The clever and extremely creative folks at Stone Brewing are continually raising the bar on what beer is and what it can be! This week we try Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale, a Belgian style Imperial Porter. Brewed with dark candi sugar, chocolate malt, tangerine peel, vanilla beans, and aged on French oak, this is one of those beers that packs huge flavor, but is nicely balanced at the same time. Beginning with the first release in 02.02.02, the Stone Vertical Epic Ale series is an eleven-year endeavor with each new edition released one year, one month, and one day after the previous years, culminating in a truly Epic Vertical tasting on 12.12.12. If you happen to have any of the releases from years past, we'd love to hear from you!!