Stone 05.05.05 Vertical Epic Ale

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

got this in a trade a while ago forgot who with but thank you. poured brown wit a light tan head. aroma, chocolate, prunes, and other dark fruits, alcohol, malt, brown sugar, some hops. flavor chocolate cover dark fruits, malts, molasses, a hint of cherries, cloves, alcohol, licorice, a little coffee. good beer would like to have a couple more bottles of this one

At the 2007 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywine Festival in Vail. Pours a reddish dark brown to black in color with a gargantuan dissapating head that leaves remarkable intricate trabeculae of Brussells Lace. Aroma of a chocolate covered cherry and coffee roastedness. Lots of toffee and coffee and raisins to the mix. This is a deep beer. It’s like the surreal depth of sound that one got from vinyl over CD’s when one got stoned. Perhaps this would be a great beer to drink while stoned.

I quite enjoyed this one. Has that red/amber/orange like colour that seems to be previlant amongst west coats beers. Pretty tall fluffy coarse head that was mostly white. Nice belgian yesty aroma that gives of the cursory dark fruits and lets slide some spice. Mostly, I noticed the advertised clove (my nose isn’t too good). I liked how this tickled my tongue with its lively carbonation. This wasn’t quite thick and chewy, but had a good body to it. Sweet flavours with some caramel, a bit of roast. Certianly there are dark malts in here, with some more spice notes

Given that my birthday is 5/5 this was a great beer to keep for a while. Had this beer sitting in my fridge since just after I turned 22, 4 years ago. Great color, nice deep mahogany with good lacing and perfect light ivory head. Great oaky head with nice hop overtones. Awesome taste, oak with a nice hint of spice. would be a bit better with a bit of honey. A very smooth ending. Great beer.

Poured a amber-brown color with some red edges. The head was somewhat disappointing, but the lacing decent. Aroma was spicey (not added though?) and yeasty (enjoyable). The flavor was spicey, and dark fruit-like with the yeast coming through pretty strong (pretty much like a dubel). The aftertaste was bready and yeasty (slightly bitter from the latter). Enjoyable, but perhaps better if aged.

Love it. Wish I had bought more of this now, I only have one left. Just couldn’t wait any longer though. It’s been over four years and I can’t remember what it tasted like originally. Tastes a lot of spices now but I was amazed to read on the bottle that it contains no spices, just awesome belgian yeast.

Dark brown pour pour with a foamy tan head. Sweet caramel malt in the aroma, along with yeast and fruit. Flavor is fruit and spice with a very light hoppiness on the finish. All around solid brew.

Black with a mahogany sheen. Frothy vanilla head films the glass with sticky cream. Port, nougat, and fresh prunes makeup the aroma. Deeply buried rum, melon, and black licorice scents. Dense and soft, but with an edge of fuzz. Opens sharply sweet and medicinal, reminiscent of liquefied black licorice and meaty port, but chased by dazzlingly interlocked airy phenols and peppery tobacco. Chalky snap of deeply kilned malt offers a flash of dryness and negates the body’s softness. Bittersweet at the center, with fluffy nougat hints coupled with an elegant clove and bubblegum tingle. Sweetness comes and goes, due to the subdued bright fruitiness. Drastically improves as it goes from cellar to room temperature, though, as the malt takes on a thickset cakey richness, which blankets the alcohol and medicinal astringency. Finishes with an alcohol induced dryness over a feathery foundation of malt sweetness, as clove-infused baked pears, black licorice, bubblegum, and cocoa dusted malt hulls override the lingering medicinal viscosity. Overall, the alcohol is overbearingly hot at times. And more yeast-derived bright fruitiness would lessen the prominent sweetness. Otherwise, this is easily the best in the series, thus far, and a complete turnaround from years past.