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BeerMan
Vendome always has at least 5 different Stone's brews on hand. even a Vertical Epic from the last year or so.
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This is the last of the Spaten Optimator sixer that I bought.
I think Beer Advocate has it listed as a dopplebock. Dark and nice with a bock bite and a lingering bitterness on the tongue. I enjoyed it and the hoppy bitterness wasn't too much for my tastes. I'm sure you guys have tried it many moons before but I just wanted to add my .02.
I'll just copy my journal entry on this:
Victory 12th Anniversary – I bought this beer not really having any idea what I was getting. I had heard that this is a good brewery so when I saw their logo I went for it. The beer was 12% alcohol so I knew it would be a beast and it was Belgian style so I expected something similar to Blue Moon and SA White. Pouring it out was an experience as the huge head foreshadowed the creaminess of the beer. I don’t think the head ever left the beer. The taste was as expected. Intense cloves and cinnamon with a creamy mouthfeel. I also thought I detected some orange in the aftertaste. The alcohol taste was strong but nicely balanced and it was pretty drinkable throughout. I liked this beer and would recommend it to anyone who likes Belgian style brews.
Was in the mood for Belgian style beers by american breweries. TRied Green Flash's Trippel. Pretty good, prefer their Le Freak which is similar to Stone's Cali Belgiqu. Drinking Anderson Valley's Brother David's Tripple and am loving it. That is what I was hoping for. Similar to Brother Thelonius.
I liked it.
It's a great introductory to strong lagers for the unsophisticated palette, which is what I currently possess. Not overpowering with a very clean and crisp taste. There is a very noticeable sweet aftertaste, but again, not overpowering in the least. It's an 8% beer so you WILL taste the alcohol.
I also enjoy the Baltika #2 in a daily-drinker sense.
There's a Jon's Market a mile away from my house and they have seemingly 50 different versions of Baltika beer. I'd never heard of it and for some reason I didn't really care to try it.
Anyway, over the weekend I tried a bomber of Stone IPA at a dive bar in Venice. Not terrible but it wasn't my type of beer. I've had other IPA's before (Lagunitas, off the top of my head) that I enjoyed but the Stone was too hoppy for me. Very resin-ey taste that reminded me of branches off a pine Christmas tree. Not really my style.
I also had some bottles of Pete's Wicked Ale that my buddy bought. I remember hearing about PWA years ago but that was before my beer-drinker life. It was good, smooth, not very challenging but tastier than your average domestic lager. I enjoyed it and seeing how widespread it's availability is I now know I can reach for a sixer of this when I'm heading out to a house party.
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I BELIEVE I'll have another beer! 
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Originally Posted by mitchrock 
