The Stone Blog

It seems like we say this every twelve months (probably because we do), but this has been a huge year for us at Stone. Perhaps the biggest yet. Things never slow down here, and that’s the way we like it. Truth be told, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves if we had a spare moment! So a heartfelt thank you goes out to each and every one of our fans for ensuring we maintain the breakneck pace we’ve become so accustomed to.

Despite our infatuation with constant rapid progress, we feel compelled to take a moment, be it ever so brief, to reflect on the year gone by. A lot happened in our brewhouse, at our restaurant, in our community and beyond. This was a very good year, one that should be fully remembered for years to come. In that spirit, we submit to you, our valued fans, a retrospective of 2012 at Stone.

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In preparation for our Epic Eve Dinner and the Stone Epic Festival: The Final Chapter, our all-out festival celebrating all 11 vintages in our Vertical Epic Ale series, Chef Alex Carballo and “Dr.” Bill Sysak teamed up to develop nearly two-dozen recipes for dishes that pair with each of the beers.

Realizing not all of our fans will be able to make it out for these events, but are as amped up as we are to uncap their bottles of Vertical Epic Ale at their own tastings, we wanted to provide the means by which to prepare food that will fall perfectly in sync with those beers. The following are recipes for four dishes that, when put together, make up a comprehensive meal.

It’s our hope that this will excel what will likely already be one of the most heightened and interesting beer tasting sessions of your life. Bon apetit!

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The Vertical Epic Ale series started simply enough in 2001, with Stone CEO and co-founder Greg Koch suggesting we release a different  Belgian-inspired beer suitable for aging each year on the date when the day, month and year registered by the same digit. The brewhouse forged forward with this initiative, producing 11 beers that, unlike many on the market at the time, were intended to be laid down so they could be opened when the last of those dates came to pass on December 12, 2012.

Eleven years later, we’re excited to announce today’s arrival of Stone 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale. Soon, it will be time to uncap all 11 of the Vertical Epic Ale vintages and enjoy them together. Certainly, it will be a glorious capping to one of the most ambitious brewing projects ever undertaken, even for those with a few or maybe even one or two of these widely varied brews. We’re pleased with how each of them turned out and what we’ve accomplished, but at the same time, we admit to being a bit sad. This was an incredible series that we’re bummed to see come to an end, but, we’re going out in a blaze of beery glory. Enter Stone 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale!

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Hopheads, you’re officially on the clock! You’ve got 35 days to uncap and savor the abundantly fresh hoppiness of Stone Enjoy By 12.21.12 IPA. But before you start grousing about being given the directive to consume your beer (at this point, it’s good to realize that there is absolutely nothing to complain about here), know this—we’re not the ones with the death-grip on the stopwatch. This quite literal “deadline” has been decreed by the ancient Mayan civilization.

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With all the latest beer gossip just a click away, it’s near impossible to keep a secret these days. Many of you may have heard rumors about Stone 13th Anniversary Ale, but it’s time we set the record straight. Here’s the official word:

Take your idea of a hoppy Stone beer and throw it out the window, because Stone 13th Anniversary Ale is the hoppiest beer we’ve ever brewed. Just how much hops is in this year’s batch? You may want to sit down for this…4.5 lbs. PER BARREL! To lend you a bit of perspective, Stone 10th Anniversary IPA, revered by many as the quintessential hopped-up Stone Anniversary Ale, had about 2.5 lbs. per barrel.

Brewers Mitch Steele, John Egan, and Tom Garcia showing off our latest creation

Stone 13th Anniversary Ale has officially trumped our collaboration brew, BrewDog / Cambridge / Stone Juxtaposition Black Pilsner, as our hoppiest beer. Of course, all those hops would be worthless if the beer wasn’t balanced. That’s where brewers Mitch Steele, Tom Garcia, and John Egan came in.

When Steve and Greg gave the green light, Mitch, Tom, and John took the reins of the recipe. The beer went through three iterations before they dialed it in, finally deciding on Chinook hops for bittering and a 50/50 blend of Centennial and Simcoe hops for dry hopping. The careful blend of hops, combined with pale malt, various crystal malts, amber malts, and just a touch of chocolate malt, resulted in a rather tasty 7% abv red ale—but it just wasn’t quite worthy of a Stone Anniversary Ale yet. “It had a nice hop character,” said Mitch, “but it didn’t have that extra something that I thought the beer needed.” After tasting it, Greg even asked Mitch “It’s going to be bigger, right?” To which Mitch replied “Yeah, it’s going to be bigger.” The solution was to bump up the hopping and alcohol a bit, and the result was a very big, very Stone 9.5% abv Ale. As if that wasn’t enough, the brew crew decided to dry-hop it again just prior to filtering and packaging.

Click above to check out the Stone 13th Anniversary Ale web page

When asked to describe Stone 13th Anniversary Ale in one word, guess which word Mitch chose? You guessed it–“Hoppy.” Sure, it’s a monstrously hopped, extremely bitter beer, but it also has a bold malty character that balances out the bitterness. “It’s really bitter, but it’s also malty,” said Mitch. “It’s pretty well balanced; not as dry as you’d think.” Dr. Bill agreed with Mitch when he tasted it. “It’s really well balanced for as hoppy as it is,” said Dr. Bill. “And it has a nice malt complexity with hops throughout.”

