Stone Vertical Day

Does anybody else taste/smell soap in 11-11-11? I finished 09-11 tonight and I had to choke down the '11. Ugh.

 

Kent, OH?

 

I was 14 years old when 02.02.02 was released. If only I knew what craft beer was then. Would have been awesome to collect all 11 without being them all after they had all been released.

 

I began drinking craft beer the year of 09.09.09 and was very pleased with that one and very fascinated by Stone. After really getting to experience craft beer from all over, I bought a full set of the Vertical Epics. I'm all about it and plan to attend a 05 to 12 tasting in Orlando this weekend. I will be opening my full set in January with 6 friends.

 

Went to the Stone Epic Festival today and had 02-12 on tap.

Here are my very quick, (very) brief, tasting notes:
02-Actually, surprisingly good. One of the highlights even. Tastes like a witbier, with some surprising bitterness, some green apple (in a good way), and lemon notes. Very drinkable.
03-Old in a bad way. Not oxidized. Just dull and boring. Flavor of stale wheat bread.
04-Banana esters, very sweet, syrupy mouthfeel. One of the worst offerings of the day. Even worse from cask. Far more bitter, strangely.
05-Burnt bread, somewhat boozy, roast, and mild clove. Tastes old, though.
06-Almost no aroma. We were passing this one around the table and nobody could smell a thing, except maybe some dark fruits if you tried your hardest. Slight tartness and what I'd call a rye spice in flavor. Boring beer though. Flavors and aroma have just faded into almost nothing with time.
07-In my notes I just drew a picture of a thumbs down.
08-Dunno, but the lobster roll they served with this was damn good. Tons of lobster meat in that bad boy.
09-Actually really liked this one fresh. It's still doing well. But drink now.
10-Fucking awful
11-Even worse
12-Really nice Christmas beer

The food was (all-you-can-eat) delicious, the company was wonderful, and all in all, it was a good (Wednes)day.

Pics of GTFO:

 

yeah 11 11 11 was one of the few beers by stone i really liked . i was so excited to tell ppl who know me cause im the big (and only) Stone poo poo er in my circles and everybody thought i was kidding . They all hated the beer so they figured i was messin with them or being facetious or whatever...

wow thanks for sharing the notes its very interesting for those of us who can't do it.

 

Sounds like you had a great time

 

Really interesting thread, guys. I've not tried any of these yet but I'm excited to try my 12/12/12 when it arrives.

 

Just drinking 12-12-12 tonight. Gonna work my way back to 7-7-7 over the next few days.

Thanks for listening; feels good to share my story.

 

Beachwood had '03-'12 on tonight. Had '03-'05 there, '03 and '04 were drinkable but far past their prime, '05 was very good. Had '10-'11 Monday, '08-'09 Tuesday, now I'm drinking '07, standouts for me were the '09 and to a degree the '10, the '08 became a completely different beer, better fresh, but certainly interesting.

 

I'm jealous.

 

these beers were barely good to begin with. And it kind of sucks that you have to pay top dollar for a beer only to have to age it for 12 months before you can enjoy it. And no, I am not a new craft beer drinker. Stone is notorious for bottling their beers before they should be put out in the public.

 

Drank the full series 2.2.2 - 12.12.12 tonight and I have to say that:

2.2.2 - wasn't great but held up better than expected. Improved as it warmed.
3.3.3 - one of my favorites of the series, but only when it was fairly cold but not when it warmed up and got lower on carbonation. Good cocoa and fudge notes when it was cold though.
4.4.4 - the kafir lime leaf really held up, despite the malt not doing so.
5.5.5 - my lease favorite while it was closer to refrigerator temperatures. flubbery and boring. improved slightly as it warmed.
6.6.6 - a bit one dimensional but not bad
7.7.7 - i liked the way that the spices were still present but well integrated.
8.8.8 - held up surprisingly well for the style.
the rest weren't too memorable in any way whatsoever

oh and p.s. screw stone for not getting the 12.12.12 released by 12.12.12 in most regions. I got absolutely lucky that a friend who works in the retail industry reached out to a Weyerbacher rep who had picked the 12.12.12 bottles up at Capones in PA the day before. If it wasn't for that connection, our vertical wouldn't have been complete.

 

How I wish I were there.

 

Really surprised you had no opinion on this – the hops have held up surprisingly well. Probably one of my favorites of the night. Here are my tasting notes from O’brien’s:

02: Some spices still left, caramel. Holding up nicely.
03: Molasses. Lots of molasses.
04: Lime is gone. Nice honey notes though.
05: Dark fruit and toffee, but in a slightly oxidized way.
06: Ugh. Oxidized hell.
07: Floral and honey notes.
08: Still amazingly hoppy. Especially taste the Amarillo hops.
09: Orange holding up a bit at the front. Super chocolatey at the end.
10: Grapes have mellowed nicely. Very well-rounded compared to fresh (first VE beer I ever had).
11: Damn, used to love this beer – too caramely and no chilies anymore, and cinnamon barely there.
12: Huge clove notes and super thick mouthfeel.

