20th Anniversary Encore Series: 6th Anniversary Porter
Stone Brewing

20th Anniversary Encore Series: 6th Anniversary Porter20th Anniversary Encore Series: 6th Anniversary Porter
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Stone Brewing
 
California, United States
Style:
Baltic Porter
ABV:
8%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.91 | pDev: 9.21%
Reviews:
88
Ratings:
242
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Sep 19, 2022
Added:
Apr 22, 2016
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  40
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.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Phyl21ca:
Photo of Phyl21ca
Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)

4.23/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Bottle: Poured a clear deep brown color porter with a nice light brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with light caramel notes is quite enticing. Taste is a good mix of roasted malt with some caramel notes with a light dry finish. Body is about average with good carbonation with no apparent alcohol. Easy drinking porter with just the right amount of complexities.
Jul 24, 2017
More User Ratings:
Photo of trevormajor
Reviewed by trevormajor from Ohio

4.67/5  rDev +19.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
22 oz bottle, born on 4/3/16, poured into a snifter at 55 degrees F:
L - dark and silky with a hazelnut head that lingered
S - molasses, charcoal
T - smoked charcoal and molasses
F - thick with minimal carbonation
O - very nice smoked porter
Sep 19, 2022
 
Rated: 4.13 by craigbelly from Iowa

Mar 20, 2022
 
Rated: 3.39 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Aug 04, 2021
 
Rated: 3.92 by Sammy from Canada (ON)

Apr 17, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by bigred89 from Maryland

Apr 12, 2020
 
Rated: 3.96 by dsshuck from Delaware

Sep 04, 2019
Photo of macrosmatic
Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida

3.74/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
Reviewed from (very) long-standing notes. Poured from the 22 oz. bottle into a nonic pint glass. The bottle was purchased at a local bottle shop on 4/18/16, and consumed four weeks later.

A: Very dark brown, opaque with a fairly low amount of visible carbonation. Forms a dense, one-finger tan head with insane retention. This is a very pretty beer.

S: Not a huge nose here. Some roasted malts, a mild chocolate, and light smoke...but quite subdued.

T: Roasted malts and chocolate, roast bitterness and charred smokiness. Mild coffee and tobacco notes, with some hop bitterness as well (though I'm not getting much in the way of hop flavors). Smoke and hop bitterness in the hang.

M: A full body for a porter - not quite as much as HF Everett maybe (the standard bearer for porter mouthfeel to me), but hefty. The alcohol is well-integrated. Low carbonation sensation and a silky smooth mouthfeel.

O: Good, but I'm not happy with the smoke. There's no mention of smoke on the front of the bottle at all. It probably mentions it on the back of the bottle, but there's so much puffery and bullsh*t on the back label I just couldn't finish Greg's nonsense. The smoke is not so dominant I won't drink it, nor does it come across as overly "Band-Aid". I rather liked their smoked vanilla porter, but here there's no vanilla or other flavor to counterbalance the smoke. So...good, not great. Scores given I think are fair to style. My personal preference would be significantly less.
Aug 16, 2019
 
Rated: 3.94 by Walnut from Missouri

Jan 14, 2019
Photo of NeoClassicist
Reviewed by NeoClassicist from New York

3.99/5  rDev +2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Walked into the local grocery and lo and behold, a 2016 bottle here in 2018. I was just going to buy Sapporo....

Anyway. Looks very good, good head, foams up nice, even on the second pour after an hour sitting in the fridge with no cork.

Smells pretty good, smokey, not harsh, the faintest of faint aromas of hops.

Tastes - different. Maybe its the two years bouncing around the supply chain, maybe its in the brewing. I wouldn't say typical Baltic Porter, more like a halfway between a nitro stout and export stout that lived next to a rauchbier for a few weeks.

Goes down smooth, texture is grade A.

Intriguing and anomalous.
Jun 10, 2018
Photo of monkist
Reviewed by monkist from Hungary

4.76/5  rDev +21.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 5
Smoked bacon??? Does it really smell and taste like smoked bacon? I thought when drinking this. It does have some serious shitness going on, so I had better check the notes, just to find out, in a nutshell that this is a "goosed up a notch or three" version of Stone Smoked Porter. But then I get it I think. Burnt rubber, charcoal, smoke and tar - this is a true match to the gargoyle, Stone trademark. And bitter. Raw and bitter as f**k. It is the most bitter porter that I've ever had, and if it wasn't for those malty overnotes I would start summoning the Bastard...
Because Stone knows how to create legends, because whatever they create is unforgettable.
I'm biwing down again, for I never thought a porter could be this good!
"An ode to density, viscosity and the unbearable opaqueness of being..."
May 25, 2018
 
Rated: 3.98 by rorjets from Connecticut

May 13, 2018
Photo of YungAnejo
Reviewed by YungAnejo from Nevada

3.44/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Bomber bottled on 4/12/16 poured into a snifter

Khaki head with a black body, minimal lacing

Aroma is heavily roasted malts

Taste is slightly Smokey but mostly ashy, very bitter with a slight hop character

Feel is slightly thicker like a stout, low carbonation

Overall nothing to remember, picked up since I’ve never had a Baltic Porter but if this represents the style accurately the y’all can keep them..
Mar 15, 2018
 
Rated: 3.24 by sweemzander from Illinois

Feb 02, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by Jhfinn from New York

Nov 23, 2017
Photo of brewerburgundy
Reviewed by brewerburgundy from West Virginia

4.04/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
22oz bottle, small plastic hotel cup, bottled 4/12/16.

Very brown beer, like coffee, no red highlights. The head is a creamy cappuccino color and consistency that leaves a nice lace.

Faint aromatic wood smoke, coffee crystals, dried cherries, cedar, Stone house yeast.

Next level porter! Sweet, smokey, and tangy are all combined into a complex whole. I get specific flavors of campfire, vanilla, pour over dark roast coffee, cocoa powder, and dried cherry or currant. It's sweet and smokey up front, and then transitions to tangy smoke and astringent bitterness. The finish is sharp with some lingering bitterness.

Mouthfeel on the soft side. The beer is medium bodied and the carbonation is soft but stands up to all the flavor.

This is an enhanced version of the year round Smoked Porter. I've really enjoyed it and am glad they made it again so I could get some.
Sep 28, 2017
Photo of stephens101
Reviewed by stephens101 from Oklahoma

3.96/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Dark brown throughout with a tan froth that disintegrates slowly and leaves a thick lacing. Smells of dark chocolate and burnt wood. Notes of caramel, faint vanilla and burnt sugar are countered by tannin, burnt wood and faint pine, which making for a very well-balanced brew. Medium in body with a subtle but lingering heat. Can find nothing wrong with this classic.
Jul 30, 2017
 
Rated: 3.84 by HopBelT from Belgium

May 21, 2017
 
Rated: 3.91 by JuiceMan818 from California

May 21, 2017
 
Rated: 3.87 by Bogdawg from Massachusetts

May 09, 2017
20th Anniversary Encore Series: 6th Anniversary Porter from Stone Brewing
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 242 ratings