Stone and Wood sells out to Lion

[Feldon]

Craft brewer Stone and Wood sells out to Lion

Stone and Wood’s Pacific Ale has been one of the biggest selling craft beers in Australia for more than a decade and claimed the No.1 spot in the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers in 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2019.

The company, led by Brad Rogers, Ross Jurisich and Jamie Cook, announced the sale late yesterday in social media posts.

“Today we have some news to share … with a pounding heart and a lump in our throat, the founding families have decided to hand the custodianship of Fermentum (and its family of businesses – including Stone & Wood) over to Lion,” the group said.

“As a founder of a business, from day one you know that at some point down the road you will have to hand it over to someone else. Earlier this year, we realised that we were approaching a major milestone in the development of Stone & Wood where we knew it was time to build a new brewery.

“After many months of working through how we were going to begin the next chapter in our story the founding families decided it might be time to see if there was a custodian for the business who could grow the legacy, its people, its culture, its brands, and continue to drive the business whilst staying true to its purpose.”

Stone and Wood joins other craft brands Little Creatures, Panhead, White Rabbit and James Squire in the Lion stable, which also includes XXXX, West End, Hahn and Tooheys.

continued at: Craft brewer Stone and Wood sells out to Lion - InDaily

 

[MHB]

Oh Poop

 

[yankinoz]

Oh Poop

I'm more worried about piss, say, a "crisp," "refreshing" ale or lager with a cute name and most of the advertising budget behind it. There goes shelf space.

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

Glad I've got a good recipe for their Pacific ale, can't see this bothering me too much

 

[Chris Boswell]

Glad I've got a good recipe for their Pacific ale, can't see this bothering me too much

Have you put the recipe onto beer smith? Or could you post the recipe?

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

It's about 4.5 % ABV, SG 1.044, 20 ish IBU and quite pale. Ferment with US05 or similar around 20 C.

I think it has 60% pale malt, 40% wheat malt and hopped with galaxy very late in the boil, probably 15 mins maybe 15 g, a bit more at whirlpool, a bit more in the fermenter and a bit more again with cold crash.

 

[JDW81]

Hey Chris,

S&W pacific ale was my stock house beer for ages.
70% ale malt
30% Wheat
Cascade at 60 minutes (some reckon the galaxy gives a harsh bitterness, but this isn't my experience) for about 20 IBUs
Galaxy at whirlpool for 10 IBUs worth (aiming for 30 IBUs)
1g/L galaxy dry hop about 4 points off expected FG

I actually changed this a bit after a few brews as I no chill, and added about 5 IBUs worth of hops at the start (usually galaxy) and then the rest into the cube (you need a lot). Gives great smooth bitterness and amazing flavour.

JD

 

[An Ankoù]

Hey Chris,

S&W pacific ale was my stock house beer for ages.
70% ale malt
30% Wheat
Cascade at 60 minutes (some reckon the galaxy gives a harsh bitterness, but this isn't my experience) for about 20 IBUs
Galaxy at whirlpool for 10 IBUs worth (aiming for 30 IBUs)
1g/L galaxy dry hop about 4 points off expected FG

I actually changed this a bit after a few brews as I no chill, and added about 5 IBUs worth of hops at the start (usually galaxy) and then the rest into the cube (you need a lot). Gives great smooth bitterness and amazing flavour.

JD

Great to see a recipe for this beer. I've been using the one listed by smallbatch, (scaled up) which calls for Summer hops as well as Galaxy. Does anyone know if S&W really use Summer as I can't find this hop anywhere.
I've no idea if my beer is a good copy of Pacific Ale as the original doesn't travel as far as France, but I really enjoyed my all-Galaxy interpretation.

 

[Brewman_]

This is a pretty good clone.

 

[MHB]

I'll second that!

Having tasted Steve’s version a couple of times, I think its better than S&W, tho it’s very much in the style.
There is another version of S&W Pacific Ale in BrewBuilder (scroll down to Stone and...) that was put in when the beer was newly on the market, it was then a pretty much exact copy of the brewery recipe (according to spy’s at the time). It’s worth noting that all beers change over time. The flaked ingredient is an important part of the recipe giving the soft creamy texture and the slight pearlescence apparent in the glass. As well as contributing to the fabulous head generally found on Pacific Ale.

