Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale

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

22oz. bomber. Wow, I was not expecting the dark brown pour, with a sizable tan head. Aroma is chocolate malts, roast, a little dark roast coffee, light spice and some fruit and peel. Flavor is more chocolate, roasted coffee, some fruits, peel and spice. This one really caught me off guard from what I was expecting, and found it to be nicely complex and interesting.

I didn’t get much belgian in this - Its tasty, but it seemed like a heavy poter or something like that. Smells of coffee and prune and raisin. Flavor is dry at first, then some fruity notes. Tasty.

Bottle... Poured deep brown, almost black with a a light tan head. Cloves and spices, with a nice belgian yeast nose. Dark malts, fruity, sweet vanilla and wood-like flavors. Vegetables and earthy tones in the finish.

22 oz bottle purchased mail order from South Bay Drugs in Imperial Beach, California. Poured into my Stone Imperial Russian Stout tulip sort of glass. Pour is opaque deep dark brown with a pretty one inch khaki head. The head is lasting, leaving behind nice lacing when it eventually falls. Aroma of bright resin pine hops right away, with some dark chocolate cocoa malt notes. There is also a dusty vegetal lingering as well. Taste is dry dark chocolate, layered on top of bitter drying pine hops, the resin is around too, though much more subdued than the nose. The finish is dry, with lingering dried green pepper vegetal taste. There is also a sharp apricot/tangerine type fruit sweetness followed by citrus peel. Palate is medium, coats the mouth completely, than almost immediately dries out with a bunch of chalkiness. This is a very unique beer, going many different directions. I would be very curious to see how this ages. I say this every time, thanks for doing mail order Geoi.

Bottle. Damn good; another knock-out from a very trusted brewer. I believe they classified this as a Belgian Porter. I’m not knowledgeable enough of styles to tell, but it tasted like a sweet chocolate stout to me. My only complaint is the price. At $6.79 per 22oz bottle, it was worth it to try once, but I won’t pay that twice.

Bottle. Very dark brown to near black pour.Tall, thick, voluptuous brown head. Aroma is very smoky with dark fruit, strong spice, bittersweet, dark chocolate, and burnt wood. Taste is roasted malt, ashy/smoky flavors, burnt wood, dark fruit, spices, chocolate, light molasses, and vanilla. Not really much citrus here. Body is medium with a dense, creamy carbonation. Ends with more smokiness, roasted malts, sweet, dark fruits, vanilla, spices and yeast notes. Ends sort of dusty with a light chalkiness on the tongue. Different and I don’t know if this really is a Belgian Strong.

Dubbel aroma background, but mossy, a little smoky, some bitter chocolate, light papaya. Too dark to see through. Fine-grained, hot chocolate foam, great bottle, except for the self-congratulatory epistle on the back. Mouthfeel is thinner than I would have expected, but chalky. Dark bittersweet chocolate flavor, drier than I expected. I didn’t get the orange peel - if it was there, it was the bitter pith only - either that or the Sam Adams I had leading into this squelched my orange discernment center in the brain. Finish is vanilla roast and light creosote. Good points for overall drinkability. Nice roll of the dice for Stone. Market Square Liquors.

McHenry Beverage - Deep Creek, MD. Hmmm...not quite sure where to categorize this beer. It contains Belgian yeast so I guess its Belgian, but it is chocolate heavy with a sweet, fruity hint coming through the back...more like an Imperial Porter. Regardless, this beer is awesome. While the corbonation could have been a bit higher and I would have liked to have tasted the yeast a bit more, the flavor palate is exceptional. A dark brown pour and thin off-white head makes for a thinner than expected mouthfeel. Not an epic, but good!