Mitch knows that hop-heads who missed hops in last year’s Stone Anniversary Ale will rejoice, not only because Stone 13th Anniversary Ale is a hop monster, but because it’s damn good. “I think it’s going to be right up there with some of the older Anniversary IPA’s,” he said, “and if all goes well, right up there with the Tenth.” We’ll let you decide when Stone 13th Anniversary Ale is released on June 29th.

-Matt Steele

Up here in the office between tours, those of us on the tour team have the distinct privilege of reading and responding to the fan mail that comes into the brewery daily. It is indeed very cool to know that, through our humble yet passionate efforts (well, maybe not humble), we have been able to turn so many people on to great beer. And do they let us know it! In the last couple of months we have been able to bring more Stone brews to more people in more places than ever before: Texas has received an expanded lineup of our beer, North and South Carolina are now receiving copious amounts of Arrogance for the first time, and so is the state of Georgia. Ain’t that a peach! But our southward march hasn’t ended there. Last week we FINALLY entered Florida, much to the rejoicing of Floridians all the way from the Panhandle to Key West!

These days, instead of receiving all those wistful—if not downright desperate—letters that start with the line “PLEASE sell your beer in [any one of previously Stone-free zones],” we are happy to be reading more and more letters from folks who can hardly believe their eyes when, upon unsuspectingly walking into their local bottle shop, they see before their disbelieving eyes the brown bottled deliciousness that is Stone, proudly declaring its residency for the first time! These thank you notes are a real shot in the arm, and its a great feeling to hear from so many happy Stone lovers. Here’s an excerpt from one such letter:

Moved to Raleigh NC five years ago and had to console myself with lesser brews since you didn’t distribute to my area. Imagine my happiness when I saw a big gargoyle display right by the front door of the Peace St. Market yesterday! I’m drinking my first Bastard in years as I type this. Thanks for finally sending your liquid heaven out to my neck of the woods!

Eric, Raleigh NC

And how about this one:

I just got the news of the DECADE today and discovered that you guys DO listen to your fans …you’ve actually started distributing to GEORGIA! I have one thing to say about that: HALLELUJAH!

Rory Atlanta, GA

The big push started back in September, when trucks full of Stone beer started rolling into Houston, Austin, Dallas, and Amarillo. Although two of our brews, Stone IPA and Arrogant Bastard Ale, had been readily available in the Lone Star State since 2001, there’d been an increasingly vocal demand for more of our beers to be added to the lineup. Working in conjunction with Ben E. Keith Company, we’ve finally been able to bring Stone Pale Ale, Stone Smoked Porter, OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale and Stone Ruination IPA into Texas as well—and our Texas brewery rep, Jason Armstrong, says the response among rejoicing Texans has been HUGE!

The response in Dixie has been no less enthusiastic. Our own Head Brewer, Mitch Steele, was in Georgia a couple of weeks back, where he and our Southeast Stone rep and native son of the South, Scott Sheridan, attended some of the Stone kick off celebrations at places like The Trappeze Pub in Athens. According to these two very seasoned veterans of the beer trade, they’d never before seen such a successful roll out. People were ecstatic!

Adam Smith, a salesman from Savannah Distributing, was just a LITTLE excited to finally have the chance to get Stone out to his customers: He got some serious ink laid down on his right shoulder by Matt Roland at Tribal Urge in downtown Augusta. Way to represent, Adam!

And because one good turn deserves another, Mr. Sheridan has now headed down to Florida to usher in a great new era of great beer in the Sunshine State. Here’s what he said of the recent rollout:

“Sure Joe Maddon and the Rays made it to the World Series…Sure Tim Tebow and the Gators are having a great year…But what could be bigger than the arrival of Stone Brewing Co. in Florida? Uh…nothing!!”

Scott was on hand to celebrate the Florida kick off at the Gulf Coast’s Oldsmar Taphouse on Saturday, November 14th. On tap was a lineup of Stone beers as never seen before and, quite possibly, never again (at least not any time soon…). Year-round award winners such as Stone Pale Ale, Stone IPA, Stone Ruination IPA, Stone Smoked Porter, Stone Levitation Ale, Arrogant Bastard Ale, and Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale were gracing a Forida tap tower for the first time. He also managed to wrangle away from the Stone brewery in California archived masterpieces such as Stone 08.08.08 Veritcal Epic Ale, a trio of Stone Anniversary Ales featuring the 10th, 11th, and 12th versions, 2008 Imperial Russian Stout, 2008 Old Guardian Barleywine, 2008 Double Bastard Ale, and the gracefully aged 2006 Double Bastard Ale. Now THAT’S a kick off! Nicely done, Scott!

Back here in sunny So Cal (sat by the pool and read a sci-fi novel on this glorious 80 degree morning–not to gloat or anything), I look forward to hearing from all our new fans–and of course, our old friends too. So please drop us a line whenever you feel like sharing your enthusiasm with us. It really makes our day. Cheers!

