Stone 04.04.04 Vertical Epic Ale

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

Paid $6.22 for a 22-ozer. Light golden with a large head. Bubblegummy aroma... smells a bit oversweet. Flavor is a lot less sweet than the aroma, and is very pleasant. Flavors include apricot, cinnamon, banana, lime, pine, and other inserted spices. Very nice flavor!

Aroma is hoppy , with a whiskey maltiness.Opaque apricot, tiniest of heads. Flavour has a malty forefront, and hops afterward. Quite a sharpness to these hops. Terrific! Thanks Radek.

Hazy light golen colour. Appealing aroma of banana, apricot, clove & some yeast notes. Well-rounded flavour of lime, orange, spice & mild piney hops. Tasty. [Toronto Christmas Party ’04]

Bottle: Banana aroma comes exploding out of the bottle the second the cap comes off. Don’t even need to put your nose to the top. Citrus and clove in there too, but banana is the dominant aroma. Pours a transparent orangish-gold with a white head that lasts a minute or so. Strong banana flavor all the way thru with some citrus. LIght alcohol and bitterness in the finish. Good but not great.

Bottle. Nice golden color, white head that laced okay. Limey, fruity, estery aroma, very pleasant and I spent a long time sniffing my glass. Flavor is not something that I’d ever expect from Stone, you can really tell that the used unmalted grain in the beer, the lime flavor is a bit overpowering for my taste. Some spices in there too. Lime really comes through in the finish, bottle conditioning makes it very smooth. An interesting beer, I think I’d like to let a few bottles age for a year or so, maybe meld the flavors together a bit and see how it turns out.

Update 2/4/06: I recall Greg saying on a vblog that he particularly enjoyed this one around Thanksgiving, so I decided to crack open one of my remaining bottles. The appearance is still a transparent, bright straw golden color. One-finger white head, good lacing. The lime leaf is much more subdued in the aroma, giving rise to the banana-y esters. Not as pungent as I remember. Sweetness registers early on the front of my tongue, then blends into a slightly tart and spicy finish, presumably due to the wheat and the yeast strain. Bitterness doesn’t seem particularly pronounced (though I didn’t notice much the first time around, either). Balance is outstanding. Bright feeling in the mouth. It leaves a warm, pleasant sensation after each sip, probably the alcohol which is beautifully masked. This is rounding into a delightful brew. I think I’m down to a single bottle now, and considering how wonderful it is right now, I’m not sure how long I’ll hold on. I don’t think my bottle can go the distance, so we’ll have to see what I decide to do.

Cloudy yellow gold. Delicate frothy off-white head. Yeasty aroma w/ notes of lime, pepper, & vanilla. Soft, creamy feel. Sweet, yeasty flavour w/ notes of lime, pepper, vanilla, & salt. Odd melange which doesn’t quite come together.

Pours average head, gold, fine haze. Fresh, malt aroma. Sweet front , some ginger , a bit tangy . Alcohol and hops follow the act . Better as it warms up.

Thanks to whoever brought this to the Toronto Christmas Party ’04. Fruity apple, pineapple, lime, green jolly rancher nose. Tingly on the tounge. Some corriander, vague bananna. Sweetish cotton candy finish.