Our recent Pilot Batch Brewer hopping around the Byron brew deck

Our Pilot Batch beers are experimental brews created by our team of talented brewers, with occasional help from collaborators within our community, all at our Pilot Brewery in Byron Bay.

These small batch brews are special, limited and, once gone, may never return. The Pilot Batch brewery is a space for our brewers to get creative – an opportunity to trial weird and wonderful things, turning the brewery into an experimental playground to get a little fruity.

Every three months, one of our brewers takes up the helm in our Byron brewery, running the day-to-day operations. During this time, they have the chance to brew their favourite beers and run the Pilot Batch program.

Meet our recent Pilot Batch brewer, Tom Iacono.

Give us a bit of background about yourself…

I’m originally from the Yarra Valley in VIC (home to some of Australia’s best wines).

Prior to coming to Stone & Wood, I’d been working as a cheesemaker for about 10 years across VIC, NSW and QLD. Most recently, I was running my own cultured butter business out of Byron.

I accidentally fell into beer, starting off in kombucha and then making my way to the big brewery in Murwillumbah. I’ve been brewing for about 5 years now and, like cheesemaking, I love the variety it brings.

What are your favourite styles of beer and why?

I’m a lover of IPA’s and hop forward beers but I also enjoy and appreciate all beer styles.

What will you be brewing during your time here in Byron?

As many different types and styles as possible!

Any beers you’re really excited about brewing and why?

I recently created a Whole Hop Cone English Pale here at Byron. This requires taking fresh hop flowers (or leaf) and using those in the brew rather than a pellet. They are a more intense flavour, so it means adjusting brewing techniques to get it just right.

What do you like about using the Pilot Batch brewery to experiment?

I love the hands-on experience and manual labour that working in a smaller brewery brings.

Searching for a delicious recipe you CAN dazzle your mates with? Look no further than our Pale Ale Beer Can Chicken. Beer can in a chicken???? Yes, you CAN friends.

RECIPE 🧑‍🍳

Pale Ale Beer Can Chicken

BEER

Cloudy Pale Ale

INGREDIENTS:

• Fresh Whole Chicken
• Cloudy Pale Ale
• Butter

Lemon Rub mix:

• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme – stems removed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

METHOD:

1. Prepare grill for medium-high heat.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Pat and dry chicken inside and out.
4. Under the skin, slice small incisions to slide in slithers of butter.
5. Season chicken with spice rub all over inside and out.
6. Crack and pour half of a Cloudy Pale Ale can into a separate glass - drink the glassed beer while cooking, and keep the remaining half in the can.
7. Fit the whole chicken up right over the can.
8. Place upright onto the pre-heated grill.
9. Cook 1 to 1.5 hours.
10. Rest for 10 minutes. Carve & serve.

Product Recall Notice

Stone & Wood Brewing Co. are recalling the above product. The recalled product has been available for sale; online nationally; in Bottle shops and retail outlets in NSW, VIC and QLD; and Paul’s IGA Ringwood East in VIC.

Problem: The recall is due to the presence of an undeclared allergen – Milk.
Food safety hazard: Any consumers who have a milk allergy or intolerance may have a reaction if the product is consumed.

What to do: Consumers who have a milk allergy or intolerance should not consume this product. Customers should return the product to the place of purchase for a full cash refund. We apologise for any inconvenience.

For further information contact:
Stone & Wood
Ph: (02) 6685 5173
Email: [email protected]

Celebrating International Women’s Day With Our Crew.

This year for International Women’s Day

In celebration of IWD held on Wednesday 8 March, we’d like to shout out to all the amazing women who are a part of the Stone & Wood story.

From the Tasting Rooms, to the Quality Lab and the Brew Deck, Stone & Wood have over 50 permanent female employees who are making their mark on what can traditionally be a male-dominated industry.

This year, to celebrate their efforts, a crew of Stone & Wood employees and industry friends came together in early February to create this year’s International Women’s Day Beer. At both our Byron and Brisbane breweries, they began to brew an epic Czech Bohemian Imperial Pils to mark the occasion.

After a few weeks’ fermentation, 2023 IWD will be tapped in both breweries for staff and visitors to enjoy on March 8.

For anyone in Brisbane looking to kick up their heels in celebration of IWD, our Fortitude Valley brewery is the place to be after the workday is done. Keep reading on to find out more!

