Stone Vertical Day

bacon bread? of course that would be a hit lol. my friends photo bombed FB yesterday & i didn't really start drooling til they posted the same braised short rib. deliciously decadent looking, glad you made it out, cheers!

 

From last night at O'Brien's with SageO

02 - Not bad, not great. Taste like an average wit, slight buttery taste though. I was impressed it held up.
03 - At first I didn't enjoy this, but after each sip I liked it more. Like Sage said a lot of sweetness
04 - Strong Belgian yeast character, no thanks
05 - Can tell it has oxidation, but I enjoyed this one
06 - Terrible, tasted like bad homebrew
07 - One of my favorites. Tasted like hard candy (or as Sage said honey)
08 - Surprisingly still had a good amount of hop flavor. Probably my favorite.
09 - Really had high hopes for this beer. But all I really got was harsh bitterness, not much chocolate. I had it a few months ago and was also disappointed
10 - way better than fresh, but still nothing great. Smoothed out a bunch, can see this as a refreshing beer on a hot day
11 - I usually hate pepper beers, while this one does not change my mind, I thought it was okay. Pepper flavor but no heat, interesting, but a small sample is good enough
12 - This would have been a great 02/02/02. A shit ton of spices (over the top) and a very thick body. I have had this a few times, and each time I enjoy it less. Who knows, maybe I will buy one to hold on until 2022.

Overall fun event. I am glad I got to try them all and not at some high price. Though the Stone event was pricey, the food looked great and was probably worth it, unfortunately with all of the Alesmith, RS and other releases I had to pass, so I am glad O'Brien's put this on, especially since the money is going to charity.

 

I was about to call you out for failing to mention this on your first post.

 

Stone Imperial Russian Stout-braised Short Ribs

Pair with Stone 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale

Yield: 8 to 10 portions

Ingredients

extra virgin olive oil

6 bone-in beef short ribs (about 5-6 pounds)

kosher salt to taste

1 large onion, diced ½-inch thick

2 ribs celery, diced ½-inch thick

2 carrots, peeled and diced ½-inch thick

2 cloves garlic, smashed

½ cup tomato paste

2 to 3 cups Stone Imperial Russian Stout

2 cups beef or chicken stock

1 bunch fresh thyme, secured with kitchen string

2 bay leaves

Preheat the oven to 375° degrees F. (could vary with ovens)

Coat a large pot over high heat with enough oil to accommodate all of the meat. Generously season each short rib with salt and add the ribs to the pan in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. Cook the ribs until they are well browned, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove the ribs from the pan and repeat with the next batch.

Drain the fat from the pot. Coat the bottom of the pan with fresh oil and add the vegetables. Generously season the onions, celery and carrots with salt and sauté until they are golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the beer and use a wooden spoon to scrape bits of browned meat and vegetables from the bottom of the pan. Let the mixture simmer and reduce it by 50 percent. Return the short ribs to the pan and add the stock, thyme and bay leaves. Cover the pan and place in the oven. Cook until the ribs are tender, about 3 hours. Check periodically during the cooking process and add more stock, if needed. Remove the lid during the last 20 minutes of cooking. Remove from the oven and keep warm.

To serve, transfer the ribs and vegetables to a plate. Strain the cooking liquid into a separate bowl and ladle it over the meat. Serve with a side dish like mashed potatoes or yams.

 

How was the Duck Confit PB & J?

 

Unexciting. Little to no duck/fat flavor. Tasted like a fried peanut butter sandwich, which isn't in and of itself a bad thing.

 

Put up a rundown of the fest on my blog
http://snbbrewing.blogspot.com/2012/12/stone-epic-festival-final-chapter.html

 

interesting. in the last few weeks i've enjoyed my personal bottles of 06.06.06 through 09.09.09 (all stored i the fridge since release). 06.06.06 was excellent. 07.07.07 was a bust; just plain bad. 09.09.09 was very good; very odd that all you experienced was harsh bitterness.

 

Definitely lots of bottle/draft variation. Above I described 03 as molasses, but I had a bottle (that had been well kept - waxed and refrigerated) a few months ago that was almost completely nondescript. Above I described 09 as chocolatey, but had a bottle a few weeks ago that was mostly smoke.

Goes to show it's rarely worth completely writing off a beer if you don't like it once - more reason to drink more!

 

I got my 12 on 12/12. Won't open it till new years. Gotta do my epics on my own, 03 thru 12. I'm planning to do one a month on the day of release. Happy new year, my next epic will be march 3rd, cheers!

 

I will be doing 03-12 on new years. I actually received the 03 and 04 from a BA Secret santa about 4 years ago. Its been so long of a wait, whats a few more weeks?

 

I can't wait to try to make this. Only question. I'm not a foodie so forgive me, but what does it mean by "2 ribs celery" ?

 

I couldn't wait for 12.12.12 to come around. I had to crack open the VE's I had at the time. I was able to get together 07-10 and really liked how they ended up. The 11.11.11 was not what I had hoped for and the 12.12.12 seems to be taking its time to get to my area. For those of you that had all of them, which was the best one?

 

A rib is an individual portion of the celery. When you break off a long strip from the celery, that's a rib.

 

I didn't get back up there until today around 3pm and they were all gone. Oh well, not the first time I missed out on a glass.

All they had today was the 08, 11, and 12, so I had the latter two. All I missed out on was the 10, so I'm okay with that.

 

I need to know more about this bacon bread. I already love Stone's spent-grain-crackers.

 

Ditto, anything bacon related I am all over.

 

They served that at one of the cigars and charcuterie events I think. Pretty damn amazing.

 

Is it bacon between layers of bread or...? (Google isn't being too helpful because all it has are recipes for bacon bits in bread.)