Stone 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Ale

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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12-12-12, tap. Yellow, clear, no bubbles. Nose is resin and lemon rind. Thin body and moderately fizzy. Background is sweet, slightly syrupy. In front and never fades, is a modest level of grassy hops and some white grape juice. Nice. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

On tap at Capone’s Vertical Epic Week. Pours light golden blond with thin white head. Pineapple, citrus, caramel, bread, earth. Moderately bitter and sweet. Somewhat thin bodied and acidic/crisp. Very nice.

Poured from 22 oz. bottle, in Stone Russian Imperial Stout snifter. This bottle has been aged at room temperature since it was purchased in mid-August 2008. **Appearance**: Cloudy and a sort of brownish-orange in color. By pouring aggressively and splashing, I was able to get a tall, off-white head. It faded slowly to a thick, sticky ring. Decent lacing left behind. **Nose**: Fruity and sweet. There’s orange, mango, tangerine and pineapple, followed by a bready yeast aroma. **Mouthfeel**: Medium bodied and dry. The finish comes on quickly and smoothly. There’s not a lot of carb or alcohol bite, but that’s OK as they’re not needed in this beer. **Taste**: Bitter orange peel and bready yeast, followed by tangerine and orange. There’s no alcohol taste. The faded hops are evidenced by the lingering bitterness. **Overall**: This is an awesome beer. It’s one of the first beers that I bought specifically to be aged, so I’ve been looking forward to this and was not disappointed. **Room temp vs. cellar temp**: I aged this at room temperature, and it tastes great. I don’t have a cellar-temp aged bottle to which to compare this one, so I can’t say how it would have differed. I get the feeling it might have come out a little "better", but I don’t see anything wrong with this one.

22 oz. bottle served in shaker (aquired via trade from either Snojerk or Douglas- can’t remember)- poured a mostly transparent light golden color, head did form and become a white ring around the glass, a few floaties present upon the vessel while partaking, light carbonation. Aroma of caramel, honey, orange, and pine- interesting. Hits the mouth with a light body, malt gets a little lost with initial spices (clove and pepper), an ever so faint hop wave in the middle, finish has a slight twang of sweetness with oil. I imagine that it wasn’t so bad fresh, but clearly this one was well on the way of decomposing.

Had one before, forgot that I had a second one hanging around - what a wonderful surprise find! Uh.... just introduced myself to a band called Rings of Saturn... Still smells and tastes wonderfully wonderful. Warming with pine, orange, apricot, banana?, honey, borderline meaty, biscuit, solid spices without power, ya. Man, 4yrs and this still has a hop burn. There be honey, an oily taste which is cool as it adds to the drinkin’ experience, pine, mild alcohol, pepper, i read mint as I was struggling to figure out some of the nuances and I tend to agree as a subtle quality, bready things... the heat is still surprising but so are these moles that appeared. Drying at times, oily at others, no real forgetful moment of hop power. I dig. Plenty of complexity still. Not the best beer to crush after midnight but really what is the difference? Having flashbacks of fun things. I’m not totally blaming the acid from days gone but maybe I should. I’m going to eat one of everything in the fridge that is golf ball sized or smaller. Hopefully there are no golf balls in the fridge hiding behind those heads....

Bottle stored in my fridge since release. Light, golden pour with a nice froth of foam that reduces to a slick. Aroma is light, faded spices with fruity accents, minimal clove, a clean malt backbone, and the tinniest whisp of bitterness on the finish. Taste is lightly sweet malt with pepper, fruity notes and some clove yeast character. Fairly clean mouthfeel. Nice beer although I’m not sure that 4 years on the bottle actually improved the beer.

Sample from bottle shared by Jay. Mostly clear golden color. Chunky particles floating in the body. Decent white head, leaves bits of lace. Good light spicy citrusy nose. Medium body, light carbonation. Nice peppery banana aroma, interesting hop profile. Some clove. Savory taste. Big aftertaste of spice and banana, fruity citrusy spicy hops. Little floral. Incredibly flavorful and maybe even fresh-tasting, especially for a 4-year old beer. Good stuff

Bottle, still for sale for $9.99 at Windy City Liquors - pretty impressive. Pours mostly clear amber with some floaties. Medium white head that dissipates very quickly with some lacing. Aroma is quite interesting, with notes of pine resin, banana, caramel, some spices, honey. Flavor is about the same, honey notes prominent, plus some fruitiness. Most of the hops have long gone from the beer by this time, but what is left is interesting if not fabulous. Light bitter finish reminds you that hops once made up the aroma profile, while a light body tells you what is left. Residual carbonation, after the head fizzes away, is quite low. I am glad I paid $10 to taste this beer before it is gone, but I would not pay it again.

Bottled sample at Rusticos in Alexandria. Pours orange. Great banana pear flavour. Loved it ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

I was shocked to see this still for sale. a four year old beer! Funny to think that if one were to go into a grocery store and ask for four year old this or that the workers’d give funny looks (same goes for the concept of older wine). Anyways, this is pretty good, but not my favorite. Stone has much better beers. This is very good for it’s style (I suppose), but just isn’t what I expected based on the description. Not nearly as hoppy as the description seemed to suggest. Good beer, but would I spend another 16.99 to acquire this? No, plain and simple.