Stone 05.05.05 Vertical Epic Ale

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

This beer offers a healthy aroma consisting of dates, molasses, raisins, and barley. It is a rich mahogany colored solution that only has a smidgen of a cashew colored head. This moderately thick beer is very sweet and rich. The flavor is an infusion of caramel, dates, molasses, almonds, and wheat. A nice sweet date flavor is left lingering on the palate.

I had read a few luke warm reviews of this brew shortly after it came out, and therefore perhaps my expectations were low. But boy, does this renew my respect for Greg Koch as a brewer! This is perhaps the best Belgian Strong brew I have ever had, and I didn’t have to travel to Belgium or shop the import aisle to get it. (I did have to travel to California, however) Not a real strong aroma. Belgian yeast notes are evident, however, as is some roasted malt. Dark ruby red body with lots of visible carbonation. Thick consistency visually. Large, tight bubble, tan head. Tart, sour and salty with dark raosted malt flavors. Alcohol profile is subdued making this brew imminently drinkable to the point of being session-like. Wonderful. No flaws.

Dark brown, small and unenthusiastic mantle of tan foam; interesting aroma of wet sandalwood and plums with a slight herbal sharpness. Holy cow, the flavor is slightly peppery and citric with pretty much the full array of spices mentioned in the description, they fan out nicely and are neatly interwoven and clean, but still with a nice, earthy, shall we say BELGIAN edge to them...possibly the best vertical epic yet, really nice beer!

Bottle pours a deep brown color with a thick creamy tan head. Strong chocolately aroma, with some raisins, roasted. Velvet smooth body, rich and luxorious. Sweet, milk chocolate flavors, overtones of tobacco, with the chewyness of brownies. Spicy at times, like pumpkin pie with gingerbread crust. A delicious beer, better aged for several months than I remember it being at its release.

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.

Bottle courtesy of santoslhalper, stored very well. Thanks, Jon! Awesome nose. Chocolate, candied prune, oak chips, alcohol, and mild Twizzler. Rich and luscious with very little bitterness from a hint of hops. Just incredible. Dark ruby-brown clear with light tan lacing head. Heavy oily body with silky carbonation and mild alcohol warming. Starts rich and just still a bit hot, with Twizzlers, plum and or prune, macerated raisins and brown sugar. Candi sugar and mild molasses. Oaky with just a hint of acidity. Really smooth and delicious.

Pours a light brown but parks in the glass a dark cherrywood tar with a low watt lamp glow. Firm, yellow-tanned creamy froth sits about a half inch tall, folds down to a light skim and skinny collar. Microcosmicly thin sheeting is placed ever so lightly around the edge with some normal looking ink blobs sticking in a few areas. Aroma is airy and pleasantly rounded in a soft display of tootsie roll chocolate, tender black licorice spice, plum, pale raisin, and the lightest of light hint of raspberry. Taste plays a little bit different then what the aroma leads to with more of a pale nut and light enduced roasty realm mixing with a milder tone of dark fruity malts. Banana, dull plum, even more so dulled raisin, slender nut bread and doughy hints of sweetness with puffs of dark cherry, licorice, and anise on the back end trailing into very deep and dark tanged molasses hangs on to a dry airy roast of an empty coffee can. Very subtle flavors continue to emerge and layer into some fairly complex characteristics as slick dark chocolate mingles into some of the flavors once it warms, as does alcoholic esters and dry yeast effects. Beautifully subtle and soft. Feel is about medium with just the right amount of give and take on the carbonation as its mildly effervescent and malty rich with smooth, soft, and slippery tones. Ghostly dark in character without giving away the farm with over abundant flavors. It subtlety is amazingly complex and rich with style. Damn good stuff! Appreciation is in full mode for this finely crafted brew.

Au Spirit Haus, MA. Bière corpulente et bien balancée. Très épicée. Alcool, raisin, maltée : voluptueuse. Corps superbe. Très bonne bière. Mousse généreuse.