WILK Friday BeerBuzz – 7 Sept 2012 – Stone 16 w/Mitch Steele

We’ve welcomed some pretty special guests on the Friday BeerBuzz….from as far away as Hawaii, to just down the street, our guests have been generous and simply a lot of fun to drink a beer with….BUT…none have gone to the lengths to join us as consistently as today’s guest has and none have been more fun each time.

Today we politely asked our pal Mitch Steele to wake up at 5:30AM once again to join us on the Friday BeerBuzz from California for the 3rd time…and once again he happily joined us!  Mitch sampled Stone 14 with us in 2010, Stone 15, in 2011 and in case you didn’t guess yet…..today’s beer was Stone 16…but first…

I was excited today to wish Mitch Steele congratulations for the upcoming release of his book…”IPA: BREWING TECHNIQUES, RECIPES AND THE EVOLUTION OF INDIA PALE ALE “  I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on a copy yet, but I’m really looking forward to checking it out.  I’ve been following along for several years as Mitch pieced together this IPA compendium, and I know how hard he’s worked to get it out so I can’t wait to see it for myself.  Congratulations on he book Mitch and of course congratulations to everyone at Stone on their 16th Anniversary.

On to the beer….Stone 16 is not only a wonderful beer, but also a tribute to the 16th Anniversary of Stone Brewing Co.   Each year Mitch joins with the team at Stone to craft a new anniversary beer, and each year it seems to get better and better.

Stone 16 is a unique anniversary beer…and a very unique DIPA.  Not only is this beer loaded with citrusy notes of Peach, Mango and tropical fruit, but Mitch and the team have introduced a new ingredient that I think is perfect for an IPA….Lemon.  Now you would think they would simply add Lemon to the mix…but no sir…Stone 16 uses Lemon Verbena….an herb grown at the Stone Farms that as Greg says is “more lemon than lemon.”  Stone 16 is not only a team effort of brewing talent at Stone, but also a team effort of unique ingredients and flavors.  Try Stone 16 for yourself and you’ll see what I mean.

It was also a ton of fun talking to Mitch about the growth and expansion of Stone Brewing.  It’s been a few years since my last visit, and I suspect the Stone Brewery will continue to grow even more before I get a chance to visit again.  And of course we asked Mitch about the new Stone “Enjoy By 09.21.12” and what this means not only to the craft beer world, but also to the Northeastern PA market.  We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again…if you want to see Stone “Enjoy By” in NEPA…make some Twitter & Facebook noise!

One additional GREAT update from Mitch…when I asked about what Stone Vertical Epic 12-12-12 might be…Mitch simply replied “Think Belgian Christmas!”….so stay tuned for more info on the final release of the Stone Vertical Epic series.

Thank you to Mitch Steele from Stone Brewing Co

, Nancy, John & Joe 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