What about Stone Vertical Epic Ale 01.01.01? Well, there are two reasons for its non-existence: (1) We didn't want to participate in the whole overhyped media nonsense of "Millennium this" and "Millennium that," and (2) we didn't think of the Stone Vertical Epic Ale idea until the fall of 2001 (which was already too late for a 01.01.01 version.) Sure, we could wait until the year 3001 to start…
Life is extraordinarily precious, joyous...and fragile. In 2013, we suffered the tragic loss of our dear friend and coworker, Matt Courtright. In the midst of our grief, we pulled together as the family we are, suggesting and exploring numerous ways to pay tribute to our dearly departed colleague. In the end, we felt there was no finer way to honor his memory than to brew one of his most recent…
Inspiration comes from many sources. The inspiration for Sawyer's Triple came from namesake Sawyer Benjamin Sherwood, the 8-year-old son of Stone brewer Bill Sherwood and his wife, Janis. Over a period of four years, we had the distinct pleasure of getting to know Sawyer via his visits to the brewery or at the occasional backyard BBQ. An engaging and athletic kid if you ever knew one! In early…
Inspired by new experimental German hops, our brewing team is celebrating our 17ten Jahrestag by taking palates on an unconventional tour of Deutschland by way of Southern California. In doing so, we used a grain bill composed exclusively of pilsner malts and German hops with crazy awesome names: Herkules, Hersbrucker, Magnum, Merkur, Opal, Smaragd & Strisselspalt. Dry-hopping with Sterling,…
This year our brewing team was inspired by some exotic-ish additions of the lemony persuasion. Yes, it's a double IPA (Can you really say you're surprised?), but as we strive to do with all our Stone Anniversary Ales of the let's-take-this-IPA-in-a-new-direction variety, we've brewed up a Stone-worthy divergence from tradition. The amount of rye malt we used isn't quite enough to warrant the…
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 only an awareness among the faithful; the unconverted are beginning to feel it as well. Denial and ignorance are disappearing in…
We went to England this past spring as self-styled “IPA Hunters” on a mission to learn more about the confusing and often contradictory history of India Pale Ale—to look for some certainty where those before us have found mostly mystery and mercantilism. While our success in this pursuit is open to debate, there can be no question that we returned home inspired by the ghosts of Burton and by the…
Stone is a teenager now. Like all teenagers, we’re entering an unpredictable age. Soon our voice will begin to get deeper, yet crack at the most embarrassing time (like when we’re trying to impress a cute girl…just our luck). We do finally get to watch the PG-13 movies, not that that ever stopped us, we do look old for our age. And we have an unmistakable maturity about us. At least that’s what…
Summer dreaming in late January...many of us do it. I am right now as I write this label. Planned to do the writing with a Stone Special Release beer from years past at Stone Winter Storm, which kicked off at the bistro today, but plans were side-railed by a cavalcade of like-minded folk. And they got the first dibs. I found myself not on the kick-back-with-a-beer side of the equation, but on the…
A year. That simple word seems totally inadequate to even attempt to encapsulate the past 12 months. Good thing I suppose, or there would be no need for any other text on this bottle (those that would prefer it that way may feel free to stop here). This time last year saw us feeling our way around our new brewery, reveling in the space. It was positively roomy. And new. And shiny. These days, it’…