-Ken Wright

The relationship between good drink and social spirit is clear to just about anyone who has ever attended a worthwhile gathering. Whether at a casual picnic or a formal banquet, the good host knows the irreplaceable value of libation in bringing people closer together. Perhaps less obvious, but no less important, is the role that togetherness plays with creating our favorite of all amenities: Craft Beer. Visit a brewery, if you haven’t already, and see for yourself. Brewers, pub owners, and fans from all over San Diego and beyond appear to feel an affinity for one another, and if there’s a sense of competition it comes from dedication to excellence rather than domination. It is in celebration of this community spirit and the fruits of our collective loves and labors that Stone has teamed up with Jolly Pumpkin and Nøgne-Ø to create the first Holiday beer ever to come from our brew house.

Kjetil, Mitch, Ron, and Greg

Our tale begins this past march in a bar in Tokyo, where our own Greg Koch had a chance encounter with Kjetil Jikiun, the owner and head brewer of Norwegian craft brewery (the name translates to Naked Island.) The two hit it off, and when they met again at the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego, Greg managed to wrangle an invitation to visit Kjetil’s brewery. Greg had a blast in Norway and formed a friendship that soon gave rise to a desire for some kind of collaboration. Greg suggested teaming up with the adventurous Michigan brewery Jolly Pumpkin (specifically, with head brewer and haiku master Ron Jefferies,) and the Triad was thusly formed.

Our head brewer Mitch Steele found some time to fill me in on his part of the story. He grinned while relating his experience with Kjetil (friendly, open, excellent language skills) and Ron (more reserved, always eager to experiment)

“We knew [this beer] would take a long time to plan… because we had to do it with E-mail”

Not too long ago Stone collaborated with Mikeller and Alesmith to create a Belgian Trippel style ale, but this time there would be no set style, and, therefore, no guidelines to follow. Designing a beer from the ground up is no simple matter, and having three designers in three different time zones doesn’t make it any easier. It does, however, make for an interesting brew. Here’s an excerpt from what Mitch wrote for the back of the bottle:

“We quickly decided to try and use one indigenous ingredient from each of our brewing regions, Southern California White Sage, Juniper Berries (we couldn’t get Norwegian, unfortunately, so we used Italian Juniper Berries, at least they are from the same continent), and (mostly) Michigan Chestnuts. Kjetil suggested brewing with rye malt and Ron suggested adding some caraway to complement the rye, so we decided to brew a full bodied, spiced ale with 25% rye malt.”

Mitch, Stone Brewer Tom Garcia, Ron, Greg, & Kjetil: The deliberation process...

Two test batches were cooked up in advance for sampling and adjustments the afternoon before Brew day. After comparing notes and coming to a consensus, Mitch, Ron, and Kjetil joined an informal dinner in the Bistro where some Team Stone crew, local fans, and home brewers were able to try both beers and get to share beers and food with the brew masters. Guests were encouraged to bring their own creations along with beers from the guest breweries to share, which they did! Greg pulled out a generous amount from his Nøgne-Ø stash that he had brought back from his trip and everyone was glad to share in it.

The next day saw no lack of community spirit as celebration gave way to shared efforts and hardships. Rye malt is notoriously difficult to work with. Mitch continued to smile while he described how one stage of the process became (almost) hopelessly stuck. “Ordinarily two batches would take about thirteen hours. These two took more than thirty… They wouldn’t lauter… We tried every trick I knew of.” Another Stone Brewer, Jeremy Moynier, had the honor of being called in at 3am to participate in the debacle. He relates:

Ron, Jeremy & Kjetil prepare the sage

“seriously, although it was a l-o-o-o-o-o-o-ong day, the spices, chestnuts, and sage that we added made the brew fun to do and it was also very cool talking to those guys. It’s always fun and educational to talk to other brewers. Tasting the beers during fermentation and recently in taste panel….very impressive. These came out complex and the spices are intriguing (it’s amazing how just a little sage goes a long way). I think people will dig this beer!”

I think so, too. I was lucky enough to sample this unique brew right out of our filter, and though not yet fully carbonated it blew me away. I wouldn’t want to taint your expectations with my own humble impression, suffice to say the elements all really came together on this one.

Wow!

Our production crew has been awaiting a shipment of glass so they can start bottling, and I heard the machinery spring into action as I finished up these last few sentences. We’ll be rushing bottles to the Stone Company Store cooler, and you’ll be able to stop by and pick some up on Friday, November 21st (that’s tomorrow!) and we’ll be distributing limited amounts to AZ, MA, CA, OH, WA, OR, CO, VA, MI and NY on Monday. Happy Holidays, indeed!

One last note: I’ve been informed that we’re still awaiting formal approval to distribute this beer in Washington and Virginia. We expect to get it any day now, so hopefully folks in these states will be able to get some within the next few weeks.

- Matt Steirnagle

Related Links:

Greg’s vBlog from his trip to Norway

Photo gallery of Ron and Kjetil’s visit

We got some great video and photos of the bottling run

Full sized bottle designs with text from all three brewers

http://www.jollypumpkin.com

http://www.nogne-o.com/