The Stone Blog

Just one week after releasing the 2012 Stone Imperial Russian Stout, we’ve got another beer up our sleeves that’s coming to a glass near you starting today. A few years ago, Greg and Steve were approached by Matt Bonney and Matt “Vern” Vandenberghe (aka “The Matts”), the almighty wizards behind famed Seattle craft beer store Bottleworks. Every year, they work with a different craft brewery to formulate a special beer to commemorate their anniversary.

Sure enough, probably after a few beers, the conversation turned to: “Oh hey Greg! Wouldn’t it be cool to have Stone make one of our anniversary beers?!” Greg, quite known for having trouble saying no to cool projects, said yes. And Steve, quite known for having an appreciation of cigars and Scotch, was “somehow coerced” into saying yes (over cigars and Scotch) while attending a charity event at Brouwer’s Cafe, a wondrous Seattle craft beer restaurant also operated by The Matts. (Sneaky, aren’t they?)

Fast forward to the here and now, and you’ll see that it all came together, as the creatively named Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale.

The Matts envisioned this beer as a tribute to the number 13, honoring their 13 years in business with 13 malts, 13 hops, and 13% abv. Vern came down to our pad in Escondido on December 13th, and began putting this herculean beer together with Brewmaster Mitch Steele.

Funny enough, with all the specialty malts used, there were less fermentable sugars than anticipated, so it “only” got up to 11.4% abv, but we’re all still really happy with how the beer turned out. If for whatever reason, you’re upset that it’s not 13% abv, we suggest you take a sip, as it will immediately help you get over it. And if that doesn’t seem to take care of your woes, send us a tweet @StoneBrewingCo, complaining about how good the beer is but how 11.4% just doesn’t cut it. But please, be sure to tag it #FirstWorldProblems.

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Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale

Stats: 11.4% abv, 80 IBUs
Availability: Limited 22oz bottles & draft, beginning April 23rd
Distribution: AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, MA, NC, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, VT, WA
Malt bill: Pale Two Row, White Wheat, Aromatic, Weyermann Chocolate Rye, Light Munich, Brown Crisp, Oats, Crisp Light Crystal, CaraMunich, Baird’s Chocolate, Lightly Peated, Simpsons Dark Crystal, Crisp Amber
Hops bill: Bravo, Target, Columbus, Cascade, Delta, Warrior, Magnum, Apollo, Calypso, Perle, Galena, Chinook, Mt. Hood

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Tasting Notes, provided by Brewmaster Mitch Steele

Appearance: Beer pours a deep brown with a tan head of foam.
Aroma: A complex blend of hops—citrusy, piney, tropical fruit notes, blended with toffee and dark coffee-like flavors from the roasted malts.
Taste: Roasted malts come through a bit stronger in the taste, especially up front. Hops reassert themselves mid-palate, and the beer finishes smooth, but bitter, with lots of caramelly roast notes, lingering herbal hop flavors, and a hint of alcohol
Overall: 13 grains and 13 hops were used in the brewing of this beer to celebrate Bottleworks’ 13th Anniversary. The result is an Imperial Porter loaded with malt flavors, and the hop notes run the gamut from citrusy and fruity to herbal, piney and spicy. This is a beer designed to drink fresh, or lay down and cellar for several years. I choose to do both!

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Suggested Pairings, provided by “Dr.” Bill Sysak

Appetizers: Maple-glazed pecans, twice-baked potatoes or stuffed mushrooms with Gorgonzola and bacon, satay skewers with peanut sauce
Entrées: Grilled pork chops, Korean short ribs, lamb shoulder, French onion soup, chili
Desserts: Pecan pie, peanut brittle, toffee bars, apple fritters
Cheeses: Aged Gouda, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Shropshire Blue
Cigars: Partagas Serie D No. 4, Litto Gomez Diez Lusitano, Gurkha Cellar Reserve

I’m guessing you really don’t care to hear about anything IRS-related now that it’s mid-April, but stick with me here. This is a good IRS. It’s the über-dark, roasty-toasty, decadently rich Stone Imperial Russian Stout, and as of April 16th, it’s back again. For the twelfth time. (And for a limited time.) Originally brewed up in 2000, this was Steve’s tribute to the legendary, and decidedly dark Courage Russian Imperial Stout. Greg had a few bottles of the Courage ’93 vintage that he’d brought back with him from trip to Europe in 1995. When he and Steve gave it a taste, it was a bit of a revelation, to say the least.

