Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale

Bottle. Aroma of roasted coffee, dark fruit, and spices. Flavor like a dubbel, but with porter elements. I think it will taste even better after aging.

Rerate; bottle. Aroma of caramel, fruit, dark fruit, yeast and some brown sugar. Color was nice and dark. More drinkable than I remembered, but probably not as tasty overall. More alcohol presence than expected. In 4 years this probably won’t be very good in my opinion. Lowered 3.8 to 3.6 On my second rerate; I upped it from 3.6 to 3.7 (Dark brown, almost black; large creamy, tan head. Aroma of brown sugar, roasted malt, dark fruit. Smooth moutfeel, medium bodied. Roasted malt flavor, with some spice and dark fruit. Some throat warming. Could use some more age. Have another bottle, will hold for a while. )

Bottled after shuffling some snow. Nice solid dubbel. Nice "light" malt flavor. all the way through. Alcohol was hidden rather well.

This beer came across somewhat green. I was disappointed because I went out of my way to get this. Has a sweetness to it that just hasn’t seemed to develop. I’m going to put my other bottles away and see what happens.

This is it. Number 200. I’ll tell you what. I know a lot more about beer than I did 200 beers ago, but after getting to meet some great people in the beer industry, I realize just how little I know. I guess we’ll just have to keep drinking more beer. Ah well, such is life. This years edition of the Vertical Epic pours a deep caramel color, but settles a dark brown color. Light brown fizzy head with no lacing. Aroma is of sweet, fruity malts, with a universally accepted nose of fig. Initial taste is light sweet, ramping up to a moderately sweet finish. Average duration. Light on the mouth, it has a watery feel with no distinguishable finish feel. It was noted that this ale has a signficant cinammon taste. The first glass that was poured smelled and tasted different from the rest, independently earning a 7 for an aroma score, opposed to a 6 for the rest of the pours. Reviewed on October 22, 2006.

One of the best Vertical Epics yet. Similar to the 03, as I remember, but stronger, more body and flavor. I found a lot of fruit in the aroma: pear, strawberry, raisin/prune. Flavor was yeasty with some spices. Very little hop bitterness, way background. Malt backbone that could age well, but might not make it to 121212.

This maybe the most original beer i’ve tried. Man, where to start. This thing pours about as black can get. The smell is good and reminded me a little of the smell of a campfire. The taste was weird. I can’t figure it our but it tasted like burnt caramel. The flavor was very strong also. The drinkability was ok. I had a hard time consistently taking swigs of it. I will let the other one i bought age and then re-review it. Re-rated 7-26-07 Very big difference in this brew, or in my tastes. Smell is still great, and the flavor blended a little better. 3.3 to 3.8

raisin, black, cloudy, that is the obvious presentation of the beer. i congradulate stone on the nameing because it truly is an undertaking in drinking one of these gladiatorrs in the barley ring...almost a rusty nails and burnt coffee suprise attack but it is quickly and efficent;y dispersed by the velvety chocalte that coats your pallete...the perfect beer for a person that doesn’t like "beer"