This is our last beer in the 24 Days of Beer. I hope all of you have enjoyed our beer journey together and enjoy our "Epic" last beer. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!
Why we picked it: We wanted to buy a unique beer for Christmas Eve. We liked the story and how it is only made once a year. It's also larger, at 22 ounces.
About Stone's Vertical Epic: The tenth in an "epic" series.
As with any good epic, herein lies the promise of larger-than-life experiences, heroics and twists & turns as the adventure unfolds. This bottle-conditioned ale is chapter 10, and is specifically designed to be aged until sometime after December 12th, 2012. Provided you can wait that long. At that time, enjoy it in a "vertical" tasting along with it's ten Stone Vertical Epic Ale brethren. Each one unique to it's year of release. Each with its own "twist & turn" in the plotline. Each one released one year, one month and one day from the previous year's edition.
To remind you, the release dates are: 02.02.02 03.03.03 04.04.04 05.05.05 06.06.06 07.07.07 08.08.08 09.09.09 10.10.10 11.11.11 12.12.12
This year's Stone Vertical Epic Ale might justifiably be considered the non sequitur edition. We somehow came to the conclusion that adding Anaheim chilies from New Mexico's Hatch Valley, plus whole cinnamon sticks, to an amber-hued brew fermented with Belgiun Flanders Golden Ale yeast (which provides fairly intense character with lots of clove and banana overtones) would create a very tasty result. And we believe it does! The Anaheim chili is known for it's rich flavor more than endorphine-inducing heat, and the cinnamon adds a nice twist...part of the promise behind the Vertical Epic Ale series itself. As with any epic, remember that it is not just the destination, but the journey!
ABV: 9.4%
Case Cost: $180 (yes, $180! They are $9 for a single beer)
So with much anticipaation I waiteed anxiouslly until 12:00 today to open this beer. This has bee awesome!!! Thaank you again Tony, Katy and Mark. Becausee of you I have now swittched to Ale's. I will post my top 24 beers tomorrow when I am soberr b/c after these 22 ounces I am too hammmered to post my list. So it was a lager and I was happy and even most happy when I saw the goldden brown color with a nice head. Then I took my first sip and asked my Dad to taste it since he is here. He took a sip and immediattely fell onto the floor with legs up in the air. I can honestly say I could not have made a bettter statement on how the first taste hit my taste buds. However I must say as you continue to drink this beer and let it get warmerr and breathee; it tastes a lot better as it goes along. Side note: My wife, mothher and father have told me that it tastes bettter b/c I am completely hammmered! I cannnot deny that I am completely hammmered and have noo sense of my taste budss. Thank you Tony, Katy and Mark!!!
ReplyDeletesorrry for typo's butt did I mention I am hammmered!!!
ps. merry christmas!!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Joe's account, that seals it. No drinking until tonight. I'll drink it while putting together toys on Christmas Eve. Good times. Tony, Mark, and everyone, thanks for putting this together and including me. I say we do it again next year (or next month). I've found some great new beers and have enjoyed the descriptions and comparisons. Maybe next year you can take Brad with you so he can buy himself a lager or something. Personally I think the selection was amazing. I'll now post my top 23.
ReplyDeleteAlright, here we go. I graded them all A-F. Keep in mind that any beer above an F, I would be more than willing to drink. D is still passing in my book. No grade inflation. Final grade for Stone tonight.
ReplyDeleteAffligem A-
Terrapin A-
Lagunitas A-
Allagash Tripel B+
Sierra Celebration B
Hoegaarden B-
New Belgium Snow Day B-
Weihanstephan B-
Bell's Christmas C+
Steigel C+
Southern Tier C+
Anderson Valley C+
Hofbrau Dunkel C+
Boddington's C+
Founder's Dirty Bastard C+
Kingfisher C+
Troegs Mad Elf C+
Hofbrau Hefeweizen C
Smuttynose Porter C
Franziskaner C-
Orkney Skull Splitter C-
Bellhaven Scottish Ale D
Bitburger F
Joe - what a great post! I hope you're not too hammered by now. Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you're drinking your last beer with loved ones. I am not enjoying this one too much. I don't taste the chilies and it tastes kind of bitter to me. I give it a check minus. Waiting for the rest of your comments.....and until next year....
ReplyDeleteI can smell and taste the chilies. It has a unique taste that is just OK to me. Since Katy doesn't like this one too much, looks like I will be having two of these...40 ounces of 9.4% ABV beer!!! I'm gonna get hammered like Joe. I'll get it a 7.5 out of 10, B-
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas everyone!
Dave and I are sharing this one with my family. This beer is alright. Not my favorite, but maybe in Dec. 2012 it would have aged to perfection. Dave says he can taste the bananas. He may post separately, but with today's Jets loss I will say that he has already taken one "nap" this evening.
ReplyDeleteThis really has been awesome. I hope that we choose to do it again next year. I have tried many beers that I never would have bought myself and have really liked many of them. Thanks Tony, Katy, and Mark! And also thanks to everyone who posted awesome comments. Happy holidays!!
