(Escondido, CA) – Some news and notes on the Stone Brewing front…

On Saturday, I sent out a tweet (ignore my obvious lack of Scottish distillery knowledge) about a tip I picked up from a few-weeks-old Phoenix Brew Review blog post:

“[Head Brewer, Mitch Steele] said the brewery just finished unpacking a shipment of 210 whisky barrels from Scotland, which are sure to house some of their bigger, badder beers. He also intimated that this year’s anniversary brew — Stone’s 15th — will likely mark a return to their obscenely hoppy, American-style roots.”

The news spread somewhat virally about those barrels. This would mark the brewery’s first use of whisky barrels.

Meanwhile, Steele’s 15th Anniversary Ale mention coincides with his tip on The Brewing Network back in March about planning to use Citra hops in a fall-ish timeframe release. That beer is slated to be released on August 15th.

John Trogner of Troegs Brewing blogged about a recent trip to Stone in which he and a couple others from Troegs helped brew a collaboration beer, Cherry Chocolate Stout with Vanilla Beans. It will be released in bottles down the road.

CEO, Greg Koch, is back in Europe this week visiting Berlin, Edinburgh and who knows where else. Stone is doing its largest-ever tap takeover (thirteen taps) in Europe at BrewDog Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Finally, Stone appears to be on target for a May 31st launch of its 2011 edition of Imperial Russian Stout and the brand-new Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout.