Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale

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

bottle. nice glowing amber pour. minimal head produced. spices come through. malty nose. medium body, lingering aftertaste. stong.

Date: 07/14/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, O-Town Throwdown

clear dark gold, wispy off white head rouses up big and creamy to leave drippy lace, big spicy aroma with lots of sharp ginger, big body, big sweet malt flavor, big bready yeast character, lots of spicy balance, needs a bit of age for the sweetness to mellow and blend with the spices,
-------- /> Date: 08/12/2007
Mode: bottle
Source: roadtrip

sweet bright ginger and cinamon aroma, lots of sharp spicy ginger flavor, lots of thick bready sweetness that gets to be a bit much after a while but balanced by the spices, tasty for a sweet sticky mess, no telling what age will do to this beer

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

Pours from the bomber a slightly hazy amber-orange color under a 1/4" bone white head. Just a slight wisp of foam retention with no apparent lacing as chalice drains. Aroma is that of plunging your nose into a bowl of fresh cut fruits sprinkled in spices. Nice once you acclamate yourself to it, but a bit weird and distracting at first. Very different from what you would expect from the aroma profile of a Belgian Strong. Smells of fresh cut orange, mango, lemon, cherry, hard fruit candies and honey, along with ginger, cinnamon, bubblegum and a touch of clove are noted. Palate is full, smooth and adequetly carbonated to the style. Taste is much like the nose; quite fruity and spicy but seems a bit tamer and balanced. Lots of orange, lemon drop candy, ginger, cherry, black pepper, come to the forefront backed by some faint honey sweetness, clove, wheat bread and Bazooka Bubblegum. Alcohol is quite subtle and overall easy going down. Although not a world-wide classic, gotta give Stone a lot of credit for creating some tasty Verticals throughout the years. Well worth seeking out.

This is my second bottle in three months. Had the bomber as my wife and I were packing to fly from Houston to Paso Robles for a beer/wine vacation...needless to say the beer didn’t suck. Nice golden-glowing orange haze with light head. Nose of my mom’s banana bread mixed with apricot and fall spices. Nice medium bodied mouth feel with good carbonation. Ripe bananas mixed with some pepper spices stretching from Italy to Mexico. All of this is layered on a velvetly medium-bodied drink with good carbonation that ends nicely. Would be paried well with some seared sea scallops and risotto.

Bomber. Poured a hazy burnt orange color with a minimal head. Aroma of boozy bananas, toffee, candy corn and/or like a butterscotch or dulce de leche with a trace of citrus zest. Flavor of boozy sweet banana cakes, or "bananas foster," backed up by assertive and lasting spice and black pepper notes. Some hop bitterness detected underneath as well. Interesting Belgian/IPA hybrid concoction sort of thing.

Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale is a rather clear amber ale with tiny particles swimming around in it. The white head mostly recedes, yielding a soft, thin white film that leaves nice lacing. The aroma is fruity and very yeasty. There are notes of orange, apricot, cherry and bubble gum. It has a medium (medium-light) body that seems a bit watery. It has a lively, sharp carbonation and a slightly chalky finish. The flavor starts sweet and turns spicy. The citrus flavor at the beginning seems a little at odds with the rest of the flavor. A tenor malt tone takes over and rolls smoothly into bitterness. The aftertaste is of black pepper. It’s not bad, but I’ve come to expect more from stone. This obviously needs some cellaring. Good potential once the flavor and texture smooth out.

22oz bottle split with wcampbell, dmellott, Mr. PJs, MRO, and belushi. Strong malty flavors with tons of fruity notes. Mostly mandarin and grapefruit, some ginger and orange as well. Nice solid B.Strong Ale.

This Belgian Strong Ale pours a deep orange color from a 22oz bottle. Medium sized white foamy head, quickly diminishing to a thin cover with somewhat decent lacing. Aroma is malty, orange, sweet, spicy and more spices. A medium bodied Belgian Strong Ale. Malts are fruity and sweet. Flavors are cloves, ginger, citrusy peels, coriander and some yeast. One interesting, complex beer. At the moment its somewhat of a nice train wreak of flavors. I mean there is a lot of interesting things going on here, yet it is so pushed into the background by the malt and spices, it’s a little difffcult to figure them all out. Some bottle aging and this beer could be awesomely awesome. At this point, it just came out, it’s a little harsh. Lively carbonation. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is crisp and sharp. Aftertaste is slightly sweet with a touch of alcohol.