I didn't taste the chili but the cinnamon was very pronounced. I really liked it and would like to have a few more. I'm hoping we can get this one again next year although I guess we'll have to get it after the start of 24 beers of christmas since it will be brewed/released on 12/12/12. Hopefully the world doesn't end next year as many people are predicting and I can enjoy the 12/12/12 version of this beer again. Thanks to everyone who set this up and and I had a good time posting and reading everyone else's post. Merry Christmas everyone.
ReplyDeleteOdd that half of us taste the chilies and half don't. It definitely is a strong flavor. I'm not sure I like it but I will say this sure doesn't taste like 9% alcohol. Very dangerous. Ironic since one of my favorite beers is Stone Levitation which has a super low ABV of 4.4%. The chili is getting stronger as I get drunker. Pretty unique beer. I like it. I give it a B-.
ReplyDeleteSo I was over at my in-laws tonight and I had a Great Lakes Christmas Ale. Very tasty. Put it on the list for next year.
I didn't like this one at all. I'd say this was my least favorite beer of the 24. I'll give this one a 2 rating on a scale of 10 due to its high ABV.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to say that the World's Greatest Beer retained it's title against these 24 beers. But it was cool to taste some beers that I otherwise would never try.
This has been really fun. Excellent job Bolts, Tony and Katy. You all did a really great job putting this together.
Merry Christmas to all!
Joe -
ReplyDeleteGreat post but I'm a little confused. How are you hammered at 1:51 pm? Have you been on a 36 hours binge? Or did you get up at 9 AM and start pounding alcohol?
I started tailgating at 12:15 and finished the entire thing by 1:30 at my home. I got a headache now and hope the kids finally go to sleep!
ReplyDeleteI was really looking forward to this beer, but didn't t care for it at all. I had to move onto wine to get drunk. Thanks to everyone who put this together- it was great and I hope to do it again next year!
ReplyDeleteFirst - merry christmas everyone. I started drinking this around 1pm yesterday. I was sitting quietly on the couch watching football. By 3pm, I was watching TV outside on my patio flipping between the redskins and the red zone channel, while burning everything in sight in my chiminea. Suffice to say I thoroughly enjoyed this beer. The weather/scene combined with the beer's smokey/nutmeg flavor gives this beer a very high result.
ReplyDeleteGrade: Blackout Drunk
Thanks again to tony, mark, and katy. Clearly since I wasn't involved in the entire process, it wasn't going to be perfect. But at least this way I expend minimal effort while only offering constructive criticism.
These are the beers I'd willingly pay to drink again:
Affligem
Terrapin
Hoegaarden
New Belgium Snow Day
Bell's Christmas
Southern Tier
Anderson Valley
Boddington's
Stone's Vertical Epic
Here are my 24 beers ranked from best to worst:
ReplyDelete1. Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Style Ale
2. Bell Haven’s Scottish Ale
3. Southern Tier Ale
4. Allagash Tripel Ale
5. Anderson’s Valley Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale
6. Bells Christmas Ale
7. Terrapin Rye Ale
8. Affligem’s Blonde Ale
9. Hobrau’s Drunkel
10. Mad Elf
11. Weihensephaner Hefe Weissbier
12. New Belgium’s Snowday Winter Ale
13. Kingfisher
14. Bitburger Premium Beer
15. Salzburger’s Stiegel Beer
16. Frankiskamer Weissbier
17. Skull Splitter
18. Hotbrau Weizen
19. Boddington’s Pub Ale
20. Sierra Nevada Celebration
21. Lagunita’s Sumpin Sumpin
22. Hoegaarden
23. Stone’s Vertical Epic
24. Smuttynose Porter
Excellent beer to end this case with. Watching Warrior and drinking this own down!! Thanks for inviting me to participate and for the coordinating!! Merry Christmas!!
ReplyDeleteHere is my final listing...I think I will be going to by more of the ones I rated A- or higher. I really liked the top five listed here.
ReplyDelete1. Allagash's Tripel Ale A
2. Lagunitas' Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale A
3. Anderson Valley's Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale A
4. Bell's Christmas Ale A
5. Southern Tier's Winter Ale Old Man Seasonal A-
6. Hoegaarden's Wit-Blanche B+
7. Weihenstephaner's Hefe Weissbier B+
8. Troegs' Mad Elf Ale B
9. Hofbrau's Dunkel B
10. Stone's Vertical Epic Ale B-
11. Bitburger's Premium Beer B-
12. Bell Haven's Scottish Ale B-
13. Franziskaner's Weissbier B-
14. New Belgium's Snow Day Winter Ale B-
15. Boddington's Pub Ale C+
16. Affligem's Blonde Ale C+
17. Terrapin's Rye Pale Ale C+
18. Smuttynose's Robust Porter C
19. Founder's Dirty Bastard Scotch Style Ale C
20. Salzeurger's Stiegl Beer C-
21. Hofbrau's Hefe Weizen C-
22. King Fisher's Premium Lager Beer C-
23. Sierra Nevada's Celebration D
24. Orkney's Skull Splitter D