Stone 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Ale

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

Pours golden and clear with a yellowish head. The aroma has a malt profile between a Belgium blond and tripel with some banana esters, spicy hops and some sweetness. Medium harsh body with minor biting carbonation. The flavor starts as a bit of a mess with earthy dirty hops that don’t mesh well at all with the Belgium yeast and very sweet malt. The finish has biting hops and somewhat sweet, but stale-ish, tasting malt. Not my favorite from Stone by a longshot.

Bottle. Pours a clear amber-gold with a small white head that dissipates. Big sweet citrus hops aroma, with spices. Taste starts sweet, with a lot of spiced orange flavors and then more bitter hops notes come in. Lingering bitter citrus flavors. Very tasty and drinkable.

22 oz bottle, shared. Pours a cloudy gold color with a small and quickly-dissipating white head. Aroma is very hoppy, which surprised me, though I also detected banana, citrus, and Belgian yeast. Taste is Belgian yeast, banana, and citrus up front, dissolving into a wonderful pine hop bitterness toward the end. It tastes like a cross between a Belgian ale and a pale ale, and I like it a lot. Well-done, Stone. You are rapidly becoming a go-to brewery for me.

22 ounce bomber purchased from the Covell Nugget in Davis, CA. Aroma is delightfully hoppy with some herbal, hemp, and orange characteristics. This is followed by some straight forward banana notes from the yeast. There is a bit of sweetness in there, which makes this a very enjoyable beer to smell. I honestly don’t think the aroma will improve with age. I expect the opposite, as a matter of fact. Transparent honey-colored body with a wispy, off-white head that is pretty small. Start is pretty carbonated, which becomes a little herbal with hop flavors. In the middle, there are some big, sweet, yeast/ester flavors which dominate. Some more bitter piney hop flavors come in later, which are followed by an unfortunate, dry, ethanolic finish. This had great potential given the aroma, but this just seems like a cluttered mess. I have a feeling that age will confuse things even more. I enjoyed this more the first couple times I had it when I was drunk.

Slightly cloudy orange, rocky white head. Fruity, slightly smoky aroma, with a touch of stone (lowercase "s"). Starts fairly sweet, ends fairly dry.Very drinkable, with some nice yeasty, fruity notes and nicely bitter finish.

Bottle. Clear golden pour supporting a tall white head. Fruity, yeasty aroma. Crisp flavor with apples, a touch of caramel and spice. Very restrained hop profile for a Stone. Mildly sweet but dry finish that warms slightly at the end. Not a traditional Stone and a significant departure from the most recent Verticals but I really enjoyed it.

22oz bottle: pours golden brown with slow fading white head, could pass for bud light but because its a belgian strong ale ill let it slide. aroma only a hint of malt not much going on here, flavor not bad has the classic belgian taste but is a little lighter almost like westmallie triple. good beer but could use work.

A Belgian Ale that tastes like something else entirely. Very golden. It swishes around in the glass with strands of white head floating in circles. Very aromatic. Lots of sweet here. I don’t feel the high ABV at all. I get a nice sticky taste that lingers. Probably should have bought two bottles.