Stone 04.04.04 Vertical Epic Ale

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

Wish I could have waited a while but I got 4 of them, so the others will have to sit. It pours out a light gold color with almost no head to speak of. It has a fruity aroma. It has a fruity taste that is nicely balanced with malts and hops, will improve with age, but I had to try this one. One hell of a beer, just wait a bit and it will get even better.....if possible

Big big big in the way only an American beer can be big. Yellow with orange in the color, especially fun as it first pours--very vibrant; decent head. The aroma: the real bigness, with orange, spices, vinyl, lemon (perhaps the lime?), very fresh. Not that sweet in flavor, really, with a yeastiness in the fruitiness. Interesting and enjoyable. A big thanks to TChrome for sharing his bottle with us.

Beautiful Straw color; fluffy white egg whites head. Belgian candy sugar nose- almost Duvel like. Right away hits the mouth with an amazing "roundness". Lot sof yeast, but not European like. Very American-like in it’s "yeastiness". The Saison characters are not in place yet.

Bottle from the recent Dallas meet up, thanks guys. pours a cloudy dark yellow that is almost more orange than yellow. has a consitant white head.strong floral/fruity aroma. has a hoppy fruity taste thatseems to be of grapefruit. this is a little too fruity for me, but has a good hop flavor.

Clear, golden body with a very small, almost non-existent white head. Very interesting, fruity nose with the Kaffir Lime Leaf giving an interesting plant-like element that makes the nose excited with uniqueness. Sweet oranges, lemons, sticky honey, pale malt, light grains, banana and a touch of coniferous pine. The body is not too thick, but has a bit of harshness that will hopefully mellow out over time. The flavor definitely resembles the aroma, with the sweet fruits and unique spiciness shining through. The lime leaf is more subdued in the flavor than I would have thought, based on the nose. However, the sweet fruity malt is tasty and enjoyable. The finish has a distinct bitterness from hops and, presumably, the lime leaf. While it was fairly enjoyable, I’m a little disappointed. I don’t know what I was expecting that made me excited about this beer, but whatever that was did not live up to expectation. Definitely solid, but not great, and hopefully time will turn this around and the really cool yeast will make a stronger showing.

22 oz bottle. This beer blew me away. Belgian style tripel/saison: lots of grapefruit, flowers, lemon and lime. I’ll keep my eyes open for next year’s concoction.

Going from memory, nose of slight banana, cloves and yeast. Sweet malt flavor, lime was noticeable, fairly soft feel, enjoyed it. Strong brew.

Very good ale. Very young. I’m going to buy another bottle and put her in the fridge for the next ten years...Right. Still another nice product from a great beer producing company and town. They’re taking a stab at gimmicks now which isn’t necessarrily uncool just...I don’ see beer drinkers waiting a decade to pop open a brew.