1) One thing I wish the beer scene had more of was stupid snobbery. No, I totally kidding – was just seeing if you were paying attention (yeah, first sentence of this post and I’m worried you’ve lost interest). As if we need more snobbery in the world of beer. I’m sure there’s some craft beer geeks using that snobbery to total prop up their fading sense of self-worth.

2) But seriously, one thing I do wish we had more of is those “special event releases” of a beer. I’m talking about some pomp and ceremony surrounding the annual release of a beer. It’s fun to get a little excited as the launch date for that year’s beer comes up; makes things a bit more special than it being just another beer entering the market.

3) This is part of the reason I like Stone & Wood’s Stone Beer so much. Its release each year is a real occasion. It’s a beer that is made with some ceremony, which includes heating a load of stones over an open fire and then dropping them in the kettle for a while – it’s a throwback to olden times when hot rocks were used to heat up the beer.

4) There’s a party that happens when they make the beer – I attended one of them and had a great time (appalling hangover notwithstanding). And there’s another party – the Festival of the Stone – that features bands, food and beer. All of which creates a real buzz about the beer. This buzz is part of the reason I like to buy a few bottles to set aside and try a few years later. The other part of the reason is that every single aged Stone Beer I’ve opened has been fucking awesome (apologies for the rude word but it is necessary to convey the proper degree of awesomeness).

5) My notes on this year’s release are pretty skimpy, because I was too keyed into enjoying the beer to want to break the spell by writing down a lot of notes. Sorry about that. I do remember aromas of caramel with a hint of chocolate – and that’s it. Though I did post this on Instagram if it helps.

But hey, it’s a Stone Beer, as if you need to be convinced to go and buy a bottle.

Free or paid for?: I got a free bottle in the post – along with a supercool bottle opener keyring. But I will be buying a few to put aside for a while.