WILK Friday BeerBuzz – 24 Sept 2010 (Stone 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA)

Yes I’ll readily admit that my inner beer-geek emerged as we welcomed brewmaster Mitch Steele from Stone Brewing Co to the Friday BeerBuzz.  As Webster will reinforce, Stone Brewery & world bistro gardens is an amazing place; one of my favorite beer destinations, and a place all beer lovers should visit.  Not only does Stone serve some amazing beers there, but the brewing facility and outdoor gardens are incredible. (see photos below).

It was incredibly nice of Mitch to join us live on the phone from Escondido CA at 5:30AM in the morning their time, and even though Mitch admits he’s an early riser, I’m still very thankful that he took the time.  Stone beers are huge in our market and I think it’s really exciting to have our local listeners get to hear from the man responsible for brewing them.

Stone 14th Anniversary (Emperial IPA) has a great story and of course it’s also a great beer.  For those that have followed along, Stone has been shopping for real estate in the UK to potentially open the first US craft brewing facility in the UK.  While on that journey, Mitch & the guys from Stone spent some time researching the history of the India Pale Ale and came up with Emperial IPA.  This adventure not only spawned a great beer, but stay tuned for a book that Mitch & Steve Wagner are writing about IPA brewing for the Brewers Association.

Emperial IPA is a malty British-styled IPA for sure, but it has way more going for it than that.  To my palate, the IPA also has not only a prominent hoppy character, but also a strong peach backbone.  Now I’ll admit I love a good peach flavor in a beer and maybe I just want to taste Peach in here, but I swear I do.  In any case this is a great beer and one that you should seek out while it is still readily available in NEPA.

I also want to say a big thank you to Dennis Bonvie for joining us on the show and tasting Stone 14 with us.  It was exciting to meet Dennis and I’m excited to see his Beefy King & Blue Chip Gourmet restaurants doing so well in Wilkes-Barre.  A big show for sure and another tasty beer. 
Thanks
to Mitch, Dennis, John, Nancy, Joe & Bosco for yet another fun Friday. 

The Friday Beerbuzz…bringing good beers and good people together. 
As always you can check out the video on-line at the WILK Friday Beerbuzz page by clicking HERE
.