Last night the line up was:
Coniston Bluebird Bitter
Youngs St. George's Ale
Stone Pale Ale
Stone Smoked Porter
Stone IPA
Stone Arrogant Bastard
Stone Ruination IPA
Stone 10th Anniversary
Stone Double Bastard 06
Stone Imperial Stout
Had the Coniston and Youngs before the Stone tasting hosted by brewery co-owner Steve Wagner and the Mid Atlantic rep Scott Sheridan. I enjoyed most of the beers and it was nice to revisit some of them. I had forgotten how well the hops are paired with a solid malt backbone. The Pale Ale will now be available in their entire distribution area. Previously it had been available in their limited home area. I thought it was a nice earthy pale ale. The Smoked Porter was also very nice. Only the slightest hint of smoke. Plenty of chocolate notes and not overdone roasty like so many American porters and stouts tend to be. I liked it a lot. I can't recall having it before. The other that I had not had was the 10th Anniversary.
Wagner said that the Vertical Epic beer series is continuing to improve with age. He says that they sample them and post info on the website to keep everyone informed if one of the years should go past prime. I have several years of the Vertical series but not all. However, an occasional poster here on Realbeer, Beerking, was with our group last night at my table and he has 2 bottles of the entire series so far including the rare 02/02/02. I have a bottle of the one batch Sawyer too. So when the time comes.....I'll be sampling the whole series most likely.
