Stone Epic Festival: The Final Chapter

 

Not everyday you get up to
drink whales bro

December 12, 2012 (12.12.12) is a beer day that I’ll always remember.  Not only was I able to grab a brick of Westvleteren 12, pick up my Barrel Aged Speedway Stout and get my hands on my Eclipse Futures, it was also the last time for next 89 years that the month, day and end digits of the year we all be the same (look out January 01, 2101).  Stone Brewing Company has been celebrating this numerological alignment since 2002 by releasing a new Vertical Epic beer starting with Stone 02.02.02 Vertical Epic Ale.  Each subsequent Stone Vertical Epic Ale was released one year, one month and one day apart with the long term plan of allowing the consumer to open them all side by side on 12.12.12.

 

Given their commitment the phenomenon it was no surprise that Stone decided to go out in a blaze of glory.  Not only did they help throw Vertical Epic celebrations across the county (Including one at Out of the Park Pizza) they also hosted an Epic Eve Dinner.  The main event however was their big blowout festival the Stone Epic Festival: The Final Chapter.  This was the only large event at Stone that included all 11 of Stone Vertical Epic Ales together. 

 

Grabbing a ticket gave me access to 3oz pours from every Stone Vertical Epic Ale in a commemorative glass. Food stations that paired unique dishes to each of all 11 VEAs (Yeah I abbreviated Vertical Epic Ale, you wanna fight about it) I enjoyed and Three 4oz samples of your choice from four additional barrel-aged and cask versions. Personally I viewed this as a once in a lifetime event and knew it was going to be straight up epic (you know VERTICALLY EPIC) so I pulled the pretty pricy trigger and bought tickets the day they went on sale. Apparently it was not as easy of a trigger to pull as it never sold out in fact you could buy tickets at the door.

 

Eric and Marshall gearing up
to take down Epic Ales

I was able to convince both my buddy Marshall and the indomitable Eric Hammond to join for this experience.  Marshall’s finance Christa even volunteered to be our DD with was epic in its own right as it really took a lot of outside pressure off of the situation.  We got there pretty early and did a little shopping in the store (I might have bought my wife a Christmas present there – I doubt typing this will spoil anything since I’m pretty sure she doesn’t read my blog). They had closed down there entire bistro and gardens which was fantastic as it really did create a “A gorgeous festival atmosphere” that allowed us to enjoy our beers and pairings at our own pace (great discussion Stone).

 

The event kicked off exactly at 12:12 pm with Stone CEO and co-founder Greg Koch leading the attendees in a final countdown.  Going in my crew decided that we would buck convention and not do it in the expected order of 02.02.02 to 12.12.12.  We even asked Dr Bill for some tasting order advise (he recommended making sure we spaced out those that paired well with desserts).  By splitting which 3 barrel-aged and cask versions each of us got we were able to try everything they were pouring.

 

Here’s the order we did it in (with notes)

• Stone 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Aged In Bourbon Barrels (Added it Untappd)
• Stone 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Ale (Wanted it do it back to back, the bourbon had covered up a lot)
• Stone 02.02.02 Vertical Epic Ale (Eric says I can hash tag it as a white whales bro. #WhiteWhalesBro. This was a real treat and was fantastically drinkable for an eleven year old Witbier)
• Stone 05.05.05 Vertical Epic Ale
• Stone 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale (Great food pairing and really a nice winter warmer or Christmas beer)
• Stone 03.03.03 Vertical Epic Ale
• Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale Cask (A lot darker than Eric’s regular version)
• Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale aged in Red Wine Barrels (Really unpleasant – pass)
• Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale Cask
• Stone 04.04.04 Vertical Epic Ale
• Stone 04.04.04 Vertical Epic Ale Cask
• Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale (Different than all the bottles of it I’ve had)
• Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale aged in Red Wine Barrels
• Stone 10.10.10 Vertical Epic Ale
• Stone 10.10.10 Vertical Epic w/ French Oak

• Stone 06.06.06 Vertical Epic Ale
• Stone 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale Cask
• Stone 11.11.11 Vertical Epic Ale (enjoyable little (yeah right) pepper beer)
• Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale

Most of the food paired great with the beer, I recall only one match that changed the taste of the beer for me in a negative way, but with the exception of that job well done. Also if you wanted to try one of the paired items again you were easily given a second helping. The festival atmosphere was great as was the pace we enjoyed it at, we never felt like we had to race to a station to get a pour of anything. In fact once everything was flowing within the first hour it became rare to wait in any line for any beer.  In addition to the great pairing stations by each tap location, they also set up to food stations filled with bread, cheese, fruit and the amazing bacon bread which paired with everything. I also got the chance to hang out with the hosts of one of my favorite webshows, New Brew Thursday, Stephen and John.  Stephen came back later and crushed at our table for a while, which was really cool as he had a bunch of great stories to share. 

