Stone 11.11.11 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 650 ml
Aroma: sweet with some harsh carbonation blended in with Belgian yeast, phenols and fruity notes. With time aroma becomes softer more refined, even pleasant showing soft grassy hop side.
Appearance: Brownish pour with dark beige crown. Medium initial top. Sparse lace placed on walls. Rather average appearance. 3+
Body , Flavour , Palate and Final Notes: mellow dryness, opposite elements. Malty , plum sided malts, brown sugars, alcohol dryness, green raw note , some hot pepper , vodka laced with caramel spread. Thin at times , at places some depth. I can’t escape to feel bit disappointed with this bottle. Have they lost its touch ?

Great aroma on pour but left a terrible aftertaste almost like ink. A bit disappointing to me coming from the great Stone Brewery.

On tap at the Knick. Mild sweet aroma, with toasted malt and chile, light tangy and citric acidity. Can’t smell cinnamon but there is a spicy character to it. Dark coppery amber clear with thin lacing head. Starts fairly sweet with roasted malt and barley, sweet chile notes and dry spicy character from the cinnamon. Nice taste to start, but turns a little too bitter and in an unpleasant way. Not bad but couldn’t drink more than one at a time.

Bottle. Amber/copper beer, small offwhite head. Cinnamon aroma, sweetish, the spices kinda kills the rest of the aroma. Cinnamon flavor, chilli, yeasty, some fruits. Very odd.

Bottle courtesy of Mr. Beaumont as a prize for my most fantastic Movember moustache (RIP). Deep hazy brown pour with a thin off white head. Fairly sticky lacing. The aroma is odd - fusely with a little bit of light banana and a sort of vegetal character. There is a little bit of light pepper flavour although there isn’t much pepper heat at all. A little bit of cocoa and some soft cinnamon flavour - although there isn’t a whole lot of this in the flavour. It’s almost peppery and a little bit chewy, but there is a touch of banana on the back. As it warms up, the pepper flavour does pop out but the sort of dirty fusels also amplify. This is a bit of a mess really. Maybe it’ll age into something different.

650 ml. bottle. Pours a medium, off white, lasting head, over a clear, dark amber (SRM 17) body....nose is cinnamon, light dried fruits (raisin, cherry), hints of toffee/caramel.....taste is sharp vegetal chili, with lighter cinnamon, touch of toffee/caramel, light sweetness throughout, finishing bitter....mouth feel medium, alcohol hidden, carbonation high. This is a beer that does not quite work. The aromas promise much, but the flavors fall down. The malt back bone is complex, and the light cinnamon is a pleasant addition. The chiles, while hidden compared to many a "chili beer", are a detraction rather than an addition to the composition. The result is a mishmash of aromas and flavors that comes close, but doesn’t quite work. BJCP 7/3/10/4/6

(Draught) cloudy deep ruby-amber, little head. Nose is sweet, fruity, spicy chilies, pepper jam. Very underwhelmed by the taste, spicy, celery, raw grain, cocoa, dark fruit, well carbonated, lightly spicy linger.

Bottle with Carla. Pours amber with off-white foam. Smells slightly spicy of peppers. Tastes slightly sweet with hints of spices and ends with a slight twinge of spiciness.

Bottle shared at a local tasting, thanks Brad! Pours a clear dark brown with a really thin head, the aroma has a subtle amount of spice with some yeast mixed in too, the flavor has a yeasty front end with a spiced finish, light mouthfeel, was pretty meh.

Pours a dark amber that still let’s some light through. One inch head that disappears even after an aggresive pour. Aroma is of Belgian yeast, alcohol, some spices. Taste is a bit muddled. The lable says that it’s based on a Belgian golden ale but it seems like the base is a Belgian strong dark ale. There are spices in the taste but not to sure about the chiles in there. It was worth a try once. Not sure if I would go for it again.