I have heard that the beer uses only Galaxy hop but that a couple of times there wasn’t enough available, so some others hops may have snuck in. Magnum is an excellent choice for bittering. Galaxy is a great finishing hop but not my first choice for bittering.
Mark

 

[Coalminer]

Me too. Excellent brew.
Having tried the 3 versions in Brewbuilder that is the best one (for my palate)
I will actually be ordering more of this today

 

[An Ankoù]

Looks like a great recipe so, since I've got all the ingredients in stock, I'm going to give it a go this week end.

Me too. Excellent brew.
Having tried the 3 versions in Brewbuilder that is the best one (for my palate)
I will actually be ordering more of this today

I'm having trouble finding Brewbuilder recipes. I've signed up, but, while I can now generate recipes, I can't find a recipe database. I've been redirected to Captain Brew where there are some great recipes, but I can't find anything for Stone and Wood. Any help gratefully accepted.

 

[philrob]

When you log on to Brewman, you will see in the same grey member box a line to Open BrewBuilder.
Click on it and it should open.
Once open search in the Load Recipe box at top right and enter your search there. Probably best in the Brewman list.
Hope it works for you. It does for me.

 

[MHB]

If you can open BrewBuilder, get to the front page and as philrob just (too fast) you should be seeing this, start in Brewmans list. you can search/filter by styles and breweries but Brewmans list has everything...

 

[An Ankoù]

Thanks, both. I'm in. I'll give it a good browsing. Thanks again.

Edit:
Some great recipes there. A great resource. Little Creatures is also on my list.

 

[Dave70]

Is there a preferred browser to browse Brewman? I'm currently using chrome. Clicking on 'brewbuilder' just keeps returning me to the member details' page despite already being logged in.

 

[MHB]

Dave
Try loging out, then back in.
I find the same little bug and that fixes it for me.
Mark

 

[Brewman_]

Is there a preferred browser to browse Brewman? I'm currently using chrome. Clicking on 'brewbuilder' just keeps returning me to the member details' page despite already being logged in.

Hi Dave,
Probably that I had not opened your account. I have opened it now, so should be fine.

Any drama give us a call. We are working arvo shift today.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Dave70]

Hi Dave,
Probably that I had not opened your account. I have opened it now, so should be fine.

Any drama give us a call. We are working arvo shift today.

Cheers,
Steve

Thanks Steve, we're off to the races!

So can piss off home now..

 

[Brewman_]

Thanks Steve, we're off to the races!

So can piss off home now..

Got a tip?

 

[Dave70]

Got a tip?

Erm...bet with your head, not over it?

That compendium of beers is marvellous.

 

[Brewman_]

Erm...bet with your head, not over it?

That compendium of beers is marvellous.

Yes it is good. Credit to MHB for that. It does some pretty cool things. It draws all the technical specs from the Malts and Hops that I have in stock at the time you load the recipe. If you were to buy the recipe those would be the ingredients you get with those specs.

The specs can vary quite a bit. Like at the moment the Amarillo is alpha 10.4. For years and years I never seen Amarillo vary from 8 to 8.4%

All of those recipes work.

Cheers
Steve

 

[MHB]

Don’t forget that you can set your own batch sizes and defaults, Brewbuilder will then build the recipe to match.
Good idea to keep some records and refine your numbers; update your settings and you will only pay for what you need.
All the recipes are fully customisable to, nothing to stop you using one as a starting point and adjusting to suit your taste.
It has stood up pretty well, I wrote the original version (Excel) in 2009, it is designed as an ordering tool for Brewmans customers, I know a lot of other people just use it as a rcipe database but Steve does a really good job and we should support him.
Mark

 

[An Ankoù]

Finally got the Pacific Ale done. Pitched this morning and it's off like a shot. Of course I'll have no idea whether it's a good copy since I've never tasted the original, but I think it's going to be a great beer nonetheless. I'll post the recipe in the morning as it's been a heavy evening's tasting.

