Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

Didactic drivel. Extraordinarily egotistical. Preposterously pretentious. Unabashedly arrogant. I hope the gang at Stone doesn't mind a little poke in the ribs. Sublimely Self Righteous Ale is the re-release of Stone's XI Anniversary Ale, a black IPA. I had it this evening and will try the new rating scale mentioned in the previous post. It poured near-black with a thick, mocha foam that was slow to dissipate. It had an inviting aroma, with a clear hop smell and a faint pine scent. It's a balanced beer with the strong hop taste matched by a solid malt backbone. The label states the alcohol level is 8.7%, but I found the alcohol taste nearly non-existent, which is strange for an abv. at this level.

I remember tasting the original XI and noting that if one tasted it blindfolded he or she would not know it was nearly black. Despite its color it was clearly an IPA. Sublimely Self-Righteous' aftertaste had a noticeable roasted flavor that increased as the beer warmed. It still tasted like an IPA, but the roasted malt was more pronounced than I remember XI. My overall impression is that Sublimely Self-Righteous is a solid IPA. I am glad Stone, at least according to its label, is going to make this beer available on a regular basis. Here is my scoring result on the 20-point scale:

Appearance 3 (out of possible three)
Aroma 2.5 (out of possible four)
Taste:
Balance 3 (out of possible four)
After taste 2.5 (out of three)
Mouth feel 2.5 (out of three)
Overall Impression 3 (out of three)

TOTAL 16.5 - Very Good

Drinking Sublimely Self-Righteous raises a bigger question. If Stone re-releases its XI Anniversary, why not re-release X Anniversary? X Anniversary was a huge IPA (10% abv) that was phenomenal when released. Its hops faded fast, and it had lost much of its original brilliance within a few months. If Stone were to release X Anniversary Greg Koch would need a big thesaurus to find enough adjectives to describe that beer.