Stone 11.11.11 Vertical Epic Ale (White Wine Barrel Aged) - Stone Brewing Co.

FosterJM

California

4.08/5  rDev +1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

1663rd Review on BA
Bottle to Darkness Snifter
500 ML C/C

Thanks to Scott for sharing during the VE party
Split with StarRaptor, Callmecoon & Smarcoly

App- A bit of a caramel brown with some amber and reds. JUST a touch darker than the red wine. Go figure!! A small head was there and the dropped down to a a small bit of bubbles on the top of the beer. A small bit of cling but not much.

Smell- So this is labeled as a Chili beer but the aromatics are clearly of the Belgian origin. More yeast with a small bit of banana and clove. The chili on this one is masked by the white wine. A bit more phenol and tannic. Much more of a sour aroma on this. Liked this one alot on the nose.

Taste- It's a tasty beer. Much better than the base beer was. The heat of the chili has faded and become more integrated with the addition of the barrel. A bit of a white wine flavor has really come out. The heat is very limited and the cinnamon is almost not evident. Solid and on par with the red.

Mouth- This was a medium body with a medium carbonation level. The redsidual flavors are of a Belgian beer but just a tad bit of chili and more of the tannins come out. The white wine added a nice sour component to this one. Again better than red.

Drink- The series is coming to a close and I feel that Stone is pushing the boundaries now. This was flavorful and subdued. I liked the base flavors and the layering. A good treatment of the barrel. The white wine was better than the red wine.

Serving type: bottle

12-18-2012 00:11:39 | More by FosterJM