Stone 09/09/09

Yes, it is time again for those arrogant bastards (I say that with the utmost respect) over at Stone to release the next creation in the Vertical Epic series, 09/09/09. Since 2002, 02/02/02, a VE beer has been released on the date when numerically the month, day and year match up. The "Vertical" part takes place with the release of 12/12/12 when all releases (How many do you still have?) are to be tasted in a grand, actually "Epic", "Vertical" tasting. If you don't already have this year's VE or if you are waiting for the grand date of 12/12/12 not to worry Head Brewer Mitch Steele lays out the details on The Stone Blog.

Mitch Steele (Head Brewer): During the brewing process we added dark candi sugar, vanilla bean, and tangerine peel to complement the flavors of the porter. The vanilla bean addition is fascinating, as it actually enhances the chocolate character from the roasted malts, and the candi sugar adds a nice hint of molasses flavor to the finish. The tangerine actually turned out to be quite subtle on the finish, and combines nicely with the chocolate malt character. We aged this beer on French oak chips, which contributes a smooth and subtle woody undertone and even more vanilla flavors.

Abv: 8.6%
IBUs: 50
Starting Gravity: 20 degrees plato
Hops:-Perle (German)-Magnum (German)
Grain Bill: -Pale Malt-Crystal Malt-Belgian Aromatic Malt-Chocolate Malt-Black Malt-De-Husked Black Malt
Additional Ingredients: -Tangerine Peel-Vanilla Bean-Dark Candi Sugar