Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Escondido, California USA

22. Pours an opaque black with a dense, moussy, fairly short-lived sandy head. Dense sheets of foamy lace coming down the sides of the glass for sure. Ultra-toasty nose, one of the pepperier BSA bouquets around without a doubt. Dry, herbal, and distinct but restrained aromatics. Creamy medium body with some soft woolly carb showing. Black pepper, white pepper, toast, roast, and a bit of char on the mid-palate. Long peppery finish. Commendably devoid of sweetness, but lacking somewhat in charm.

Bottle thanks to kaggie97 sampled at Oct Houston RB tasting. Dark brown, small head. Nose is malty and smoky. Taste is peppery, smoky, sweet, and very dry. Body is thinner than expected. Weird mix of styles that seem to clash rather than coalesce.

Bottle: Bomber - Consumed vertically and remained vertical as to the typical horizontal later on. When I bought this, I had the impression it was going to be more a trippel-geared Belg. How I was mistaken. Oh well. Pours dark porter-like. Tan head. Nose has lot’s of roasted nuts and malts, and candied-brown sugar goodies. Vanilla and coca. Taste is dark chocolate and treated leather. Yeast, dark fruits and banana bread, slightly nutty with roasted malts and added spiceys of nutmeg. Finishes off with what taste like new vinyl siding. Yes, vinyl siding. It’s good and different, but I would prefer the Trois Pistoles over this. Anti-climatic non epic ale for me.

Bottle: Darker brown color with a nice tan head. The nose is lightly roasty, lots of esters and vanilla, some chocolate and light floral coconut note. Nice roasty character with a chewy yeasty roast note. Surprising how similar this is to the Van Den Bossche Buffalo Belgian Stout that I just had before this. Go figure. Nice in both the belgian area, and the stout area. A little beefed up body.

On tap. Dark beige head over a black body. Aroma is toffee, coffee, nutty, heavily roasted malts. Flavors are smoky, BBQ, woody, ash oak, bitter at the end. Creamy mouthfeel.

Pours a opaque dark mahogany with a smallish tan head. Aroma has an initial strange "fishiness" that is faint although detectable as well as toasted dark caramel and chocolate. The flavor is again slightly "fishy" as well as doughy, light spiciness and chocolate. Big carbonation and full bodied. Finish is very dry and toasty.

Pours a jet black color with small layer of bubbly tan film that dissapates quickly. Aroma is roasty, licorice, some sweet chocolate and light cola scents. Flavor is very dry and bitter, roasty and coffee like, bitter baking chocolate, nice smokiness. Very dry bitter finish. Don’t recognize any belgiany yeast that the description syas. The oak character is definitely there though. This is very interesting and different, definitely my favorite of the epics ive had so far.

Bottle. Pours deep black with brown edge and fading tan head. Nose is dark malts with some belgian notes and a slight orange peel hint. Taste is predominately roasted malt and belgian yeast with some smaller hints of chocolate and vanilla. The orange character also comes through slightly and really adds a nice component to this brew. Flavor is very smooth from oak making it a pleasant drink. Nice to see a dark style in this series.