 

Overall this gave the Firestone Invitational Beer Fest a run for the title of Best Run and Best Overall Beer Festival of 2012.  The really did create something special with this one.  In a big way it’s sad that this was a once in a lifetime event because I would love to do it again.  Was it pricy? Yes. Was it worth it? Hell Yes!

 

Cheers

 

-SNB

Stone's 2012 March Madness Homebrew Competition & AHA Rally

Welcome Sign

This past Saturday I competed in Stone's 2012 March Madness Homebrew Competition & AHA Rally with my Scott's BIG IPL. This was the second time in a row that I took part in the competition and the first time I really planned for it.  Last year I found out about it mid-February and with only a month till the competition I had nothing put together for it so I decided to brew my Hopped Up Hef (my photos from last year).  This year I knew I wanted to do it again and really wanted to enter the Scott's BIG IPL.  This rally/competition was the reason I brewed Scott's BIG IPL both Alchemy Guild (All Grain) and Excelsior (Extract) back in December, so that I would have a complete 10 week cycle to get it ready.   Honestly I think the BIG IPLs could have benefited from another couple of weeks of lagering and it seems to be that they moved the rally up a week this year, but in the end I had no choice and got ready to go.

Gearing up for the event I looked at which of the two versions I wanted to enter.  For some reason neither seemed to be 100% what I was looking for and neither seemed to clear.  This represented the first time I was unable to brew a crystal clear lager.  During my tastings I mixed samples and found the mixture of the two to be greater then the sum of it's components.  This phenomena was seconded by my wife, Daniel and Marshall in taste tastes.  I therefore decided to blend them 50/50 at kegging.  Once I had them blended I decided to try and use gelatin to clear the competition keg of beer.  Even though I followed the directions to a t it failed to clear after a week.  Fortunately the gelatin had the same effect on the taste as it did the clarity (the reason I only did it to one keg) so I was set.

An Impressive list of Beers

Daniel had volunteered at the rally and even though they never contacted him he still volunteered to give me and my set up a ride down in his Prius.  We got down there around 11:20 and I was surprised to find everything pretty much set up and only one other jockey box. Last year 90% of the draft beer came out of jockey boxed this year, only 2 with everyone else using cobra taps.

In total there were 40 entries, 22 bottles and 18 draft.  As a sign of my early entry this year I was number 23, the first of the draft beers (the year before I had been 38). To take part in the competition, as both a competitor and a consumer, you have to be a standing member of the AHA (American Homebrewers Association). The event is free to AHA members and you can register or renew at the door.  The basic set up of the competition is simple, all 400 AHA members in attendance (they actually had to close the event online this year do to capacity constraints) are given a ballot with 3 spots to vote for their 1st, 2nd and 3rd favorite beer.  The votes are then tallied and the 5 top vote getting beers advance to a final tasting panel made up Stone personnel.  Stone then announces 4th-1st with the winning beer becoming the next Stone Collaboration. 

Pirate's Breakfast from Chism Brewing Voyage

Of the 40 beers available (I didn't try them all) some of my favorites were, Pirate's Breakfast (8.0 Imperial Breakfast Stout made by Curtis over at Chism Brewing Voyage who I got a chance to meet and hangout with), PP Steeze Imperial Coffee Vanilla Porter (10.5% Oak-aged Stout) and  Mango Habenero IPA (by far one of the best aromas I've ever smelled on a beer - super mango goodness).  Mint beers seemed to be a theme this year as four were present, the best of which was Ken Schmidt's Pillow Mint at the Ritz (Ken won the first Stone Homebrew Competition and would go one to win this one with this beer).  The other theme seemed to be bad beers as Daniel went through a particularly bad streak dumping over half the beers he tried, the worst of which was a beer called Lactic Lupulin which was a "dry hopped sour mash ale." I'm using quotes it as it was questionable whether it was a beer at all.  Not only was it a drain pour but it stained our glasses with it's sink requiring a very strong stout to get it back.

One interesting interaction occurred that day when I suggested to one gentlemen that he try #23. He scoffed and remarked that he was "pretty sure it was the same guy that won the Karl Strauss competition the year before" as if that alone was a reason not to try it.  I then told him that I had first hand knowledge that it did indeed win the Karl Strauss competition as I had brewed both. I explained a few of the challenges that went into brewing the Strauss batch and insisted and if he had tried that version (Karl's) he owed it to himself to try my version there. Pretty funny if you ask me.

