Vertical Epic Ale 10.10.10
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
Belgian Style - Strong Ale Series Out of Production|
Score
6.98
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This ninth edition of our Stone Vertical Epic Ale series takes two interesting left turns. A Belgian-style golden triple is the starting point of this beer, but the first left turn is nearly immediate with the addition of dried chamomile flowers, triticale, and Belgian amber candi sugar. The second, and rather unusual left turn takes us half an hour up the road from Stone to Temecula courtesy of the addition of just-pressed Muscat, Gewurztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc grapes from our friends at South Coast Winery. As the Stone Vertical Epic Ale series has moved through the calendar, we found that the brewing schedule for a 10.10.10 release coincided nicely with the grape harvest, neatly providing an interesting twist in this epic ale.
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7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
22oz bottle. Poured a clear golden yellow color. Aroma was belgian yeast, sweet malts. Flavor was sweet, almost candy like in nature. Touch of spices, apple cider.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Oct 2010
at 22:18
5.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
On paper, this beer sounds pretty awesome - however, something like this requires nuance and subtlety, which are two things this brewer simply does not do well - cloudy gold with a saffron-ish tint - headless - aroma is heavy on the white grape/wine component, but with a hefty dose of yeast and phenols, herbal tea-like character - relatively inviting despite being a bit clumsy - pretty much everything in the flavor is overdone - the chamomile is overuse and generates an unwelcome bitterness - grape is fairly potent, but tastes kind of like cheap wine (the alcohol burn in the finish does not help this) - light phenols - overdone herbal bitterness in the finish, tasting a bit like a mouthful of yarrow - dry finish - too much of too many things.
Tried
on 22 Oct 2010
at 18:25
7.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Pours clear amber into a snifter. White head with little retention quickly recedes to nothing leaving no lacing. Looks like brandy...white grape aromas. Soft with front to back fruity grapes. This is as close to wine as any beer I’ve ever had...but quite drinkable.
Tried
on 21 Oct 2010
at 16:12
6.2/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 7
Funky peach nose. Cloudy amber, floaties, headless. Very much like a tripel on the front, peach is dominant. White grape notes in the finish keep the sweetness at bay. Alcohol evident. One of the more balanced VEs.
Tried
on 20 Oct 2010
at 13:31
8.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 9
Original rating from 10/16/10: Bomber poured into Trappist glass. Drank right after 9.9.09. Pours a deep slightly hazy gold hue with a small head. Aroma is strong in Belgian yeast. Smells like old books, some cheese, minerals, crisp fall apples. Tastes of Sauvignon Blanc, wet rock, cider, alcohol. I don’t taste the Muscat and Gewurz as much. Sweet and sour with some bitterness in the finish. Carbonation is medium-high and so is the body. I really like this entry in the series. It’s definitely different. I’m actually looking forward to seeing how this one ages the most so far out of the Verticals I’ve had (’07-’10). 8, 3, 8, 5, 17 = 4.1
Second rating from 11/11/11: Bomber into tulip. Pours hazy cantaloupe with a medium dissipating white head. Aroma is creamed corn, sour grapes. Taste is lightly sweet and tart, meaty. A little oxidized, but not too bad. I can still taste those Sauv Blanc grapes. Carbonation is holding up, body is medium-full. Still good, but maybe not as impressive as it was a year ago. Or maybe I’m totally full of shit. 8, 3, 8, 4, 16 = 3.9
12/22/12 re-rate: Pours hazy gold with a fast-collapsing white head. Aroma is a little funky, like overripe grapes and sour berry jam. Taste is lightly sweet and a bit tart, finishes dry. The wine grapes come through fairly strong. Mouthfeel is oily, carbonation is soft to medium. This is really good. The best so far out of ’07-’10. 8/3/8/5/18
Second rating from 11/11/11: Bomber into tulip. Pours hazy cantaloupe with a medium dissipating white head. Aroma is creamed corn, sour grapes. Taste is lightly sweet and tart, meaty. A little oxidized, but not too bad. I can still taste those Sauv Blanc grapes. Carbonation is holding up, body is medium-full. Still good, but maybe not as impressive as it was a year ago. Or maybe I’m totally full of shit. 8, 3, 8, 4, 16 = 3.9
12/22/12 re-rate: Pours hazy gold with a fast-collapsing white head. Aroma is a little funky, like overripe grapes and sour berry jam. Taste is lightly sweet and a bit tart, finishes dry. The wine grapes come through fairly strong. Mouthfeel is oily, carbonation is soft to medium. This is really good. The best so far out of ’07-’10. 8/3/8/5/18
Tried
from Can
on 16 Oct 2010
at 02:32
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On tap. Pours with a clear golden body with a white head. Aroma of Belgian year, vanilla, grape, fruity. Flavors of of candi sugar, grape, banana, spice, herbs. Very well attenuated, dry bitter and well done...wish I could have some oak vanilla qualities.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Oct 2010
at 19:40