SayNoToCoors (65), Wheat Ridge, Colorado, USA
Jun 3, 2005 Wow! Stone does it again! I was very curious to try Stones take on a belgian brew... it turned out damn good! This beer is quite complex and offers a good fruity flavor. The head dicipated quickly, but who really cares. I will try to cellar one, but I don’t know if I can (I am very impatient!). The slightly-too-strong alcohol flavor is really the only drawback as far as flavor is concerned.
MM MM MM Good
 edden (927), cow- lumbus, Ohio, USA
Jun 2, 2005 5/28/05: Bottle.
Black-brown body with an off-white head. Aroma of vanilla, alcohol, molasses, and plum. Malt flavor, slightly sweet and sour with a black cherry finish. Flat. In my opinion the best Vertical Epic thus far.
footbalm (1218), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Jun 1, 2005 dark amber-brownish brew with little or no foam at all.My first impression is that it was kind of like smelling like a porter until I got my nose a little closer then i finally got some fruit and spme spices.But it has a funky metallic spice flavor like licking a counter in an Indian restaurant
elnadeau (786), Laguna Niguel, California, USA
Jun 1, 2005 Pours brownish with a smallish tan head, aroma is yeasty, sweet banana with a hint of spiciness. Seems a bit young, but I love the combination of complex flavors, dark fruit, roasty malty, earthy spicy yeast and more. Alcohol presence is balanced but not hidden. Overall a very intriguing creation, I like this one better than the previous two Verticals. A prime cellar candidate if you have the patience to sit on some of these..
leitrim65 (398), Seattle, Washington, USA
May 31, 2005 Stone never dissappoints. This one pours a deep dark brown with mahogany highlights and a thin tan head. The aroma is a perfumy mix of coffee, alcohol, smoke, and sweet dark fruit. Medium bodied and silky smooth in texture. Well balanced and bursting with flavors of chocolate, coffee, smoke, alcohol, and a gentle lingering bitterness in the finish. Quite impressive.
iwantalambic (1385), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
May 31, 2005 22 oz bottle, fresh: thin off tan head quickly dies into a thin ring. Transparent yellow gold edges with a deep, clear mahogany body. Bready yeast aromatics with hints of banana, coconut, rye, and lightly charred toast. Sort of like a blackened triple…Clove phenols wrap the tongue and combine with a dull, yet strangely spicy bit of star anise. The palate is a little young, needs some development in the carbonation – it almost seems hollow…dark roasted malts and a dusty cocoa powder linger at the back of the throat, while an odd piney hop bitterness tingles the side of the mouth. This one seems to fall along the lines of (2) surpassing the usual or ordinary…we’ll see how it develops, but right now may be my least favourite.
smoosh (523), New Albany, Indiana, USA
May 30, 2005 Bottle - it is obvious that this is not a typical offering from Stone. When I popped the top I did not get the beloved burst of hops, rather a fruity, malty aroma. Nice! Some dark fruit, a hint of smoke. Deep brown color with a bit of ruby on the edges. The beige head did not last quite like anticipated. A wild explosion of flavor on first swallow. Jumping all over the mouth. I like the palate - slightly fizzy, especially for a brew of 8.5%. A very interesting beer - from anyone - but from Stone in particular. Had I not seen the bottle I never would have believed it was a Stone beer.
notalush (2628), Denver, Colorado, USA
May 30, 2005 Deep ruby hue with medium head of large, foamy bubbles - aroma is mostly clove and the ever so familiar belgian yeast with hints of fruity esters - flavor is an odd mixture of chocolate, liquorice, light spice and lingering hoppiness - most of these flavors should work well together, but don’t - each struggles for dominance instead of existing in harmony - perhaps when 12.12.12. comes around this will be more balanced - for now it is just so so.
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