Stone Brewing Announces 22nd Anniversary Anni-Matter Double IPA
Stone Brewing Company always celebrates its anniversary with a big double IPA, but for the first time this year's release is the winner of an internal brewing competition called the Stone Spotlight Series. This year's Stone 22nd Anniversary Anni-Matter Double IPA will be released this weekend on draft and in bottles.More from a press release:Not only is this IPA worthy of anniversary-beer-status, it serves as a reminder that Hazy Station isn’t the only stop on the way to Juicy Town. Stone Brewing Team members Jose Flores, a production brewer, and Jason Smith, who focuses on small batch brewing, joined up for Stone’s annual Spotlight Series competition and knocked it out of the park. To brew their award-winning beer, Jason and Jose gathered up their arsenal of anti-haze techniques, brewing with vibrant Denali hops against a base of Crisp Clear Choice Malt. The solid malt background of Stone 22nd Anniversary Anni-Matter Double IPA is complemented with complex hop fruit flavors of cherries, apricot, melon and citrus. It is full bodied with a short, clean and dry finish of ample bitterness and a slight warming from its elevated ABV. The juicy, yet bitter beer is clearly a Stone beer (pun intended).Let’s let Jason and Jose take it from here:Jose: We wanted to create the most clean and crisp IPA to go against the current perception that you have to have haze to create a great flavorful IPA. We also wanted to showcase new and experimental ingredients, all while focusing on an amazing quality IPA that’d exhibit fresh vibrant juicy characteristics.Jason: In other words, we’re self-ascribed members of the ‘Anti-Haze Movement.’Jose: We were on the same page that we really wanted this beer to be clean, crisp, and with a good mouthfeel.Jason: We both worked in the Small Batch Department, which allowed us to work with a lot of the new experimental hop varieties that are being introduced. This gave us some insight about the beautiful hops that round out this beer.Jose: The hops we used have been some of our new favorites, especially a hop as bright as Denali, which caught my attention when I first smelled it.Jason: Besides beer, we also share a love for music and Underground Hip-Hop in particular (see our Spotify playlist for our collective favorites). The way producers piece together samples from different music sources from all over the world shares a lot of similarities with how we as brewers pull ingredients from different countries and cultures to make something completely unique, yet familiar.Regarding the name, we were drawn to the word “antimatter,” which, in modern physics, is defined as a material composed of the antiparticle (or "partners") to the corresponding particles of ordinary matter. Duality in all things!Jose: ‘Anti-Matter’ is also one of the best songs on the album King Geedorah ‘Take Me to Your Leader’… Who is Mr. Fantastik?Jason: And if you follow Jose’s underground reference there, then we applaud more than just your taste in beer!Stone’s 22nd Anniversary is honored by this special release beer as well as the Stone 22nd Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival in San Diego, taking place August 17 and 18, 2018. 100% of proceeds from the event go to charity, contributing to Stone’s more than $3.5 million in collective charitable contributions over its 22 years. Cheers to good craft beer, and the good that craft brews!
QUICK FACTS
Name: Stone 22nd Anniversary Anni-Matter Double IPA
Featured Hops: Columbus, Denali, Hopsteiner #06297, Galaxy, Citra, Amarillo
Availability: For the first time Stone’s anniversary beer will be released in 12oz six-pack bottles in addition to 22oz bottles and draft
Anti-Matter (feat. Mr Fantastik) on iTunes: Available here
TASTING NOTES
Appearance: Deep gold hinting towards copper.
Aroma: Plum, apricot, melon, lime with biscuit and herbal notes. A touch of earth along with bright floral and berries.
Taste: A solid malt background fits in well with a complex array of hop fruit flavors: fresh cherries, apricot, grape-skin, melon, and citrus.
Palate: Full body, with a short, clean dry finish. Some warming notes and a very slight viscous sweetness.
Overall: This beer specifically showcases the talents of our brewing team here at Stone. You see, we conduct an annual competition to spotlight the amazingness that can be found across our team that we artfully call, well, the Spotlight Competition. Brewers Jason Smith and Jose Flores created the winning recipe – a beer they called Anni-Matter – a winning small batch pilot brew, which has been scaled up into this double-deuce of a double IPA just for you!
