E-Malt.com News article: USA, CA: Stone Brewing Co. to launch a new series of specialty beers

Stone Brewing Co. is launching a new series of specialty beers dubbed Quingenti Millilitre, local media reported on August, 3.

These limited release beers will be featured in cork-finished 500ml bottles, and will present a new tier in Stone's award-winning line-up, encompassing beers that have been barrel aged, dry hopped, or otherwise made extra, extra special.

When San Diego homebrewer Ken Schmidt won the Stone March Madness Homebrew Competition & AHA Rally back in 2009, he was brought in to brew a scaled up batch on the Stone Brewing Co. system, along with Garrett Marrero of Maui Brewing Co. Unbeknownst to the world, the wizards at Stone had something else up their sleeve: the brewers squirreled some of the resulting beer away in bourbon barrels from Heaven Hill Distilleries. Now, some two years later, they are ready to unleash it in all of its glory.

The only problem? There's not very much of it. As a result, Stone is initiating a drawing to impartially decide who can get their hands on a bottle. Starting today and continuing through August 16, fans can purchase $1 tickets—the proceeds of which will be donated to two local charities, the Escondido Creek Conservancy and Interfaith Community Services—which will enter them into a raffle for a chance to buy one of the 500 or so bottles that Stone is expecting the barrels to yield.

The lucky folks that are randomly selected at the end of the drawing will then have until September 18th to purchase and pick up their bottle in person from the Stone Company Store in Escondido.

About Stone Brewing Co.

Stone Brewing Co. was founded in 1996 by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch in North County San Diego, CA. It is the 14th largest craft brewery in the United States. A recently announced $26.6M expansion plan (that includes a hotel among other lofty ventures) is underway, as are developments to become the first American craft brewery to open a brewhouse in Europe.


10 August, 2011