![]() ![]() We liked it so much that we buzzed our buddy Garrett Marrero from Maui Brewing Co. Local renowned homebrewer Ken Schmidt was the first to win, with his porter Aloha Plenty, which incorporated Kona coffee, macadamia nuts and toasted coconut. The winning brewer would be rewarded with an opportunity to brew their beer at Stone on a large scale. Stone Community Relations Manger Chris CochranĪs part of our rally for the American Homebrewers Association, we hosted our first homebrew competition at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens. ![]() He was honored to be asked but not really sure what it would entail, and I informed him that, no matter what, “Don’t fuck up or the crowd will boo you, no matter who you are!” So what’d we do? Well, we ventured onto the grounds that were becoming Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens - Escondido, measured out 60 feet 6 inches, gathered up some rocks about the size of a baseball and practiced!Īnd what does practice make? Sometimes it makes perfection, and in this case it made Greg a decent enough pitcher to toss a nice, little high pitch, over the plate AND caught by the catcher to many cheers and raised glasses in the stands from Team Stone and other fans enjoying America’s pastime with America’s Finest City’s favorite beer.Ĭheers to baseball and the boys of summer! However, one of the more memorable things the man-behind-the-gargoyle has pitched, thrown or tossed was the “first pitch” at a San Diego Padres game back in 2006 at the then-new Petco Park. He’s definitely tossed a few things: like a few pints. Fortunately, it’s not too often that he throws a fit. Over the years Stone CEO and co-founder Greg Koch has definitely pitched a lot of things: our beers, ideas, tents, ethics, a little BS, and more. Sawyer’s mother, Janis, has visited more than 2,300 medical facilities in 48 states in the never-ending fight for awareness, and mandatory screening for ALD is now becoming a reality! We rebrewed the beer in 2008 and at the end of 2015 to raise additional money for Fight ALD, the charity founded by his parents. Knowing this beer was brewed on Sawyer’s behalf and for all those who have had to fight his fight, we thank you for helping the cause and supporting a beer that stands for something more than well-crafted flavor. He was an engaging and athletic kid and it was a crushing blow to lose him in September 2003, only days before the initial release of Sawyer’s Triple. Over a period of four years, we had the distinct pleasure of getting to know Sawyer from his visits to the brewery and the occasional backyard BBQ. He was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy - aka ALD - a rare genetic disease. The inspiration for Sawyer’s Triple came from its namesake, Sawyer Benjamin Sherwood, the 8-year-old son of former Stone brewer Bill Sherwood. Then, when Y2K came around (sans anarchy and apocalypse), the 2000 batch of Old Guardian took a silver medal out of a pool of sixty-five barleywine entries at the Great American Beer Festival. But we weren’t inspired by any suggestions that came in, and we had actually grown to like the name Old Guardian. In fact, we printed the bottles with a note asking for name suggestions from anyone loyal and dedicated enough to read through Greg’s typically lengthy musings. ![]() We decided to go with Lee’s suggestion of Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, but we didn’t really intend to keep it. We first made our barleywine in 1998, but we had trouble deciding on a name for it. Even though the flavor of the final beer is incredibly complex, the recipe is surprisingly simple. As an added bonus, our yeast happens to work exceptionally well with high-gravity fermentation, which is one of the defining features of barleywines, so we made it happen. We were big fans of other West Coast barleywines, especially Old Crustacean, Bigfoot, and Old Foghorn, and we wanted one to call our own. Greg and I knew we wanted to put out a barleywine pretty early on. ![]()
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