What was this delicious motor oil? Where has it been all of our lives? What on earth does it have to do with Russia? Why aren’t more breweries repping this wonderfully decadent style? And when can we make one?

Turns out they weren’t the only ones with questions. When we originally submitted the beer to the TTB—aka the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the federal agency to which all alcohol producers must submit their labels for approval—they weren’t quite sure how to deal with it as there was no federally recognized beer style that it could be classified as. (“Wait, is it made in San Diego or in Russia? What is this?”) Chris Cochran, Stone’s illustrious Community Relations Manager, was given the taxing duty (puns totally intended) of answering all their questions.

Chris has carved out quite a place for himself here. Besides handling thousands of beer donation requests for charity events, planning the amazing Stone Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival for the past 10 years, he’s also the go-to guy for odd jobs such as this. (And countless others, like coming to the rescue when Greg’s credit cards were frozen while traveling in Turkey.) It took several years—yes, years—to get it all squared away, but Chris eventually got it done. Here’s his story, as told in our awesome book, The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance. [/shameless plug]

“Yes, we did run into some trouble years ago with labeling our beer as an Imperial Russian Stout. I think it started in late 2002, when the TTB, in reviewing our label application, claimed that the word Russian was misleading. They thought it would confuse customers into thinking that the beer was brewed in Russia, despite all of the text being in English, and the label clearly stating, ‘Brewed and bottled by the Stone Brewing Co., San Diego, CA.’

We were given two options: either label it simply as Stone Imperial Stout or complicate matters by calling it Stone Imperial Russian-Style Stout. We explained that it wasn’t actually a Russian style of beer, rather that it was an English style that had been brewed for the Russian court, but that seemed to fall on deaf ears. However, Greg is a stickler about words and accuracy, especially in regard to anything having to do with our beer, so he wasn’t going to let this die.

It dragged on for more than three years. Each time the TTB pushed back, I’d send them more information: photocopies of pages from books by Michael Jackson and Stephen Beaumont, printouts of information from BeerAdvocate.com and RateBeer.com, and more. It became a shock-and-awe campaign, with some of my later packages containing hundreds of pages in support of our claim that using the word Russian was not misleading, but instead quite historically and stylistically accurate.

Chris Cochran -- the man with the plan. Always.

Sometimes we got by on a temporary permit, but the threat of having to change the name to just Stone Imperial Stout was very real, and in 2005 it actually was labeled just that, much to our chagrin. Luckily though, Arlan Arnsten, our Vice President of Sales, happened to randomly meet somebody from the TTB at an industry event in Washington, DC. When Arlan mentioned Stone, our infamous reputation preceded us.

They apparently hit it off pretty well. The TTB guy knew all about our little naming battle, and he gave Arlan his business card and said he might be able to help get the issue resolved. I emailed him in short order, and he pointed me to the exact section of the code I needed to bring up: Title 27, Section 7.24(g), which states that using geographic names, such as Munich, Vienna, or Dortmund, is verboten, except in situations where the style and name had become prevalent enough so as to render the geographic significance, well, insignificant. If we could only prove this, victory would be ours.

Interestingly enough, we found out that the TTB didn’t really know how to proceed with this any more than we did. The last time a change like this had come up was in the late 1930s, when the government ruled that India Pale Ale was a generally recognized style, as opposed to a mark of origin.

Unfortunately, though the style was being embraced by other brewers, most were brewpubs, so they typically weren’t bottling their beers, and therefore weren’t subject to labeling laws. While I wasn’t trying to throw anybody under the bus, I had to name some names if we were going to win this thing. I ratted out North Coast Old Rasputin (sorry guys, but hey, it all worked out, right?) and the few others that were making the style at the time.

Eventually, in April 2005, we got a letter informing us that the TTB would formally review our request. And finally, after years of back-and-forth, we finally got the response we’d been waiting for. In a letter dated June 29, 2005 (I still have it framed somewhere), Imperial Russian Stout was recognized as a distinctive style, regardless of place of origin. Not only could we use the name, all American brewers could.

It was a day I’ll never forget. Greg and Steve were ecstatic at having shaken up the status quo a bit. I was too, but more than anything, I was just glad to finally be done with it. I went home and popped open the oldest bottle of Stone Imperial Russian Stout I could find. I poured myself a glass out on my deck, sat with a copy of that approval letter, and watched the sunset. Victory was ours at last, with a little bit of righteousness mixed in for good measure.”

