Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, CA) will officially wrap up the Vertical Epic Series this year with the release of 12.12.12. The series spanned 12 years, and various styles meant to be cellared until this year. The last release is a Continue Reading →
Recently, Stillwater Artisanal Ales and Evil Twin Brewing, (2 “gyspy brewers”) travelled to Escondido, California to collaborate with Stone Brewing Co. The triumvirate pulled off The Perfect Crime. The result is a smokey black saison that really fits Continue Reading →
Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, CA) will starting distributing to Iowa in October, 2012. The brewery has a big list of events planned to kick it off. [Event List]
Stone Brewing Co has released the home brew recipe for the three-way collaboration saison with Victory Brewing, & Dogfish Head. (I believe it was already published in the recent Stone book…) Regardless, for those home brewers out there, have at Continue Reading →
There is no doubt that home brewer Ken Schmidt is a champ. Why? This is his second collaboration with Stone Brewing Co., after winning the the American Homebrewers Rally in San Diego, CA. His first collaboration Continue Reading →
While another hurricane blows ashore, Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, CA) is helping rebuild from another disaster. Her name was Irene – a hurricane that damaged and flooded most of the east coast. One part of the country, in Waterbury, Vermont, Continue Reading →
Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, CA) will officially wrap up the Vertical Epic Series this year with the release of 12.12.12. The series spanned 12 years, and various styles meant to be cellared until this year. The last release is a Belgian dark ale with an array of spices.
epic (ep’Tk) adj. (1) Heroic and impressive In quality. (2) Surpassing the usual or ordinary, particularly in scope or size. (3) Of, constituting, having to do with, or suggestive of a literary epic.
The final chapter in an “epic” series.
As with any good epic, herein hen the promise of larger-than-life experiences, heroics, and twists & turns as the adventure unfolds. This bottle-conditioned’ ale is chapter eleven. Now is the time to enjoy it in a “vertical” tasting side by side with its ten Stone Vertical Epic Ale brethren! Each one unique to its year of release. Each with its own “twist & turn” in the plot line. Each one released one year, one month and one day from the previous year’s edition. To remind you, the release dates were:
This year’s Stone Vertical Epic Ale is the very last one. Yep, this is it, The final chapter. Or as they say on the last slide in some old films: “Fin.” No worries though; this edition is particularly well suited for prolonging the experience, as it as Cellarable as any in the sexes, or more. In this, the final edition, you can expect a perfectly balanced *womp* of spices: cinnamon, ginger, allspice, sweet orange peel, clove (only a little!) and rosehips, all in the context of a dark Belgian style abbey-ish beer…but not as sweet. Dry even. Stone style. Thanks for coming on this Epic Stone-style journey with us! You can rest assured there will be new adventures to come…
Stone, Stillwater & Evil Twin Create “The Perfect Crime”
Recently, Stillwater Artisanal Ales and Evil Twin Brewing, (2 “gyspy brewers”) travelled to Escondido, California to collaborate with Stone Brewing Co. The triumvirate pulled off The Perfect Crime. The result is a smokey black saison that really fits the mysterious nature of these traveling breweries.
I first heard the term “gypsy brewer” in reference to Mikkel Borg-Bjergso, back in 2008, when we brewed our very first collaboration beer with Mikkel and Peter Zien of AleSmith. And now we are thrilled to welcome two more famous gypsy brewers to our brewery: Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso of Evil Twin Brewing ( Mikkel’s brother– hence the name) and Brian Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales. Jenne and Brian have brewed together before, and both have excellent pedigrees in brewing unique Belgian- inspired beers. Their shady influence was felt throughout the brewing of this mysterious block beer, and we were excited to be able to brew it. – Mitch Steele
Style:Saison (Smoked) Availability: 12 oz bottles, Draft Arrival: TBA
Stone Brewing Distributes To Iowa Starting in October
Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, CA) will starting distributing to Iowa in October, 2012. The brewery has a big list of events planned to kick it off. [Event List]
Stone Brewing Co has released the home brew recipe for the three-way collaboration saison with Victory Brewing, & Dogfish Head. (I believe it was already published in the recent Stone book…) Regardless, for those home brewers out there, have at it.
Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison du BUFF homebrew recipe
Is this a complete guide to homebrewing? No way. Is it a recipe you can use alongside such a guide? Absolutely.
1 (125 ml) package Wyeast Labs WY3711 French Saison Yeast
0.77 ounce Citra hops (11.0% alpha acid)
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons light dried malt extract
I can’t stress it enough: clean and sanitize everything.
Mashing
In a 10-gallon brew kettle, combine the crushed malts and flaked rye with 4 gallons of 163°F water. The water should cool slightly when mixed with the grain. Cover and hold the mash at 149°F for 2 hours.
For safety’s sake, set up your propane burner outside. Set the brew kettle of mash on top and heat to 160°F, stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Turn off the heat. The mash will continue to increase in temperature to about 165°F.
Lautering and Sparging After mashing is complete, carefully transfer the mash to the lauter tun to separate the liquid (the wort) from the grains. Run a length of vinyl tubing from the lauter tun to the brew kettle. Let the first few quarts of liquid run through. It will be cloudy and contain some undesirable particulates. Once the liquid coming through is clear, stop the flow and pour the cloudy liquid back into the lauter tun, where the husks from the crushed grain will act as a natural filter and help remove the sediment.
Allow the remainder of the wort to drain into the brew kettle at a slow, steady rate, restricting the flow with a plastic crimp on the tube. Once the liquid is lower than the level of the grain bed, begin the sparge by slowly sprinkling 5 gallons plus 1 cup of 168°F water over the grains.
The sparge water, which should never exceed 170°F, is added to the grain and allowed to drain off at a slow rate (regulated by the plastic crimp), extracting the remaining sugars and maximizing yield. This is not a step to be rushed; be prepared to spend at least an hour on lautering and sparging. Once the last of the sparge water has filtered through the grains and the flow from the lauter tun stops, you’re ready to begin the boil.
The Boil
Set the brew kettle of wort on your outdoor propane burner and add water to bring the wort level up to about 6 gallons plus 12 cups, if needed. Bring the wort to a rapid, rolling boil. As it begins to come to a boil, a layer of foam and scum may develop at the surface. Skim it off and discard. Once the wort is at a full boil, put a hops bag containing the Centennial hops in the kettle and set a timer for 90 minutes. Stir the wort frequently during the boil, and be watchful to avoid boilovers.
At 15 minutes before the end of the boil, stir in the Irish moss. When the boiling time is over, turn off the heat and put a hops bag containing the Amarillo hops, parsley, rosemary, lemon thyme, and white sage in the kettle. Cover the kettle and immediately begin cooling the wort quickly. Place the brew kettle in a large sink, bathtub, or cooler partially filled with ice water. Place your sanitized wort chiller in the wort and run cold water through it until the wort comes down to 70°F.
Pitching the Yeast and Fermentation Once the wort has cooled to 70°F, discard the spent hops and herbs and check the specific gravity of the wort with a hydrometer. The target starting gravity is 1.059 (14.5 Plato).
The yeast should be removed from the refrigerator about 2 hours before use so it acclimates to room temperature. Slowly pour the cooled wort into a sanitized primary fermentation bucket. Stir vigorously with a sanitized spoon or carefully shake the fermenter (sealed of course) for about 10 minutes to aerate the wort. Shake the container of yeast, add it directly to the wort, and stir vigorously to combine. Cover the bucket with the lid, fitted with the proper stopper and an airlock filled halfway with water. Place the bucket in a cool, dark place and keep it at 70°F.
Signs of primary fermentation should be evident after about 6 to 12 hours. Let the wort ferment until the bubbles coming from the airlock have slowed to a rate of about one per minute. This can take anywhere from 4 days to over 1 week.
