Everyone must get Stone

Stone Brewing made its entry into southeast Wisconsin last week with a release party at several bars on the south side of Milwaukee. Several friends and I visited Cafe Lulu and Sugar Maple for the event.

It was my first visit to Cafe Lulu and overall I was impressed. The beer selection was good, however I will admit we focused on the Stone products. The Stone Pale Ale was very nice, with some hop bitterness but not overpowering. Overall a very drinkable beer and at $12 for a pitcher quite affordable. While waiting for the release party to begin we enjoyed having a couple of appetizers. The Hummus Deluxe was tasty and plentiful and a nice change of pace from the standard spinach artichoke dip available elsewhere. We also had the Bleu Lulu, a basket of thick fresh made potato chips with a side of tangy blue cheese dipping sauce. The chips were huge and cooked perfectly cooked, crunchy but not overcooked or greasy. The addition of the blue cheese dip made them even more enjoyable. I was really happy to find such an interesting place to have a bite to eat, especially one so close to Sugar Maple.

After finishing our appetizers, we walked across the street to the Sugar Maple, to see it the release party was in swing there. That was when we found out there had been some transportation problems and pub crawl release party was having a slow start. No matter, Sugar Maple had 3 of the Stone beers on tap and we could start tasting right away. Stone Ruination was our first choice. Ruination is an IPA, however it is probably more correctly an Imperial IPA. It was intensely bitter, the hop character dominated the flavors. That being said though, there was still enough malt to make it an enjoyable beer. We ended up talking with Bruno (the owner) and found out that he was looking forward to having Oaked Arrogant Bastard on tap in a week or 2. Fortunately, my friend Terry who was with us had thought to bring along some samples from his cellar. Terry's brother lives in the San Diego area and often surprises Terry with Stone products that up til now were not available in Wisconsin. Well, the Oaked Arrogant Bastard was just the beginning. Soon bottles of Stone XI, Double Arrogant Bastard, Old Guardian and Vertical 06.06.06 appeared. They were all great beers with varying levels of hops and malt; almost magical elixirs or gifts of the Gods. At some point the tasting notes were forgotten and the simple enjoyment of the brewer's craft took over. With beers like these, you must experience them first hand; everyone must get Stone.