Stone 02.02.02 Vertical Epic Ale

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

From the Encore release, rated Sept. 2016, the 22oz bottle pours with a clear gold body that supports a white head of foam. The aroma offers up plenty of sweetened wheat, citrus, coriander and banana. The taste comes across the palate with a nice creamy texture as it unloads banana sweetness peppered by shards of spicy coriander and cloves to midway. At midway it becomes a bit more citrus like as the modest wheat note takes on a slight quick bready quality. Into the finish the persistent banana and spiciness are met with a bit of a candy like bubble gum note and a pear flavored cotton candy character. All in all a pretty solid wheat beer that achieves some balance between the sweet notes, spicy notes and citrus.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

What better beer to have as your first rating? It poured a golden yellow color with a large head. The flavor was rather fruity with some citrus. The mouthfeel was very carbonated. I liked it. Thanks again to JohnC for bringing this to Noogfest III.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Im in shock I EVER got to taste this beer. First beer of Noogfest III many thanks to JohnC for sharing this. A cloudy yellow appearance with a vanilla, lemon, honey, bread and spice filled aroma. The flavor was very nice on this with some lemons, bread, orange peel, and a hint of pine. Slightly carbonated and creamy mouthfeel. Very good stuff. Since a bottle just went for $585 on Ebay this will likely be my last sample of this :)

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Poured a hazy orange amber color with a medium sized, off white head, that quickly diminished, leaving no lacing on the glass. Aroma of tropical fruits, but really fresh orange comes through, light lemon, a bit of spices, with some yeast, and toffee as well. Taste was sweet, with more apricot, or fresh orange, some sweet red apple, candy sugar, faint spices, some tart citrus fruits, dusty yeast, with light alcohol in the finish. Big thanks to Walt for the vertical!

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Dark golden with a tight white head. Nose smells like a bowl of tropical fruit. Strange cross between a hefe,wit and tripel that definitely works. Guavas,mangos,bubble gum are all bouncing around with just a hint of spiciness. An excellent brew!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

I first had this right after it was first released (Febuary 2002), and again recently when a buddy of mine popped open a bottle. Normally I would have advised him to hold off and stash it away for the long-term, but by the time I knew what he was up to in the kitchen, it was too late. Oh well. No need for a Stone brew to go to waste, eh...?

My most recent impression more-or-less matched my initial impression some 15 months ago -- ugh. "What the heck is this trying to be?" I think we finally setteled on something of a West Coast interpetation of a Saison, but even that is a bit up in the air. Regardless of how you might pidgeon-hole this one, I can't say that I was all that wowed.

Nice Belgian-esqe appearence, with a big, light-and-airy, perfumely head of foam atop a light, golden body. Very wheat/Tripel-ish. And I was very impressed with the very complex aroma -- hints of all types of things going on, including corinander, fruit, horse-blanket..., hell, even hoppiness (no surprise from Stone!).

But things turned South from there, I feel. Rather rugged/crude mouthfeel, almost gritty. This needs more time to age and mellow, me'thinks. Some complex fruit characteristics, along with a noticable alcohol prescence, and a not completely unappealing Belgian-ish mustiness.

It's almost as if this beer tries too hard to be too many different things, and doesn't quite cut it. Is it a big-ass West Coast Wheat Ale? An American interpetation of a Saison? A Belgian wheat ale with a big-hop California slant? A SoCal Bier De Garde? All or none of the above?

I would love to cellar some of this away. But with only 300 cases in existance, the odds of finding any more are somewhere between slim and none. I'm just happy that the 03.03.03 is *vast* improvement, and is most assurdedly going to improve with proper cellaring.

Pick up a bottle or two if you happen to see it hidden away in the very back of your liquor store's beer cooler, but don't cry too much if you never get a chance to sample this. Stockpile the 03.03.03 instead, a vastly superior brew.
//TB

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

dium orange color. Small head. Aroma is coriander, vanilla and various fruits. Medium bodied Belgian style ale. Malts are bright and slightly sweet and fruity. Hops are citrusy. Interesting blend of spices and flavors. Seem to change with each sip. Well balanced. Complexity of a nice Belgian. Well done. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 10

honey colored, w/ a great nose & flavor. Stone''s description is accurate. It is ''trippel-ish''. Very nice

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Never though I would get the chance to enjoy this fine and historic brew. Much thanks Marc. Had an orange brightness to it with a background of squash haze. Head is near moderate. Smells like hard candy and trail mix, though more on the dried fruit side, thatn the nut side. The trail mix stays on for the flavor and combines with sticky carmel and sweetness/bitterness fight it out for the finish. Damn impressive I must say.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This slightly cloudy golden elixir is topped by a medium thick head with a good amount of lacing left behind. The aroma is slightly sweet and fruity (raspberry, lemon) with a sour note and a slight yestiness. The flavor is slighlty sour yet slightly bitter with a slight fruitiness and a slight sweetness. Medium bodied and dry.