Whether you can make it to one of our breweries and sample our 2023 IWD beer, or if you’re just enjoying a quiet one at home, let’s raise a glass to all the amazing women in our lives who are out there making change, making beer and generally just making things great.

About International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. IWD 2023’s theme of Embrace Equity challenges people to deeply believe, value, and seek out difference as a necessary and positive element of life. To embrace equity means to understand the journey required to achieve women’s equality.

Stone & Wood Brisbane’s IWD Party

Wednesday 8 March, 2023 at Stone & Wood Brisbane. 99 Bridge St, Fortitude Valley.

5.30pm till close

With fresh beers and wine, great food and DJ Anna Sonnenburg on the decks into the night, it’s the perfect place for women (and allies!) to come together and #embraceequity.

Free entry. Reserve your spot, here.

It’s Delicious, To Be Sure.

Just in time for St Patrick’s Day, the bustling brewers behind our Counter Culture range have created a beer that pays homage to the beloved island of Ireland – Éirinn.

That such a green and misty island could play home to such rebellious hearts,

And bear generations of saints, scholars and sinners fond of ale. 

To your fine traditions, we pay homage from across the seas. 

A brew of rich, dark beauty that swells with the spirit of Éire and continues the tapestry the exiles of Erin have stitched across the world. 

Éirinn is an Irish Cream Stout with notes of Irish cream, coffee and chocolate. Pouring black, with an off-white head and a silky-smooth finish, Éirinn comes in at 7% ABV making it a beer to be savoured, to be sure.

The STATS:

• Irish Cream, Roasted coffee, chocolate aromas.
• Dark, roasted malts.
• Certified Sustainable Grain.
• 7% ABV
• Vanilla, and Caramel notes.

Contains: Lactose

Availability

Éirinn is available from today on our online store, hallowed venues and bottle shops around the country.

Rossco’s Road Trip Pulling Into A Town Near You.

Over the next two months, Rossco, our main man with the flowing mullet, is bringing a slice of summer to a beer garden near you.

Revving up old Trev the Troopie, Rossco will be hitting the open road, visiting epic East Coast locations and spreading the delicious word about Stone & Wood beers.

Not just there for refreshments, Rossco has also organised live music and giveaways for each place he pulls up, so every stop will feel like a party.

Starting early Feb in Melbourne, Trev & Rossco will be visiting the South Coast, Eastern Suburbs, Northern Suburbs, Newcastle, Coffs Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.

It’s free entry, just round up the crew and turn up.

Supporting local communities

Working in partnership with legendary venues along the way, Trev’s Troopie Tour will also be supporting local clubs or charities at each stop, with money from each beer sold from a Karma Keg going straight back into the community.

Trev’s Troopie Tour Itinerary

Q&A with Rossco

Before the endless summer begins, let’s get to know the enigma that is Stone & Wood’s Rossco.

Stay tuned for more details and to follow Ross & Trev’s on the road adventures, make sure you’re following us on Instagram & Facebook.

Donning your new merch or posed up in front of Trev? Tag us in your posts on Insta, Facebook & Snapchat @stoneandwood

A Pink Lemonade Sour To Quench Your Night Fever.

Fresh from the marvelous minds of our best brewers, Disco Queen is the latest addition to our Counter Culture limited edition beer range.

On the floor of 54, a majestic beauty rules them all.

A dancing queen with a bright, pink presence, fills the room with her effervescence. 

She lures you in with her berry scent then spins you round with her tart intent.  The coolest cat on the scene, never pass up a dance with the Disco Queen.

DISCO QUEEN – The Beer

Disco Queen is a pink, lemonade sour that is fruity, vibrant and tart. Made with pale and regenerative malts, handle this Queen with the respect she deserves by enjoying slowly or with a lover.

• Raspberry and Lemon aromas
• Pale Malts
• Certified Sustainable Grain
• 6% ABV

Availability

Like all the limited-release beers in the Counter Culture range, Disco Queen will be sold in packs of two 500ml cans and cartons our online store, in their Byron Bay and Brisbane breweries as well in excellent venues and bottle shops across the country. Disco Queen is now SOLD OUT online, you can try our breweries or selected stockists.

And for the true disco lovers, we have a VERY limited run of Disco Queen shirts to collect, but as all.

About Counter Culture

Launched in March 2019, the Counter Culture beers will release a new brew every 10 weeks or so, after which they’ll disappear. The range will also feature recipes never tried at Stone & Wood, as well as popular Pilot Batch beers from the past, collaboration brews and beer inspired by the broader brewing community.

