Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale

Formerly brewed at Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Escondido, California USA

dark brown body with thin head..lightly toasted aroma of coffee, chocolate, caramel, and light alcohol..some raison and a touch of spice present as well...flavor is quite similar, and its malt backbone is quite bitter; im picking up some bitter chocolate, dark coffee, cloves, and a touch of toffee...a nice crisp, sweet finish

Pours an opaque blackish brown with a decent head that dissipates quickly. Complex aroma with chocolate and malt. Taste is exquisite, well balanced, almost stout like with a smooth malt and chocolate toffee flavor and fruity notes. Mouthfeel is rich and makes for a very easy drinking brew.

22 oz bottle - Pours dark brown with a thin head. It has a roast malt and yeast aroma. The flavor is sweet and roasted with notes of dark fruit and spices. There’s enough hops to maintain some balance though. Smooth, medium bodied, and mildly sweet to finish, I really enjoyed this effort from Stone. This is an excellent beer now, though not very complex. Hopefully get to taste it in a few years to see how it’s doing.

22oz bottle, bought in Downtown Wine & Gourmet, Harrisonburg VA. Consumed September 2006. This poured very dark red-brown and was quite floral, estery and spicy on the nose. I definitely picked up violets and maybe cloves. Sweetish palate with deep, sticky malt to the fore but, at the same time, the body was fairly light. Some hops kick in late but they seemed rather harsh and the whole didn’t seem perfectly integrated to me. Not my favourite Vertical Epic by a long way. Tasted as if it could do with more bottle age. Also, I’m not sure that carting it around in the back of a car for a couple of weeks helped too much. I’ll pick up another bottle next time I’m in the US if I can and re-rate.

Dark brown body with a substantial head. Innovative brew with aromas of chocolate, plum, raisin and fruit spice. Initially malty mouthfeel with notes of chocolate and caramel that lead into strong clove, banana and raisin notes. Yeasty, alcoholic finish with elements of smoke and clove spice, light undertones of chocolate. Overall, it tastes kind of like a mix between Chimay, a Weizenbock and a Scottish Ale. Yummy, but will improve with time after alcohol softens.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown almost black with a medium sized tan head. Aroma is yeasty, roasted malts, dreid fruits. Flavor is roasted malt, clove, yeast, chocolate. Palate is full bodied, with a medium carbonation, sweet toasty finish. This is good

Pours a dark reddish brown and a medium off white head. Lots of crystal malt like the rest of the Stone brews. Not quite Belgian by my taste and little aroma but some good sweet roasted maltiness with some dried fruits and little to no hop bitterness.

22 oz Bottle via Liquid Solutions. Pours a deep dark brown with an average size tan head the quickly dissipates. I am not getting much from the nose here...just some generic malt aroma, some fruity esters and some alcohol. Taste is some toffee, roasted barley, nutmeg, some black patent, licorice and hazlenut. Some hops and the alcohol is barely noticeable in the finish. Medium body. High carbonation. Goes down smoothly. 07/01/09 rerate-orig rating was 3.4-ok, been aging this for approx 3 years. Tastes pretty much like i remember it but a notch better. Is aging well but slow. Will try my other bottle in 3 more years i think.