Stone & Wood has made a couple of appearances on Back of the Ferry. That’s as many as they’ve been able to make as they keep it pretty simple up in Byron. Generally Stone & Wood make two beers – Pale Lager and Pacific Ale (formerly known as Draught Ale). These have both been reviewed and both were enjoyed immensely – particularly the Pacific Ale.
On the bucolic North Snore
It’s been way too long since I’ve been to Byron and the lads have come up with another reason to go – their Stone Beer. Now the S&W boys reckon that early brewers used to use stone and wood to make beer before the invention of steam power. Stone Beer is made using some of those pre-steam techniques as homage to the pioneers. The technique is to add “wood fired stones to the kettle to rouse the boil and caramelise the brew”. Hmmm – very Byron – but gees it works. Stone Beer is so special that it’s launched each time with a festival at the brewery. The latest launch (the 3rd) featured bands, pizzas, arty stalls and a surf flick. I think this’d be one beer launch the missus would join me at.
10/10 for colour
So, was the effort worth it? Well, the hardest part was getting my hands on some. This is pretty limited, but Porters at Balgowlah had a couple of the very attractive 500ml bottles lurking in their fridge. Helpfully, there was no paraphenalia accompanying their presence so I was able to snaffle one. I drew the short straw on the weekend and had to drive to a boozy lunch on the North Snore. I took my Stone Beer with me as my one tipple and waited until the wonderfully cooked Scotch Fillet arrived. It was a magnificent match – the complex, dark hued Stone Beer had plenty of hoppiness, but there was also a molasses flavour to it, without being sweet. It was big and handled the heavy marinade well. It’s worth waiting once a year for this beauty – and don’t hesitate if you see one – grab it.
Thursday is #IPADay, a US instigated day for people to drink IPAs. BotF will be joining in with a special IPA from Orange. See you out the back.
