Stone 05.05.05 Vertical Epic Ale

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

Rated in Nov. 2008. Huge thanks to Travis (of Dunedin Brewery) for bringing along a vertical of Stone’s Vertical Epic to the epic Florida kick off party at the Oldsmar Tap House. Pours murky fudgy brown with tiny off white head. The inviting aroma has notes of caramel, German dark bread, toffee, biscuit and faint rich nearly over ripe dark fruitiness. The taste was very nice but lacked the depth I was expecting. It had the smoothed with age notes noted in the nose such as caramel, biscuit malts, a bit of dark fruitiness and faint oxidation. Very nice treat.

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

Draft sample during the 2012 Vertical Epic tasting event. I got into the rating game in late 2005 so I didn't have this upon it's initial release. Held up quite well in the keg. Dark brown body with a thin bubbly head and stringy lacing. Big notes of toffee, licorice, doughnut and maybe enen a slight coffee accent. Cloves and a succinct yeasty spiciness imparted throughout. Medium bodied, filling and nice to sip on.

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

Sweet leaning, but not overly slow. Some signs of oxidation after 7 years, but not spoiled. Hints of clove and other Belgian-y spices going on, and some non-descript dark fruit and a hint of alcohol. Definitely a gimmick to sit on these for 12 years, especially since you can make a couple car payments by selling them. I've never had a bottle of my own past one year, and I don't think most of the VE releases will be better than fresh after 6-12 months anyway...

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

22oz bottle -

The Epic Ales series have been up and down, and I've had several chances to try most of them at different times in their aging lives. This one really carried itself nicely and seemed much better now than when fresh. Aroma is light chocolate, musty, spicey and yeasty. Light canned fruit also creeps in after it breathes a bit. Toffee, spicey/gingery, light mint, with a nice showing of sweetness. Nice to see it holding up, while others haven't.

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

This poured a dark brown color with a white head. The aroma contains some chocolate, caramel, and nutmeg. The flavor contains some spices, mint, ginger, caramel, and chocolate. The aftertaste is rather sweet. Overall this has held up fairly well and would be a good beer at Christmas time.

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

Sampled on 08/11/07 Poured brownish red with a hoppy nose and good caronation along with a white head. Ther was some lacing visable. the flavor was of sweet malt and hops. There was a slight warming feel as you drank. This paired well with salty snack foods

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

Pours a very deep dark brown with some faint ruby highlights. The head comes to a finger in height at it's apex, but fades rapidly to a thin soapy head. The lacing is thin and tattered. Smell; on the first couple of sniffs chocolate covered, rum soaked cherries come to mind. A little bit of vanilla and cloves are present as well, along with some hints of pepper. Very nice! Taste; the chocolate is definitely present right away, along with a bit of coffee with touch of a chalky/yeasty flavor. Some dark fruits come out, with cherries and raisins mixed with a bit of alcohol. Even though I can taste a bit of alcohol, it doesn't give any of the alcohol burn. The finish is sweet caramel and candied sugar. Mouthfeel/Drinkability; the mouthfeel is a bit thin due to a fairly low carbonation, but it is very smooth. With the smoothness of the mouthfeel, and the flavor of this beer it is pretty darn drinkable.

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

Ruby color with brown highlights. Off white thick creamy head. Aroma of maple, vanilla, oak, rye, pumpernickel bread, molasses. Flavors of rye bread, maple wood chips, light oak chip flavor, lots of vanilla. As carbonated as a soda.

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

A darker pour, some head but not much. Beautiful red hue when held to the light. Huge maltiness off the bat. Followed by definite detection of hops. How do they continuously fit both these in one sitting? Malt huge in the backdrop and hops big in the front end of the mouth. Aroma not perfect (on Stone standards which are significantly higher than others) but not too far from it! Hops found in the aftertaste too, lends biterness. A great finish. Seems to be holding up well. Verly lively, makes for a great drink to share with friends. Kudos again to Stone and big thanks again Dr. Jay!

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

poured a brown color with some red hints in it had a very thin tan head that left no lace the aroma was not very good the flavor of raisins, malt and some dark fruit notes i was kind of let down by this one compared to the other stone brews