Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale

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

Good slow sipper. The focus is on bitter flavors--dark espresso, hops, wood, and cloves. A little bit of roundness with milk chocolate and prunes. Balanced caramel sweetness. Tastes more like a stout than a Belgian ale. Not complex except at the back of the tongue. A good but not great beer.

Dark brown with a nice khaki lasting head. Aroma is roasted malts, caramel, yeasty with a spicy note. Full bodied flavour of roasted malts, spice, brown sugar, dark fruit with a hop dry bitterness at the finish. Quite rich and smooth.

Poured a deep, dark, red color with a small, light tan head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of chocolate, macadamia nuts, clove, banana, roasted malts, vanilla, dark fruits, and smoked meats. Taste of more roasted malt, vanilla, light citrus fruits, with smokey, bittersweet chocolate, toffee, nougat, dried fruits, light spicy yeast, and faint alcohol, with a light bitterness in the finish as well. Best Vertical Epic i’ve had yet, I like what the new guy is doing!

22 oz bottle from BevMo LaJolla. Pours dark brown and mostly opaque with mahogany highlights when held to light, and a huge fluffy beige head that diminished to a rocky cap leaving a trace of lace. Aroma is full and rich, molasses, hints of maple, dark fruit and spice, light cloves and all spice, peat and roasty malts, with floral notes evident as well. Flavor is roasty and sweet at the same time, black tea, prune, wood and spice, alcohol noticible with a bit of tangy spruce and bitter herbs in the finish. Full body, gentle carbonation and smooth on the tongue. I too will be interested to see how this one ages, but for a fresh, young dubble, it’s pretty darned good!

Purchased this 22oz bottle at Whole Foods in La Jolla, CA. Pours a dark brown color with a nice tan head. From when I opened the bottle to the pour, i could smell the fruit. Banana’s come to mind. Figs and vanilla. Nice taste as well. Same as the aroma, except creamy. A nice beer for the Vertical Epic series.

26.09.06 Bomber. I have to admit that I’m more than a little distracted from rating since I’m listening to the Phillies game right now and they’re in the thick of the wild card race. In fact, they are leading the wild card race, tied with the Dodgers who are leading their game tonight while the Phils struggle to cross the plate in theirs. And, by the way, a special thanks to the baseball gods for sending up Phillis fans Ryan Howard.<!-- p --> This beer is attractive with a deep mahoganey brown color and lasting, creamy tan head.<!-- br -->Baseball is much more attention demanding when you’re listening on the radio than when you have it on TV.<!-- br --> The aromas are lovely and phenolic with nice yeasty spice and rotten banana. There is also a fair amount of roasty goodness coming through and resinous hints as this beer really asserts itself as a Stone version of a Belgian style. The flavor is very spicy, maybe dominated by spice, but with long and lingering rich, dark malts. Sweetish stuff at first sip but bitterness attacks big-time towards the end with a serious astringency that does cut through the sweetness and even truncates the beers attempt at lingering with its phenolic perfumes retronasally.<!-- br -->Now, see, that kind of long and rambling sentence is just what is bound to happen when you’re listening to the radio, the Phils are desperate for wins, and Chase Utley is booting a crucial ball in the infield.<!-- br --> I guess this stuff is going to really fill out and the astringency will mellow over time as it does seem to be coming from the hops. Either way, I’m digging the stuff and do not mind the big driness for a switch (even though the description claims "no astringency") -- it compliments the massive spicy yeasts.

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

Aroma: carmel, malts, alcohol, some red grape skins
Appearance: reddish-brown, off-white head, lacing
Flavor: hops, carmel, malt, some red grapes, some woodiness, yeast, and bananas
Palate: slightly fizzy, slightly alcoholic, bubbly but smooth with carmel/alcohol aftertaste
Overall: my birthday beer!