 

Just had 02-12 at O'Briens in San Diego, proceeds went to charity. 02 held up surprisingly well. Gonna have a bottle party at my house this weekend and pop all of the 05 - 12

 

I was fortunate enough to have a local beer bar that was serving all of the vintages (except 02.02.02) on tap last night. I did the full flight and split it with my girlfriend (as to not be tanked by the end of it). Here were my thoughts:

03.03.03 - Definitely showed some age, which gave it a nice Old Ale characteristic. I dug it.

04.04.04 - It tasted like an aged Tripel. A lot of the unique ingredients disappeared with age. Not my favorite.

05.05.05 - Aged pretty gracefully and had a nice sherry characteristic. Like a big Porter. Good overall.

06.06.06 - This beer was interesting because it looked dark and heavy, but was much lighter on the palate. Very yeasty and witbier-ish, with some subdued dark fruit notes.

07.07.07 - Tasted like a Saison, with the peppery yeast notes being pretty pronounced, but it had a lingering sweetness that's atypical for the style. Additives mentioned (ginger, lavender, etc.) were very, very subtle.

08.08.08 - Wouldn't have been able to tell it was an IPA. Hops have faded drastically, which was one of my favorite elements of the beer when I had it fresh. Aged IPA just didn't do it for me. Seems somewhat hollow.

09.09.09 - Probably my favorite of the night. Tasted like a Porter w/ Abbey yeast thrown in. Slightly roasty, slighty fruity, flavors really came together as it aged.

10.10.10 - Fresh, this was one of my favorite beers of all time. It was still delicious with age, but the vinous notes that made the beer really spectacular fresh were much more muted and it gravitated towards a more typical Belgian Tripel.

11.11.11 - You wouldn't think to put chilies and cinnamon in a sweet, pale beer, but it worked really well. Liked this beer a lot, very unique.

12.12.12 - First sip was a bit jarring because it's a powerful beer and not at all what I expected. Appearance and description (dark beer w/ holiday spices) made me think Belgian Christmas Ale, but the taste was completely different. It was very, very reminiscent of drinking raw molasses, both in flavor and texture. Very thick, syrupy, sweet with a hint of astringency at the end. That isn't necessarily a criticism, just an observation. The beer grew on me with every sip and by the end, I was on board and thought it was a pretty delicious take on the "winter warmer".

Overall, it was a fun experience and a great experiment. Part of the joy of craft beer is that experimentation, just trying new, ambitious things and seeing what happens. That being said, I found many of the beers to be pretty underwhelming. They put a lot of attention into using unique ingredients and building these really different beers, but all of that uniqueness seemed to fade away with age, leaving behind pretty run of the mill, Belgian-inspired ales. I am, however, curious to see what they do next now that this big project is finished.

 

Went to a bar that served the 06-12 on tap along with the 10 aged on French oak. A friend of a friend brought by 03-05 as a surprise, so I got to do nearly the full deal (although I only got a small sip of the 03-05 out of politeness, as the fellow was not a friend of mine personally and brought one bottle of each to a crowded tasting).

'03-'05: I only got a small taste of each of these, so I don't have much details, but I liked all of them quite a bit

'06: a bit thin and oxidized, but still pretty nice

'07: not my favourite, but I was very surprised by how well this one held up given the style; sweet and spicy

'08: smells awesome (big grapefruit from the amarillo-again, surprised it's still there after all this time), but the hops have totally faded from the taste and it's just kinda syrupy sweet now.

'09: probably my favourite of the bunch; I expect this was better fresh, as it's a bit thin now, but it has a nice vanilla and roast flavour

'10: easily the worst of the bunch; pure Belgian wit bubblegum-I didn't even finish this one

'10 on French oak: wow-impressed by what the oak did to this beer; it was quite a bit darker in colour and tasted strongly of oak; much better than the unoaked version

'11: so-so; the peppers are noticeable, but not overpowering

'12: this should have been brewed earlier in the series (maybe switched with '08?)-the spices are just overpowering at this point, but it'll probably be a nice beer (maybe even one of the best in the series) in a couple of years

Wow-epic is a great word to describe the experience. Thanks a bunch to Stone and Beermongers for putting this on, and thanks to whoever brought the '03-'05!

 

what was the best dish & pairing of the event?

 

Definitely the above-pictured braised short rib with mascarpone cheese mashed potatoes and micro greens paired with the 09-09-09. The chocolate malt from the beer paired very well with the earthy, smokey pork. And the potatoes were delicious on their own.

Edit: There was also all-you-can-eat bacon bread which was the standout of the entire festival.