Yes, I am doing my "Greg Face"

As much as I really wanted to win or at least place, I had deep doubts if I'd see anything.  It wasn't the best batch of BIG IPL I'd done both in clarity and taste.  So as we waited I really didn't think I'd hear my beer mentioned.  Turns out I was wrong as the first beer that Mitch Steele announced was "number 23, Scott's BIG IPL a Double India Pale Lager". This placed me in forth. Stoked, I made my way to the front and onto a bolder to shake hands with both Greg Koch and Mitch Steele while posing for photos.  I even had Greg snap one of his famous self shots of us with my camera.  I also scored a certificate for dinner for two at the Stone World Bistro and Gardens, which is pretty damn awesome. Rounding out the top 4 were the PP Steeze Imperial Coffee Vanilla Porter in 3rd, Mango Habenero IPA in 2nd with Ken Schmidt's Pillow Mint at the Ritz winning the day.

After the lack luster Scott's BIG IPL w/Citra and the clarity and flavor issues I'm detecting with the latest batches, I was having a lot of doubts about my ability to recapture the magic that was my second batch of Scott's BIG IPL.  So while I didn't win, placing 4th is a competition with some seriously good beers really lifted my spirits prepping me to go back to the lab and make the next batch of Scott's BIG IPL the best one yet.  

As for next year, at this point I don't know what I'll enter.  It could be another batch of Scott's BIG IPL (under a different name), a monster Triple IPL I have floating in my head or even a big stout.  At this point I don't know the only thing I do know is I'll be back.

Cheers

-SNB

2008 Stone Double Bastard

Good example of the color

8oz pour in a small goblet at Flying Saucer Houston. I spotted it on the menu and looked at it several times before I noticed it was an 08. Being a fan of this beer with some age on it I couldn't pass it up for the price.

Appearance: Hazier then I would have guessed it to be.  Rusty orange in color with a thin tan head. The lighting could be better for a through evaluation.

Aroma: You'd never guess that this is a hoppy beer when fresh as it is devoid of hop aroma. Very malty on the noise. Slight caramel and the smell when hops have died. When it warms I get an almost fig-like aroma. The strong malt aroma also fades well. English breakfast tea?

Mouthfeel:  Heavy bodied with medium carbonation that is allowed to occur due to it being aged in a keg vs bottle. I guess what I'm saying is I doubt a 4 year old beer from a bottle would retain this level of carbonation.  It was served too cold for a beer like this. I need to hold off till it warms.

Taste: The booziness this beer has when young is gone. It's replaced by a very rich beer. Caramel and dark toffee.  Prunes and figs.  The booze is detectable if I let the beer sit in my mouth for an extended period of time. I want to say it comes off oxidized but given the format it's clearly something else. While the hop aroma is gone the bitterness remains somewhat intact.

Overall: If the taste matched the aroma I would be more happy with it. Still a great beer to have gotten to try and proof of the power aging can have on a beer. It definitely opened up as I let it warm. Great beer for 5 bucks.

Cheers

-SNB

Jolly Pumpkin / Nøgne-Ø / Stone - Special Holiday Ale

Some Special Holiday Ales

I've mentioned before that one of my favorite things to do when it comes to collaboration brews is to establish a base recipe among the participants, then have them each go their own direction on them.  When it comes to professional collaborations more often then not only one beer is produced which for the most part doesn't seem to capture the individuality of either brewery.  There are a few exceptions to this one of which is the Jolly Pumpkin / Nøgne-Ø / Stone - Special Holiday Ale.

The story behind these beers started back in 08 with a chance meeting of Greg Koch from Stone and Kjetil Jikiun from Nøgne-Ø (the name translates to Naked Island) in a bar in Tokyo.  They got to talking and decided to brew a collaborative beer.  To complete the Stone collaborative triangle of power (let's call it the Triforce of Awesomeness) they invited Ron Jefferies from Jolly Pumpkin to take part with Mitch Steele taking the brewing duties for Stone.

The three brew masters ended up creating their own beer from the ground up including indigenous ingredient from each regions; White Sage (Stone), Juniper Berries (Nøgne-Ø) and Michigan Chestnuts (Jolly Pumpkin).

Triforce of Awesomeness

The first go-around was so successful that they decided to do it again, this time with the twist I love and the three travel to each others brewery to do the beer there.  This lead to the creation of three different beers with some of the tweaks being more subtitle then others.  The Jolly Pumpkin batch ended up being fermented with Brettanomyces and barrels giving it a nice sourness.

It was with this beer, known as Collababeire, that my tale with this beer start.  I was in Ohio on business when I ran across a bottle of it during a Stone event at Lizardville.  The Stone rep recommended it so I grabbed a bottle.  Soon after I ran across the Nøgne-Ø and knew I must complete the set for a side-by-side tasting.  Tracking down the Stone version wasn't too hard despite being retired for a couple of years, Carleton (SpdKil)hooked me up with a couple of bottles in my best trade to date.

