Hopheads, clear your calendars

[ODB]

... for the Stone 12th Anniversary Celebration:

http://www.stonebrew.com/12th/

Pretty stellar roster of brewers lined up.

[CalEpic]

Oh man, there are some great brewers on that list. Time to line up a designated driver.

[jasonmason]

Don't know if y'all saw this yet, but the 12th anniversary beer is a Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal stout. Here's the tasting notes from Mitch Steele, their brewmaster. It's released 7/7...at which point i'm sure i'll buy a few.

Our Anniversary Ale this year stems from 2 pilot beers that were brewed by members of Team Stone. The first was Jeremy Moynier's incredibly delicious Oatmeal Stout, and the second was Jake Ratzke's amazing homebrewed Imperial Stout that had authentic Oaxacan chocolate added to the boil. We loved both beers so much that we decided to combine the recipes to make this year's Anniversary offering: Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout.

This beer pours deep black with a rich brown head of foam. The aroma is dominated by roast malt and cocoa. Upon tasting, the cocoa (we used unsweetened, unprocessed cacao sourced through our friends at Chuao Chocolatier) really comes through with a deep chocolate flavor and a long lasting bitter finish. The roasted grains used add coffee and licorice accents. It is a thick beer, but not sweet, with the addition of oatmeal in the mash providing a rich, silky mouthfeel that adds to the creamy texture.

Alcohol is 9.2% v/v

[TrailJesus]

Tim and I have been talking about making a ride/tasting trip to SD. I think we may have found the day to go.

Whoops! This is near SF!

[jasonmason]

Originally Posted by CalEpic

Oh man, there are some great brewers on that list. Time to line up a designated driver.

They're doing it at the Cal State San Marcos campus this year. Just pick up the Amtrak and head down to Carlsbad, then take the new Sprinter line - it goes right to the campus. Session 2 starts at 2:30; session 1 is too early to catch the Sprinter on the weekend. Plus, you can hit Pizza Port in Carlsbad on the way home (not that i've done that before...)

[ODB]

Originally Posted by integradriv3r

Whoops! This is near SF!

Not near SF; north SD County. They need to fix the map on the Web page.

[nomadFF]

yea, the amtrak is the way to go. We did it a couple years back, took the bus over to escondido, just hitched a ride to and from the hotel. Plus, the amtrak serves Stone. Got on the train in anahiem, beer in hand as we were going through orange. Good Times

[BrewMaster]

I stopped going to this and most beer festivals about 3 years ago. I just don't like the crowds of drunk people. The beer is good, but long lines and annoying people killed it for me.

[Big Rick]

Don't forget to dye your hair for charity - http://www.stonebrew.com/dyehards/index.php - Stone's Beer Festivals support some good organizations including Surfrider.

Originally Posted by jasonmason

...Just pick up the Amtrak and head down to Carlsbad, then take the new Sprinter line... session 1 is too early to catch the Sprinter on the weekend...

Change to Sprinter in OCEANSIDE - if you go to Carlsbad you'll be at Pizza Port all day... not a bad way to spend the day though. Also, Sprinter runs all day on the weekends.

It's great that we can take the train. Now my wife doesn't have to be the designated driver and I can drink half of her tasters too

[jasonmason]

Originally Posted by BrewMaster

I stopped going to this and most beer festivals about 3 years ago. I just don't like the crowds of drunk people. The beer is good, but long lines and annoying people killed it for me.

Can i get an amen!

...all that Sam said, plus the price vs. 'beers you can't find anywhere else' equation seems inversely proportional, judging from the list of breweries attending and the new price jump.

I've been told the lines are much better than they used to be though - breaking it into 2 sessions has helped, as well as cutting down on people over-indulging. Last one i went to at stone was the 9th, and that was a bit of a debacle; that was the last year of the single-session free for all though.

Still can be plenty of fun though (if you're not jaded like sam and I), and if you haven't been to a lot of beer festivals the Stone Anniversary is one of the better ones to cut your teeth on! Cut your tongue too, what with all the hoppy beers that i'm sure will be around...

[BrewMaster]

Every year I went I kept hearing, "the lines will be better than last year." The same story came out of the Pizza Port festivals. It never seemed to change in my view, so I am done. The "beers you can't find anywhere else" factor is nice, but rarely are there any true stand outs that cannot be attained otherwise.

I do like the Pizza Port festivals slightly better because they drastically limit the number of attendees and their food is killer, but if you don't get there early, you get to stand the whole time, which sucks.

[jasonmason]

Originally Posted by BrewMaster

Every year I went I kept hearing, "the lines will be better than last year." The same story came out of the Pizza Port festivals. It never seemed to change in my view, so I am done.

I hear you on the lines - there were years where you'd be standing in line for nearly an hour. Get a pour and enjoy go get back in line, all day - it was pretty ridiculous.
For what it's worth, the friends of mine that said it has gotten better went with me to the 7th, 8th, and 9th, and were pouring for the 10th and 11th, so they've got a pretty good cross-section of the stone fests.

Sam - are you heading down for the Stone Sour Fest? It's on 7/20 - I'd go but I'll be in napa. I figured you'd be all over this...

[BrewMaster]

Originally Posted by jasonmason

I hear you on the lines - there were years where you'd be standing in line for nearly an hour. Get a pour and enjoy go get back in line, all day - it was pretty ridiculous.
For what it's worth, the friends of mine that said it has gotten better went with me to the 7th, 8th, and 9th, and were pouring for the 10th and 11th, so they've got a pretty good cross-section of the stone fests.

Sam - are you heading down for the Stone Sour Fest? It's on 7/20 - I'd go but I'll be in napa. I figured you'd be all over this...

I would, but I'll be out of town too. It's comforting knowing that could have my own sour beer fest at my house today with stuff I've got stashed away...

[KeepsWhatHappens]

Originally Posted by integradriv3r

Tim and I have been talking about making a ride/tasting trip to SD. I think we may have found the day to go.

Whoops! This is near SF!

Nope. Their webmaster has apparently been hitting the Ruination a bit too often. The map is of Palo Alto not Palomar. CSU San Marcos is in Socal somewhat near Stone Brewing.

[Team Smitty]

I see a couple of breweries I recently visited on the roster. I just got back from a northern California vacation that took me to through Healdsburg and Fort Brag last week; of course I had to stop in both Bear Republic and North Coast Brewing and can attest that they make some fine brew.

If I can find the time I’ll try to put together a RIDE REPORT, but for now all I can say riding the single-tracks in the coastal redwoods is great way to beat the heat.

Smitty