The photos in this gallery were taken over the course of two days. On Tuesday we headed over to the Stone Company Store in Pasadena to check out the Enjoy By 08.16.14 and w00tstout 2.0 on tap before deciding how many bottles to buy. Unfortunately, the Enjoy By seems to fluctuate a lot lately but this batch is great. The w00tstout 2.0 was also worth bringing home. They had a couple Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Stations; The Sacred Druid Hot and Lil’ Miami Tart available that were quite fun. Between those and the stash we brought home it was well worth the drive. It has been a while since I have been to the Stone Company Store due in large part to the fact that my daughter moved out of Pasadena. It is always a good place to look for the new releases; especially if you want them on tap.
If you have never been, it is at the Metro Station on Raymond. They have a full tap room for pours and filling growlers; they sell kegs, bottles, t-shirts, mustard and anything else Stone Brewing makes. Their tap list has everything you might find at the brewery itself and it is about 70 miles closer than Escondido. It is a clean setup and if you want a wide variety of Stone brews on tap, this is where you want to be. Their 4 oz pours are less than $2.00. Stone Company Store is located at 220 S. Raymond Avenue in Pasadena, CA. They are open seven days a week from 11:00 AM until 9:00 PM.
The next day I was planning on going back to my son’s to check out his Glacier Summer Ale. That morning he said they wanted to take me to lunch for my birthday so it was decided that we would meet at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido. While there was a time that Stone Brewing Company was the only real game in town for me, things have changed and it had been probably three years since the last time I was there. I looked forward to experiencing it again. Continue reading
Rated as one of the best brewers in the US and the world by two of the largest beer enthusiast websites, RateBeer and BeerAdvocate, I would be remiss if I did not include Stone Brewing in my quest for GABF award winning breweries from California. While I went to Pasadena yesterday, if you have an opportunity to visit their brewery in Escondido you should do it. Good food and great beer in a very scenic setting. It is appropriate for the entire family.
For my award winning flight I opted for a Stone Ruination IPA, a Stone Levitation Ale (2007 GABF Gold Medal), a Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale (2010 GABF Bronze Medal) and a Smoked Porter (2010 Asia Beer Award Gold Medal).
After sampling at Stone for a while, we went around the corner to Haven Gastropub and Brewing. I have been there before, but as I recall they were just starting to brew on location. I had forgotten about that, but knew I could find some award winning beers on their guest tap list. As it turns out, Gastropub Brewing has a new Head Brewer, Brian Thorson, an award winning brewer formerly with Drake’s Brewing and yesterday they released his new brew, so I included it on my flight. My flight consisted of Haven Simcoded American Pale Ale, Firestone Walker Velvet Merkin (2010 & 2011 GABF Gold medal), Eel River Acai Wheat, and The Bruery White Oak. While the beers from Haven, Eel River and The Bruery were not medal winners, the breweries and brewers have won numerous awards.
All my photos from day three of the 2013 American Craft Beer Week can be found on GotBaddog.com.