Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale

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

From 22oz Bottle. Pours a deep dark, chocolatey brown color with a beige creamy head resting on top - fabulous retention. Loads of banana in the nose, but light and creamy like a frozen popsicle treat. Some coconut and smooth clove spice add some olfactory highlights. A mild chocolate licorice rounds out a solid malt base. Thick, rich and creamy mouthfeel without being overly heavy. This beer is going to be amazing if its already this good. The yeasty clove spice is a bit staggering as it confronts the palate at first, but it eventually gives way to some rich Belgian chocolate notes with a hint of anise. The chocolate flavors are nice and balanced without being overly dry or too sweet. Final smack of cedar cone hops and a smooth caramel maltiness. Well constructed beer with a delicious complexity as is - I will eagerly look forward to tasting this in the years to come.

Yeah, I know that I"m jumping the gun on this one. Really, really dark for a dubbel- not that that’s a bad thing. Like victory says, lots of cloves in it. A bit unbalanced for my taste- hopefully it’ll be better in a few years. Rating may change then. We’ll see.

Pours dark, "root beer" brown, with wonderful, thick tan head. Intense clove, banana, smoke and honey aroma. Initial flavor is of molasas, black licorice, with a funky (in a good way) Belgian yeast fruity character. Quite drinkable, with the 8.6% alcohol very well hidden.. This will be a very interesting one once it ages out a bit more.. A unique bend of styles, but very enjoyable..

dark brown with fairly thin head. Lots of roasted malt aroma with some spice and fruit. didn’t taste the cedar but maybe some banana. good complex flavors. I need to find some to cellar.

Thanks alot beer bill for sending me this in a trade. it was dumped into a snifter and had a dark nut brown with a thick head which faded right away and leaft a thin head and some minor streaks along the sides of the glass. the aroma has a lot of different things in it like hints of earth and soil as well as some mild traces of cider and fruits. There is also some hits of hops with roasted malt. Once the beer warms up and i took my first sip it had some creamy bitterness initially with spices like anise and some hints of clove. there is not much flavor lasting in your mouth once the beer has gone down your throat. Over all this is a very good beer, the booze is well hidden and this is a good beer to just sip on.

On tap at Winterstorm. Dark red brown with a determined tan head. Not what I was expecting based on the other 0 /0 /0 brews. Dark fruit, brown sugar, and chocolate nose. Warm and sweet in the mouth. Full. Smooth. Really good.

35 dollar bottle from The Freakin’ Frog. Pours black with a small tan head. Aroma is first and foremost oxidized caramel which works nicely, plenty of fruits with some chocolate and a hint of spice and phenols. Flavor is again caramel, fruity and roasty, and a moderate belgian spiciness. Palate is medium and carbonation has held up very well. Haven’t had this for a couple years and it’s way better now than I remember.

Had this one on tap at the Blind Tiger VSK event. Great beer! Nice sweet malts with some tartness.