In spirit of 11/11/11, last night I decided to pick up a bottle of Stone Brewing's latest release in their Vertical Epic series and crack it open at midnight.
Brewed with Anaheim Chilies, cinnamon sticks, and Belgian Flanders Golden Ale yeast (providing pretty intense clove and banana overtones), this beer is hard to categorize.
It is not your typical chili beer, spice beer, or Belgian amber ... which is what makes 11.11.11 one of a kind, and why it can be considered to be the "non-sequitur" edition to the series. No matter what you call it, somehow this all comes together for a really nice and unique complexity.
- Brewery: Stone Brewing Company
- Availability: Limited release 22 oz. bottles and draft
- Purchased at: The Beer Junction (West Seattle)
- Alcohol by volume: 9.4%
- Malts: Pale, Crystal, Munich, CaraBohemian and Special B
- Hops: Warrior, Target, Perle and Pacific Jade
More on the Vertical Epic series:
The 11-part Vertical Epic series began on February 2nd, 2002 (02/02/02), with each beer being unveiled one year, one month and one day from the previous year's release. These are all designed to be aged until after the final release on 12/12/12, at which point they can all be enjoyed in a "vertical" tasting ... though for those who cannot wait, this years installment tastes great right now!
More on the web:
“NW Craft Brews” is a new weekly Web feature published Fridays here at KPLU.org. Let us know what your favorite beer is right now, either here or on our Facebook page. Cheers!
