Stone Vertical Day

Phenomenal - jealous, as my lineup doesn't start til 07. Can't wait for 13.13.13.

 

basically its bacon pressed with bread under a huge heavy metal thing on the grill...basically fusing the bread and bacon together. "Bacon toast"

 

One rhyb... How much fo' jus one rhyb?

 

Chicago, Il

 

The last one! I had to grab a couple to drink and a few to age.

 

It appears to me that they took thin slices of bread, topped it with raw bacon then cooked it in the oven till crispy

 

Short ribs with potatoes with the 9.9.09

 

We stayed until 10:00. It was fairly empty at that point. The servers were handing out the extra food and some extra pours.

Stone had the extra casks on tap yesterday.

 

Opening 03-12 tomorrow with some friends, I'll post my thoughts on how they tasted later.

I'll echo prior comments that it was a bit of a bummer that the 12.12.12 wasn't released here until today. Not a big deal though, I wasn't about to plow through 10 bombers on a Wednesday night...

 

Retract that statement my good sir!!

Had 11 & 12 yesterday, 11 was an awesome chili bomb and 12 was a complete surprise! I guess i didn't do much research on what it was gonna be because when that jet black elixer poured out, i bout sharted myself. Then i tasted it and actually sharted myself...

Just agreed on a trade and should have 8, 9, & 10 in the near future

 

Ah ok. There is a place in Kent selling 03-12 bottles for $110. Not bad for 10 bombers. Just missing the 02.

 

Last night we had the opportunity to experience the Vertical Epic with '03 - '12. It was truly a great time and quite a bit of fun. Personally, I only had one klunker in the group and one other person named that vintage as their favorite. The differences and highlights of each year were interesting and wildly different. Here is how I personally ranked the beers

12/12/12 (ranked 8th) - Interesting beer but could probably use some time to mellow. I have another bottle that I will save for next year. Spices were nice, but very in your face.
11/11/11 (ranked #1) - A favorite for two of us and a close second for another. This one is very nice and I would give a glance on shelves to grab another.
10/10/10 (ranked last [#10]) This one didn't cut it for me.
09/09/09 (ranked 5th) This was a favorite for 2 people and was a very nice beer. Some ash and chocolate with a sense of smoke.
08/08/08 (ranked 3rd) Really enjoyed this and it was the hop bomb of the group. Please consider the perspective with that comment. It was amazing how well the hop flavors held up here and they really shined when consuming this as part of the vertical. (no, I'm not saying if you drank it next to an IPA it would be considered hoppy) Very cool beer at this point.
07/07/07 (ranked 6th) The ginger really shined here. While I wouldn't have named cardamom as the specific spice... it was clear the ginger was playing off another spice. Very interesting.
06/06/06 (ranked 4th) Anise, Licorice, Anise, Licorice. A favorite of one person.
05/05/05 (ranked 11th) - I would say the most non-nondescript of the bunch. Not bad, but not as interesting as others.
04/04/04 (ranked 7th) - You did not need to read the description here to know that there was some sort of lime in the beer. The Kefir Lime leaf really shined and was very interesting. I knew there was lime leaf in one of the vintages, but had forgotten which. It was no surprise with the first hint.
03/03/03 (Ranked #2!!) I really enjoyed this. I saw someone else describe this as very similar to an "Old Ale" I'd have to agree. Very fun to drink this beer.

Overall, just a great experience. Loved it. Kudos to Stone for this great idea and execution

 

05/05/05 should read ranked 9th... sorry

 

I attended a VE party/tasting at a private home last night. I agree with your assessments for the most part. Not one place in your reviews mentions a "wow". I didn't get any wows either. This is a shame based on the long wait and anticipation to do this vertical. Overall, I was underwhelmed.

 

Exactly, no wow beers. While there were pleasant surprises (02 & 08 for example) nothing was amazing. However I would not say I was underwhelmed. It was fun to try & I think I had my expectations set about right. Plus since I split a $50 ticket to try them all, I think it was worth $25.

 

Cracked open my 03-12 last night. No real standouts, here are quick thoughts...

03 - enjoyed this a lot when I had one about 5 years ago, past it's prime. Dusty with some nut flavors.
04 - one of my favs, still notice the lime, also taste belgian yeast, floral notes.
05 - quite similar to 03, a little more life to it.
06 - pretty good, cola, brown sugar, chocolate, and spices.
07 - most people didn't care for this, I did. Notes of clove, pink bubblegum, and citrus.
08 - not bad, reminded me of strong Belgian pale.
09 - light banana, bready, with nut, cocoa and spice flavors. Liked this one quite a bit.
10 - a lot of people liked this one, i thought it was ok, light white wine, citrus, kind of sweet, with a floral quality.
11 - a fav of mine and a lot of others, pepper is subtle, smoky, earthy. Nice dark malt flavors too.
12 - so so, a little too much spices for me. Reminds me of Anchor Christmas, but with more alcohol.

Fun night! A little too much fun though, felt pretty fuzzy this morning!