The other night my tasting group came over and I decided to bust out the set to share with them.  Below are some of my small notes on each.

Cheers

-SNB

Stone Ruination IPA Double Dry Hopped with Centennial and Citra

I stopped by Stone Brewing to pick up a growler fill of 2009 Old Guardian for an upcoming trade.  While there I stopped by the cold case and was pleasantly surprised to find bottles of Stone Ruination IPA Double Dry Hopped with Centennial and Citra Hops.  As part of Stone's new Quingenti Millilitre Series it comes corked and caged in a beautiful 500 ml bottle.  Word on the street is this run was done to test out the new bottling line for the Quingenti Millilitre Series, if that's true I'm very happy they decided to do it with this beer. 

500 ml bottle opens with a pop and is poured into a Bruery Tulip.  Reviewed 17-Sept-11 

Appearance: The beer is a gorgeous pale golden color and when poured creates a nice inch tall fluffy white head.  Good level of carbonation is presents and it forms a solid lace down the side of the glass. Swirling the glass reinvigorates the head to a beautiful fully cloud.

Aroma: Literally smelled like I opened a bag of citra hops. Very pronounce citrus smell, primarily drive by the citra, the centennial hops do form a nice counter.   Bonnie Notes - oh my lord, light hop note to the smell, very pleasant

Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied, fills the mouth well, sits nicely on the palate. 

Taste: Citrus! Very slight passion fruit, key lime rine. Still has the classic Ruination bitting bitterness but highlighted by a citrus rine bitterness… some lemon and grapefruit notes are present. Very bitter on the back end but as a lupulin addict I'm very ok with that though I do have to say the dry hopping has softened it slightly.

Overall:  Absolutely fantastic. When I spotted it in the store my heart stopped I was so excited.  I love citra hops especially as a dry hop and have always appreciated Ruination. As I grew in my craft beer journey I started to feel like Stone was stuck in a past era, this beer has changed that option of them.  This is probably my new favorite Stone beer, hopefully this won't be the only time they make this.

 

Upon further investigation I learned additional facts about this beer from Jacob McKean, Communications Specialist at Stone.

1) It was done to test out the line.

2) It was bottled back on 6/22 (held up really well)

3) It was intended to be given away to Team Stone members only.

4) Super rare = Whale! I;-{)]

Saison Du BUFF

The Victory version

Overall I’m not a huge fan of most “saison style” beers.  The “style” in general is too all over the map which generally has lead to me often being let down. That does not mean that I am completely dismissive of saison beers in a couple of my favorite beers have been saisons. Among my favorite commercial beers are Guava Grove from Cigar City and Colette by Great Divide both of which are saisons.  On the homebrew side my BeanyTink’s Farmstead Ale is a saison/farmhouse style ale and is one of my favorite beers not to mentions some of my friends saisons.

One saison style beer that I’ve enjoyed several times is the Victory/Stone/Dogfish Head collaboration Saison Du BUFF.  A few weeks back I was waiting for some guys to come over and decided to warm up with a bottle I had in the BeerVault and give it a quick review.  This review is for the Victory version to date I’ve had all three versions and think the Victory is one of the better versions.

12 ounce Victory bottle poured into homebrew fest glass.  The enjoy or best by date is smudged so I can’t read it.

Appearance: Crystal clear, pale yellow almost straw like gold.  Pours with a good ½ inch whitehead made up of small tiny bubbles, lacing holds the side of class well.  

Great color and clarity

Aroma: Immediately I get the spiciness I’ve come to expect from this beer, there is some clove not overly funky.  I can slightly perceive the herbs they’ve used.  It took me a while to identify what I smelled; it was familiar but not something that I associate with beer.  Upon reading the side of the bottle I determined it was the rosemary.  

Mouthfeel: The beer is medium to light bodied, the bubble dance on the back my palate.

Taste:  Probably my favorite non-farmhouse / funky saison.  The spiciness from the yeast is not overpowering nor is it underwhelming, just an all around clean crisp beer.  I’m detecting no off flavors from fermentation and the finish really nice and crisp, very enjoyable

Overall: This is probably my favorite of the Stone collaboration beers that I have had to date.  Ironically I don't really get much Stone influence in it,  I get the Victory, I get a little bit of the Dogfish Head but not the Stone, probably due to the restraint in the hops.  Overall really nice summer beer that was a great follow up to the spicy smoked gouda pizza that I had made for dinner.  As I said definitely a good commercial saison, it is borderline between the ones that I like and the ones I do not.

In closing I am going to offer up the official collaboration video that Stone put out about a year ago when the beer was launched 

Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison du BUFF from stonebrew on Vimeo.