Stone 05.05.05 Vertical Epic Ale

Formerly brewed at Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Escondido, California USA

This one came with a ton of expectations and didn’t dissappoint. It poured a beautiful near-black, like soft licorice when it’s pulled apart. Nice tan head, full and durable, with good lacing. Aromas were fruit, fruit, fruit. Apricots, cherries, apples, figs, raisins, licorice, cloves, nutmeg, coffee, bread, green peppers. Whew! Taste was WOW! Big hit of smoke morphs to malt heaven then makes room for pear, applequince, even avacado. Lots of fantastic hop bitterness, complimented by the fruit sweetness. The malts were toasty, chocolatety, creamy and smoky -- the best malt presence I’ve tasted. Finish is malt, smoke, peat, earth, and hops. Mouthfeel was perfect -- at no time did it seem too thick or too thin. It was perfectly carbonated. I know all 5s leaves no room for improvement and this ale is meant to be kept until 12-12-2012 and if it’s going to get even better, well I’m going to get more and save it. The Stone Brewing Company made one happy beer drinker today. if you haven’t already, go get yourself 2 -- drink one and save one for 2012!

Bottle. Poured out a nice deep brown color with a hint of ruby showing throught when held up to the light. Fair sized and moderately lived tan head with decent lacing left behind. Aroma is nicely malted with a hint of cocoa showing through. Scant whiffs of some darker fruit such as plum. Medium bodied and very smooth, almost coating mouthfeel. A touch spiced in flavor indeed, just a hint of pepper, some decent chocolate and fruits reside in the flavor. This should age out much better than the ’04 in my opinion.

Although this is a tasty and enjoyable brew, it strikes me as being fairly one dimensional. (Methinks SB buys into their own hype too heavily.) A rich brown color with a short-lived fizzy head, the aroma is sweet malts and candy sugar. The tastes are sweet malts, candy sugar, and alcohol. There is some mild spiciness to it, as well, but nothing that exciting. The finish is sticky sweet and full of alcohol.

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Thin head, clear dark crimson. Spicy, malty aroma. Taste is mixed spices with solid hop bitterness. Finish is sweet, estery, slightly dry and bitter. Hints of roastedness. Mouthfeel is nice and round, sticky, better than most Stone beers. Very nice American-Belgian style, very "Stone-ish" and very good.

Very nice beer. Beautiful color, very dark amber. Complex flavor and aroma. Spiced, sweet malt, Belgian yeast, a touch of pineapple, maybe banana. Very fruity. I’ll be getting a few more of these.

Wow! Stone does it again! I was very curious to try Stones take on a belgian brew... it turned out damn good! This beer is quite complex and offers a good fruity flavor. The head dicipated quickly, but who really cares. I will try to cellar one, but I don’t know if I can (I am very impatient!). The slightly-too-strong alcohol flavor is really the only drawback as far as flavor is concerned. MM MM MM Good

5/28/05: Bottle.
Black-brown body with an off-white head. Aroma of vanilla, alcohol, molasses, and plum. Malt flavor, slightly sweet and sour with a black cherry finish. Flat. In my opinion the best Vertical Epic thus far.

dark amber-brownish brew with little or no foam at all.My first impression is that it was kind of like smelling like a porter until I got my nose a little closer then i finally got some fruit and spme spices.But it has a funky metallic spice flavor like licking a counter in an Indian restaurant