(Escondido, CA) – A couple new label approvals for Stone Brewing…
Keg collar approval came in for Stone Escondidian Imperial Black IPA, the name of the Fifteenth Anniversary beer. Citra hops are to be featured in this beer unless something changed recently.
Those attending the National Homebrewers Conference in San Diego yesterday reported drinking a Stone SoCal Hop Salute Black Double IPA for the opening toast though they could be different beers. Outside chance that they got a preview? Stone Co-Founder and CEO, Greg Koch, playfully laid the smack down on those who called the beer a Cascadian Dark Ale on Twitter.
In any event, the anniversary beer will be released on August 15th. At some point, I will post up the bottle label here.
Speaking of previews, Stone distributors were given an opportunity to test out a new freshness application this spring. Stone plans to roll this program out to consumers as evidenced by the recent back label approval for Stone IPA. Drinkers can go online and alert the brewery as to when and where they discover old beer in the marketplace. The link is not yet live.
The bottles of Stone SoCal Hop Salute Black Double IPA given away to NHC attendees show the ABV as 9.9%.
The keg collar approval for Stone 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA shows 10.5%
I would guess they’re not the same beer.
You’re probably right, Jeff. Though I’ll say that the ABVs on the label approvals aren’t always finalized. Got a bottle pic of the beer released at NHC? I’d like to share it on Twitter. Cheers!