Stone Brewing Company
Stone Brewing Co., founded
1996 in
San Marcos, is a
craft brewery now located in
Escondido,
San Diego County,
California.
Stone is best known for the aggressive and aptly named Arrogant Bastard Ale, although the brewery considers Stone Pale Ale and Stone IPA to be its flagship beers. Most of their beers are characteristic of west-coast craft brews; that is to say, emphasis is placed primarily on the recipes' hop character. Most Stone beers are purchased in 22 ounce bottles, but select beers are sold in traditional six packs, kegs, and 3 litre bottles.
The beers available in six-packs are the Stone Pale Ale, Stone IPA and Stone Levitation Ale. Stone uses 22oz bottles to feature their "bigger character" beers and Stone Special Releases. Compared to most brewers, Stone brews feature alcohol percentages that are well above average. The alcohol-by-volume content of Stone brews ranges from 4.4% to well over 11%.
Stone Brewing is consistently rated as one of the best brewers in the US, and world, by the two largest beer enthusiast websites, RateBeer.com and BeerAdvocate.com.
|
A bottle of Arrogant Bastard Ale. |
Arrogant Bastard Ale is an
American strong ale. It is marketed by warning potential consumers as being "unworthy" of such a sophisticated beer, suggesting most people cannot appreciate a beer of such quality and depth. It is a popular beer among
craft beer aficionados.
Local designer/illustrator Thomas K. Matthews created the original gargoyle in 1996. Matthews has since gone on to a career in communication but continues to have a working relationship with Stone.
A variety called Oaked Arrogant Bastard is It has been produced in limited release 3Litre bottles with a lock twice: November 2004 and November 2005. It has also been produced on draft from time to time under no set schedule since its first release in November 2004.
Double Bastard is a Barleywine with an ABV of about 10% It is a seasonal item and goes on sale every November in 22 ounce and 3 liter bottles.
Stone Ruination IPA is a very highly
hopped Double India Pale Ale. The bottle bears prodigious warnings of the high levels of bitterness (purported to be over 100
IBUs) as well as its ruinous effect on the
palate. Despite being touted as a supremely bitter beer, Stone Ruination IPA has a great depth of character for those who are attuned to hop flavors.
*
Stone Brewing Official Site *
BeerPal*
BeerAdvocate*
RateBeer*
Arrogant Bastard Official website*
Stone Brewing Co. grows in Escondido
