Teaser for a new festival coming late fall/winter, 2011. Pour It Black. Draw your own conclusions, but I’m sure dark beer is involved.
November 13, 2011
Stone’s 15th Anniversary Ale – Escondidian Black Ale, is being released in August. Yesterday was a sneak peak at the name and style, here is the bottle label. In true Stone style there is a passionate speech on Continue Reading →
Stone Brewing urges you to drink fresh beer. As evidenced by a new flow chart that will be on the bottles of beer that need to be drank as fresh as possible. Simply, you’ll see a drink Continue Reading →
Arriving together – Stone Brewing’s Russian Imperial Stout, and Belgo Anise Russian Imperial Stout. RIS is an annual release from Stone Brewing, while Belgo isn’t. It’s actually a part of the brewery’s new “Odd Beers For Odd Years” series. They Continue Reading →
Stone Brewing announced a few weeks ago a $26 million dollar expansion – including restaurant, brewery additions, even a hotel. Also mentioned was a Japanese brewing collaboration. What you see before you is the result of the collaboration, Continue Reading →
Steve Wagner & Greg Koch published a video to the Stone Blog today about all the excitement surrounding the Stone Brewing’s recent big news. Stone takes a few minutes to put whole $26 million dollar story in their own words. Continue Reading →
I mentioned a few weeks ago that John & Chris Trogner of Troeg’s Brewing (Harrisburg, PA) flew out to Escondido, California to collaborate with Stone Brewing. Great news for sure, but the details of what was getting brewed was Continue Reading →
Teaser for a new festival coming late fall/winter, 2011. Pour It Black. Draw your own conclusions, but I’m sure dark beer is involved.
November 13, 2011
Stone’s 15th Anniversary Ale – Escondidian Black Ale, is being released in August. Yesterday was a sneak peak at the name and style, here is the bottle label. In true Stone style there is a passionate speech on the back label. How will your children remember you? As a hero?
Label
In the 15 years since we entered the craft brewing world, change has come not in a straight line, but as an exponential curve. The craft brewing movement has long been called a “revolution.” But today the air is so thick with revolution, it’s palpable. No longer is it lone an awareness among the faithful; the unconverted are beginning to feel it as well. Denial and ignorance are disappearing in favor of opened eyes, curiosity and the sense that there’s something larger out there. For far too long we have been lied to. For far too long we have been oppressed by the notion that dumbed-down-lowest-common-denominator-mediocrity was all that we could, and should, expect. You might think we’re only talking about the world of brewing, but we’re not. There is a myriad of products out there masquearding as cheeses, coffee, chocolates, breads..hell, there is stuff pretending to be “food” that out great grandmothers would not recognize as such. Yet the craft brewing movement, together with the artisanal food movement, is making much progress. Where the industrial companies can’t dismiss of bury us, they are attempting to copy us with cheap facsimiles. Yes, chances are if you are holding this bottle, you understand these things to be true about the world of brewing. You also likely understand the importance of our fight at Stone against the accepted “norms” over the past 15 years. We believed that America was ready to embrace tinges made with artistry and passion. You have spoken. Your response has been clear. We are not merely consumers to be spoon-fed whatever commodities need to be unloaded for a profit. We have only just begun to move the needle of this revolution, & mediocrity still reigns. Consider that when you reject dumbed down industrialized food and drink, you also support craft brewing. The line is nearly seamless; we are fighting the same battle. We will not win in our lifetime, as the powers are too entrenched, and the masses too…fooled. And shackled. However, this is a revolution of ideas and of taste, and we WILL will. How do do you want to be viewed by your children, and your children’s children? As a hero, or as the oppressed? (Those that don’t think they have been oppressed have already lost.) Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide. We hope you’ll stand with us. Strong and unyielding. You are needed. This bottle and its glorious contents are a celebration of you, brothers and sisters, and your importance in this fight. Cheers to all we’ve accomplished together in the past fifteen years, and cheers to the adventure ahead!
Style: American Black Ale (Black IPA)
Arrival: August, 2011
10.5% ABV
Stone Brewing urges you to drink fresh beer. As evidenced by a new flow chart that will be on the bottles of beer that need to be drank as fresh as possible. Simply, you’ll see a drink by date on the bottle. If the beer is past it’s prime, the brewery wants to know about it by going to Stonebrew.com/Fresh (Link not active yet.)
Also, a quick look at what will be Stone’s 15th Anniversary Ale. Looks to be a black IPA, bearing the name Escondidian Imperial Black IPA. 10.5% ABV. Stone celebrates 15 years the weekend of August 19th, 2011. Typically, the Anniversary ale arrives in bombers and draft.