PAIRING NOTES
Starters: Spent Grain Soft Pretzel **, Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs Drizzled with Honey, Grilled Artichoke with Lemon Caper Butter, White Fish Ceviche with Mango Chutney
Soups and Salads: Pad Thai & Green Papaya Salad *, Endive Arugula Salad w/ Walnuts & Blue Cheese, Manhattan Clam Chowder, French Onion Soup
Main Courses: Pan Roasted Scallops*, The Dutch Oven Turkey**, Spinach Stuffed & Caramelized Onion Pork Tenderloin w/ White Pepper, Grilled Snapper
* Pairings available at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens -- Liberty Station** Pairings available at Stone Brewing -- Napa
JASON & JOSE'S UNDERGROUND PAIRINGS
This playlist is available on Spotify here. 1. Aceyalone “The Grandfather Clock” (A Book of Human Language)2. Jaylib (Madlib/J Dilla) “The Heist” (Champion Sound)3. Lootpack “Whenimondamic” (SoundPieces: Da Antidote)4. People Under the Stairs “O.S.T.” (O.S.T)5. King Geedorah feat. Mr. Fantastik “Anti-Matter” (Take Me To Your Leader)6. Madvillain “All Caps” (Madvillainy)7. Quasimoto “Low Class Conspiracy” (The Unseen)8. MF DOOM feat. Mr. Fantastik “Rapp Snitch Knishes” (MM...FOOD)9. Freddie Gibbs “Automatic” (Freddie)10. J Dilla “Stop” (Donuts)
Stone Brewing Company always celebrates its anniversary with a big double IPA, but for the first time this year's release is the winner of an internal brewing competition called the Stone Spotlight Series. This year's Stone 22nd Anniversary Anni-Matter Double IPA will be released this weekend on draft and in bottles.More from a press release:Not only is this IPA worthy of anniversary-beer-status, it serves as a reminder that Hazy Station isn’t the only stop on the way to Juicy Town. Stone Brewing Team members Jose Flores, a production brewer, and Jason Smith, who focuses on small batch brewing, joined up for Stone’s annual Spotlight Series competition and knocked it out of the park. To brew their award-winning beer, Jason and Jose gathered up their arsenal of anti-haze techniques, brewing with vibrant Denali hops against a base of Crisp Clear Choice Malt. The solid malt background of Stone 22nd Anniversary Anni-Matter Double IPA is complemented with complex hop fruit flavors of cherries, apricot, melon and citrus. It is full bodied with a short, clean and dry finish of ample bitterness and a slight warming from its elevated ABV. The juicy, yet bitter beer is clearly a Stone beer (pun intended).
Let’s let Jason and Jose take it from here:Jose: We wanted to create the most clean and crisp IPA to go against the current perception that you have to have haze to create a great flavorful IPA. We also wanted to showcase new and experimental ingredients, all while focusing on an amazing quality IPA that’d exhibit fresh vibrant juicy characteristics.Jason: In other words, we’re self-ascribed members of the ‘Anti-Haze Movement.’Jose: We were on the same page that we really wanted this beer to be clean, crisp, and with a good mouthfeel.Jason: We both worked in the Small Batch Department, which allowed us to work with a lot of the new experimental hop varieties that are being introduced. This gave us some insight about the beautiful hops that round out this beer.Jose: The hops we used have been some of our new favorites, especially a hop as bright as Denali, which caught my attention when I first smelled it.Jason: Besides beer, we also share a love for music and Underground Hip-Hop in particular (see our Spotify playlist for our collective favorites). The way producers piece together samples from different music sources from all over the world shares a lot of similarities with how we as brewers pull ingredients from different countries and cultures to make something completely unique, yet familiar.Regarding the name, we were drawn to the word “antimatter,” which, in modern physics, is defined as a material composed of the antiparticle (or "partners") to the corresponding particles of ordinary matter. Duality in all things!Jose: ‘Anti-Matter’ is also one of the best songs on the album King Geedorah ‘Take Me to Your Leader’… Who is Mr. Fantastik?Jason: And if you follow Jose’s underground reference there, then we applaud more than just your taste in beer!Stone’s 22nd Anniversary is honored by this special release beer as well as the Stone 22nd Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival in San Diego, taking place August 17 and 18, 2018. 100% of proceeds from the event go to charity, contributing to Stone’s more than $3.5 million in collective charitable contributions over its 22 years. Cheers to good craft beer, and the good that craft brews!