The Scene: Stone

Recently, I got out to San Diego for business. As a Midwestern, beer loving, red-blooded American I had to go to Stone. It was about 45 minutes away from the Mission Bay area where I was staying. A work buddy and I hopped in my little brother's Vibe and rolled North.

Stone was in a very unassuming area. When you pulled up it didn't scream that you were about to enter possibly the best, coolest, hoppiest brewery in North America. It looked a little bit industrial, but it was all surrounded by very high hedge-walls.

After we put our names in for a table, we had about a fifteen minute wait, so I checked out the gift shop. I actually started making a list of everything that I wanted to grab. Sadly I was one day late to get a bottle of Dayman to take home. I cried for a while, but my brother had me calmed down by the time we got to the table.

  

We saw food passing by us, and it looked outstanding. I couldn't wait to order. We got food menus and, of course, a beer menu. I was shocked that there weren't more rare, hard to find, or specialty Stone brews on the menu. It was pretty much the standard stuff you can get in Indy, but there was absolutely everything on the list. I ordered up an Oak Aged Old Guardian and we all got the IPA cheese soup and pretzels. Well... they had just run out of my beer... 0 for 2.

I decided to get some super fresh Enjoy By 4.20.13. It was outstanding. The soup came out and it was amazing. I don't think I've had cheese soup with a hoppy IPA before this one. It was sooo good. Next we got food on order and I tried to get the BBQ Banh Mi. They were out of this as well. Three strikes, but I wasn't willing to throw them out. I ended up getting some home-made sausages and they were fantastic. My brother got the talapia and my buddy Nick got the fish tacos. Everyone was happy with the food, but Nick wanted some more spice from his tacos.

We ended up passing around a handful of brews and everyone got to try something fresh on tap. I think my favorite on tap was the Enjoy By but the Old Guardian was good and I had a sour done by someone else.

Stone did not disappoint. It was worth the drive and the cost of everything that we got. I ended up leaving with a hoodie, a t-shirt, a pint glass, and three bottles of brew. Other than me missing out on everything I was trying to get, Stone did it right. Their grounds are absolutely beautiful. Their food was excellent, raised fresh and produced locally. The beer was solid (I wish there were more things that I couldn't get my hands on here in Indy). I can't wait for my next trip west, I will make sure that I check into Stone and see what they have going on.