Vertical Epic Ale 07.07.07

(Bottle, Akkurat, Stockholm, 24 May 2008) Golden amber colour with frothy, white head. Spicy, malty nose with ginger, cardamom, sweet gale and Seville orange. Fruity, spicy taste with notes of citrus peel, ginger and hints of yeast. Bitter-sweet with lots of spices. Medium body. Very interestning beer.

Stone Half Vertical, Popeye, 02.02.08. Deep golden color and in contrast to other years much more acidic nose with grapefruits really shining along with some oranges and lemons. The peels really added character to the nose over the spices. Tight body with spices, in particular ginger and caradom playing second fiddle to the fruits. Would age interestingly once it starts to open up.

Do I have the patience to wait five years for the second bottle? Probably not. Both bottles from Wine Warehouse in Charlottesville. Pours a light amber with small head and minimal lacing. Yeasty aroma, but sadly it takes on the character of that fruit cocktail crap from elementary school. Taste is very strong pineapple with some background spice. I’m not loving this. Guess that will make it easier to wait 5 years!

First rating(Bottle - bomber, thanks Marsiblursi!) Sampled on February 16 - 2008. Clear pale copper color, white head. Acidic, apricot, spicy, wood, alcohol scent. Sweert, fruity, apple taste. Medium to smooth mouthfeel, medium bitterenss. Will most likely improve with some more aging.6/3/6/3/12=3.0RerateBottle, sample dlate 2008Clear amber color, small white head. Sweet, spicy, phenolic scent. Phenolic, sweet, spicy taste, some lactose. Medium to spritzy mouthfeel, low bitterness. Some alcohol feeling.7/3/7/3/13=3.3

Part of a vertical in Tokyo; thanks marc! Nice white head on this clear, glowing orange brew. Aroma of tropical fruits, orange, grapefruit, real light toasted malts, and light spice. Full bodied, nicely carbonated. Intense tropical fruits, lemon zest, grapefruit, and citrus, rounded out by nice spice and ginger. The lemon peel is pretty strong and bright. Nice fruit throughout. Not the best in the vertical, but definitely the most fun.

Bomber pour orange – copper with a wisp of a bright white head. Big aroma of Belgian yeast, spice like coriander and other spices I can’t identify along with apple, pear and some lemon. The taste has big fruity flavors with apple, pear and some mild cranberry and kiwi. There’s a bunch of spices too. I think I’m getting coriander, clove, ginger and other tough to pin down spice notes. Yummy now. I can’t wait to try this with more age.

I should have waited longer to drink this, but I didn’t because it was in my fridge. It had an orange body with a beige quickly dissipating head... in a Belgian chalice. Fruity, mostly apple aroma. It is pretty sweet, with a dry finish. Fruity taste. Not much in way of hops. Pretty thick body.

Dark orange pour, off-white head. Excellent lacing. Smooth, delicate, lightly spiced, malted and hopped. Stone has gotten a firm grasp on producing Belgian style beers that will come about with some age. I keep buying more and more of the Vertical Series each year as the quality goes up.

Bomber on 10/24/07
Small-to-medium-sized white head shows moderate retention, light lacing. Clarity is high, with plentiful carbonation in the bronze-straw liquid.
Spicy in the nose, but oddly, not nearly as offensive as the (unspiced) Weyerbacher muse. Some sweet vanilla and ginger notes give it an almost ginger-ale-like nose, which is joined by light caramel malts and white pepper phenols from the yeast. Fair enough Belgian flare, though it’s certainly not going to be mistaken for a beer from Belgian. Hoppiness is surprisingly apparent, though I’m not sure the leafy, slightly pungent and minimally citric crystal and glacier hops are best suited here. Probably some real hallertauer would have suited it just find. Medium strength of aroma, with some definite citrus quality on the finish and a fairly well-concealed alcohol.
Sweet and with somewhat too loose a carbonation, giving the malts a slight mushiness. Caramel, some breadiness and vanilla mix together, with strong ginger notes and ending with moderate acidity from the yeast but mainly the citrus peel. Fruitiness dosent overwhelm, but throws itself in to the mix, further unfocusing the beer. Too much sweetness and ginger; moreso than the 040404, which I enjoyed more. Hopefully this one dries out and improves like that one did. Alcohol under control. Medium-full body.

Bottle. Thanks Markus (bu11zeye) for this bottle. Pours a clear pale amber color with a small white head. Sweet malty spicy yeasty aroma with some waek hints of ginger and hops. Sweet malty warming spicy yeasty flavor with some fruity hints. Long warming malty spicy finish.