Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale

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

Pours a mostly opaque dark mahogany with a small froth of dark tan head. Aroma of toasty dark caramel and biscuity malts with some dry roasted maltiness and dark chocolate notes. Starts with good fullness and effervescent carbonation with a sweet doughy dark maltiness and some bittersweet spices and dark chocolate before a drier toasty finish. Pretty well balanced and true to style.

Bottle courtesy of bleeng. Very dark brown pour. Scents of alcohol and nose curling odor. Taste has dryness upfront with a slight bit of roast.

22oz bottle. I can’t believe this beer has such a high score. Pours dark brown with a medium sized, creamy, light brown head with good lace. Smells very smokey with a hint of burnt rubber and a touch of malt sweetness. Tastes roasty and burned and slightly sour. Some roasty and sweet malts through the middle and more burning on the finish. Medium body, good carbonation.

Bottle. Large creamy smooth khaki head with good retention, opaque body with a black hue, and a fair amount of lacing. The aroma was malty, roasty, chocolate, citrus, sweet, hint of vanilla, spicy, lightly hoppy, and mildly fruity. The flavor was malty, sweet, vanilla, spicy, chocolate, roasty, burnt, citrus, lightly bitter, some alchol, and a semi-dry finish. Did not pick up any of the banana flavors or the tangerine. A good beer, but slightly rough around the edges. I believe some aging will help round out this beer and this is why two bottles were purchased...one for now and the other bottle in 2012.

22 oz. bottle served in a Duvel tulip. Poured a deep black with a bit more than a finger of tan head. Nice aroma of chocolate and a bit of licorice. Medium bodied and rich. Flavor has more chocolate. Some fruity Belgian yeasty flavors as well. Bitterness from hops and maybe some from chocolate as well. Long dry finish of chocolate malt. A little spice as well. I got a little bit of the citrus. This seems more age worthy than the last couple of VE editions. Unique and interesting beer.

Poured black with a big tan head. Aroma is chocolate, cherry, roasted, sweet tangerine, and a little citrus hops. Flavor is chocolate, belgian yeast, tangerine, spicy, roastiness, a touch of the oak character coming through on the finish. After reading the description, I tried to pick out the vanilla, and found that flavor to be very faint. Very dry. Has an oily mouthfeel. I liked the rich complexity of this a lot, but I wish the tangerine and vanilla talked about in the description had been bolder.

Tallahassee, Fl - Market Square Liquors - 22 oz bomber. Dark, ruby red to dark brown pour with a thick khaki colored head that leave a thin trail of lacing and sticks around a while. Pungent aroma with some dried fruit, a hint of chocolate, some marshmallows and bubble gum. Flavor is complex with some caramel, dates, vanilla, chocolate, dried fruit and a hint of bourbon. Mouthfeel is thick, rich and creamy. Another winner from Stone.

On tap at House of Beer (downtown Orlando, FL): Pours like oil, flavors of orange zest, vanilla, milk chocolate, dark fruit tannins, pine, chalk, roasted malts, more citrus hops, light Belgium yeast, and some grapefruit peel, coffee, grains, tobacco, and some charcoal and toffee. I could go on and on. Drinkability: An extremely complex beer in which citrus and creamy vanilla and chocolate toffee all complement each other. Rebuy: Again and again. #147 on 17102009, DG.