Arriving together – Stone Brewing’s Russian Imperial Stout, and Belgo Anise Russian Imperial Stout. RIS is an annual release from Stone Brewing, while Belgo isn’t. It’s actually a part of the brewery’s new “Odd Beers For Odd Years” series. They took Russian Imperial, and tossed in a Belgian yeast, star anise, & oak chips. An oddity indeed.
Stone Imperial Russian Stout is so thing, rich and well, sinful you might feel certain that you are to be doomed to the fiery pits just for thinking about taking a sip. It almost seems evil. Rest assured, however, that our ever faithful gargoyle has done his job well by successfully warding off all evil spirits. In fact, we guarantee that no sin was committed in the production of this seemingly pernicious brew. We will admit that we used copious does of decadence in creating the viscous beauty you have before you, but no actual sin… You’ll have to add that on your own.
This particular edition is brewed in the authentic historical style of an Imperial Russian Stout, and then, shall we say… embellished. Specifically, by using a Belgian yeast strain, adding liberal amounts of star anise, and oaking it (which arguably could be considered “historical” as they used wooden barrels back then rather than todays stainless steel).
While our original version is “intensely aromatic (notes of anise, black currants, coffee, roastiness and alcohol) and heavy on the palate,” this Odd Year version doesn’t just have “notes” of anise… it screams it. Big, loud, & proud. LIke the Russian Czarists. Presumably. Truth is, we can’t say for certain, but one sip it’s easy to imagine it to be true.
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Taste Expectations: Licorice, coffee, dark roasty malts, & booze. Underlying Belgian complexity.
Availability: 22oz bombers, Draft. Brewed for odd year (2011. Next brew – 2013)
10.5% ABV
Stone Brewing announced a few weeks ago a $26 million dollar expansion – including restaurant, brewery additions, even a hotel. Also mentioned was a Japanese brewing collaboration. What you see before you is the result of the collaboration, between Stone, Ishii Brewing (Island of Guam) & Baird Brewing (Numazu, Japan). A IPA brewed with green tea seems quite fitting for this Asia-American collaboration. Green Tea IPA is brewed by Mitch Steel Bryan Baird & Stone “ex pat” Toshii of Ishii. All the proceeds of this brew go to raising money to support Japanese tsunami relief.
Label:
A wonderful spirit of camaraderie, cooperation and mutual support exists in the world of craft brewing. We have harnessed this spirit fully in the crafting of this special collaborative brew dedicated to the resilient people of Japan who are bravely endeavoring to overcome the tragedy of March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami
Style: Imperial IPA
Availability: 12oz bottles. Distribution AK AZ CA CO FL IL KY MA MN NC NJ NM NY OH OR PA SC TX VA VT WA.
9% ABV
Steve Wagner & Greg Koch published a video to the Stone Blog today about all the excitement surrounding the Stone Brewing’s recent big news. Stone takes a few minutes to put whole $26 million dollar story in their own words. Interestingly, there is a collaboration in the works with Stone, Elysian, & The Bruery. It involves the new farm, pumpkins, & October.
Stone’s Upcoming Projects from stonebrew on Vimeo.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that John & Chris Trogner of Troeg’s Brewing (Harrisburg, PA) flew out to Escondido, California to collaborate with Stone Brewing. Great news for sure, but the details of what was getting brewed was unknown until now. The result is a Cherry Chocolate Stout.
This beer is actually a 3(4?) way collaboration featuring 2 homebrewer’s Jason Fields & Kevin Sheppard. The duo won the American Homebrewers Association Rally in March. The grand prize is brewing with Stone & a brewery of their choice. To clue you in a little bit – previous winner Ken Schmidt brewed the Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter. (The leftover is the first edition of the Quingenti Series.) Fields and Sheppard won the rally with their Cherry Chocolate Stout recipe. This beer will include chocolate, cherries, & vanilla beans. John Trogner describes the collab:
[quote style=”boxed”]Homebrewing is a catalyst fueling American craft brewers. The opportunity to spend a day with Jason & Kevin (and the brewers from Stone) and bring their vision to life took us back to Boulder, Colorado, where we would spend hours formulating recipes, homebrewing, and educating our palates. Our earliest roots start with a six-gallon pot, a beat-to-crap stove and a burning desire. That curiosity of taste, our DIY aspirations, and youthful stubbornness has grown into Troegs Brewery, and those early days still fuel our passion.[/quote]
Style: Imperial Stout
Availability: 12oz bottles. Limited release.
8.8% ABV