Now that we’ve charmed you with that heart-warming story, allow us to share how this year’s Stone Imperial Russian Stout recipe breaks down:

Stats: 10.5% abv, 65 IBUs
Availability: Limited 22oz bottles & draft, beginning April 16th
Distribution: AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA
Malt bill: Pale Malt, Roasted Barley, Amber Malt, and Black Malt
Hops bill: Warrior

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Tasting Notes, provided by Brewmaster Mitch Steele

Appearance: This beer pours black with a deep tan head of foam.
Aroma: Cocoa and coffee flavors dominate, along with some fruity fermentation esters and some yeasty breadiness.
Taste: Stone Imperial Russian Stout is mostly about roasted malts. Bittersweet cocoa and coffee flavors are the major players, along with fruitiness, hints of anise, and yeastiness, followed by a smooth, balanced, and not at all sweet finish.
Overall: We don’t change this recipe much from the original version that our President & Senior Brewmaster Steve Wagner designed in 2000. It’s a fantastic recipe, and we love brewing it every year!

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Suggested Pairings, provided by “Dr.” Bill Sysak

Appetizers: Bleu cheese stuffed dates, oysters on the half shell, candied pecans and walnuts
Entrées: Beef Stroganoff, Hungarian goulash, vegetable vindaloo, coffee-rubbed pork tenderloin, game meat
Desserts: Apple pie, cheesecake, coconut crème pie, most coffee- and chocolate-based desserts
Cheeses: Aged Gouda, most bleu cheeses such as Roquefort, Gorgonzola Dolce, Stilton, Shropshire Blue
Cigars: Liga Privada Undercrown, Vieja Skull and Bones, Rocky Patel Honduran Robusto Maduro, Alec Bradley Family Blend

It’s apparently mind blowing to some folks that for our first 15+ years, we’d never used Cascade hops in any of our beers. And now, seemingly out of the blue, we’ve gone and used Cascade in our two most recent beer releases: 2012 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine and the Bear Republic / Fat Head’s / Stone TBA. Interestingly enough, we got a fair amount of (unexpected) reactions at this news. Some people laughed. Others cried. (Not really. At least as far as we know.) Some made conclusions about what they thought the beers would taste like before even trying them. (Hardly unusual.) Though most just happily went to their local craft beer bar or trusty bottle shop, picked one up and thoroughly enjoyed it without knowing or caring that the use of Cascade hops was a new endeavor for us. Cool.

Then we got a few strange comments scattered about our multiple social media channels. This one in particular made us scratch our heads: “Stone using Cascade hops? What the hell? I thought you guys wanted to stay a Cascade free brewery.” Wait… what? We never said that. At least that we can recall. Clearly, some folks felt we had some ‘splaining to do. Et voilà… here we are.

Let’s start back at the beginning, circa 1995. Steve and Greg were working on the recipe for Stone Pale Ale, and they really wanted it to be different from other pale ales of the day. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which is perhaps the best and most well-known expression of Cascade hops in the craft beer world, was definitely the most prevalent example of a California pale ale at the time. The last thing Steve & GK wanted to do was mimic something that was already in existence, so they decided pretty early on to go in a different direction. And that “different direction” is something we’ve stuck with. And until recently, that direction hadn’t included the wonderful Cascade hop.

I cornered Brewmaster Mitch Steele to get his invaluable insight on the decision to give Cascade a whirl in our whirlpool. Here’s what he had to say:

“We’re always experimenting, using different hop varieties in one-off batches. For instance, we might brew a pilot batch of Stone IPA and divide it up between 5-gallon carboys, dry-hopping each with a separate hop varietal to see how they affect the flavor profile of the beer. I’d worked with Cascade hops for years in my previous brewing gigs and in several of my homebrews. I’ve always enjoyed the telltale grapefruit and pine notes that they contribute, and I’m glad that we finally found a way to use some here at Stone.”

Tasting the 2012 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, the Cascade hops aren’t immediately apparent. “We added them in at the end with a blend of Calypso and Chinook,” explains Mitch. “The intent was to add some tropical flavors to the beer, not to draw attention to Cascade specifically.” But in the case of the Bear Republic / Fat Head’s / Stone TBA, the Cascade flavor is much more apparent. “That collaboration was based on an old-school style of homebrew called Texas Brown Ale that relied on a mix of Brewers Gold and Cascade hops, so we were able to make it much more pronounced. And I think it came through beautifully.”

