Re-Post: STONE BREWING CO Barrel Aged Series

Written by Jacob Mckean

They are the great white buffaloes of Stone’s line-up. Like a cross between a unicorn and a siren, they appear enticingly for the briefest instance, only to disappear in a flurry of whispers.

They are Stone’s barrel-aged beers and special treatments. Stone Imperial Russian Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels. Double Dry-Hopped Stone Ruination IPA. Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Aged in Red Wine Barrels. And many more.

A veritable sea of barrels taking up precious space in our brewery

Now, we are utterly thrilled to be announcing that some of these sudsy jackalopes will be available in quite debonair (if-we-do-say-so-ourselves) 500ml corked-and-caged bottles.

Here’s the rub: There will be very few of these bottles available, and irregularly at that. At least for the foreseeable future. Space is our biggest constraint, and filling up our brewery with barrels just isn’t an option. So if you can’t get these, we’re sorry, we really are. We’ll try to make more, and if you can make it to one of our events, there’s a chance you’ll get to try them on draft. But that’s the best we can do…for now.

Yeah, we've tasted these, and they're damn good

Without further ado, our first “Quingenti Millilitre” release will be…Ken Schmidt / Maui / Stone Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter Aged in Bourbon Barrels. Yeah, that’s right. We’re releasing that. All 672 bottle of it. Tentative release date: sometime in July.

Stay tuned for release details, but this will be a brewery-only release due to the very small quantity. If you need an excuse to visit America’s Finest City and come to our gorgeous Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, here’s an excuse. You’re welcome.

This. In bottles. Probably in July.

To keep the Quingenti Millilitre releases flowing, we’ve brought in a whole lot of new barrels, which are temporarily stacked in our cellar. Namely, we recently acquired 346 Scotch whisky barrels—some of which we’ve already filled—along with a handful of new wine barrels and bourbon barrels.

So expect to see the results of these delicious experiments released in bottles over the coming years. In fact, a small amount of 2011 Stone Imperial Russian Stout & 2011 Stone BELGO Anise Imperial Russian Stout—which will be released May 31^st—is already resting gently in a variety of barrels.

But that’s not all, folks! We may well release Quingenti Millilitre bottles of our double dry-hopped beers or other unique treatments we dream up. So keep your barrel-aged ‘beerdar’ on. We’ll send updates here and on our Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Oh, and what the hell does Quingenti Millilitre mean (well, besides denoting something tasty)? It means quite simply “500ml,” which is the size of the special bottles.  And it’s the name we’ve given to the series (“Brewmaster’s Series” or “Brewer’s Special Reserve” and all that just sounded too cheesy).

20 MICHIGAN Breweries snag 51 medals at the World Expo of Beer - Frankenmuth, MI

(LANSING, Mich) – Twenty Michigan Brewers Guild member breweries collectively snagged 51 medals at the 2011 World Expo of Beer Competition, April 30 in Frankenmuth. Overall, there were 554 entries from around the world in 29 categories. Many of the beers entered in the competition will be available for sampling at the World Expo of Beer, May 20-21, at Heritage Park in Frankenmuth.

2011 MBG winners include:

Category 3 European Amber Lager 9 Entries

Silver               Fest Beer                                Kuhnhenn Brewery                 Warren, MI

Bronze             District 16 Amber                    Wolverine State                      Ann Arbor, MI

Category 4 Dark Lager 10 Entries

Bronze             Munich Style Dunkel              Frankenmuth Brewing          Frankenmuth, MI

Category 5 Bock 19 Entries

Bronze             Drag Me to Helles                   Wolverine State                      Ann Arbor, MI

Category 6 Light Hybrid 33 Entries

Silver               Cream Ale                               Bastone                                   Royal Oak, MI

Bronze             Dirty Blonde                            Atwater                                    Detroit, MI

   

Category 7 Amber Hybrid 6 Entries

Gold                Amber Tease                          Schmohz                                 nd Rapids, MI

Category 8 English Pale Ale 11 Entries

Gold                Midland Pale Ale                     Midland Brewing                     Midland, MI

Silver               Sir Williams ESB                     Dragonmead                           Warren, MI

Category 9 Scottish/Irish Ale 22 Entries

Gold                A Few Shillings Too Many      Kuhnhenn                                Warren, MI

Silver               Brik                                          MillKing It                                Royal Oak, MI

Bronze             Grateful Red                           Black Forest                            Frankenmuth, MI

Category 10 American Ale 22 Entries

Gold                Best Brown                             Bell’s Brewery                         Galesburg, MI

Bronze             Hobos Breath                          Mt. Pleasant Brewing             Mt. Pleasant, MI

Category 11 English Brown Ale 9 Entries

Silver               English Brown                         Redwood Lodge                      Flint, MI

Bronze             Jimmy Brown                         Great Baraboo                        Clinton Twp, MI

Category 12 Porter 13 Entries

Silver               London Porter                         Arcadia Ales                            Battle Creek, MI

