Last year, Stone Brewing Co. lost a member of the brewing team in an on the job accident, and his name was Matt Courtright. Stone is taking a classy approach to remembering him, by honoring him by making some of Matt’s recipes on a large scale. According to the information below, rather than just making a small batch of beer in Matt’s honor, they will be bottling and distributing this beer for fresh consumption or cellaring. Here is the color label and stats that will be part of the upcoming press release announcing this beer. Please click to enlarge the image, you will find out what charities this beer will be contributing to, in Matt’s memory.

Starts shipping to distributors:

January 6th, 2014

Public National Release Date:

January 27nd, 2014

Available in:

Limited 22oz bottles and draft

22oz Bottle Barcode: 6-36251-90800-2

1/6 BBL Keg Barcode: 6-36251-90802-6

1/2 BBL Keg Barcode: 6-36251-90803-3

22oz Bottle VIP Code:13255

1/6 BBL Keg VIP Code:13254

1/2 BBL Keg VIP Code:13252

Stats:

10.5% ABV

IBUs 50

Malt bill:

Pilsner Malt, Red Wheat Malt, GoldPils Vienna Malt and Cherrywood Smoked Malt

Hops bill:

Magnum and Hersbrucker

Distribution:

AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, and WA

Tasting Notes, provided by Brewmaster Mitch Steele



Appearance:

Pours deep golden with a light haze that clears as the beer warms.



Aroma:

Belgian yeast clove-like aromatics and banana, followed by hints of smokiness.



Taste:

Fruit and spiciness from the Belgian yeast, followed by a more pronounced smoky woodiness. The finish is malty, with a touch of alcohol. There’s a really nice blend of flavors of here.



Palate:

Full bodied, but very dry with a lingering hop bitterness.



Overall:

It means a lot to us to have brewed this particular beer in memory of Matt Courtright. Matt was a very creative and talented brewer, and we knew that brewing this amazing recipe would be a wonderful way to pay tribute to everything Matt brought to us. I love how all the flavors play together very well, and this beer should be suitable for aging at cellar temperatures for several years.