Stone 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Ale

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

Banana, raisin, herbs, with a clear golden,body and a rocky white head. Medium body. Light pine notes and clove. Really nice.

Bottle. Pours a golden hazy beer with a white head. Banana, pear, bubblegum. A nice hop character of pine, citrus, and grapefruit. One of my favorites so far.

Drinking beer is all about good times and this beer is a good time. Watching Favre try to pull off a miracle in Oakland. Anyway, it’s almost a fine looking beer with an amlost resilient head and aromas of clove, pine and fresh breads. Flavor is plenty hoppy with a bit of bubble gum and banana and grapefruit zest. Better on draft than it is in the bottle surprisingly. Could use a bit more pale malts then hops but I think this ione is more suited to make it to 2012 than any of the others.

Hazy golden color. There is a strong aroma at first, piney resins, interesting hop. It has a strong body, with malt and caramel flavor, strong hopping, the spicy character of a Triple, some alcohol perception. It just gets too much in the end, when it becomes clear that drinking half a bottle is too much. The fact is that Belgian Ales should be about style, not power.

Bottle: Pours a bronze copper color with a nice spunky head and creamy lacing. The nose is earthy and fresh with a nice american hop volley, a estery belgian yeast note along with some sharp carbonation and the usual stone brashness. Huge body and huge bitterness along with the spicy phenols. Fruity and light mouthfeel with a lingering bitter tail and a rounded finish. Good, much better than the 07.

Clear, bright, very light orange-gold with a dense, fine, quickly-dissipating white head. Aroma of fruity fermentation esters with citrus noes--orange--along with yellow fruit hops notes alongside light sweet malt and some alcohol. Sweet malt and alcohol up front in the flavor surrounded by a fairly dense hops bitterness profile with some spice and yellow fruit flavors. The body comes across as strong, yet light, with a lot of carbonation and a long, bitter, slightly hot finish.

Draught at GABF 2008. Clear golden coloured with a small white head. Hoppy aroma of fruits, grape fruits and pine needles. Hoppy flavour of fruits, grape fruits and pine needles. Dry hoppy finish.

bomber from G&G. poured into a snifter. pours a bright golden color with good carbonation and bright white head. aroma is distinctly belgian, but with a hoppy twist expected from stone. scents of banana, cinnamon, cloves, orange, and a background of floral hops. flavor is truly something special. the very unique spice and citrus nature of a belgian ale combined with the hoppy bitterness of an IPA makes for a heck of beer. mouthfeel is smooth, with good carbonation and slight warmth from the 8.6%. very similar to Urthel Hop-It, but with a slightly higher touch of class and American hops making the difference. probably the best of the vertical epics to date. drink this one fresh and save one for next year.