Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale

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

22oz. bottle. Deep ruby-brown, nearly opaque, with a medium sized brown head. Heavy astringent phenol yeast aromatics, clove and some banana. Heavy clove and pineapple esters up front, melds into some bubblegum, crystal malt, and some nutty/toasty malt characters. Tinges of chalky chocolate in the finish reinforce a mild roastiness and some residual fruit esters, primarily banana. Mouthfeel is a slightly heavy medium, somewhat hot as it warms, fairly lusterous but not dry.

Spicy, oaty, buttery nose. Cinnamon, cherry, tapioca, peanut brittle. Decently complex. Pour is a super-deep brown with a very small white head. In the mouth is like peanut butter or peanut brittle, with that chewy sweet peanut taste, no hops, milk toffee overtones. Much more one-dimensional than the aroma, though also stronger. An interesting dubbel that hopefully will age well. I’ve got another bottle to open in 5 years or so.

Bottle at the Liars Club, (possibly the best bar ever-although I’ve said it before). I hesitate to call myself a Liars Club regular, but let’s just say the bartender saw (and remembered) me, and insisted I try this beer. I dare say I think his enthusiasm was more because it is so newly available and not because of the product itself. It just tastes young. It says right on the bottle to age it, as all the Verts from Stone do, but you just gotta try the new one when it comes out each year, don’t you? Dark reddish-black pour. tastes like a glass of Dr. Pepper with some raisins or other dried fruit mixed in. Not much in the way of nose, other than a faint suggestion of roasted malts. Mellow and drinkable for how young it is...was taken aback when told it was 8.6%, as there was little burn. Certainly a unique beer, and it has a pleasing sweet malt finish. Just tastes a little less than what I thought it would be. Not a lot of oomph, if I can be totally obtuse about it. I’d be curious to shelf a bottle for a year and see if more complexity develops as a result. EDIT- Perhaps a case of one too many brews at Liars Club, but I origianally listed this as a draught. I woke up today to see I got a beermail from Greg, who most likely is Greg Koch, the mighty ruler of Stone, (and all around good guy, I’ve met him at a couple of beer functions). He thanked me for the review and corrected me in that Liars Club does not have this on draught but only in bottles. And yes, I did have it in bottle, which I should have remembered since I spent a good amount of time reading the info on the label. Greg, if you see this, thanks for pointing that out. As penance for my mistake, I will drink large amounts of Imperial Russian Stout, which is one of my favorite beers in the world (and I recently scored a bunch of it at my corner store).

Bottle: Black/red in color, light tan head. Aroma was spicy, some sweetness, and dark roasty malts. Flavor had a bitterness to it, a little hot from the alcohol, some dark fruits, a little yeasty. Had a sweet finish. This needs some time, as of right now it’s a bit chaotic and could certainly use some mellowing.

A hint of ruby-brown light gets through this brew, under a moderate light tan head. Spicy aroma with fruits; similar phenolic yeast notes that I associate with wheat beers. Slight medicinal touch. In the mouth, it’s bitter right off the bat, with the sweet/fruit/phenol flavors overlayed. Finishes the same way it started, with alcohol warming.

From bomber. Dark, ruby pour with thin tan head. Nose is burnt Belgian candy sugar, anise(?) and vanilla. Flavor follows with alcohol in the finish. Palate is smooth. Another one that needs to sit.

Bottle courtesy of Travis from Dunedin Brewing. Pours a clear amber brown with a one finger offwhite head that leaves good lacing. Aroma of spicy yeast, caramel, and light fruit. Taste is the same as aroma. Medium mouthfeel with a mild amount of bitterness and a spicy yeasty finish. Very good.

bo. flowers, coriander, fruitpeels. dubble brown with tan head-coating. balanced sweet coriander spicy malt. chewy palate. servicable plus, but my socks are firmly still on. Not excited about the ’vertical epic’ arketing angle one bit by this beer. Interesting concept, but this isn’t one of the most interesting stone beers. I probably will not bother aging this or getting another one.