Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale

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

Bottle. Pours a very dark, dark brown, with a thin tan head. Very roasted malty aroma, with some spices and some dark fruits. Very nice mouthfeel. Creamy and smooth finish. Flavor is mostly the roasted malts, with some fruity sweetness and a splash of hops. Very tasty. Very drinkable. I am glad to have a few bottles to cellar.

Deep crimsony brown, thin light tan creamy head. Complex nose of candied dark fruits, and spiced black bread, with soft notes of cedar, rye, and caramelized banana. Flavor is all about dark fruit and spice with a nice light hop bitterness throughout. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, light bittersweet, dark fruity finish. It’s not always about the hops....

Bottle: Dark mahoganny amber color. Nose of light yeast and plum, coriander with sweet molasses and caramel malts. Flavor of sweet fruit, light belgian yeast, tart and some malty blandness. Eh. Finishes with some balance but it’s not bad.

RBSG DC 2006: Mostly clear dark brown colored body with a large tan colored head that sticks. The aroma is wheat, roasted wheat, mild alcohol, light phenols & esters, bubblegum, and clove. Taste is alochol, chocolate, roasted wheat, bubblegum, clove, pepper, very much like a weizen bock though it’s much more dry and lighter bodied with a huge amount of alcohol showing through on the palate.

Big thanks to Beerdrenched for picking this up for me. Pours very dark brown with a light tan head. Aroma has dark fruits (figs & cherries), earthiness, brown sugar, anise and dark coffee. The body is lighter than expected for the style with light carbonation. Flavor starts out with some roasted malt, spice and the dark fruit aspected from the aroma. The finish is somewhat earthy and fairly astringent. This is an okay beer, but not up to what the hype is. I don’t know if I want to try this beer as a vertical is 2012, this doesn’t seem like it will age to well.

Pours darker than I expected with a darker head than I expected. However, the foam was plenty high, which I did expect, and it lasted about halfway through the glass. Aroma was subtle to me at first, but as it warmed, the yeastiness and a slight rauchbier-like quality became more apparent. Taste is definitely roasty, with dark raisins, and smokey malts,with some spices thrown in. Carbonation is fairly high and does the style justice, but it doesn’t seem to match roast flavors. As the beer warms it becomes noticably sweeter. Finish is defintely dryer than I’m used to with these belgian beers. Very good, and well balanced; I like it when beers taste a little different every sip.

Bottle Pours a very dark brown, with a nice modest but lasting light tan head. Spotty sheets of lacing. Aroma is typical belgian yeaty spicy notes, but fairly sweet and quite inviting. Flavors were similar, but plenty of residual sugars and body to lend a sweet wet, heavier feel to it. Finishes fairly dry, but with plenty of Belgian flavor. This one brings me back to the style that I was failry luke warm about. Thanks <!-- B -->Buck Dich for sharing.

Nice mahogany color with a rich creamy tan head. Good malty aroma with bread dough and sweet port. Somewhat overbearing hops mute the tropical fruit complexity lurking somewhere in the background. Nice hint of anise at the end. I like the smooth richness of the beer, but thought the hops were just a little too dominant and overwhelmed some of the more delicate notes I would have enjoyed.