Day Eighty-seven

It's finds like these that make me love my job of being a psychopomp to the world of alcohol. I was at an industry tasting a few months back when I hear from Spaceman Spiff that a local wine and liquor store (not mine if you were wondering) cleaned out its massive backroom cooler only to find old vintages of a lot of Stone beer. Naturally I bail from the tasting and make the jaunt over to said store to see what I can get my hands on. And this is how we have this beer today, the oldest one I picked up: a 2001 Stone Double Bastard.

A little crud around the opening, but nothing serious. It pours a reddish orange color with a light tan head. Yes, still carbonation! It leaves nice lacing on the glass, but not much. No real sediment to speak of either.

The aromas are a bit muted but I get alcohol-soaked cherry, orange, caramel sweetness, a lot of malt, and faded hops. A Stone beer where hops take a back seat? Amazing! It only took about nine years of aging. The flavor has a fair amount of malty sweetnes to it which makes for a thicker mouthfeel... the alcohol-soaked fruits come up first followed by some brown sugar, maple, and oak. A finish of hazelnuts lingers for about 30 seconds.

This beer has aged as gracefully as I could have wanted. I only wish I had more... but good thing I have bottles of the 2006-2009 vintages in storage.