OK, so I'm an idiot. I took all these awesome pictures of the brewery on my phone, but forgot which SD card they're stored on. When I find them, I'll update the post.
I take it for granted that I'll never get to walk into the Buffs or Sox clubhouse on a gameday. Not only would I never be granted access, but I'm not even sure I'd want to go in there if offered the opportunity; I feel it would be an intrusion. I'm decidedly an outsider, and feel it should stay that way. I humbly submit that, in the words of Wayne and Garth, I'm not worthy.
This is not the case with beer.
I have no problem stepping into the places where my favorite brews are created. When offered an opportunity to get an intimate look at a brewery, I have yet to say 'no.' I still maintain a naive, fanboy-ish view of the great brewers of the day, yet I have no qualms about busting into their space, grabbing some samples, and wandering around like some master of the domain.
This all leads me to my trip to Stone. They are, without a doubt, my favorite brewery on the planet. Everything they produce, even the Cali-Belgique IPA (which is apparently un-popular with the people who actually work there), is a hit with me. The mere mention of Arrogant Bastard makes me weak in the knees. Walking into there is, to me, the rough equivalent of strolling into the underbelly of Dal Ward on a Saturday in the Fall. Yet there I was two weeks ago, running around the joint like a kid in a candy store.
As in all things, it's good to know somebody. One of my best friends talked his way into a job at the estimable Escondido, CA brewery, and on my recent trip to California he was more than happy to give me the full tour (thanks again, dude!).
Stone has a very impressive set up. Their current location is located on an old stone quarry (get it?), and combines their large and impressive brew space with a contemporary restaurant and immaculate beer garden. Large and well stocked, the brewing floor provides an awe-inspiring back-drop for diners while still pumping out over 100,000 barrels of beer each year. I tried the menu at the restaurant later in the week, and found it full of interestingly tasty items. For the record, my favorite item was the fresh beer pretzels, which were essentially pretzel doughnuts.
Before the tour started, it was off to a secret fridge to grab a special 'walking around beer' that isn't even available in their tap-bar yet. Later this year Stone will be releasing an "odd-year" version of their Imperial Russian Stout. It's spiked with Belgian yeast and anise. The anise flavor was more subtle than I expected, but the rest of the beer was totally in your face. It'll definitely fall in line with the rest of the Stone canon when it hits the market. It certainly set me in the proper mood for strolling through a brewery.
The tour hit all the usual spots. The coolest stops included the laser engraved mash tuns, the large hop storage area (pelletized hops; Odell's still has the market cornered on whole-leaf hops), the large filtration cenerfuge, and, of course, bottling. An additional interesting stop on the tour was the test area, where small batches of trial beers are made. Employees can even utilize the set-up to make uber-home brew; for example, my buddy had one currently in the dry-hop stage.
The high-point of the tour, however, was the stop at the barrel-aged area and its giant fermenters. There I was able to experience the pure joy that is truely-fresh beer. Your average brewery, constrained by distribution laws and logistics, usually can't get you beer much younger than a week or two even if you take a trip to their tap room. The best way to get around this is to grab some before it gets bottled. This particular tasting was of Arrogant Bastard (which just happens to be my all-time favorite beer). It may sound like a cliche, but I could almost hear the angelic choirs light up when the taste hit my tongue. The natural carbonation alone made this a unique experience (beers in fermenters, of course, have yet to be hit with bottling CO2), but the flavor profile was on a whole different level. It was slightly sweeter than typical AB, and the floral hop flavors were more intense. A fantastic way to cap of an unforgettable experience.
Stone not only lived up to my expectations, it surpassed them in every way. They have an excellent set up, with just enough room for experimentation. Big thumbs up to the team over there! If you get a chance, please stop by. And try the pretzels.
Happy Friday!
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