As to whether or not we have plans to use Cascade hops in future releases, double dry-hopped variants or other one-off brews, Mitch explained that there’s nothing on the books so far, but he’d be all for it. “It’s a really nice hop. And when that telltale grapefruit note is ‘on’, it’s really, really nice.”

It’s no secret that we love making collaboration beers. We always have an amazing time brewing them, they’ve turned out great (if we may say so ourselves), and it gives us a chance to play around a little bit. To go a little further outside of the proverbial box. (Though admittedly, we were never quite certain about where this so-called box is/was, or how so many folks managed to find their way into it.) Each collaboration has its own story, its own inspiration, its own unique set of attributes.

Our first collab of 2012 starts rolling out today, and we’ll go ahead and say it: We’ve got another winner on our hands. “Bear Republic / Fat Head’s / Stone TBA,” as the name implies, is the work of Bear Republic Brewing Co. Brewmaster Richard Norgrove, Jr. (you can call him Ricardo), Fat Head’s Brewery Head Brewer Matt Cole, and our own Brewmaster Mitch Steele.

But what of the rest of the name: TBA? Like, as in… To Be Announced? Trusted Business Advisor? Text-Based Adventure? Tracheobronchial aspirate? Mmm… not quite. The acronym alludes to a classic but little-known beer style called Texas Brown Ale, which, strangely enough, has its roots in California. You see, back in the 80s, there was this homebrew recipe for a brown ale supercharged with Cascade hops that was floating around NorCal homebrew circles. And even while it started gaining popularity, beers that were made in this style failed to fare well in homebrew competitions since there was no recognized category they could be entered in. (They were wayyyy too hoppy and bitter to be considered a traditional brown ale.) But when a competition in Houston, TX, decided to judge such entries in what they would call the “California Dark” category, the American Homebrewers Association followed suit soon after, though they perplexingly changed the name to Texas Brown Ale.

Bear Republic / Fat Head’s / Stone TBA pays tribute to this style, while taking some inspiration from one of the pioneering beers of the time, Pete’s Wicked Ale. (The original recipe though, not the lightened up imitation that was later introduced, which arguably led to its ultimate demise.) In developing this little homage to TBA (and Pete), we did incorporate a few new twists, like Ricardo’s addition of brown sugar and molasses to add a touch more complexity. It also represented the first time Stone has ever used Cascade hops in our 15+ years, which Matt Cole just couldn’t seem to believe. (Perhaps making up for lost time, we also brewed the recently released 2012 vintage of Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine with a healthy dose of Cascade!)

All told, we couldn’t be happier with the resulting beer, and it was an absolute pleasure having two fellow brewers that we respect fly out to make it with us. We got some great footage from the brew day and present it here for your visual enjoyment, along with the essential stats, tasting notes from Mitch, and some delectable pairing ideas from “Dr.” Bill.

Enjoy.

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Bear Republic / Fat Head’s / Stone TBA
Stats: 7.1% abv, 81 IBUs
Availability: Limited 12oz bottles & draft, beginning February 27th
Distribution: AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, MA, NC, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, VT, WA
Malts: Pale 2-Row, Crystal 60, Toasted Wheat, Victory, and Chocolate Malt
Hops: Bravo, Brewer’s Gold, Cascade, and Columbus
Brewers:

• Richard Norgrove, Jr. (Brewmaster, Bear Republic Brewing Co. | Healdsburg, CA | @brbcbrew)
• Matt Cole (Head Brewer, Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon | Cleveland, OH | @FatHeadsBeer)
• Mitch Steele (Brewmaster, Stone Brewing Co. | Escondido, CA | @StoneBrewingCo)

Twitter hashtag: #stonecollab

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Tasting notes, provided by Brewmaster Mitch Steele
Appearance: Beer pours a deep auburn brown with a light tan head and a light haze.

Aroma: The first hit is a piney, herbal hop note followed by fruity fermentation esters. Beyond that, there is a complex molasses undercurrent.

Taste: The taste starts off with a higher balance of malt flavors, with biscuity, dry roasted and wheat-like characters combining nicely with the herbal hop component. Mid-palate is some more fruit, molasses and brown sugar, and the finish is a bitter, intensely grapefruity hop linger.

