Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale

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

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....

Lovely rosy chocolate in color and translucent when put to light, paired with a fizzy and fluffed tan head that recedes to a charming oily overcast. Aroma gets me going. Spicy cloves meet chocolatey fried bananas, sweetened and spiced with brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and mulled caramelized raisins. Smooth, sugary vanilla and cola aromatically team with concord jam and black currant. I could sniff for miles, but there’s more here to unveil. Flavor presents a tasty abundance. Sweetness and dryness meet center stage for a pipe tobacco and chocolate prune medley. Buttery bananas and cafe au lait gain a spicy clove, black peppercorn and almond grease addendum. Sweet and chewy palate traits join simultaneously with dry spiced capriciousness and bitter cheek sockets. Balance is piping in the direction of vivaciousness, and there’s no doubt that this one will be quite a treat if sampled on release date each and every year. Earthy, charred tobacco wrappers and heavily caramelized beet sugar do well with spicy cloves in the finish, along with lingering, sweet cocoa banana cream flavors, extending long into the night. Big thanks to tpkenned for the bombers!

Thanks to IrishBoy for this one. Dark brown body, moderate sized head, good lacing. Kinda fun to swirl it, I almost got a hurricane shape. Aroma is darker malts like roast and caramel, hints of coffee and chocolate. Also quite spicy with burnt bananas. Also other darker fruits are present. Overall I thought it was an interesting take on a dubbel, but it lacks refinement.

Dark cloudy brown with a medium sized tan head. Rich aroma of dark fruits, caramel, a touch of chocolate. Sweet flavor initially with a mildly bitter finish. A short blast of alcohol also. Flavor is slightly chocolatey. Some bourbon/scotch notes. I’m thinking this is going to be awesome in a few years.

Brown with a khaki head. Faint smell of blackened malts with a light sweetness. Full bodied and very smooth. A mildly sweet flavor with blackened malts is same as the nose. A nice dubbel here. 111406

Rating #1800 here....A dark brown apperance with a tan head. The aroma contains chocolate, raisins, bananas, licorice, and coffee. The flavor consists of chocolate, licorice, raisins, cloves, and coffee. An interesting twist on a dubbel certainly more on the stout side with a mix of hefe in there. The finish is a little bit boozy and sweet. The bitterness lingers. A very different and nice beer. One of my favorite Stone verticals!

Pours dark brown with a bit of red in there and a lasting gray brown head. Smells of banana, chocolate, and cedar. Clove flavor with a vanilla and wet wood taste. The finish dries up with milky yeast, nuts, and spice bitterness. This is a bit bland to me. It is easy to drink, and nothing sticks out as unpleasant, but nothing really impresses me here either. Ap-4 ar-6 tas-6 pal-3 ov-13 this has really improved in just 10 months. aroma has gotten a bit dusty already, but it brings out an alcoholic spiced egg nog aroma that is cool. flavor is very enjoyable now. spiced ginger notes with a warm rootbeer taste. wet wood flavor remains as it was, vanilla is now staying in the background and working to support the ginger banana sugar cookie notes. i can’t wait to try another one in a year or so. this one has potential.

on tap @ BCTC 2007. Dark brown opaque brew. Chocolate & coffee, roasty. medium to full bodied. very smooth. dark fruit some spice. well done