Stone 05.05.05 Vertical Epic Ale

Bottle: Pours a clear ruby with a thin off-white head, big aroma with cherries, rich spices, grapefruit and caramel. Starts and ends bitter, with a long sweet ending and warming alcohol, full bodied with a slick mouthfeel and strong carbonation, amazingly complex.

Cold 22oz bottle: Pours a beautiful clear ruby color with a small light tan head that dissolves and leaves a thin layer of bubbles in a web shape with bubbles around the edges and some lacing. Aroma is of roasted malts, spice, flowers and fruit. Taste is of roasted malts, aromatic hops, anise, fruit and notes of chocolate. Full bodied, oily texture and well carbonated. Ending is of roasted malts and aromatic hops with sour notes and a slight alcohol burn.

Thanks to some name forgotten RateBeerian for the brew!

Rating # 995
Pours with a dark coco body and a wispy light tan head. The aroma holds bright notes of mocha, coconut, almonds and apples. The palate is marvelous! Creamy & chewy… very velvety and robust… finish is a dry / sweet & spicy combination. The hops have blended nicely into the chocolaty / darkly kilned malts. Some dark pit-fruits and raisins creep in very nicely. I like Stone’s choice for yeast here… it’s not overly fruity and not one that goes tart with the passage of time.
Well Done, Stone! -One of the best Epic’s to date!

Part of the 02 thru 06 vertical at YourDarkLord’s house. Thanks to Rooftoprogue for bringing this to the table. Pours deep copper brown with a frothy tan head. Much darker than the previous four vertical epics. Lots of esters in the aroma, along with some toastiness and brown sugar. Flavor is mildly sweet, with notes of brown sugar, wheat malt, clove, and molasses. Mildly hot on the finish. This should get better with age.

Blind rating, American Beer Tastings at Sk8viking´s. Pours a clear dark cobber with a tanned head. Smells like a barley wine. Sweet with some bitterness especially towards the end. Also notes of nuts and alcohol. Full bodied.

From a 22oz Bottle. Deep brown pour with a light ruby tinge and a thin, off-white head. Dark fruity, raisiny perfumes waft from my glass, giving this a bit of a barleywine-like nose. Some softer strawberry fruits as well. The bouquet is quite heavy on the dark fruit malt characters, but the yeast character doesn’t strike me as being too spicy or strong in presence. Rich, full bodied mouthfeel thats borderline syrupy and with a mild, but healthy carbonation level. More rich raisin and prune malty characters come through on the palate, along with a touch of chocolate.

Deep reddish colour with a small light brown head. Malty, dark fruit sweet aroma with vanilla and alcohol notes. Malty, fruity and vanilla sweet flavor with a light alcohol sweet finish.

Pours a dark mahogany. Aroma is very spicy with banana and clove. Flavor is slightly roasty with flavors of banana, clove, licorice and other spices. Finish is dry and somewhat bitter. Not my favorite style, but a decent brew.