Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale

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

MN RB winter gathering bottle from Nuffield. Sweet and dusty aroma. Raisins, caramel, toffee and dry dirty yeast. Pours rich brown with a thin white head. Big yeast element in the flavor. Quite earthy. Musty wood. Sweeter malt. Lively carbonation finishing with some hot alcohol notes.

Huge slightly sharp fruit raisiny aroma with hints of anise and cherry suckers.On second whiff, a little chocolate cake makes an appearance.. Taste is surprisingly light, with amlt more evident and the fruit recessing somewhat, christmas anise and a bitter bakers chocolate finish. You have to really search for these flavors because of the somewhat light body,alcohol is merely hinted at. Taste however is very pleasing. Because of the light body and slight alcohol presence,i dont see this improving that much with age. Also a syrupy sweetness becomes evident after about the 3rd sip

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle. Sienna brown and ruby touched pour; murky. Doughy chocolate, honey and earthy maple in the nose. Reserved, and sophisticated. Damp red fruit, banana and cotton flavor with an aged quality of peat and cardboard; far from stunning and certainly in the retirement of old age. Weakly constructed in the mouth, without much body or strength remaining. Berries and husky, stale malt in a lingering and drying finish. In the coffin, but kicking out its last bit of character.

Pours a rather attractive deep brown color with hints of light shining through on the bottom and around the edges of the glass. Noticeable brown sugar and molasses notes in the aroma on top of a little bit of prune. Flavor is indeed full of cloves and it has an interesting yeast profile. I don’t doubt that this beer has the potential to improve but as it is it’s just plain solid without being spectacular.

Clear cola-like pour. Off-white creamy head. Dry and dusty roasted nuts with some fruit and pepper. The flavor is kind of the same. Its a bit awkward... some fruity kool-aid-like malt with hints of roastiness, some nutty spices. Interesting beer, seems okay, but maybe could use a year of age.

Thin, dark brown pour wth decent tan colored head. Nose is arab and anis with a hint of licorice. The flavor is the same with a dry hoppy mid to finish.

bottle.... pours a very similar to the ’05, perhaps a little less dark and a thinner, more wispy head.... this one stuck to a more caramel malt, toffee, and chocolate nose profile.... flavors didn’t provide much of anything new but perhaps some dark fruit and some bitterness came through which didn’t totally exist in the aroma..... not that it’s much of comparison, but for those keeping score at home, i liked the 06 just slightly better than the 05.

Had this beer on 9/22/2006. Aroma is a rich sweet malt scent with hop back tones. Color is deep purple, almost black with good carbonation and thick tight head. Taste is rich and smooth. Starting with a full body it goes down with a smooth feel. Finish comes on bold with a rich malt flavor that is sweet and roasted then is backed by a nice bitterness. Overall this brew is wonderful. Its well balanced, full of flavor, bold and rich, without being overbearing. I look forward to the next in the epic series on 07/07/07.