Stone Brewing Company

Infobox Brewery
name = Stone Brewing Co.


caption =
location = Escondido, California, USA
owner = Steve Wagner and Greg Koch (independent)
opened = 1996
production = 67,841 US barrels/year (2007); 88,000 US barrels/year (projected 2008); 250,000 barrels/year (eventual projected capacity)
active_beers = brewbox_beer|name=Stone Pale Ale|style=Pale ale brewbox_beer|name=Stone Smoked Porter|style=Porter / smoked beer brewbox_beer|name=Stone IPA|style=India Pale Ale brewbox_beer|name=Stone Ruination IPA|style=Double India Pale Ale brewbox_beer|name=Stone Levitation Ale|style=Amber Ale brewbox_beer|name=Arrogant Bastard Ale|style=American strong ale brewbox_beer|name=OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale|style=American strong ale
other_beers = brewbox_beers|type=Stone Special Release brewbox_beer|name=Stone Anniversary Ale|style="style varies" brewbox_beer|name=Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine|style=Barley wine brewbox_beer|name=Double Bastard Ale|style=American strong ale brewbox_beer|name=Stone Imperial Russian Stout|style=Russian Imperial stout brewbox_beer|name=Stone Vertical Epic Ale|style="style varies"

Stone Brewing Co. is a craft brewery headquartered in Escondido. It was founded in 1996 in San Marcos, San Diego County, California.

ummary

Stone Brewing is known for the aggressive Arrogant Bastard Ale, although the brewery considers Stone Pale Ale and Stone IPA to be its flagship beers [ [http://www.stonebrew.com/pale/] . "Stone Pale Ale". 2008-07-26.] . Most of their beers are characteristic of west-coast craft brews; that is to say, most beers have a traditonally 'hoppy' flavor. Stone beers are bottled in 22 ounce bottles, 12oz six packs, and occasionally 3 litre bottles.

The beers available in six-packs are the Stone Pale Ale, Stone IPA, Stone Levitation Ale, Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale, and Stone Ruination IPA. Stone uses 22oz bottles to feature their "bigger character" beers and Stone Special Releases. Compared to most brewers, many Stone brews feature alcohol percentages that are well above average. The alcohol-by-volume content of Stone brews ranges from 4.4% to well over 11%.

Stone Brewing is consistently rated as one of the best brewers in the US, and world, by the two largest beer enthusiast websites, RateBeer.com and BeerAdvocate.com.

Brewery

In 2006, Stone relocated from its original brewery in San Marcos to a new, custom-designed facility in Escondido. The new brewery currently has a capacity of 70,000 US beer barrels per year, with capacity expandable up to 250,000 barrels, and also includes an on-site bottling line. The site is also home to a restaurant, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, a 300+ seat restaurant which features interesting architecture, a large outdoor patio and one acre of gardens. The restaurant serves a rotating menu of food -- concentrating on organic, free-range and local ingredients -- and beer from Stone, local San Diego and regional California craft brewers, and other specialty breweries in the United States and abroad. The brewery also houses a "Stone Company Store" where Stone merchandise can be purchased in addition to 2L and 1L growlers which can be filled with Stone's 7 year-round beers and special releases.

On June 2008, Stone Brewing became more eco-friendly when they covered the roof of the brewery with solar panels, nearly cutting their energy costs in half. The 1,561 roof-mounted solar modules will offset more than 538,000 pounds of carbon emissions over its lifetime, which is equivalent to planting 204 acres of trees.

Beers

Arrogant Bastard Ale

Arrogant Bastard Ale is an American strong ale. It is marketed by warning potential consumers that they are "not worthy" of such a sophisticated beer, suggesting most people cannot appreciate a beer of such quality and depth. It is a popular beer among craft beer aficionados.

Local designer/illustrator Thomas K. Matthews created the original gargoyle in 1996. He also drew the Arrogant Bastard Ale, Stone Ruination IPA and Stone Levitation Ale gargoyles, as well as barley and hops motifs.

A variety aged with oak chips is available as OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale, and has been produced in limited release 3Litre bottles with a lock, three times: November 2004, 2005 and 2006. The 2006 limited release saw the addition of six packs of 12 ounce bottles. In August 2007, OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale 12oz six packs became a year round release. It has also been produced on draft from time to time under no set schedule since its first release in November 2004.

Double Bastard Ale is a more intense version of Stone's American strong ale, Arrogant Bastard, with an ABV of about 10%. It is a special release item and goes on sale every November in 22 ounce and 3 liter bottles.

India Pale Ales

Stone produces several highly-hopped examples of India Pale Ales.

Stone Ruination IPA is a very highly hopped Double India Pale Ale. The bottle bears prodigious warnings of the high levels of bitterness (rated at over 100 IBUs) as well as its ruinous effect on the palate. Despite being touted as a supremely bitter beer, Stone Ruination IPA has a great depth of character for those who are attuned to hop flavors.

Stone IPA is a fruity, hoppy IPA featuring Magnum and Centennial hops.Price:Although the prices and selection vary it is available in most of the continental United States, and is always found amongst the microbrew beers. In the Midwest it retails for between $10-$12 dollars.

tone Vertical Epic Ale series

Since 2002, Stone has been releasing a series of eleven beers under the Stone Vertical Epic Ale header. Each one uses a different recipe and are designed, when the release is complete, to complement its partners in a tasting of all eleven, one after the other (a "vertical tasting"). Each is released one year, one month, and one day apart, beginning with the first on February 2 2002 (02.02.02 in a common date format on the Gregorian calendar); thus, the second was released on March 3 2003 (03.03.03), the fourth on April 4 2004, and so on. The last in the series will be the Stone 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale.

tone Levitation Ale

Winner of the Gold Medal, American Style Amber/Red Ale, at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival.

Trivia

*Stone's website occasionally features April Fools jokes featuring fake products, such as low carb beer, which are out of character for their beers.

*Arrogant Bastard Ale is featured in the horror movie Cabin Fever in which several of the characters engage in a competition to drink only beer during their camping trip.

References

External links

* [http://www.stonebrew.com/ Stone Brewing Official Site]
* [http://www.arrogantbastard.com/ Arrogant Bastard Ale Official website]
* [http://www.stoneworldbistro.com/ Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens Official website]
* [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/03/05/business/news/20_56_473_3_06.txt Stone Brewing Co. grows in Escondido]