Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale

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

22 oz bottle. Pours a surprisingly dark black with thin beige head. The aroma is roasty with some ash, earth, vanilla, toast, and tobacco. The flavor is also quite roasty at the first sip, followed by pumperknickel, cocoa, oak, and mixed nuts. There is a somewhat spritzy overtone to it with some lemon and chalk notes, while some dark and earthy tones lurk in the background. The finish is semi-dry with nuts and chocolate and maybe some spicy yeast here and there. Decent beer, but not spectacular.

~Aroma of vanilla, coriander, yeast, white pepper, chocolate malts come out more as it warms up. ~Pours jet black with small creamy brown head with good lacing and head retention. ~Yeasty flavor with bitter chocolate malts and coffee. White pepper spiciness. Beer is too young, should have aged it. Malts are very bitter and yeast lingers. ~Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Dry feel, bitter finish. Slight alcohol warmth. ~Yeasty bitterness is too much. Should have aged this one to mellow out a bit more.

22oz bottle. Darkest brown/black pour with a medium tan head. Roasty chocolate aroma with Belgian yeast and a bit of spice. Roasty flavor with bananas, clove, creamy chocolate and a spicy and roasty finish. Roast and chocolate become more pronounced in aroma and flavor as it warms.

On tap at Deep Ellum, Allston (Boston) MA, October 2009. Very dark brown with a subtle ruby tinge. Definitely chocolate orange on the nose. Also some spicy Belgian-style notes. Rich, full and fruity on the palate with more smooth chocolate and zesty orange. Not much sign of oak or vanilla for me. I enjoyed the youthful bravado of this edition at this point in its development.

The darkest of brown pours is presented with garnet hues and a robust tan head that shows a light pink color. After a minute the head recedes into a tantalizing frothy ring. Aroma is tangy but foreboding. Mandarin, mango, papaya, grapefruit, bready toast, vanilla and milk chocolate. Flavor holds a very complex yeast character that produces distinct spiciness, puckering citrus, and bitter chocolate malt that rounds out with brown sugar, oak, and whiskey. Palate is medium bodied with a high level of effervescence and a titillating sense peaking bitterness that seems to proliferate along all the taste buds. Upon further swishes, I feel a velvety creaminess that finishes dry, though from bitter roast not attenuation. Very unique- haven’t had a Belgian Strong quite like this before- nicely done Stone.

Poured from big bottle a dark hazy brown with medium-sized tan head. Aroma is chocolate with bread yeast and a little spicy belgian yeast. Flavor has a lot of milky chocolate tones with yeast and a spicy acidic note to end. Palate is smooth almost milky with a hint of sweetness balanced with a mild bitterness and a bit of spice in the end. Easy drinking and not a hint of the 8.6 abv. Overall a nice drinking beer. I could see downing a few of these. I will have to stock up and save a few to see if those orange and oak notes come out with age.

Due to my ratings backlog, this ended up being rating 2200. Not intentional, but I’m always good with a Stone beer for a "landmark" rating. Very deep brown going into black, good head. Aroma is chocolate with Belgian yeast spiciness, mostly banana and some unidentified tropical fruit. Flavor is basically a match. The chocolate note is light and unassuming - in fact, although clearly not a small beer, none of the flavors leap out and smack you around. Some subtlety here. Nice. Couldn’t detect oak or vanilla, but that isn’t all bad by any means. The citrus notes from the tangerine peel were also restrained and simply folded into the yeast esters. Should be interesting to see how this ages.

Very dark brown with red tints, head is brown with a pinkish hue, dissipates quickly. Aroma is very intriguing; orange immediately comes to the forefront, along with mango, spice, and Belgian yeast notes. Seems to remind me of a very citrusy mulled cider, but with malt and chocolate aspects and a bit of vanilla extract thrown in. Flavor holds a much more complex yeast character, with aggressive spice and dough. Dark spices continue to be prevalent, though the sweet fruits seem to fall by the wayside in the flavor. The chocolate notes seem to shift from a sweeter milk chocolate in the aroma to a much more bitter chocolate in the flavor that seems to be accentuated by the spice and a bit of hop character. Oak and booze become notable at the finish. Palate is nice, travels through the flavors crisply and cleanly. Yet another solid offering from the Vertical Epic series.