard time keeping up my excitement, I must admit that I like it less than the regular Stone Smoked Porter, which is mediocre at best. Overall happiness metric = less than mediocre = 3.5 smokestacks.
| Brewer | Stone Brewing |
| Beer Name | 6th Anniversary Porter |
| Brewer’s Description | We celebrated our first five years in business by releasing anniversary India pale ales, with each subsequent IPA brewed to be hoppier and more intense than the previous. For our 6th anniversary in 2002, we extended this concept by making an intensified version of Stone Smoked Porter. We cranked up the malts and hops a notch or three and conditioned it on French and American oak, which accentuated our porter’s distinctive smokiness and amplified its chocolate and roast coffee flavors while also adding subtle notes of toffee, cherries, dried berries and vanilla. We’re proud to give those who missed out—as well as those who didn’t—a fresh shot at experiencing this smoky, dark-as-night wonder. |
| Food Pairings | Chicken mole, rib-eye steak, penne w/ marinara, baby back ribs, risotto w/ shittake mushrooms |
| Brewery Location | San Diego, CA |
| Alcohol content by volume | 8% |
| IBU (International Bitterness Units) | 60 |
| Beer opacity rate 1 – 7 (light – dark) | 4 |
| Smell smoke? 1 – 7 (No – George Burns) | 4 |
| Sausage detection? Y or N | Y |
| Smokepower taste: 1 – 7 Smokestacks | 4.5 |
| Overall Happiness: 1 – 7 (sad – happy) | 3.5 |
Learn more at their overdone, almost confusing, website:
SmokeBeerMinistry 