Chicken & Pineapple Grilled Skewers with Pacific Ale

BEER

The Original Pacific Ale 🍺

INGREDIENTS:

Marinade:

• 3 tbsp Soy Sauce
• ½ cup Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 can Pacific Ale
• 2 tbsp Lime Juice
• For skewers:
• 500g Chicken
• Pineapple
• Capsicum
• Red Onion 

METHOD:

1. Soak skewers for 4 hours to avoid splintering.
2. Chop chicken into cube-size pieces, large enough to skewer & not fall apart.
3. Combine Pacific Ale, Soy sauce, Lime juice and other dry ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken to marinate for 6 hours.
4. Chop pineapple, capsicum, red onion.
5. Thread all ingredients to bamboo skewers.
6. Heat grill. Grill, baste with Pacific Ale & turn as needed. Can be grilled on a bbq or skillet. Serve immediately. 

Looking Fresh Just in time For Summer.

No doubt, one of the most heated debates in beer over recent years has been: what’s better – cans or bottles?

With the rise of brewers packaging up brews in both options these days, the attitude of ‘beer tasting better in bottles’ seems to be on its way out, as the preference for cans is on the rise.

Like most breweries, we started out only producing Stone & Wood in bottles, but over the last few years, we’ve released most of our range in cans as well. 

So, does it have much of an effect on the final product? Some people think so – and no doubt you probably have a preference too. Let’s dive into the some of the key differences.

THE BREWING PROCESS

Let’s start at the beginning of our journey – the brewing process. Traditionally, beer was always brewed in dark glass bottles to prevent over-exposure to sunlight and oxygen – both of which can upset the delicate brewing process and turn beer bad.

Aluminium cans are very effective at blocking out sunlight and oxygen, due to their totally opaque outer shell and airtight seal. However, dark glass bottles are similarly effective. So, there’s no clear winner in this category, both hold the liquid effectively.

WINNER: Draw

STAYING COLDER FOR LONGER

Due to the thickness of your typical glass beer bottle, there is a natural resistance to heat that can help keep your beer colder for longer when compared to an aluminium can.

This is likely more of an issue when enjoying a beer outside in the sun, or when you’re without a stubby cooler to insulate from the Aussie heat.

WINNER: Bottles, just.

Please always remember to be sun safe and protect your beer from the heat.

Hit up the merch shop, including our Green Feet Stone & Wood stubby holder.

DIFFERENT PRICE POINTS

Beer cans and bottles come in a range of different sizes and pack set ups, all of which can affect the price point, as will the quality of the product.

In our case, our cans hold 375ml and come in a block of 16, with bottles holding 330ml and come in a case of 24. Our cans come in at a cheaper price point, making it the better choice for the hip pocket… but you do get slightly less beer.

WINNER: Cans for the cash concerned.

PORTABILITY AND EASE OF TRANSPORTATION

There’s no hiding the fact that beer bottles come in a bit heavier than cans. Although the difference when you’re holding just one is negligible, it’s definitely more noticeable when carrying 16 or 24 in a carton.

As a result, cans are the probably the better choice if you’re packing up an esky or if you’re taking some beers away with you on your camping trip.

WINNER: Cans (for the froth lover on the go).

FRIDGE STORAGE

If fridge space is at a premium, stackability of cans gives it the edge here, unless you have a big fridge where you can stand all those beautiful bottles up on one shelf. Nothing quite like opening the door to that sight after a long summer’s day.

WINNER: Cans.

THE IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The great news here is that both beer cans and bottles are recyclable.

With most Australian states now having can and bottle buyback schemes either already in place or planned for the future – recycling your beer cans and bottles has never been more accessible to the Aussie public.

WINNER: Draw.

OUTCOME

Judging by this criteria, cans come in as the rational choice in the Cans vs. Bottles debate, but how we love our beer is the same as how we love a lot of things in life – with the heart. So as rational as these facts may be…maybe you’re just a bottle-lover? And we’re quite ok with that.

STONE & WOOD’S RANGE OF BOTTLES AND CANS

Currently, we offer our Pacific Ale r in both bottles and cans, with our Jasper Ale, Hazy Pale Ale, Easy Pale Ale, Big Pale Ale, Cloudy Pale Ale, Citrus Radler and NRB beers all exclusively can-only. Take a look at our full range of beers today, all available for purchase online!