Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale

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

(Bottled, 0.66l) Almost clear, dark ruby with a small head. Grainy-malty, lightly caramely aroma. Sweetish, caramely and grainy flavor with hints of anise and licorice, and somewhat clear alcohol presence. Medium-bodied, low-carbonated palate with slight alcohol burn. A decent Strong Ale, but I kinda expected more of an Abbey Dubbel from Stone.

Relatively malty in the aroma with a fair amount of fruity esters. Slight hints of molasses. Decent but not great smell. Decent head that diminishes to basically nothingness. Brown body with a reddish tint. Fruity taste with some toffee/molasses/brown sugar notes. Slightly spicy on the back-end. Slight alcohol presence. Some roast and bitterness. Odd mixture of flavors. I don’t think this meshes all that well. Medium carbonation, slightly creamy mouthfeel. Slightly alcoholic and spicy finish. Ok. Overall, meh. For the price I paid, not bad. Will this stand up until 2012? Definitely not convinced of that.

Dark brown color with a light tan head atop of it, lacing was lacking. Smell was a bit light, bready, and even a bit smoky. Taste is smoky as well, was more like a rauchbier to me. I won’t detract just because it isn’t necessarily Belgian Styled, because Belgian style is hard to define as it is. I will however, detract from the fact that I just don’t like it. Medium bodied with high carbonation. I’m glad I shared the bottle and didn’t pick up two of them, won’t be buying this again.

Pours a dark ruby brown in color. A head formed on the pour, but was gone not too long after. Smell is very dark, ripe, juicy fruits and some black licorice. Taste is along the same lines, but with more of the licorice flavor coming through. Perfect amount of carbonation and wonderful creaminess on the mouthfeel. This one has suredly stood up to the test of time. Good beer.

Bomber. barleyPops shared the good stuff with me, as always. Thanks, Dad! Was pleasantly surprised with this beer. Dark brown pour with some roasty and spicy notes in the aroma. Fruity, spicy, malty flavor as well. Could definitely tell this had some age, but I think the age contributed a certain smooth mellowness to it that really made this one enjoyable to drink.

Dark brown ruby color. Syrupy malty molasses roasted aroma. Very chewy palate. Malty taste with spicy complexity followed by roasted hopiness and subtle hops. High alcohol content very well hidden.

bomber from Saarlander in a trade from a loooooong time ago, shared with illini08. poured a very dark brown with a tan head and decent retentive lacing. aroma had some mild yeasty-roastiness to it with some clove. flavor was some chocolate roast, clove, mild spice and subtle hints of dark fruit. a well made beer that has aged nicely.

Darker brown with a smallish head. Aroma of brown sugar, cocoa, dark fruits, and an interesting yeastiness. Flavor dominated by a roasty-sweet malt flavor that was somewhat of a mix between a quad and a porter - chocolate, roast, sugar, light hops. I wanted to like it more - maybe this one gets a lot better by 2012?