Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
my humble and correct opinion
You read that right. From blog to brewery. And you can help make the dream a reality….
…by clicking HERE to see their presentation on Kickstarter.
And after you have done that, tell your friends, write about it, tweet it, get this video under the nose of anyone who loves craft beer and can pony up even just $5.00.
I read this thought provoking post on NPR and it got me thinking about the craft beer world in both good and bad ways.
Back before the revolution of good beer, to try the best beer in the world required a European vacation. Now to try the best would require months and months of time, all the frequent flyer miles you have and an extra liver.
There is just TOO MUCH worthy beer out there. But that is a good thing. I like that there is an embarrasment of riches. Unlike the movies, where you might look at what’s playing and go, “Is that it?”, with beer you can rest assured find something good practically anywhere in the US and the world. And this will eventually entice all the industrial water lager drinkers to come over to the flavor side. So it is a seeming win-win. (Which is also a movie that I need to see).
But here is the downside on both a personal and consumer level. It is hard to grapple with the fact that I won’t have a majority of the beers that I wish I could. All these one-offs in Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine. Anniversary beers from Alabama that never make it to bottles. Heck, even a lot of the brews that I post about will never make it to my ‘fridge.
But I am coming to the point in my beer drinking life where I am OK with that and I am starting to want more people to come to that realization to.
There is no need to go chasing after “beer whales”. Enjoy the fruit in your backyard and if a special beer shows up, try it. I’m not advocating an unadventurous spirit. But don’t pass up 10 good beers that you have had for the “special one” that might be good. Because the relentless hunt will only lead to dis-satisfaction.
You know it’s a good list if Craig from City Beer Store in SF had a hand in it.
The lamestream media is covering beer! Take that Tea Party!
This just flew into my beer radar. And I thought I would pass the pertinent info on about it. Has a good panel and you can’t beat San Diego for a beer location. Would be interested if anybody is planning on going and why?
“San Diego’s first craft beer conference that caters to industry players and fans alike will take place on August 27th 2011, promising exclusive access to the top names in the industry, and their expert presentations plus panel discussions on all things relevant to the American craft beer movement. Between informative discussions, giveaways, and an extensive beer garden officially dubbed “Tap Haven,” if you’re an aspiring craft beer guru, you won’t want to miss Beer-Con.
Beer-Con’s impressive line-up of participants includes industry pros like Anat Baron, Director of Beer Wars, Patrick Rue, Founder of The Bruery, Greg Koch, CEO and Co-Founder of Stone Brewing Co, and Bill Sysak, Beverage Supervisor at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, to name a few. Presentations are scheduled such as Beer Tasting 101 to Transitioning your Bar/Opening a Brewery, Beer and Social Media, and many more. Check out the official Beer-Con site for a full list of speakers and sponsors. Or visit Beer-Con.com.
Beer-Con is slated to sell out quickly, so be sure to reserve your space today! You can reach us by simply leaving a comment on the Beer-Con website. Beer-Con is a huge step in forwarding the craft beer movement, and we’re excited to meet you at the Handlery Hotel in San Diego on August 27th.”
…impossible with some beer glassware.
That’s why these specially made wine and champagne sponges from Casa Bella could come in handy.
Now that the BIG Stone Brewing news is out in the open air. I want to take a step back and really look at what this means for Stone, San Diego and craft beer in general.
Stone is now putting a lot of projects onto a hopefully large plate. Can they keep up the quality on so many fronts? I believe that they can. They have broad support from the city and community. They have common cause with local brewers some of whom they distribute and I think they have the hard headed gumption to reach 2013. They will need a deep bench of talent to do it. In the following key areas: Hotel management. This can be tricky. They plan to go into this with a company that has expertise. Which is probably the best route. But they will have to monitor and be ready to step in if the Stone ethos doesn’t stay on course. Sour and barrel beers. I am hoping that they have a brewer and staff ready to charge into this field. Could be very exciting but the bar is incredibly high. Cascade, New Belgium and Russian River are high benchmarks.
For San Diego, it is a win-win. More Stone tourist draws spread out to decrease some traffic. And hey, any business opening now is a plus. This also really burnishes the craft beer reputation. Portland and Denver have proven that more can be merrier and this will draw more beer to the region.
For craft beer, I wish I knew. I have a feeling that a Stone backlash will be in the offing. Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada both get “too big” attached to their names occasionally for usually no good reason. I am sure that Stone will get tagged with it as well. But I believe we need all levels of business size to truly compete for the hearts and minds of the beer consumer. A rare beer that only a few can get will not make people put down the bad beer. We need more good beer in more places.
Part two of the Stone blitz is purely photos. Enjoy!
The Stone Brewing that you know now will be so much bigger and cooler in 2013 than 2011. As you may have seen in the Twitter-sphere and on Facebook, Stone is expanding and in typical Stone fashion, boldly.
I was among the lucky people that got to experience the news in one day straight from the source, Greg Koch and Steve Wagner. We traveled from the Stone World Bistro in Escondido, to Liberty Station near the San Diego airport to a lovely little farm in North San Diego county. And it was jam packed with news. So here goes…..
1. A new Stone store will be opening in the South Park area of San Diego. Similar to the store at the World Bistro. You can get a growler fill, buy a bottle and get a shirt. It will be tremendous for those in San Diego who now don’t have to trek north to get their beer.
2. A new World Bistro will open at Liberty Station. In the old Navy mess hall! And you can play bocce! (OK, I have never played bocce, so I don’t know why I put the exclamation point there) And their will be a brewery on site that might make some interesting one-off beers.
3. And they bought a farm! Yes, a real working farm that supplies part of the food for the restaurant. It may end up hosting educational events that reinforces the Stone locavore ethos and might be the site for beer dinners. It already has an outdoor oven and a great little lake. Combine that with the great San Diego weather and you have a winner.
4. The headquarters is expanding and not by a little. This will be HUGE! A new production facility about the size of what they currently have right next door. An expanded kitchen, more parking, electric vehicle charging spots near the front door. Then across the parkway will be a 50 seat boutique hotel, a barrel aged and sour beer facility and another garden.
5. There will be a lottery for the Barrel aged Macadamia collaboration porter in the new fancy caged and corked bottles because they will not hit the regular distribution chain. Why? There are only 672 of them.
6. Today is the brew day for the charity Green Tea IPA collaboration. A big 9% beer with loads of tea and literally a world of hops in it.
7. The Belgo Anise Imperial Stout is excellent. Big anise and coffee aromas. Not heavy and viscous at all. It is lively and fun to drink. Unless you do not like black licorice. It will be available along with the regular Imperial Stout in a couple of weeks.
Oh and there is something about a brewery in Europe too.
In a couple days, I will talk about what I believe the future holds for these Stone ventures.
While gaping slack-jawed at the beer choices at my Whole Foods in Glendale, I noticed to the side this….
Home brew kits, straight out of Brooklyn. So I investigated the boxes. Cool label. Ingredients can be bought in stores and online. Just need a kettle to cook the wort, everything else seemed to be in the box. I figured it would $60. Lo and behold it is $41. Great price for a gift or to try if I hadn’t spent my money on BrewDog beer.
If someone works at UC Davis and writes about beer. You might want to pay attention. I am certainly going to order this one to read with my next beer.
“Legendary beer expert Charlie Bamforth presents the most compelling social history of beer ever written: where it’s come from, and where it’s headed. From centuries-old cultural values to radical new approaches, craft brewing to globalization, it’s an amazing story. Bamforth tells it all–with humor, behind-the-scenes insight, and sheer joy!”