Stone Brewing and Greg Koch
Stone Brewing is known for the aggressive 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, most beers have a
traditonally 'hoppy' flavor. Stone beers are bottled in 22 ounce
bottles, 12oz six packs, and occasionally 3 litre bottles.
The beers available in six-packs are the Stone Pale Ale, Stone IPA,
Stone Levitation Ale, Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale, and Stone
Ruination IPA. Stone uses 22oz bottles to feature their "bigger
character" beers and Stone Special Releases. Compared to most
brewers, many 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%.
Beers
Arrogant Bastard Ale is an American strong ale. It is
marketed by warning potential consumers that they are "not worthy"
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. He also drew the Arrogant Bastard Ale, Stone
Ruination IPA and Stone Levitation Ale gargoyles, as well as barley
and hops motifs.
 
OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale is a variety aged with oak chips,
and has been produced in limited release 3 Liter bottles with a lock
three times: November 2004, 2005 and 2006. In August 2007, OAKED
Arrogant Bastard Ale 12oz six packs became a year round release. It
has also been produced on draft from time to time under no set
schedule since its first release in November 2004.
Double Bastard Ale is a more intense version of Stone's American
strong ale, Arrogant Bastard, with an ABV of about 10%. It is a
special release item and goes on sale every November in 22 ounce and
3 liter bottles.
India Pale Ales
Stone produces several highly-hopped examples of India Pale Ales.
Stone IPA is a fruity, hoppy IPA featuring Magnum and
Centennial hops.
Stone Ruination IPA is a very highly hopped Double India Pale
Ale. The bottle bears prodigious warnings of the high levels of
bitterness (rated at over 100 IBUs) as well as its ruinous effect on
the palate.
Stone Vertical Epic Ale series
Since 2002, Stone has been releasing a series of eleven beers under
the Stone Vertical Epic Ale header. Each one uses a different recipe
and are designed, when the release is complete, to complement its
partners in a tasting of all eleven, one after the other (a
"vertical tasting"). Each is released one year, one month, and one
day apart, beginning with the first on February 2, 2002 (02.02.02 in
a common date format on the Gregorian calendar); thus, the second
was released on March 3, 2003 (03.03.03), the fourth on April 4,
2004, and so on. The last in the series will be the Stone 12.12.12
Vertical Epic Ale.
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