Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale

Poured at a tasting on the beers namesake date, reviewed from notes.

A: Pours an almost black fluid with slight brown hues visible at the edge when held up to the light. A healthy light tan head formed with a moderately vigorous pour.

S: Typical high quality Stone aroma with a dry roasty character coupled with hints of vanilla, tangerine, and a Belgian tangy yeast. I find Stone aromas to always be effervescent in nature in that there is a true presence of smell, but layered in a way that all nuances can shine through.

T: The body is a nice malty chocolate with hints of tangerine peel, and vanilla. The finish is very dry and roasty. A very nice flavor combo that I look forward to trying in years to come.

M: The mouthfeel is full and smooth as a stout should be with relatively low carbonation.

D: Drinkability is quite exceptional really as there is much about this beer to love. I can't find anything here that might turn someone off.
A typical great product from Stone!

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-20-2009 03:42:37 | id: 1041833

A- poured black with a light brown head. thick two finger head that vanished quickly.

S- raisony, dark malts. nothing to crazy.

T- malty with just the slightest chocolate feel. more chocolate then the raison fruit smell. alcohol is very well hidden.

M- light to medium bodied. nice carbonation.

D- could drink two or three of these tops. after that i'm good.

Overall- i like this one alot better than last year's vertical epic (08). i say pick one up if you can. this brew reminds me of a more lighter bodied chocolate porter.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-19-2009 08:20:23 | id: 1041318

Pours a dark brown color with a decent off white head.

Aromas are of light fruits, raisins, chocolate, and nuts.

Taste is really dry with a light fruit character up front. Some spices, banana, nut flavors, and roasted malts. Beer then settles into some light sweet flavors, chocolate, cocoa, and light cream. Finish has a light mineral hop bite. Subtle but tasty beer.

Mouthfeel is good with nice carbonation.

Drinkability is good. This is a pretty nice dark ale. I think it will benefit from a little aging. Pretty nice beer, I actually preferred it the other day when I had it on draft. It seemed to have a little more flavor and kick to it. This is still a nice bottle of beer, and will be interesting in a couple of years, or maybe 3+.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-16-2009 05:24:53 | id: 1039288

On-Tap into a Weyerbacher tulip.

Nine Nine Nine holds a shoeshine black look with some mudy brown around the edges. On top the cap just barely covers the surface breaking into a bunch of scattered islands. Splattered paintball lace with a light tan line. Some good stick here and there but not strong holding. Easy to bring the head back with just some swirls.

The smell reminded me of a mix of a american porter with a touch of BSDA. Some hershey's chocolate and cocco nibs. Getting some piney hops in the back with a mix of bananers and orange peel. A bit of roasted burnt coffee in the back. I did not pick up on the Belgian yeast.

A fruity robust porter in my mind. The orange and banana mix really shows itself strong in the beginning and holds out. Some underlining spices with some Belgian yeast with alot of warming. Some piney hops onthe tounge not to overpowering. Light vanilla bean and not as much chocolate as expected. Some roast and smoke towards the back, this is good beer.

Smooth, easy and no interference from the slightly large alcohol, but some shows itself towards the end of the glass, no heat though. Slick with a medium feel and some carb felt. The finish is just a bit of every flavor integrated. Beautiful.

This is one tasty ass brew. After being very dissapointed in last years version, stone redeems itself with this unique BSDA/Porter, whatever you want to call it. I would not mind having a bottle of this to myself one day over some time and smoked meats.

Serving type: on-tap

Reviewed on: 11-15-2009 20:40:04 | id: 1038803

A - A fingers wroth of thick medium brown foam... Modest at best retention gives way to a creamy veil of lacing... Opaque onyx with an ever so slight ruby hue...

S - Heavy on Belgian yeasts... Orange zest... Chocolate... Perhaps a hint of coffee...

T - Holy bitter chocolate... Some definite woody characteristics... Vanilla... Subtle hints of orange... A very faint spiciness... A vague smokiness at finish...

M - Ever so slight carbonated tingle on the tongue... Medium bodied... Silky and ultra smooth... Rich..

D - Equal parts complex and sophisticated... To be enjoyed slowly sip after sip... A little age would probably treat this quite well as I think it would improve as it mellows... Flirting with greatness in most areas, but just a cut below...

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-15-2009 02:00:56 | id: 1038354

Appearance: On tap in a tulip glass. Poured a completely opaque jet black hue with a finger length of deep tan head that left behind splotchy lacing.

Smell: The scent is that of burnt espresso, tinges of belgian yeast and even slight touches of coriander, orange peel and currant.

Taste: Starts off with a big pillowy malt that floats over your palate and deposits nuances of the citric orange peel and heavy amounts of yeast. There is an abundance of dark chocolate in the malt and it carries the touches of spice and slight hop bitterness till a big dry finish.

