Stone 04.04.04 Vertical Epic Ale

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

Looks like the sun sitting in my snifter - a fat ball of cloudy orange and yellow. Head is big and creamy but quickly disappears. Smells of clove, orange spice, apple, concord grapes, and assorted sugars. Mouthfeel is neither thin nor thick, just right. Taste is insanely sweet with clove, pine, orange, lemon, banana, lime, alcohol, yeast and syrupy sugar. This is a damn good beer, however too sweet. Perhaps if I had aged it longer it would have mellowed, but who buys a beer and waits a decade to drink it? I mean come on.

Poured a orangish/yellow. Thin white head. Aroma is interesting. Much like a Hefe. Sweet malty at first, then a peppery bite. Hops aren’t overly present. Tasted nice, not overwhelmed.

This bottled brew poured a large sized foamy head of off-white colored mostly lasting finely sized bubbles that left behind a good thick lacing. The body was transparent softly carbonated and orange in color with finely suspended bubbles floating in it. It had a mild hop aroma that was slightly skunked and a tingly thick initial mouth feel with a lingering hop bite in the finish. It had simple malt hop flavor with no exciting qualities. This bottle was meant to be aged. Drinking it to early has lowered the rating. One should wait to rate this at a later date after cellaring for a long time to let it mature.

This is a damn great beer. A near perfect meldding of American West Coast styles (hopy), Belgian Strong Ale Style, and the the citrus common to Wheat beers. It worked very well for me. I’m going to keep a few on hand and let them age up a year or two.

This is a pretty darn good beer, but not one of stones better beers in my opinion. furthermore I’m not really a fan of this style. But it was pretty clean and refreshing and the citrusness wasn’t too overpowering. Stick to the real beers Stone boys.

Bottled. Mammoth, off-white head, lasting 3/4 through the glass, frothy, minimal lacing, albeit thick; clear body, incredibly golden. Aroma is rich and heavy: malt laden sweetness, strong citrus hops, alcohol, clove and with warmth the banana really comes out. Full bodied, some syrupy quality, lightly carbonated with lively bubbles, mouthwatering, yet very dry finish. Heavily malted, caramel, honey front followed by a nice bitter finish, a bit acidic, not overpowered by clove, but well blended; clove maintaining dominance but sharing with citrus hops(lime) and alcohol, touch of banana with warmth. Crisp, spicy, citrus//clove aftertaste, so dry...like biting into a percimon that isn’t ripe, but not so bad. Not a typical Belgian(yay!), "American" style with all those hops... This needs the aging as it’s kind of sloppy right now, like a freshly brewed barleywine only very complex. I’ll rate it again in a few years. =p

Very glad I got this beer. Great floral, grapefruit, spicy aroma. Good deep orange, light amber appearance. Big creamy white head that lasted the entire beer. Pretty impressive. Very complex flavor. Slightly sweet, spicy, little alcohol. Not really too much like a Belgian. Crisp, dry. Great beer. Pumped for the rest.

Really odd warm (alc) dusty aroma. Hints of smoke, and citrus. Some phenolics. Decent bodied, nice esters. The alcohol shines through a bit much for my tastes. Hops are plentiful and nice. This is an interesting little beer...