Vertical Epic Ale 04.04.04
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
Belgian Style - Strong Ale Series Out of Production|
Score
6.90
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As with the 02.02.02 and 03.03.03, we are again making a detailed homebrewing recipe available on our blog. This time around we used some unmalted wheat, just the right touch of kaffir lime leaf and a really cool Belgian yeast. The result is a bit like a strong Bière de Garde/Saison-esque influenced beer coupled with some aromatic Bavarian Hefeweizen-style phenolic banana esters, and a backnote hint of lime from the lime leaf. Perfect for a match-up with some Thai in SoCal (or wherever in the world you might be), as kaffir lime is often combined with garlic, galanga, ginger, fingerroot and chiles (in the Tom Yum that is, not in this beer). Or, most certainly, you may choose to enjoy alone in a glass along side its Epic brothers.
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5.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 6
Crystal Clear orange coloured body with a nice white head. Complex aroma of yeast, curacao, honeysuckle, vanilla and medicine! Medium-bodied; Strong spicey character resembling a belgie with a long medicinal aftertaste. Overall, less than I had expected, but what do you know-Stone Again!! I bought this 65 cL bottle from BevMo in Danville, California and sampled it on 30-June-2004, my 23rd birthday, although it was a less than remarkable beer for such an occassion.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Oct 2004
at 22:50
5.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 5
Bottled, thanks hopsrus! Bright golden, creamy head. Strange salty banana aroma. Full bodied and soft, byt assaultingly sweet and with syrupy mouthfeel. Alcohol comes shining through the layers of lemon grassm orange and sugar. Interesting, but not terribly good. Perhaps time will change this?
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Oct 2004
at 01:28
5.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle Pours a clear orange/amber witha small fizzy off-white head. A very thin white ring is maintained with only r\traces of lacing.A light fruity aroma, apple, peach, pears and very little hops. Flavors include a pumpkin/clove notes with asome of the common belgian traces. A sharp slightly bitter aftertaste and a smooth slightly thin feel.
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Oct 2004
at 22:29
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
This beer is a rich yellowish-gold color with a medium thick white head and fair lacing. The aroma is very kinetic - spice, yeast, banana and hops abound. Medium-bodied, with a flavor reminiscent of both a Belgian and a strong Hefe. Citrus, spice, hops and bananas all vie for attention. There is almost too much going on in the flavor. Spicy alcohol and sweet fruit and yeast in the finish. I liked this one substancially more than the 03.03.03, but I think it would improve a bit with more age.
Tried
on 05 Sep 2004
at 18:05
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
In a rare occurance, this beer is pretty much exactly what the commerical description says it’s like - practically glowing orange in color, with a large but quickly diminishing head - aroma of citrus, spice, and a belgian sugar thing going on - very spicy and peppery flavor - quite yeasty, grassy, grainy - quite saison/beire de garde like, as the description says - yup, the banana esters are there, too, along with a kick of lime in the finish - quite easy to drink, which, with the alcohol content, could get you into trouble - good, but I’m not sure its worthy of the epic series.
Tried
on 26 Jun 2004
at 21:06
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 7
Deep gold, off white head.Yeasty clove nose.Flavor of yeast, coriander and cloves with medium strong alcohol heat in finish. To be fair, this is an interesting beer, but I don’t like this style, or this beer.
Tried
on 07 Jun 2004
at 20:19
8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
Bottle. Golden beer with a good white head. Aroma is a mixture of yeast, hops, lime, and malt with the lime and banana dominating. Taste is of yeast and malt with a little citrus - a slightly heavier wit beer with more depth. Very good beer that finishes clean, smooth, and has you wanting more. Alcohol is there, but not too strong. Not your typical Stone and I wish it would become a regular... Should not be classified as a Belgian strong ale - much less sweet.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 May 2004
at 21:02
8.2/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
AOBF 04. Bottle. Light gold, with some light green hints, yellow straw and a good firm white head. Mostly hazy, bottle conditioned. Smells of sweet pears, wheat, honey, and yeast. Nice and zesty. Flavor is thick, lightly syrupy and sweet. Honey, citrus (lemon-lime), and a decent hops kick near the end. This beer was unique in that it had mostly lighter, softer qualities to the flavors, yet when you drank it, it didnt seem light bodied or thin and there was plenty of flavor. No alcohol apparency, and a good thick body, but I can’t honestly say I’m not concerned for this thing when you think about the 8 more years it is supposed to cellar. We shall see, hopefully my worries are in vain. I can definitely see this stuff aging well for at least 3 or 4 years though.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 May 2004
at 12:48
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Wow- the bottle mentions lime leaf and that flavor and aroma is certainly front-and-center in this beer. Pours disturbingly like a Budweiser, with a clear golden body and a minimal off-white head. Aroma of lime leaf (especially after pouring the beer in a glass), banana, and clove. Flavor is consistent with the aroma- beginning with a very strong lime flavor leading to banana and clove notes. Other than those three flavors, complexity is minimal at this time. A refreshing change from the usual Stone fare, but not something I would drink on a regular basis, as the lime aftertaste gets to be a bit much.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 May 2004
at 01:28