Stone Imperial Russian Stout vertical

2010

 

Mitch Steele from Stone thinks this beer peaks at seven years. Seems crazy, but this one goes this distance.

 

So I won't be getting a prize?

 

I could totally see this beer peaking at the 2-3 year mark. Thanks for the information. I have 8 in my cellar, and I was thinking 2/year.

 

I had an 08 or 09 that was fantastic (small bottle) but more recently did a mini-vert from 11-14, including variants. After that tasting, I won't be aging any more of these, nor will I likely buy this beer again. 11 was OK but the Belgo-Anise was awful. Totally off and slightly sour in a not so good way (I love sours and loved this beer fresh). 12 held up well but wasn't much to write home about. 13 was everyone's favorite of the night and even the 13 Espresso was good but the coffee had fallen out quite a bit. The 14 tasted like they dropped a bucket of chum in the beer before bottling. Everyone agreed that the beer had a distinct "bad fish" smell and taste to it.

Hopefully your experience is/was much better than mine.

 

I did a sort of vertical as well that included 2005, 2008, 2011 Belgo-Anise, 2012, 2013, 2013 espresso, 2015, and 2015 chai. I really wanted to love them all, but the truth is that it just isn't my favorite beer. I did find that the older it got the better it was, but the difference between 2005, 2008, and 2012 wasn't all the noticeable and overall they just weren't that good. I also hated both the Belgo-Anise and the Chai, but the 2013 espresso was probably my favorite of all just because of the subtle coffee flavor