Once this occurs, it’s time to transfer the beer to a (sanitized) glass carboy for secondary fermentation. Attach a length of (sanitized) vinyl tubing to the (sanitized) racking cane, and carefully siphon the wort into the carboy, being careful to leave behind the sediment at the bottom of the plastic fermenter. The vinyl tubing should extend to the bottom of the carboy to prevent splashing. While oxygen is crucial for the yeast at the beginning of fermentation, after that you want to minimize the wort’s exposure to it.
Dry Hopping Put the Citra hops in a hops bag and place it in the carboy. Seal the carboy with the drilled stopper and an airlock filled halfway with water and ferment at 70°F. After 7 days, dry hopping is complete. Remove the hops bag and discard the hops. Check the specific gravity of the beer. If it’s reached the target final gravity of 1.007 (1.8 Plato), it’s ready to bottle. If not, allow it to continue fermenting at 70°F until it reaches the target.
Bottling
When you’re ready to bottle, be sure to clean and sanitize the bottles, caps, bottling wand, racking cane, and tubing. Put the dried malt extract in a medium saucepan and stir in just enough water to dissolve it. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat, cover, and let cool slightly. Pour this mixture into a clean, sanitized bucket with a spigot. Attach a length of vinyl tubing to the racking cane and carefully siphon the beer into the bucket, being careful to leave behind the sediment at the bottom of the carboy. The vinyl tubing should extend to the bottom of the bucket to prevent splashing.
Remove the racking cane and attach the bottling wand to one end of the vinyl tubing and the other to the spigot at the bottom of the bucket. Open the spigot
and begin filling the bottles, leaving about 1 inch of headspace in each bottle. Once the bottles have been filled, cap them using a bottle capper (or simply close the tops if you’re using swing-top style bottles). Store properly in a cool, dry place for 2 weeks so the beer can properly carbonate. Cheers!
Ken Schmidt Rides Again with Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout
There is no doubt that home brewer Ken Schmidt is a champ. Why? This is his second collaboration with Stone Brewing Co., after winning the the American Homebrewers Rally in San Diego, CA. His first collaboration (Kona Coffee Macadamia Nut Coconut Porter) was brewed with Stone, Maui, and himself. This above Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout swaps Maui for Iron Fist Brewing. This is the 15th edition in Stone’s collaboration series.
There is no doubt in my mind that Ken Schmidt is one of the most creative brewers in the San Diego area. Thus, it is no surprise that he won (for the second time) our annual March Madness Homebrew Competition and AHA Rally. His winning beer is exquisitely well-crafted with amazing chocolate and mint flavors, and was, quite frankly, a challenge for us to replicate on our own system. But, given our past success with Ken’s first beer, and by enlisting the help of Brandon Sieminski from Iron Fist, I’m sure we’ve nailed it: a lusciously smooth imperial oatmeal stout teeming with cocoa and mint. This is one to enjoy now as an after-dinner sipper, or to cellar for several years. — Mitch Steele
As Another Hurricane Looms, Stone Helps Rebuild From Another
While another hurricane blows ashore, Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, CA) is helping rebuild from another disaster. Her name was Irene – a hurricane that damaged and flooded most of the east coast. One part of the country, in Waterbury, Vermont, the floodwaters were so great, they literally washed away The Alchemist brewpub.
This prompted a very special collaboration with Stone Brewing Co, Ninkasi, and The Alchemist dubbed More Brown Than Black IPA. The group’s collaboration raised more that $115,000 dollars to The Waterbury Good Neighbor Fund. A non profits helping clean up after the catastrophe. To date, the fund has distributed nearly $400,000 to people in need.
“Helping the Waterbury community and our fellow brethren at The Alchemist Pub and Brewery is what the craft beer industry is all about,” Greg Koch, Stone Brewing Co. CEO and co-founder stated. “As soon Mitch heard about the flooding, he immediately reached out to John, and asked how he could assist. We hope these funds will help Waterbury continue to rebuild.”
