Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale (Red Wine Barrel Aged)

Formerly brewed at Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Escondido, California USA

Orange-copper color, medium cloudiness, small white head. Big, thick, musty fusel nose, some soap, some stinging chemicals… strange. I guess that’s the wine character in the aroma… it actually shows up well on the back of the palate… up front it’s semi-sweet fruity, soapy of coarse, but the wine barrel tannins explode on the back, quickly drying, but still somewhat metallic and soap-heavy. Sweet and messy, no surprise, that’s how the 07 was.

Draft at Stone Bistro for RBSG. Pours medium dark amber with a dissipating head. Boozy nose of wine and caramel. Medium-full bodied with some stickiness. Flavor caramel, honey, and port wine. Finish has a lot bitterness. This was an interesting beer, but perhaps a bit too heavy on the wine traits for me.

~RBSG ’08~

On draft at Stone. Pours a murky tea color, with no head and very little lacing. Aromas of grapes, currant, dry hops, Belgian yeast. Pretty subdued, though. Flavor has a bigger impact though. Nice sweet start, a fruit punch feel, with citrus, mango, clove, banana, and a nice strong current of red wine running throughout. Smooth, bitter and sticky finish. ABV is felt but it kind of lends itself to the beer and works well.

BCTC draft. Poured cloudy amber with a small beige head. Aroma of grapes, caramel, oak, fruity esters. Taste is much like I expected from the description. Flavors of oak, wine, grapes, spices, citrus and a little mellow tropical fruit. I sort of liked this one better the regular 07.07.07.

Draft at BCTC 08, this one kind of dissapointed me. Pours a hazy amber with a small bubbly off white head that went away to nothing quickly. Aroma of the same odd spicing that was coming across in the regular version of this beer, getting some of the light oak and vanilla, but overall it just kind of muted the aroma across this beer. Flavor I sort of had a lot of the same things noted, yes the spiciness from the normal version of the beer was there (which I didn’t really like to begin with).

[BCTC 08] Poured a hazy red amber color with a small, off white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of light oxidation, caramel malts, spices, vanilla, oak, and a bit of grapes. Taste of cardboard, some sherry, red grapes, citrus fruits, honey, and really not anything super exciting. But, I did seem to find it slightly more enjoyable than the regular 07.

Draft @ BCTC. Pours a slightly hazy, effervescent, bright orange-amber color; thin off-white head with patchy lacing. Lots of ginger, pepper, and spices in the aroma; very strong notes of spices; touches of tannic red fruit and honey. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: tons of honey, white pepper, and lightly spicy ginger; strong spice component; highly carbonated; touches of tannic red fruits, warming alcohol, and bready / toasty malts. Lengthy finish: honey, white pepper, and bready malts; lingering ginger.

BCTC. A total dud. The "wine" of the wine barrel just didn’t come through here, nor did the beer inside age gracefully. Nothing lined up. Mostly malt in the aroma, with the wine notes a challenge to fin. Lightly funky flavor, but mostly muddy oak, spoilt grain. Tastes like sewer water. Can’t say I enjoyed this much at all.