Escondido’s Stone Brewing Co. is preparing for its annual anniversary party, going down on August 17 and 18 in San Marcos to celebrate the brewing giant’s sixteenth birthday. The event commemorates Steve Wagner and Greg Koch’s rise from a company making 400 barrels of ale in its first year to a nationally known craft beer company making 180,000 barrels annually. The event contains several components, kicking off with a $75 brewer’s reception featuring beer makers from various labels with rare beers that won’t be seen at the central event. Saturday’s Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival will rally over 40 breweries with 100 beers on offer, during which all profits will go to local non-profits including Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos and Surfrider Foundation, among others (last year Stone raised $240,000 for the charities, a record they seek to break in 2012).
The weekend’s main thrust is Saturday’s celebration, over which there are two sessions, one from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. and another from 3:00 to 6:00 P.M. $40 tickets buy entry, along with ten 4-ounce samples from more than 40 breweries, a tasting glass to take home, tastes of Stone’s cask ales, and free samples of home-brewed sodas, Mike’s beer cheese, and Arrogant Bastard onion rings.
Tickets for any of the events can be purchased through Stone’s website, while the brewery plans to release its 16th Anniversary IPA on August 13. and for more information on the Stone 16th Anniversary Celebration & Beer Festival, visit stonebrewing.com/anniv, facebook.com/StoneBrewingCo or twitter.com/StoneBrewingCo.
Stone 16th Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival, August 17 and 18 at California State University San Marcos, 333 South Twin Oaks Valley Rd. San Marcos.
