06.06.06

~ Fifth Tasting ~
October 6th, 2008 (3 years, 5 months, 1 day)
Click on a photo for Tasting Notes


Arlan Arnsten
Vice President of Sales
Mitch Steele
Production Manager/Head Brewer

Greg Koch
Chairman & CEO
Chris Cochran
Marketing & Promotions


John Egan
Lead Brewer

( '02 Vertical Epic Ale, '03 Vertical Epic Ale & '04 Vertical Epic Ale
also tasted during this session)




Arlan Arnsten
Vice President of Sales
APPEARANCE:
Deep mahogany. Clear (I can almost not tell) low khaki head.
AROMA:
Big malt aroma.
FLAVOR:
Spicy and malty – good hop bitterness in the finish – slight oxidation but still holding up well – slight flavor of alcohol lots of dried fruit.
Palate:
Full and slightly tingly (Co2)
OVERALL:
Great tasting but I prefer the 03 in this line up.



Mitch Steele
Production Manager/Head Brewer
APPEARANCE:
Deep Amber/Brown. Nice foam.
AROMA:
Spicy, some raisin, brown sugar.
FLAVOR:
Malty, sweet, light molasses and caramel, banana esters, light spiciness.
PALATE:
Medium/full body very smooth, balanced bitterness. A bit of heat (alcohol).
OVERALL:
Holding up nice. Very nice. I’d love a pint right now.



Greg Koch
Chairman & CEO
APPEARANCE:
Deep reddish brown. Clear.
AROMA:
Brown sugar. Plum wine. Raisin.
FLAVOR:
Candi sugar. Bitterness. Roast.
PALATE:
Pretty good! We discussed if some of the dark fruit was the result of oxidative notes or not, but if so it’s working well at the moment!
OVERALL:
I like this better than the Stone 03.03.03 Vertical Epic Ale, which is the other dark of the first four of the series.



Chris Cochran
Marketing & Promotions
APPEARANCE:
Dark brown/mahogany red, but bright and clear. Nice light tan head – makes for a good looking beer.
AROMA:
Fruit-raisin, smells a bit of alcohol with maybe some pepper or other faint spice.
FLAVOR:
Belgium-yeasty; clove and spice. Sweet: molasses and burnt caramel, raisins and plums.
PALATE:
Some bitterness, kinda sweet (but not too sweet). As it warms more fruitiness came through.
OVERALL:
Nice beer, aging well…I’m curious as to where this beer goes from here.



John Egan
Lead Brewer
APPEARANCE:
Dark, copper, tan head.
AROMA:
Subtle chocolate, sweetness like sugar cookies in the aroma.
FLAVOR:
Some chocolate wheat in there? I brewed some of it, but that was awhile ago….tastes like a slightly tart double-ish somethin’ somethin’. Nice touch of oxidation, but not objectionable.
PALATE:
Smooth, some heat on there.
OVERALL:
Excellent. Tastes very nice.