Stone Brewing News – Europe Update, Hotel Update and More

We had a brief chat with Stone Brewing Co., in which we discussed the European Brewery project, the hotel project, life after Vertical Epic Ale and more. Cheers!

Life After Vertical Epic Ale

What will replace Stone Vertical Epic Ale next year? I assume Stone won’t be making less beer than they are this year, so will a limited item like Lukcy Basartd Ale fill that void?

There is no “replacement” for the Stone Vertical Epic Ale series, as the lifecycle of the series was preordained by the calendar, and thus finite. We knew the end of the series would come, and indeed with the Stone 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale, it has.

Right, but what will be filling those tanks now? Surely Stone won’t be making less beer in 2013?

We have nothing additional planned. At this point, we’re hoping the continued growth of our core brands and new beers like Stone Enjoy By IPA fill the void.

Will Stone Brewing ever brew any of the Stone Vertical Epic Ale recipes again under an alias or even under its original name?

We imagine it’s possible, but we don’t have any plans to do so. 

Now that Stone Vertical Epic Ale doesn’t have to shift production a month every year, will that make the date/month of the Stone Anniversary Ale and Stone Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival consistent throughout the years?

Other factors than the Stone Vertical Epic Ale schedule have been at play the past several years; that beer’s production never altered our anniversary schedule. We expect to continue to keep future anniversary beers and future Stone Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festivals on or around the same time each year towards the end of August.

European Brewery Status

What is the status on the Europe project?

With all of our other projects at this time, the Europe Project has admittedly found its way to the back burner for the time being. We had identified a location in Berlin that we literally negotiated on for an excess of a year and a half. Ultimately, we were unable to get the property over the finish line, and are back at square one.  Doh!

Collaborations and Bottling Draft only ‘hits.’

What collaborations are in the works after the Chicago collaboration?

We’ll once again host the Brewers Association’s AHA Rally in March at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, so the winner of that competition will likely be our second collaboration beer release of 2013.

Can we expect any return collaborations (for example, the Dogfish/Victory/Stone Saison du BUFF) for 2013?

There is no collaboration re-brew currently contemplated for 2013.  We have loved so many of our collaborative efforts, but our focus remains principally on treading new ground with new collaboration beers.

Will Stone: Suitable for Cave Aging – An Imperial Smoked Porter Tribute to Danny Williams or Stone: Suitable for Cave Aging – An Imperial Smoked Porter Tribute to Danny Williams aged in Bourbon Barrels ever be bottled?

We plan on bottling a special version of Stone: Suitable for Cave Aging – An Imperial Smoked Porter Tribute to Danny Williams, but not the bourbon barrel-aged version. 

Misc. Questions

Is the hotel project still on track?

We are looking at second quarter 2013 groundbreaking and a late 2014 opening for Stone Hotel & Headquarters. 

Will any of the Stone Company Stores consider serving food/tapas/appetizers?

The Stone Company Store locations are far too small to add a kitchen, so thus the answer is unfortunately no.

Would Stone ever consider expanding Stone Enjoy By IPA to a few different hoppy beers? Like an Imperial Red or a Black IPA that must be enjoyed just as quick?

We’re still working on perfecting the extraordinarily complex system we created with Stone Enjoy By IPA, so it’s definitely too early to consider branching out.