Vertical Epic 07.07.07

I was just about to start a countdown here on the blog on the upcoming release of Stone's 07.07.07 Vertical Epic only to find out that the beer was in stores this week throughout California and a few other select markets.  For those of you not familiar with the project, Stone has created an annual series released each year when the month, day, and year all match.  The first beer was released on 02.02.02 with a new beer following a year, a month, and a day later.  Each beer has been designed to withstand aging in the bottle until the calendar hits 12.12.12.  At that time each beer can be sampled in a vertical manner to see how each year has changed and held up over time.  None of the beers are brewed to be identical, so it isn't technically a true vertical tasting across vintages as one would see with wine.  Yes, I could be technical and say that wine isn't the same every year due to variance in grape quality, but a wine maker is striving to make more or less the same wine with the best grapes possible.  With Stone's Vertical Epic they are purposefully making changes to the recipe and method to build a full library of aged beers all with different characteristics.   

The 07.07.07 "chapter" in the epic was inspired by two different Belgian styles: Saisons and Golden Tripels.  The bottle describes the beer flavor as "spicy, fruity, complex and refreshing" with an ingredient list that includes Glacier and Crystal hops, four different malts, ginger, cardamom, grapefruit peel, lemon peel, orange peel and a "special" Belgian yeast.  The 07 certainly sounds like an interesting creation and I look forward to getting my hands on a few bottles.  I'll taste a few now and store 2 or 3 away to drink sometime in the future. 

At the time of writing this post, a couple of the older VE's are available on Ebay for anyone looking to backfill their collection.  I found an 04.04.04 currently bid on at $9.99 and a 03.03.03 going for $36.00.  From what I have heard 02.02.02 is next to impossible to find with even Steve Wagner, one of the founders, lamenting that he would like to get his hands on a few bottles.  I currently have 04.04.04, 05.05.05, and 06.06.06 aging with plans to collect the rest through 2012.  Note to my employer at that time, I will be taking December 13, 2012 off since the 12th falls on a Wednesday.  Yep...I'm a geek.  I actually checked the calendar.  Beer is important and deserves some planning!