Mouthfeel: Had a medium body and is has a lingering aftertaste much like that guy at every party who doesn't realize you want him to leave.

Drinkability: An OK beer that is definitely a sipper, even though the abv is low the flavors are high.

Overall: Needs age in my opinion and was even intended for that, it has too much bittersweet cocoa in it for me and not enough other malt offering for me to really love it. With age however hopefully overpowering flavors will mellow and it will be well rounded

(will edit upon revisit in a few years)

Serving type: on-tap

Reviewed on: 11-14-2009 18:45:52 | id: 1038022

On tap at the Lodge in Boca Raton, FL. Poured into a chalice pours a pitch black with a serious fluffy head that leaves much lace on the glass. Smell is of dark roasted chocolate with underlying hints of citrus fruits. Taste upfront has a choclate character to it, followed with slight hints of orange peel, a peppery finish toward the back end. All the flavors came together nicely. This would probably be even better with some age on it, overall a very good sipping beer.

Serving type: on-tap

Reviewed on: 11-14-2009 12:49:30 | id: 1037916

Another nice release from Stone. Served from a bottle into a pint glass.

A - poured a smooth amber color with a solid head that hangs around for ever.

S - The ever present hops that makes a Stone brew a Stone brew.

T - This is a nice beer. Very smooth for an 8.9AVB. Slightly hoppy with some caramel. Is there a bit of tobacco in there?

M/D - Good mouthfeel and very drinable.

I would reccomend this beer to anyone who loves delicious beer. The only reason it's not a full A+ all the way across is because it's not the best Stone Brew I've had.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-14-2009 00:47:08 | id: 1037520

This is a stout or a stout-porter hybrid. I didn't get any Belgian sweetness, dark fruit or alcohol taste out of this beer. Malty, chocolate, coffee....yup this is some kind of stout or porter. I am not going to rate this against my perception of Belgian Strong Dark Ale style. It is a smooth tasty beer, just seems more like a different style than advertised.

Pours a dense black, no light getting through. Tan head, appropriate size and retention for 8.9 abv.. Smell is malty, hint of chocolate, lot of coffee. Taste is good (for a stout). Malty all the way, not too sweet of "chalky", bitter chocolate up front, coffee the rest of the way.

Mouthfeel is rich and creamy, no hint of alcohol.

Drinkability is good for a stout fan. I'm drinking the whole bomber..my trusty Friday night sidekick, my son-in-law hates stouts.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-14-2009 00:26:14 | id: 1037494

It took me a couple months to track this one down, I really wasn't hunting it down like years past. The series lost it's appeal for me after I drank my cellar empty of the 03,04, 05, and 06 I was holding onto after I graduated nursing school. Regardless I have to try these brews fresh in case it's something that I think should be tucked away. I had good results with my last four VEs that I cellared for some time.

My birthday month, this one appears pitch black with absolutely no ruby highlights when held toward a bright light, large mocha tan head forms after a vigorous pour into my Gulden Draak chalice, dwindles slow leaves big chunky layers of lace sporadically clinging to the sides of the glass.

Nice glowing citrus peels with roasted dark malts bring some recently tasted Swiss truffles with citrus peels to mind. A mild mineral metallic character with more roasted malt and lively fruit notes, a definite creamy mingling of dark chocolate with a touch of roasted coffee, charred oak, and soothing vanilla. A leafy herbal mint quality sticks out as well in the aromatics.

Flavor dark black patent malt has some acrid sharp tanginess to it with the citrus peels intermingling quite nicely with that dark chocolate and creamy effervescence. A Belgian approach, that may be the most believable effort from Stone yet, since the hops actually are chilled out here. Those oak barrel effects are minimal with traces of vanilla and charred oak, in addition to that actual vanilla beans that have been tossed in to the mix. A nice sugary sweetness is carried along throughout the charred dark malt and tangerine peel bitterness to end in a creamy blend of vanilla and oak characteristics, with a fresh blast of herbal mint from the hop additions here.

Mouthfeel overall is creamy slightly effervescent with a medium to fuller bodied approach. Really nice feeling overall besides that touch of acidic twang I spoke about with the harsh dark malt bitterness. The finish does strike some notes of charred oak and herbal mint that seem like they are going to show up like hop burps.

Drinkability is quality share with friends complexity and cohesion make for a good time, you can have loads of different flavors that may not work well together. This vertical epic ale decided to make familiar flavors glide together and intermingle off one another to provided the type of complexity that will lead to emptied glasses rather than drain pours like their 13th Anniversary release. I enjoyed the citrus and dark chocolate with a vanilla slightly charred oak finish.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 11-13-2009 06:28:23 | id: 1037084