Recipe:
Had a bit of a struggle with the recipe. I found some very interesting stuff in this forum that drinkers said were as good as or even better than the real thing, but seemed to bear little resemblance to the description printed on the can / bottle of Pacific Ale. Found a recipe elsewhere which called for Summer hops as well a Galaxy, but it seems these are not produced any more. This is what I ended up going with:

4.4% abv. Ingredients: Malt (no unmalted grains mentioned), Galaxy, yeast and water. Description: ... all Australian barley, wheat and Galaxy fops from Tasmania...

20 litre batch
Adjust water with CaSO4 and CaCl2
Pale Ale Malt 60.5% 2.24 Kg
Wheat Malt 37.2% 1.38 Kg
Carapils 2.3% 85 g
(Proportions from the recipe in Brewer's Friend)
Galaxy pellets at 16.1 % alpha acid
30 minutes 10g (to give approx 16 IBUs)
flameout 10g
Dry hop in secondary 60g
Mash at 66C
Total boil 60 minutes
Rack into secondary after 5 days and dry hop. I don't expect a great deal of hop biotransformation with chosen yeast.
Pitch with CML Five (a repackage of US-05 or similar)

Expecting a slightly hazy session beer with exploding galaxies. We'll see.

 

[An Ankoù]

Brewed up the Pacific Ale. Made a 12 litre test batch, which is now bottled and carbing up nicely.
Thought I'd risk a bottle after 10 days on the grounds that if there was no hiss, I could cramp the cap down again.
Well, there was a promising hiss so I risked the bottle. Poured slightly cloudy as per description. Nice head which lasted to the bottom of the glass (which wasn't a long time).
Verdict: AMAZING! Certainly I've never tasted the real thing and I missed my chance to visit Byron Bay when I had relatives in Hobart who have since moved, but this is what I was hoping for: full on fruity flavours in both the aroma and the swallow. Not a great deal of bitterness, but it's not supposed to be an IPA. It's the sort of fruit drink you could give to kids and they'd gulp it down. I wouldn't waste it on kids though. And the beer isn't even properly ready yet! I'll give it another two weeks before getting stuck into the rest of it.
Observations: The beer's supposed to have a slight "bready" taste and I didn't get that, maybe it's a function of the yeast. I used CML Five which is a Chico-derived strain. I dry hopped for three days then removed the hop bag and left the beer a couple of days more to clear a bit. My beer fermented out a bit drier than expected, although it's not dry to the taste, and it ended up a bit over 5% abv. No worries there. I was careful to leave a minimum of headspace in the bottle, no more than a centimetre, to minimise oxidation.
As soon as I get back from visiting son in Spain, week after next, I'm going to get a full 20 litre batch on.

I'd used Galaxy before and made some disappointing beer. They need to be absolutely fresh from a freshly opened packet as they go off quicker than any other hop I've used (maybe that's just my experience) so always freeze any leftovers.

 

[Hangover68]

First time in about 4-5 years i needed to buy any commercial beer so got a 6 pack of S&W PA and i must say its a nice easy drinking brew, just need some Galaxy hops and i'll make a 25 ltr batch.

 

[An Ankoù]

First time in about 4-5 years i needed to buy any commercial beer so got a 6 pack of S&W PA and i must say its a nice easy drinking brew, just need some Galaxy hops and i'll make a 25 ltr batch.

It's a great beer, but I've seen some funny recipes, including one with oats! I've no doubt it was good beer but I'm sure they're are no oats in P. A. I used quite a bit of wheat malt in mine, but I'm assured 10 %would have been enough.
Happy brewing.

 

[Ballaratguy]

IMPO oats in a S&W PA clone wouldn’t hurt. Just increases the mouthfeel. Wheat can also achieve the same I think

 

[An Ankoù]

IMPO oats in a S&W PA clone wouldn’t hurt. Just increases the mouthfeel. Wheat can also achieve the same I think

I reckon it could be a great beer with a handful of oats. I might even try it. It's just that when I see the word "clone", it means to me "an exact replica" or as close as we can get. As soon as we start moving away from that, even if we make a better beer, it's no longer a clone.

Having said that, I look at the attempts people have proposed for "cloning" Pilsner Urquell when they can't get hold of undermodified Moravian malt or want to avoid a triple decoction mash. All sorts of stuff goes into the recipe, which would be unheard of in Pilsn. So I guess it's down to the brewer to decide on his interpretation.