Stone 10.10.10 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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Bottle: Pours a translucent, very light golden color with a thin sandy head. Nose is fruity Belgian yeast and the depicted grapes. The taste I’m getting is mostly the Belgian yeast, a bit fruity, and some dry florals. Seemingly the least impressive of the VE’s I had to date.

Hazy amber orange, thin white head, sticky full body, high carbonation.

Aroma: wheat tartness, belgian or weizen yeast esters, pale malt, stale hops, alcohol, and chamomile.

Taste: belgian triple, lots of yeast esters, alcohol, pale malt, stale hops, wheat tartness, spicy grain, citrus, dry grassy chamomile, and a bit of bright fruity twang from the grapes.

not much actual grape flavor, but plenty of added dimensions and complexity. The grapes do become more apparent about a pint in, but the pale malt and yeast esters of the tripel are still the main features. Interesting food pairing possibilities.

22 oz bomber from Jonathan Ron Brielle. Poured a great looking clear orange body with an average size frothy white head with lots of continually rising carbonation. Aroma was largely comprised of something between wine and grapes along with a heavy dose of yeast, crusty grains, rock candy and dried tropical fruits. Medium bodied with slightly strong tight bubbly carbonation and a dry finish with a touch of alcohol heat that is so subtle it’s not even noticed until it’s almost at the bottom of your throat. Flavor reminds me a lot of church, chunky bread dipped in cheap wine. This one just tries to hard and has to many ingredients going on for it for any one of them to make a nice addition. Basically it’s easily drinkable but just to complicated for it to translate.

Bottle. Orange pour with very little head. Flavor is is semi-sweet juice, yeasty, some belgian malt, and wine essences. Aroma is grapey and yeasty; pretty strange to me. Flavors seem fabricated.

Bottle pours clear amber orange color with off white head. Aroma is belgian yeast, white pepper, and herbal spice. Lively carbonation on the mouthfeel. Flavor is more belgian tripel, spicy, peppery, and finishes dry. I don’t get any wine notes here at all. Tastes more like a belgian tripel than anything. Just average.

Tap at Churchkey. This one tastes and smells like a post-production blend of a blonde beer and white wine. The wine really overwhelms the beer, not in an appetizing way.

(bomber 10/31/10). Cloudy golden orange color. Medium off white head. Light yeast aroma, with light alcohol. Flavor of the same. Long duration. Very dry finish. Slick texture. Moderate carbonation. Spare lacing.

Bottle pours orange-gold with a white head. Aroma is dusty and doughy yeast, reinforced with underlying floral/fruit notes (primarily from the gewurtz and sauv blanc), a touch of bubblegum and toast. Flavor shows basically the same. Overall body is moderate, with sweet belgian candi sugar quickly being dried by a somewhat astringent oak presence.

Smells like dish water. Starts light and moves into a smooth amber finishing with faint grapes and banana esters. Solid but could be more momentous

From notes. First reviewed 9/16/2011. Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a tulip. Out of the bottle this pours a full golden color, transparent except for a few yeast particles, with light straw color edges. An off-white head bubbles, foams,and fades without leaving too much lace on the glass. Bready malt is overshadowed by a strong white grape presence. Alcohol phenols are noticeable, and an understated spicy yeast is noticeable as well. The flavor is strong and mostly sweet. The malt takes on a dry biscuity or crackery quality, with sweet white grapes coming on really strong. A light lemon zest adds a soft tartness, and there is a light peppery quality. There is not much hop presence, just a herbal bite to go along with the alcohol toward the end. Maybe this is from the chamomile. Maybe I am just too accustomed to Duvel for this style, but the mouthfeel is a little bit off from what I expect. The body lacks the cutting dryness that thins the body out. This is still dry, but the body has more of a medium feel, with softly crisp carbonation. Given the amount of chatter about this beer series, it can be tough to examine this beer on its own merits. I enjoyed it, although it was a bit sweeter than I would prefer, and it would be nearly impossible to top Duvel in this style.