Bronze             Pirates Porter                          Black Forest                            Frankenmuth, MI

Category 13 Stout 34 Entries

Gold                Kalamazoo Stout                    Bell’s Brewing                         Galesburg, MI

Silver               Oatmeal Stout                         Redwood Lodge                      Flint, MI

Bronze             Double Cream Stout               Bell’s Brewing                         Galesburg, MI

Category 14 IPA 45 Entries

Gold                Buzz Saw IPA                         Arbor Brewing                         Ann Arbor, MI

Silver               Two Hearted Ale                     Bell’s Brewing                         Galesburg, MI

Bronze             Arcadia IPA                             Arcadia Ales                            Battle Creek, MI

Category 15 German Wheat/Rye 21

Bronze             Dunkel Weizenbock                Bastone                                   Royal Oak, MI

Category 16 Belgian/French Ale 33 Entries

Silver               Golden Cap                             New Holland Brewing             Holland, MI

Bronze             Witface                                    Bastone                                   Royal Oak, MI

Category 17 Sour Ale 10 Entries

Gold                Red Rock                                Big Rock Chop House            Birmingham, MI

Category 18 Belgian Strong Ale 21 Entries

Gold                Thors Hammer                       Bastone                                   Royal Oak, MI

Silver               Dubbel Vision                          Bastone                                   Royal Oak, MI

Bronze             Final Absolution                       Dragonmead                           Warren, MI

Category 19 Strong Ale 16 Entries

Gold                Cereal Killer (2009)                 Arcadia Ales                            Battle Creek, MI

Silver               Old Ale                                    Mt. Pleasant Brewing              Mt. Pleasant, MI

Bronze             Barleywine                              Mt. Pleasant Brewing              Mt. Pleasant, MI

Category 20 Fruit Beer 21 Entries

Bronze             Tart Cherry Porter                  Liberty Street                          Plymouth, MI

Category 21 Spice/Herb/Vegetable 24 Entries

Silver               Sacred Gruit                           Mt. Pleasant Brewing              Mt. Pleasant

Bronze             Clementine Lemon Thyme     Liberty Street                          Plymouth, MI

Category 22 Smoke/Wood Aged 15 Entries

Gold                London Porter                         Arcadia Ales                            Battle Creek, MI

Silver               Bourbon 4^th Dementia            Kuhnhenn                                Warren, MI

Bronze             Bourbon Belgian Blond           Walldorff                                 Hastings, MI

Category 23 Specialty 24 Entries

Gold                Wanderer                                North Peak Brewing               Traverse City, MI

Silver               Cobains                                   Walldorff                                 Hastings, MI

Bronze             Cocoa Loco                            Arcadia Ales                            Battle Creek, MI

Category 24 Traditional Mead 9 Entries

Silver               Wildflower Sack                      Kuhnhenn                                Warren, MI

Bronze             Orange Blossom                     Kuhnhenn                                Warren, MI

Category 25 Melomel 13 Entries

Gold                Michigan Tart Cherry              Kuhnhenn                                Warren, MI

Silver               Lingonberry                             Kuhnhenn                                Warren, MI

Bronze             Elderberry                               Kuhnhenn                                Warren, MI

Category 26 Other Mead 24 Entries

Gold                Green Apple Riesling              Kuhnhenn                                Warren, MI

Beer Review: Samuel Adams Lattitude 48 IPA

Hopheads rejoice!

Not too many avid beer lovers I know get too excited about a Samuel Adams beer these days. I feel like most people overlook them, almost to the extent of considering them a "macrobrewery" by default.

Well, Lattitude 48 IPA is one of a few recent beers Sam Adams has brought to the table to relay the idea that they're just as passionate about beer as the little guys. Honestly, I wasn't excited to try this beer. What, there's only two in a summer sampler? For those of you who have had the standard Sam Adams IPA, I think my sentiments can be shared that it was good, but by no means exceptional.

This beer IS.

Beer pours a beautiful gold-amber with a bright head, ready to tingle your nose with a wonderful aroma of hops with a soft malt presence. Your first sip is the kicker. The moment. This IPA comes off so horrifically balanced and clean that your mind will implode. I can fairly say that I don't think I've ever had a cleaner IPA.

 (except for possibly the Big Rock Chophouse [Birmingham, MI] "Norm's Raggedy Ass IPA", which is the only IPA that beat Founders Centennial IPA at the World Beer Cup in Chicago last year.)


This beer is wonderfully balanced, with a solid malt backbone to the hops, sporting nice caramel middlenotes while still not being too overpowering or too laid back. The hops are bright and consistent all the way through your sip, from the tip of your tongue all the way down. This beer also has a fantastic afterhop that stays with you only long enough for you to have a woah moment, then it's gone.

The yeast is extroardinarily clean. So clean it almost feels unnatural. The yeast is very neutral, but leaves a soft metallic ester that some wouldn't necessarily enjoy (but I LOVED it).

I savored the first. The second. Before I knew it, my six pack was gone.

and I wanted more.