A Beer Review of My Own

I may look like a Johnny-Come-Lately on this one, but I swear to you I have intended on doing this blog since I drank this beer (last night.)

Then Cyclonic has to come along and steal my thunder.

Truly, it makes me happy as it proves great minds think alike.... But I digress. Today I'm going to steal a lot of text from the Stone Brewing Company's website. When I do so, you will know because it will be in red text. I'm sure they won't mind as I am giving them free advertising to what I really think is a great idea.

I only patronize two establishments of adult beverages on a regular basis. One of those is Callaghans in Greensburgh, PA. Callaghans is like the neighborhood bar where everyone knows your name. It doesn't have a great selection of beers, but us regulars love it.

The second is Dawg's. Dawg's is a bottle shop that has around 480 different types of beers to purchase singly in bottles (or a mixer six pack!) The staff is knowledgable and friendly, and you could go broke on twenty-dollar bottles of beer. I tend to only have one or two when I go, sticking right around the 5-10 dollar area.

Last night was no exception. I started out with La Fin du Monde by Unibroue, one of my favorite blondes. Then I wanted to try something new. So as I was walking along the display coolers, my eye caught the Stone Brewery rack. I've long enjoyed Ruination, so I figured I'd like to try something else by this wonderful company. This is how I happened upon Stone Vertical Epic 07.07.07...

As with any good epic, herein lies the promise of larger-than-life experiences, heroics and twists & turns as the adventure unfolds. These bottle-conditioned ales are specifically designed to be aged until sometime after December 12th, 2012. Provided you can wait that long. At that time, enjoy them in a "vertical" tasting. Each one unique to it's year of release. Each with its own "twist & turn" in the plotline. Each one released one year, one month and one day from the previous year's edition.

So here's the deal. Stone decided to release ELEVEN different beers, each bearing the Stone Vertical Epic name. The brews released so far are:

Stone Vertical Epic 02.02.02
Stone Vertical Epic 03.03.03
Stone Vertical Epic 04.04.04
Stone Vertical Epic 05.05.05
Stone Vertical Epic 06.06.06
Stone Vertical Epic 07.07.07

These will continue to be released up until 12.12.12 at which point, you are supposed to have a vertical tasting, first to last! That's right, these beers are conditioned to continue to age in the bottle until after the last edition. The flavor will keep changing and the flavors will blend and mellow until being perfect AFTER 12.12.12.

Of course, the one I tried last night was the newest, 07.07.07. Here is it's description:

In this year's edition we took our inspiration from two Belgian styles: Saisons and Golden triples. As such, the Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic has a deep, deep golden hue and the flavor is spicy, fruity, complex and refreshing. We used four different malts, and a subtle, yet distinct, blend of Glacier and Crystal hops to get just the right balance. Then, for complexity, we added in some exotic spices --- including ginger, cardamom, grapefruit peel, lemon peel, and orange peel (the latter three acknowledging our Souther California home) --- and a special Belgian yeast strain. All in all this is yet another case of us drawing from classic Belgian influences and cavalierly making it our own...San Diego style!

Deep, Deep Golden is right. It's a pleasure to look at. There it was, sitting in a Delirium Tremens glass, just being stunning. It is a very complex beer. Citrusy at a start, then dryer and more spicy, and finally mellowing to an exotic light hoppiness. The flavor seemed to change distinctly with each passing second.

I bought another 07.07.07 to save, now I just gotta get a bottle of all the other ones to stick in my basement and wait till I turn 35.