Stone's Vertical Epic Events

I'm guessing this is why there was quite a bit of build-up and then.....nothing.

I still do not understand why people think Stone is an amazing brewery.
I've heard the 12.12.12 sucks balls.

 

Their standard things are usually pretty good, as are many/post of the seasonals. But their special stuff, egads, it can get pretty awful. And I've never understood why they thought that this whole vertical epic thing made sense.

Regardless, I think a "pretty good" standard lineup at reasonable prices with a lot of distribution and a few wacky experiments that some people will inevitably like is a great way to get a lot of love in the beer world. See: Head, Dogfish.

 

I went to library alehouse, had 03-12. I liked 07 and 10, thought 09 was solid, and the rest were average. I'm glad I did it and it was a cool experience, and I still have some bottles, but I won't be rushing out to any of the multitude of places that still have a lot of them on tap...

 

Enjoy By is the best winner they've had in a long long time. IRS and Old Guardian are solid beers. A few of their one-offs have been good, like Highway 78 Scotch Ale, and the IPA Session ale, the rest have been drain pours. The VE's were 90% garbage the day they were made. DFH isn't known for making great beer either, just wacky stuff. Thankfully very little makes distribution to the west coast.

Stone also has an impressive facility, good on site parties (their anni party at the college blows), does a lot of good charity work and their distribution has helped a ton with the craft scene.

Maybe at the new brewpub they'll have a different head brewer who'll focus on making every beer excellent.

 

New brewpub?

 

The new bistro down at NTC in Pt Loma, will have a 10bbl brewhouse in it. So they will be brewing on site.

 

Hit Beachwood's event. DID NOT LIKE 12-12-12 at all. I bought 3 bottles before the event. I'm hoping it will get better with age. I've always enjoyed 07-07-07. Opened my last bottle of 07 on Turkey Day and it tasted delicious out of the bottle. It did taste a little different on tap. I thought 04-04-04 tasted like a sweet wine. 08-08-08 and 09-09-09 were okay. I still have 2-3 bottles each of 9's, 10's and 11's. Will open later in the years to come.

 

Opened '03-'12 with a couple of buddies. None were bad, but nothing was particularly great either. Was a fun experience, which was definitely worth it in my opinion. My first cellared beers, my old stomping grounds - I was just glad nothing was godawful.*

*Well except '11. That beer is still horrid - but I thought so at release as well.

 

Well, after looking at these beers sitting in my fridge for the last 6 and a half years, its seems only fitting to write a post about the tasting party we had this weekend. I had bottles from 2006-2012, and shared them with several friends at a tasting party. We used some of the ideas from the Stone website regarding food pairings, and then tweaked them to match our personal tastes. So, after we sampled all the beers and scored them individually, we calculated average scores and came up with the best in show, which ended up being the 2010. The consensus about that beer was that it paired the best with all the food, especially the turkey meatballs simmered in a chipotle pepper-adobo sauce-apricot jam sauce. I personally liked the 2007 the best. Go figure.
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Here is how they came out:
Group: My preference:
2010 2007
2009 2009
2006 2008
2012 2011
2011 2006
2007 2012
2008 2010.