Sunday at Stone World Bistro & Gardens

Got a few of my friends- Loren, Steve, and Pete to head down to Stone with me Sunday morning. We left Upland around 10:45 and arrived at Stone around noon. We were quickly seated for brunch and got a nice table that was on the border of the outside and inside area. We sat down and looked over the beer menu while ordering some Arrogant Bastard Onion Rings. This month is basically a celebration of IPA's, so there were many hop bombs on tap. Steve Timmins and I ordered the Russian River Perdition which they told us was a Belgian Pale Ale, though BA says its a Biere de Garde (I would agree with the latter)- excellent, one of the best beers I've had. We were all very satisfied with the food, as we got Duck Tacos, and Buffalo Burgers. The atmosphere was excellent, it was sunny and warm, maybe 75 degrees with a nice cool breeze sitting in the shade. After lunch we went to the bar and ordered another round as we waited for the 2pm tour to start. We got some beers and sat in the sun in the gardens for a while, nothing beats that. I had the Alpine Exponential Hoppiness which was a pretty good double IPA.

We hit the tour but it only lasted about 20 minutes (usual 45 minutes) because they had a fill-in tour guide today as it was the Stone Company picnic and most regulars were gone. So the tour wasn't anything exciting but it still gave Pete and Steve a chance to try the full Stone lineup which they hadn't before.

After some tasting we headed back to the bar as Pat met us there. We sat down for the next couple hours and had some food (the Really Soft & Stinky Cheese Plate was great) and beer, all excellent. I tried the Russian River IPA and the Avery Maharaja Double IPA. Every beer I had today was top notch. For the last half hour or so we hung out down in the garden area as the sun receded a bit and cooled down. I can't think of a better atmosphere or place that offers a better beer experience. This is the 3rd time I've been to Stone and it's been spectacular each time.

Before we left we hit Stone company store and I picked up a Stone IRS glass, a Stone IPA flute glass, and got my 2L growler filled with Oaked Arrogant Bastard to drink tomorrow at Pat's house as we watch Sideways.

EDIT: Picture of fresh Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard I brought home in a growler. I got lucky because their website said Friday and Saturday only for Oaked growler fills but they had leftovers for Sunday thankfully. The first time I tried the Oaked was actually the first time I ever went to Stone and I wasn't sure if I liked it so much because it is a great beer, or if it was just because I was stoked to be drinking beer down at Stone. After getting this growler and drinking it at home (with help from Pat and Steve) I've realized it was the former.

Pictures of the entire trip can be found here: http://www.pbase.com/june07ss