Stone beer is everywhere, literally. Based out of the San Diego area, Stone has completely blown up over the last couple of years. They are in the midst of building two new breweries, one in Virginia and the other in Berlin. The Berlin location would be the first U.S. owned and operated craft brewery in Europe. Pretty darn cool if you ask me. I’m not really a “Stonehead” (is that a thing?!) per se, but I do appreciate their beer and admire their marketing strategy. A gargoyle as a mascot is not only rebellious and manly but also memorable. They have this amazing aura of being sort of badass, even though they are rather corporate. Take their San Diego - Liberty Station brewery for example. Liberty Station is just a stone’s throw away from the SD airport. Originally opening in 1996 in San Marcos, Stone relocated to neighboring Escondido in 2006 to expand. Since SD is one of the largest beer meccas in the world, I assume that Stone opened a second location at Liberty Station to accommodate the craft beer tourists that come through the city. The Escondido headquarters is a little out of the way at about a 45-minute drive from the SD airport.
I visited the Liberty Station brewery in the summer and was slightly underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, the place is gorgeous and brand spanking new, but it feels a little chichi for a badass brewery. You walk into the entrance to be greeted by a large gargoyle hovering over the hostess desk. Beyond that is a huge bar, restaurant, and bocce court with the medieval vibe Stone projects. But, and I can’t quite put my finger on it, it just felt a little too swanky. We sat outside in the gardens and had lunch and tasters right next to the babbling koi pond. (Maybe it was the pond that felt too swanky?) The food and beer were good, but I so wanted to leave saying: OMG…I absolutely love <<insert Stone beer here>>. But, unfortunately, that didn’t happen that day.
Apparently when we visited the brewery in June, Stone’s Coffee Milk Stout was not in season. In my experience, milk stouts in general are not easy to come by. My first milk stout was actually by The Duck-Rabbit, a brewery out of North Carolina that coins itself as "the dark beer specialist." This beer completely opened my eyes to a different kind of stout, sweet and full but still somehow light. I tried the Stone’s Coffee Milk Stout for the first time at Rogue (of all places) in SF. They had some guest handles on tap and this happened to be one of them. It was absolutely delicious. And since then, I’ve actually tried some other really great Stone beers such as their 18th Anniversary IPA and their Xocoveza Mocha Stout, which deserves a post all on its own.
At 4.2% ABV, Stone’s Coffee Milk Stout is a full-bodied brew without being heavy on the booze. You can really smell and taste the cream and coffee. I may need to have it with pancakes next time.
I visited the Liberty Station brewery in the summer and was slightly underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, the place is gorgeous and brand spanking new, but it feels a little chichi for a badass brewery. You walk into the entrance to be greeted by a large gargoyle hovering over the hostess desk. Beyond that is a huge bar, restaurant, and bocce court with the medieval vibe Stone projects. But, and I can’t quite put my finger on it, it just felt a little too swanky. We sat outside in the gardens and had lunch and tasters right next to the babbling koi pond. (Maybe it was the pond that felt too swanky?) The food and beer were good, but I so wanted to leave saying: OMG…I absolutely love <<insert Stone beer here>>. But, unfortunately, that didn’t happen that day.
Apparently when we visited the brewery in June, Stone’s Coffee Milk Stout was not in season. In my experience, milk stouts in general are not easy to come by. My first milk stout was actually by The Duck-Rabbit, a brewery out of North Carolina that coins itself as "the dark beer specialist." This beer completely opened my eyes to a different kind of stout, sweet and full but still somehow light. I tried the Stone’s Coffee Milk Stout for the first time at Rogue (of all places) in SF. They had some guest handles on tap and this happened to be one of them. It was absolutely delicious. And since then, I’ve actually tried some other really great Stone beers such as their 18th Anniversary IPA and their Xocoveza Mocha Stout, which deserves a post all on its own.
At 4.2% ABV, Stone’s Coffee Milk Stout is a full-bodied brew without being heavy on the booze. You can really smell and taste the cream and coffee. I may need to have it with pancakes next time.
RSS Feed