Palate: This beer has a medium body, finishes light with a nice lingering bitterness.

Overall: A throwback to the early days of craft brewing with some interesting twists along the way. It has that classic Brewers Gold/Cascade hop presence, with combinations of herbs, pine and citrus.

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Suggested pairings, provided by “Dr.” Bill Sysak
Appetizers: Stuffed mushrooms, bacon-wrapped shrimp, charcuterie

Entrées: French Onion Soup with Gruyère cheese, Mexican mole, Texas-style BBQ, mushroom risotto, chili con carne

Cheeses: Aged Gouda or Cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Swiss cheese (such as Emmentaler)

Desserts: Apple strudel, toffee bars, snickerdoodle cookies, spiced carrot cake

Cigars: Nestor Miranda Special Selection Coffee Break, Montecristo Petit Tubo, Tatuaje Cabinet Noella, Dunhill Signed Range Toro

A few weeks ago we took a walk down memory lane, recounting for you the many accolades and accomplishments Stone achieved over the course of 2011.  We are not content, however, to rest on our laurels.  We’ve now turned our sights to the future and all the amazing things we have in store for you in 2012.  Dates have been set for our annual special releases as well as all of our epic beer fests.  So read on and prepare yourself for a whole year of beer-tastic-ness.  Ale-mazement?  You get the idea…

The Calm Before the Storm / Stone Winter Storm
Sunday, February 5th

Be the first to sample the rare and vintage Stone brews we’ll be pouring all week for Stone Winter Storm. Your ticket gets you an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet (prepared lovingly by the culinary geniuses at the Stone World Bistro & Gardens) and a wristband entitling you to ten 4oz samples of bottled and draft beer.

BUY TICKETS

Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Vintage Celebration and Bottle Release
Sunday, February 12th & Monday, February 13th

Bottles of this year’s release will be available for purchase on the 13^th, but you can try it a day earlier at the Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Vintage Celebration.  We’ll have 13 vintages of this perennial favorite on draft and in bottles at the Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens.  And at 11am, we’ll be popping the tops on our VERY LAST CASE of the 1999 release, so don’t be late!

Stone 2012 March Madness Homebrew Competition and AHA Rally
Sunday, March 10

Who will be the next talented homebrewer to have their beer made into a Stone Collaboration?  Come taste from among 40 different entries and help us decide the winner, all while supporting the American Homebrewers Association. RSVPs are a must! Check out all the details on the official March Madness page!

Stone Imperial Russian Stout Release
Monday, April 16th

Bottles of our beloved Stone Imperial Russian Stout will be available for purchase on this date.  Experience the ultimate heights of malt-richness and hop-bitterness—and then brag about it to your friends. Finally, something IRS-related you can be excited about in mid April!

Stone Oakquinox
Sunday, April 22nd

Savor the woody goodness of barrel-aged beers while relaxing in our gorgeous, sustainable gardens.  Your ticket gets you a commemorative tasting glass and fifteen 3oz samples.  There will be over 100 barrel-aged beers to choose from!

SOLD OUT!

Saison du BUFFet
Tuesday, May 1st

Beer professionals from all over the world will be in San Diego for the annual Craft Brewers Conference in May. Join us if you’d like the chance to enjoy some amazing food and beer in the company of folks working in the heart of the industry! We’ll be serving a lavish buffet with a central theme revolving around Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison du BUFF, our original 2010 collaboration (and its 2012 re-brewing!) with Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head), Bill Covaleski (Victory), and our own Greg Koch (Stone). As a matter of fact, Sam, Bill, and Greg will all be there to share the good times with you!

Numerous live food stations will make up a sumptuous feast, plus we’ll tap dozens of amazing craft brews, including several that were selected exclusively for this event and aren’t available to the public. Explore the brewery and our beautiful beer garden while you’re here–we’ll have beer available in the gardens as well, so you won’t have to go far to get your next taste.

BUY TICKETS

Artisan Food & Craft Beer Festival
Saturday, May 6th

Join us in our gardens for a delicious celebration of great food and beer! Ten local chefs from outstanding eateries will each create a unique and delicious small dish, and each plate will be paired with two amazing craft beers. That’s 10 dishes and 20 beers! And the best part is that in addition to enjoying a sumptuous repast, you’ll be helping to raise money for a special scholarship fund. Cuisine for a cause!