Image by Flickr user Dan O'Leary
On Tuesday May 4th, starting at 6pm, Foster's Pub in Mount Pleasant is holding a literally "Epic" Stone Brewing event featuring four years' worth of their Vertical Epic Ale series.
First, a word on Foster's Pub. They are quickly becoming a destination for craft beer. In other words, it's worth the drive. Check out some pics I snagged recently of their ever-changing tap and bomber lists. In addition to fully respectable taps, the guys carry Brooklyn Black Ops, and recently started carrying some Cascade Sours as well. If you're a beer geek, you should be salivating.
Now, in the beer universe, a "vertical" is a collection of bottles of the same beer from consecutive years, or a tasting of said bottles. Normally done with big styles like Imperial Stouts or Barleywines, it's an exercise in seeeing how the beer changes with age, and how the recipes may have changed year-to-year. Fun, geeky, and hopefully delicious.
On February 2nd, 2002, Stone begin creating what would be come the epitome of a "vertical" with the release of their first Vertical Epic Ale. Each year since, on the trinumeral (March 3rd, 2003, April 2th, 2004, etc), Stone releases a new Vertical Epic Ale. Each year is a different style and a limited release, leading up to the final release on December 12th, 2012.
The absolute zenith of the "vertical" would be to have all 11 Vertical Epic Ales in a row, in one gigantic end-all-to-beat-all vertical tasting. That's why older bottles have gone for nearly $600 on Ebay.
Foster's is going to get you pretty dern close. This event will feature the first (official) pouring of the 2006 and 2007 Vertical Epic Ales in South Carolina (we didn't have distribution for Stone back then, our stupid ABV limit made it pointless). They will also have 2008 and 2009 on tap, for a total of four years' worth of Epic goodness. Also, fancy Stone Vertical Epic Ale glasses will be available. Local Stone rep Scott Sheridan will be on hand to talk shop and no doubt enjoy the tasting.
We have a lot of beer dinners down here these days, but not so many completely beer-focused events like this. I'm not missing this one.
Foster's Pub is located at 545 Belle Station Blvd in Mount Pleasant.
