A Look Back at 2011 Part 12 – Stone, Lost Abbey, Green Flash, Alesmith, Maui and Anchorage

The ball dropped, 2011 is over, but this segment isn’t quite over, so stick around as Dan wraps up ‘A Look Back at 2011′, featuring West Coast players Stone Brewing, Lost Abbey, Green Flash, Alesmith, Maui Brewing and Anchorage Brewing.

Stone Brewing – Stone made it clear a few years ago it wanted and needed to expand. While the talks of the European expansion has slightly cooled off, they opened a new company store in South Park, opened an organic farm to sustain their restaurants and events, spun off their kitchen restaurant into its own catering company, announced a hotel that will be constructed adjacent to their brewery as well as plans to construct a second brewery and restaurant at Liberty Station in San Diego. They are still pumping out with collaborations with established and up and coming breweries, and have finally made room to start a barrel treatment program for their strong and fun ales. They released the book The Craft of Stone Brewing with teenage heart throb Randy Clemens and created a pop culture icon out of Greg Koch’s silly mug.

Lost Abbey – Late in 2010, Lost Abbey announced the hiatus of their Sinners and Saints club due to operational challenges. On the upside, us common folk were able to try beers like Ad Lib, Veritas 009 and 010 and were able to stroll right in to get Deliverance and Framboise de Amorosa. They hired  Gwen Connely from Flying Dog to perform QC functions, and to hopefully nip that carbonation issue in the bud.  At the end of 2011 they announced an “Ultimate Box Set” of beers, which will allow for creative twists on old favorites as well as birth of new hits, so look out for that.

Green Flash – Years ago, close to 6, Green Flash had to cut contract brewing relationships in order to focus on brewing their brand. Fast forward to 2011, and Green Flash had maxed out their Vista, CA location and had found a very large facility to move into this past fall in Miramar. Jonny and I finally got to see the new joint during SD Beer Week and were blown away with the gigantic hangar like building that just barely got the plastic off of it. Not two days later, we received a press release that they project making out early 2012 and will need to begin construction.  I know it sounds so sappy, but It’s nice to see one of my local favorites become a huge hit.

AleSmith – AleSmith pretty much remained status quo for 2011. Behind the scenes, they acquired equipment to begin force carbonated bottling, and owner/Brewmaster Peter is getting his Cheese line off the ground.  They also made the news for their out of control Barrel Aged Speedway release. Right in the middle of NHC, and in the eye of the hype storm, AleSmith held a limited release, and it could have gone much better. The thing is, AleSmith are nice, laid back folk, and most certainly weren’t ready for the craze and negative energy that wound up on their doorstep. I have no doubt in my mind they will tweak the next release so this won’t be mentioned again.

Maui Brewing – Maui Brewing is still riding on their breakout fame with Maui Coconut Porter, and entered many states as far as Maryland. Owner Garrett Marrero was a one man army of press this year, which no doubt will give them momentum to kill it in 2012 and beyond. We saw him on Drinking Made Easy with Zane Lamprey, and made sure the world knew that Maui Brewing is the only true local craft from Hawaii. Ask Garrett all about it, he is not shy to tell you the real deal between his company and Kona Brewing (not made in Hawaii).

Anchorage Brewing – Gabe Fletcher, formerly of  Midnight Sun launched his own boutique brewery with a very tasty sounding portfolio.  They are on my list of beers to try, as their Bitter Monk and Love Buzz are gaining rave reviews. The only thing that has stopped me thus far is the price tag. Besides paying a little extra for barrel aged treatments, we are apparently having to pay a bit more to get beer from Alaska. When I saw Whiteout Witbier for $17.00, I had to pass. I have always been a fan of Midnight Sun, and will hopefully get to try these beers on tap to see if they live up to the hype.