Stone 05.05.05 Vertical Epic Ale

Ruby color with brown highlights. Off white thick creamy head. Aroma of maple, vanilla, oak, rye, pumpernickel bread, molasses. Flavors of rye bread, maple wood chips, light oak chip flavor, lots of vanilla. As carbonated as a soda.

Clear brownish red body with a large head. Aroma is caramel, chocolate, brown sugar, Belgian yeast, hint of raisins. Flavor is the same. While it’s pretty tasty, it needs refinement. It almost has a fake Belgian taste or something. Like half Stone, half Belgian. Hard to explain..

Slightly roasty/carmalelized notes. Caramel malts and a little cocoa. Rich ruby/brown in color with a tiny half dollar thick tan head. Fore is caramel malts and cocoa with hints of raisin and spice. Having just had the 03 03 03 the other day I can say, as others have mentioned, this is thin. At the least is much thinner than the 03. Lacks that incredible spicy flourish of the 03 as well. But this does have a very nice basic flavor. Comes off as cocoa infused caramel pumpernickel bread with just a very slight hint of spiciness in the finish.

Bottle. Poured ruby brown with decent tan head. Carmel malty, with some decent citrusy hop aromas and flavors, and a touch of roast. Some yeast too - but it didn’t strike me as very ’belgian’ - more ’belgian-like’. Still very tasty.

Bottled: Slightly sticky texture. Somewhat a bit too thin and sweet. Hops and some yeast are present in the finish. An average strong ale.

Strong resiny pine, orange-citrus, leafy hops along with a vinous fruitiness and some molasses like chewy sweetness in the aroma. Fizzy, fine bubbled, tan coloured head recedes fairly quickly to cover, then ring atop the opaque, dark, brown body. Bittersweet chocolate, mint, leafy, herbal, resiny citrus notes and a very strong nutty character with a mild but pleasant roastiness that appears in the finish. Although there are plenty of hops in this one, the malt still manages to be the star of the show. Medium body is quite lively with effervescent little bubbles that demand the tongue’s attention. Tulip glass. Just below cellar temperature. Bottle (Half Time, Sep-05).

Great Beer. Pours with a thick head that thins ot to a dark brown tan color. The beer has a very dark brown color most likely from the chocolate which also gives it a strong sweet chocolate aroma. It has a very smooth and creamy texture. I thought the hops added to this beer giving it a bit of bitterness at the end.

Thanks DrJay for the sample! Dark mahogony body topped with a thin mocha ring. Plums, brown sugar, yeast and hops in the aroma. This beer is sweet, sugared fruit and candy, with an approriate spicy profile to balance out the sweetness. Slight acidity, bitter/sweet finish, leaving a spiced malt aftertaste. Pretty damn good.