That’s what I said to my friend Frank and our wives when I took my first sip of Stone’s Vertical Epic Ale 09.09.09.
But let’s start at the beginning. The beer poured rich and black in the glass, with a beautiful, thick head. I could smell its very pleasing aroma from three feet away, with a strong note of malt and a hint of nuts. Upon that fateful first sip, the taste came on with a rush of malt flavor and went out with a slight metallic taste that faded into a bitter note of hops. But everything didn’t quite hang together. So I piped up with my Christmas remark. Then I read the label and felt like a beer genius…
Actually, my friend Frank read the label, as I’m not one to RTFM or, in this case, RTFL. If I had, I would have known what to expect. The label proclaims that this ale is best enjoyed some time after December 2012. And this makes sense, as the brew tastes like it contains top-notch ingredients, but they need more time in the bottle before they achieve harmony.
I have to admit that I was pretty proud of myself for tasting this beer’s need for aging and that I accurately estimated how long it needed before becoming “ripe.” Of course, if I had read the label in the first place, I wouldn’t have wasted what will be a very good beer by drinking it three years too soon.
I think I’m going to try to get my hands on another one of these and put it in the basement for a few years. Up until now, the only aged beer I’ve had is stuff I’ve bought from stores where the big bottles collect dust. You know, shelf-aged. Once it’s home it is quickly consumed.
Are any of you guys into aging beers at home? If so, how do you go about it? Do you buy two, one for now and one for later? Otherwise, I imagine it’s hard to know what changes the aging process has made. Of course Stone could just brew and store these puppies for three years, instead of relying on impatient non-label-reading guys like me to do the right thing.
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
Looks like you need a beer cellar! That is the nice thing about Bourbon, the aging is done in oak, and once it hits the bottle the aging pretty much stops. That is unlike Wine which continues to age inside the bottle, and I guess now Beer too…
I also need a little space to brew – that’s the next frontier here. That way I can make smarmy remarks about my own beer, too.
I personally bought 2 for later. I’ve got the 07-07-07 and 08-08-08, too. This seems to be the best of those three.
Nate, I felt like a real maroon guzzling this thing down without reading the label. I could taste the quality in the bottle, but it just wasn’t cohesive yet.
I’m going to make this the first addition to my beer cellar. Now I just have to figure out what else to stock and for how long. At least the Vertical Epic comes with instructions!