This year's Stone Vertical Epic Ale is the very last one. Yep, this is it. The final chapter. Or as they say on the last slide in some old films: "Fin." No worries though; this edition is particularly well-suited for prolonging the experience, as it's as cellarable as any in the series, or more. In this, the final edition, you can expect a perfectly balanced "womp" of spices: cinnamon, ginger,…
This year's Stone Vertical Epic ale might justifiably be considered the non sequitur edition. We somehow came to the conclusion that adding Anaheim chiles from New Mexico's Hatch Valley, plus whole cinnamon sticks, to an amber-hued brew fermented with Belgian Flanders Golden Ale yeast (which provides fairly intense character with lots of clove & banana overtones) would create a very tasty…
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…
This is quite a complex and layered beer. Bold and smooth chocolate malt flavors combine with a Belgian yeast lending tropical fruit and banana flavors and hints of spiciness, all complemented by citrus notes from an addition of tangerine peel. Rich vanilla beans add a nice counter to the chocolate malt, actually enhancing the chocolatiness. The finish is smooth, with additional traces of vanilla…
The inspiration for this year's edition comes from a trip to Belgium taken by Stone Brewmaster Steve Wagner and Head Brewer Mitch Steele in early 2008. There they discovered a special edition of a renowned Belgian golden triple that had been extra hopped up with American hops. Back in Escondido, we opened the bottle and found that it was good. Very good, in fact. Being the hop lovers that we are…
In this year’s edition we took our inspiration from two Belgian styles: saisons and golden tripels. As such, Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale has a deep, deep golden hue and the flavor is spicy, fruity, complex and refreshing. We used four different malts and a subtle, yet distinct, blend of Glacier and Crystal hops to get just the right balance. Then, for the complexity, we added in some exotic…
In this year’s edition, you’ll notice a deep, rich aroma of toasty malts, anise, Belgian yeast spiciness, and a hint of cedar. The toasty, dark and roasty malt flavors combine with a soft palate - courtesy of specialty dark wheat and barley malts. The body is fairly light for a beer with such a high gravity. There is a pleasant, lingering bitterness, so you know it’s part of the Stone family.…
This time around, we used no spices in the brewing of this beer. If you've tasted the beer before reading this, that may surprise you. The special Belgian yeast we used adds a distinctively spicy aroma and flavor. Roastiness, clove, hops, fruitiness, and other great and funky phenols abound in the nose. What's in the flavor? You certainly get some dark roasted malts and alcohol overtones. What…
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…
As with Stone 02.02.02 Vertical Epic Ale, we are pleased to again make the full homebrewing recipe available on our blog. We used some pretty interesting ingredients this time around: coriander (a "Belgian-style" beer favorite!), alligator pepper (Wow! Bite into these little gems and you get a bigtime spicy rush of flavor), and a bit of both unmalted wheat and dark roasted wheat. And a blend of…
