"Stone 03.03.03 Vertical Epic Ale" Release is Imminent
Stone Brewing Reveals Hints About The Special Brew

San Marcos, San Diego County, CA --- On 03.03.03, Stone Brewing Co. will release the second of eleven Stone Vertical Epic Ales. Each of the eleven Vertical Epic ales will be released one year, one month and one day apart. In other words, next year's edition will be released April 4th, 2004, followed by May 5th, 2005, all the way to December 12th, 2012. The first edition in the series --- the Stone 02.02.02 Vertical Epic Ale --- evaporated from store shelves faster than a glass of water spilled on sun scorched concrete. "I am pleased we were able to brew a fair amount more of the Stone 03.03.03 Vertical Epic Ale than we did of the "02," nearly ten times more in fact," reports Stone CEO Greg Koch. "Amazingly, we are already taking calls from retailers who are clamoring to increase their allocation. We explain that we allocated the "beer futures" of this release well over a month ago and while it isn’t even released yet, it is sold out." To aid beer enthusiasts in Southern California where Stone Brewing handles its own distribution the company's website will provide a list of retailers along with both the date and the time of delivery for each location. "We know that people drive all over to track down our special releases," says Koch. "We thought it would be nice if we could save them some gas in the process, especially with current gas prices here in SoCal!" Other areas of the country that are getting an allocation of the brew are also listed on the website, albeit without specific dates and times. The grand premise of the series is that each edition is to be brewed in a different style from the previous year, and since the beers will be bottle conditioned (naturally carbonated in the bottle) they will mature when cellared, providing the beer enthusiast with a Vertical Epic tasting to look forward to sometime after 12.12.12 when the last edition is released. The bottle label on the 02.02.02 edition explains: "As with any good epic, herein like the promise of larger-than-life experiences, heroics and twists & turns as the adventure unfolds." "[Stone Brewmaster] Steve Wagner and I really put our heads together on this edition of the Stone Vertical Epic Ale," said Stone Head Brewer Lee Chase. "Frankly, I'm pretty excited to try the result on March 3rd! Well, one bottle anyway. Then the rest of my allocation is going down for the count." Chase did however reveal some hints as to what to expect, and it seems that it is a beer with a range of influences to say the least. Interestingly, the beer was partially brewed with both a Belgian yeast strain and Stone Brewing's own signature ale yeast. The resultant style is roughly a Belgian-ish strong dubble-ish (with an emphasis on the "ish") dark ale, with a healthy dose of alligator pepper, a dash of coriander and a nice addition of Stone-style hops. Does that description conjure more question marks than anything else? Don't worry, Stone will soon release detailed tasting notes for the beer (written by Chase, Wagner, Koch and other members of the Stone crew) and a homebrewing recipe (written by Chase), just as was done for the Stone 02.02.02 Vertical Epic Ale. Different people do different things to mark the milestones of their lives. Photo albums, hope chests and the like provide us with a record of memorable events over the passage of time. Stone Brewing suggests including a note with current thoughts and events to store with the bottle. That way, when the bottle is finally opened, the enthusiast will be able to reminisce about past events with a complex vintage brew in hand. "Today's events such as the economic downturn, the tumultuous stock market and international tensions will be history by then," muses Koch. "It will be interesting to see what will change in the next ten years." Stone Brewing is located at [OLD ADDRESS REMOVED] For more info, go to www.stonebrewing.com or call the brewery at (760)471-4999.