My visit to Stone Brewery (& Enjoy By)

[Inkleg]

Glad you enjoyed it.

The goal really was to share, not gloat so I hope it came across that way.

Definitely was not taken as gloating Ron.
The fact that during time spent with work that you took the time to think of the Borg just shows what a great place this is.

[Kealia]

I'm going to reinstate my offer now from the MrB boards:

If anybody can track down a bottle or two of Gumbalhead I have a bottle of Enjoy By with your name on it.

[brewin bull]

I'm going to reinstate my offer now from the MrB boards:

If anybody can track down a bottle or two of Gumbalhead I have a bottle of Enjoy By with your name on it.

I will see if anyone around here has it or can get it.

[Beer-lord]

Maybe not on topic but I didn't want to put this under beer reviews since I didn't review it..............
Here’s a great review of the beer we’ve tried along side of the beer that got the 2 winners to brew with Stone in the first place.
Interesting info here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ugaDfG_XGE

[philm00x]

That's nuts how mass production in a commercial scale changes the attributes of the beer.

[Beer-lord]

Based on a video I saw a few weeks ago, it wasn't really the mass production but more what Stone wanted to do and what they could get at the time of brewing.

Three pounds of lightly toasted coconut per barrel was added to the whirlpool and post dry hop – 280 pounds total. To achieve the final glorious result, collaborators Paul Sangster and Guy Shobe of Rip Current Brewing Company offered alternatively creative hopping suggestions and their pilot system to experiment on. The team was able to brew test batches utilizing proposed hop combinations and finally dialed in a combination that met the satisfaction of all five collaborators. Ultimately, six hop varieties were used to attain the bright flavors of tropical fruit that the homebrew version originally delivered. Overall, Robert Masterson & Ryan Reschan / Rip Current / Stone R&R Coconut IPA is the perfect beer to enjoy in the summer sun, providing a refreshing balance of coconut and tropical fruit with a smooth, dry, hoppy, bitter finish. The beer should be enjoyed before the, well, “Enjoy By” date on the bottle to maximize the coconut and hop aromas and flavors.

[philm00x]

Well, regardless, that review made me want to search for this beer and try it. I'm down with tropical flavors, especially pineapple, mango, and coconut. Has anyone here brewed a clone of it? I'd love to try the Stone product and a homebrewed clone to see how they differ.

[jivex5k]

Awesome pics!

[Kealia]

What a difference a day makes.

Yesterday I did this:


Today, it's this:


I did pour SOME into a glass ,too. Notice the coordinate glass, inspired by either Inkleg's or Beer-Lord glass of a similar nature. I remember seeing them post pics of theirs and I had to have one.
[/image]

[Inkleg]

Nice glass Ron.

Stone Enjoy 1.jpg (172.54 KiB) Viewed 805 times

By what means did you cover that 21 mile hideous looking profile. Looks like something from my mountain bike days.

[Kealia]

That would be on foot, mostly.

It was a 2 mile bike ride in on flat surface at which point we ditched the bikes and started hiking. We spent the next 3.5 miles on trail and then switched to literally creek-hopping for the next 6,000 miles or so (or so it seemed).

To make a long story short, it's lucky I got home last night without spending the night in the forest. I'm an accomplished/avid hiker, backpacker and geocacher but I did a poor job planning this hike and was relying on others that "said" they knew what they were doing. Turns out they had been on 80% of the route and assumed we could shortcut the last part off trail and losing 1,600 feet of elevation.
We ended up doing it in the dark and I had to lead the group out via GPS/topo map with 4 headlamps in a group of 7 people. Not good. Sheer drops and unsure footing almost caused us to camp out last night and by the time I got home I was pissed. At the group leader for not being upfront about not doing this route before, and at myself for not knowing better and taking responsibility for my own safety.
I know this park and knew the route he proposed as I'd been on 75% of the trails before but it was the last 25% that I relied on somebody else for. Honestly, we got lucky that we didn't spend the night out there as a result.

It's a good reminder about preparedness and personal responsibility. Most stories you hear about missing hikers start with, "he/she is an accomplished hiker...." and now I know how they get in trouble. Just one bad decision or a series of small bad decisions makes the difference. Tonight, I needed a full bomber of this to just chill. I've shared my post-hike thoughts on our local forum as "lessons learned".

Here's a different look at the terrain via EveryTrail.

[Inkleg]

Been there, done those stupid things using someone else's Intel. Lesson learned, just like you. Beat myself up over it because like you I knew better.
Glad all were safe.