Stone Vertical Epic 10.10.10

If you've been reading for a while, you're probably familiar with the Stone Vertical Epic series. If not, the gist of it is that they come out with a new beer every year from 2003 until 2012 on the date where the year, month, and day are all the same number. These beers are designed to be aged until 12.12.12, where they can all be tasted in a "vertical" session going from year to year. This year's installment was released on 10.10.10. Well, sort of. Due to some issues either with the brewery or the distributor, it took weeks for it to make its way out to the east coast, meaning we didn't get our hands on a bottle until around the 24th, a full 2 weeks late.

This year's installment is a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, with triticale, chamomile, and a blend of Muscat, Gewurztraminer, and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. What this should translate to is a beer with some white wine qualities. Initially the nose displays similar qualities to Duvel, with a touch of grape and a surprisingly wild Brett-like character. Since I don't believe the yeast strain actually contains any Brett, this does seem a little odd, but certainly not unpleasant.

In the mouth the beer again shares qualities with Duvel, but does diverge enough to be distinguishable. For instance, I detected a bit of tartness evoking memories of past adventures in white wine drinking. Given my current proclivity towards beer, this wouldn't necessarily be a pleasant thing, but in this case it was not entirely unwelcome or unexpected. A blunt bitterness sat on the back of the tongue, quickly giving way to a sour aftertaste. Combined with the relative lightness in the mouth and high carbonation, it has a rather effervescent nature.

However, there is a distinctly derivative nature to this beer as well. While Duvel is generally considered the primary example of the Belgian Strong Pale, I felt that if the grape and chamomile characteristics of this beer were removed, it would be an exact duplicate. Fortunately this is not the end of the story for this beer, and hopefully in the years to come the flavors will meld, and the harshness that it currently displays will subside. It isn't the standout beer that I though the 09.09.09 was. Perhaps by 12.12.12 it will be.

- Adam