Just a reminder for anybody in the area...

On 2004-07-12 17:13, Tiki Bird wrote:
Just in case anyone is interested Stone Brew's 8th anniversary IPA party coming soon. For more info goto:

http://stonebrew.com/timeline/2004/8thanniv/index.html

I do this event every year, and it just gets bigger each time, with more and more mirco breweries showin up. If your a beer lover & are in the soCal area, you got get beer here!

Tbird.

TBird, I think tickets are sold out, although the field where they're building the new brewery's suposed to be much bigger then their old parking lot.

Happ0ily I'm wrong about tickets being sold out for Stone's 8th anniversary! There's still tickets & they go on sale at 11 AM today.

My son and a freind are up there now. He's been extolling the virtues of Stone ales for the last three years. I would be up there with 'em but I have a party to go to on Shelter Island this afternoon and I'm gettin' too old to squeeze in two mondo drinking events in the same day :(

Well the Stone Anniversary was great. Alot more people there than last year. It was held at the grounds of the new brewery to be constructed. So here's some info. on the 8th Anniverary...

IBUs: 55
Alc/Vol. 7.8%
Starting Gravity 18.5 plato
Available in:
22oz Bottles & Limited Draft
Bottle Release Date:
Aug. 16th, 2004
Draft Release Date:
Aug. 21st at the Stone 8th Anniversary Open House, distribution Aug. 23rd

For this beer they used some of the same malts that they had used in the Lee's Mild, added more hops, less water(to bring the alcohol content up), and found a tasty balance of toasty/roastiness from the malt and a subtle (by Stone standards!) hop presence. To add further complexity, Oak was employed to round out the character and give the beer a bit of vanilla/bourbon influence from the wood!

Color: Medium Brown, with a light brown head
Aroma: Roasted/toasted maltiness, dark chocolate, coffee, with ever-so-slight "cola-like" aroma.

Flavor: Up-front Roasted malts give coffee, toasted, and bitter chocolate flavor, followed by hop bitterness, and, in the long finish, the oak makes its appearance. The late aftertaste is delicious to savor with the roast/bitterness/oak all lingering around for a while….

I'd rate this a 8 out of 10. I tasted both the Regular & Cask versions of the 8th Anniverary, and while they added more hops to this years batch, I found it milder in the hoppiness/bitter taste. Especially the cask version definitely had a porter feel to it because of the oak & coffee aroma & taste.

Give it a try!

p.s. Thanks to Monkeyman for meeting me & UtopianDreem at the fest, had a great time with ya. FFL, did you go?

Tbird.

On 2004-08-03 13:46, Tiki Bird wrote:
I wonder if U.S. beers are available in Europe & how they are rated by europeans?

Tbird.

We can get Anchor, Pete's Wicked, Cave Creek Chilli Beer and a few others. I certainly pick up a few bottles when I see them available.

TBird, I was there with my wife. I was the guy in the Chicago Real Ale Fest T-shirt ("A Firkin Great Fest!") & Kukui nut lei. I didn't see Monkey Man so I probably missed you, too.

You're right about there being more people there, it took us 4 hours to drink all our coupons & we kept the 4 bottle caps. If they're going to have as big a party next year they need to make it longer, have more tables & chairs (and set the tables parallel to the lines), have more beer from breweries, and have a lot more volunteers to help serve. I'd volunteer for 4 hours for admission & a T-shirt if the party went 8 hours.

Afterwards we hit In-n-Out and went downtown to the San Diego Maritime Museum to see the "HMS Surprise" from "Master & Commander" (AKA HMS Rose), & hit Karl Strauss for a 1/2 gallon of their Stout (I have a "Beer for a Year" card that gets me a 1/2 gallon of their beer every month for a year. I had to use it or lose it, & that was the only beer there I could still taste...).

On 2004-08-23 10:02, Kon-Hemsby wrote:

On 2004-08-03 13:46, Tiki Bird wrote:
I wonder if U.S. beers are available in Europe & how they are rated by europeans?

Tbird.

We can get Anchor, Pete's Wicked, Cave Creek Chilli Beer and a few others. I certainly pick up a few bottles when I see them available.

Will probably be planing a trip to England next year, will have to bring you & Trader Woody an assortment of California Mircobrews.

I've spent quite alot of time in Europe, and they do appreciate our beers...strangly, they like the same ones we do, and thus Bud and Miller are everywhere. Sierra and the odd micro pop up places where people like unusual ales more.

Ales like Sierra are not as traditional as on might think, they are much more hopped than even the India Pale Ales of most of the UK.

If anyone gets a chance to try a style unusual to the US it's called Saission. It's also called Farm House Ale. It's high gravity, and a bit spiced as well as hopped for balance of acids to sweet.

Dupont is a failry common one here in the west, it's about 6.00 a bottle. (750 ml)

It stands up to Cigars BBQ, Pickles...it's big...yet subtle.

LaChuffe is another nice Belgian Ale.
The Belgians are the kings of ales...and sadly...there too, Lagers are the big sellers.

Oh well