You always look forward to the next one. The first half disappears too quickly and only once you get to the end do you start to reflect on the highlights. Looking back over the calendar stuck to the brewery wall these are the bits and pieces that have made 2011 a special one for us…
January : Pacific Ale came second in the Local Taphouse Hottest 100.
February : We brewed up some Red Relief , which raised $15k for the Queensland Flood Relief Fund. Launched Pacific Ale in 500ml bottles and Miss Fiona Lane started spruiking our brews around Melbourne.
March : Visited Bushy Park in Tasmania to see (and smell) Galaxy hops being picked during the hop harvest.
April : Pacific Ale was voted best beer in Australia by the Critics’ Choice.
May : The whole team headed down to Good Beer Week in Melbourne. Backed that up by heading north for the Archive Beer Fest in Brisbane.
June : Stone Beer brew day, attended by our new man on the ground in Sydney, Mr Steve Blick. A couple of new tanks arrived at the brewery.
July : Rolled out Stone Beer at the “Festival of the Stone” in Byron and the following week in Melbourne.
August/September : Road trips to share a beer with the good people of Adelaide and Perth.
October : Hosted the opening ceremony for the first Byron Bay Surf Festival at the brewery, attended by our two new brewers Simon Bardill and Luke Rutland. Also ducked off for Sydney Craft Beer Week.
November : A huge one at Newcastle Craft Beer Week followed by Warners at the Bay Beer festival.
December : Nothing but brew, brew and brew some more !
Cheers to everyone who enjoyed a Stone & Wood (or two) along the way. We appreciate the support. Looking forward to this new year with new kegs, new team members, new events and new brews on the way.