News on Tap

(photo: Rachel Koning)

We present our next Pints for a Purpose specialty beer – Peace Ale.  A portion of the sales from this brew will go to Peace House, the next on our list of non-profits to receive donations from our Pints for a Purpose program.

The program runs for three weeks, beginning with a kick-off party tonight, January 23^rd, from 5-9pm. During the kick-off, we’ll give 50 cents for every pint sold to the organization.  If supporters purchase more than 50 pints, we’ll up the donation to $1 per pint! For the remainder of the donation period, Standing Stone will give 25 cents per pint to Peace House. Come downtown and toast a pint to supporting this local non-profit!

(photo: peacehouse.net)

Peace House is a local organization that promotes community and environmental sustainability, along with non-violence and social justice in Southern Oregon.  Their list of programs includes Uncle Food’s Diner, which provides free weekly community meals in Ashland for the homeless and economically disadvantaged.  We’re thrilled to support this local group and their mission.

About the beer

This beer shows off with a bright yellow color.  A mild, slightly spicy aroma is contributed by Willamette Valley hops grown in the Oregon.  A distinct, cracker-like malt flavor balances nicely with medium bitterness. With a lower fermentation temperature (62F) than our other ales, this beer has a crisp, dry finish, much like a classic pilsner.  5.3% abv

Malt

Organic Pilsner
Ashburne Mild
Organic Carapils
Acidulated

Hops

Bittering = Centennial
Flavor/Aroma = Willamette

Beer and Food Pairings

Complement the light body and flavor of this beer with lightly flavored food. The cracker-like, dry characteristics of this beer also make it an excellent choice with foods that exhibit a light sweetness. Here are some suggestions for pairings from our menu:

• Sea Scallop and Spinach Salad
• Tempeh Stir Fry
• Fish Tacos
• House Greens with Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Sauteed Veggie Wrap
• Black Bean Hummus

We invite you to help raise funds, and your glass, while satisfying your tastebuds with Peace Ale, January 23rd through February 12th. Support local non-profits and celebrate responsibly.

Posted in Brewery & Beer
Tags: beer and food pairings, Pints for a Purpose, specialty beer & seasonal beer

We want to thank everyone who joined us for our 2012 Winter Beer Dinner! This is our yearly event to celebrate two of our greatest passions: beer and food. Our brewmaster and chef, Larry Chase and Eric Bell, enticed our guests’ taste buds with carefully concocted food and beer pairings. This year’s dinner was held on January 12th at Standing Stone.

Our dining room was full of eager Standing Stone Brewing fans, excitedly awaiting each beautiful dish to harmonize with each tasty beer during our six-course annual dinner. As each course was served, Larry and Eric took a moment to explain the flavor profiles of their creations and the characteristics that make for exquisite pairings.

If you missed this year’s dinner, here’s a recap of the flavor and fun:

Milk and Honey Ale with Feuillete de Poisson

I Love Oregon Ale with Warm Artichoke and Mizuna Salad

Amber Ale with Sushi Lasagna with Vodka Gravlox, Flying Fish Roe and Matchstick Ginger

Double IPA with Standing Stone Farm Black Angus Rib Eye and Chanterelles

Oatmeal Stout with Mont Blanc

Barley Wine with Caramel Chevre Crème Brulee

We captured lots of great moments this year, both in the dining room and behind the scenes. The colorful dishes coming from the kitchen and our guests’ happy faces made for some great pictures. We want to share a few of these photos and highlight this great night! You can also view our full photo album for more tasty snapshots.

For those of you who attended, thank you for joining us and we were thrilled to see everyone there! This is our favorite Standing Stone event of the year, and we couldn’t be happier to see lots of our regular customers and new faces as well.

Keep your eyes open on our event calendar for the next Standing Stone Beer Dinner on the horizon. Remember, you can always create your own food and beer pairing at the restaurant any time, too. Feel free to ask one of our servers or bartenders for suggested combinations, or get inspired to try your own. Cheers!

Posted in Brewery & Beer, Events, Food, Restaurant & Menu
Tags: barley wine, beer and food pairings, Beer Dinner

Lucas and Wesley (photo: Rachel Koning)

Customers who visited us last year may remember a handful of women with large, round bellies happily moving about the restaurant. Though it may have looked like they had their stomachs full of yummy Standing Stone beer and food, they were cheerfully bearing babies-to-be.

From November 2010 to November 2011, five Standing Stone couples welcomed their new little ones to Ashland, OR.

All of the moms and dads in each of the couples are, or have been, employees of our restaurant and brewery, making these babies 100% products Standing Stone! We so glad to have these new additions in our extended family.

Since we gave you a taste of this baby news on our Top 11 of 2011 post, we’d like to offer up close and personal introductions to our new Standing Stone half pints and their proud parents:

Lucia and mom, Sophie

Baby Samuel, born to Magda and Jose in November 2010

Baby Wesley, born to Rachel and Rob in February 2011

Baby Lucas, born to Alex and Danielle in March 2011

Baby Lucia, born to Eric and Sophie in July 2011

Baby Cohen, born to Ashley and Matt in September 2011

A big congratulations to all the happy families! We also want to pass on warm wishes to our customers with new babies, too. We’re proud and excited to have all these beautiful beings around the restaurant.

Be sure to wave “hi” if you catch a glimpse of any of these pint-sized bundles on your next visit or around town. Some of them are just learning to wave “hi” back, and they have irresistible smiles.

On a related note, stay tuned for news of Standing Stone farm animal babies coming soon.

Cohen (photo: Ashley Nunes)

Though our pasture puppies are quickly turning into full-grown dogs, we’ll have baby lambs and chicks on the way before long.

Posted in Employees & Partners

As the year draws to a close, we wanted to take a moment to look back and celebrate the great things we’ve been a part of, and the employees, vendors, customers and community that made it all happen. Here’s our top 11 for 2011 at Standing Stone Brewing Co.

11.We remodeled and got a new neighbor

After months of work by Alex and the remodeling team, Emz Blendz and Hanson Howard Gallery settled into refreshed, functional spaces that preserve the character of our historic building. Phase two – creating additional office and kitchen space – continues.

10. Our beer took the national stage at SAVOR

The Brewers Association selected us for SAVOR, an exclusive craft beer and fine food event in Washington, DC. Attendees enjoyed – and raved about – Milk and Honey and other selections.

9. We amped up our events

Our summer “Music and Brews” series featured an increased array of bands across an extended season that made for great afternoons on our patio through October. We held our annual Pumpkins and Pints event on our new farmland with our biggest turnout ever. Thanks to all who helped create fun and community!

8. Employees got fitter together

Our RPM bike commuting program rolled into its second year with 35 participating employees. We fielded two teams in the Siskiyou Challenge Relay and earned the best costume prize. Supported by Standing Stone, server David Conley qualified for the XTerra triathlon national championships and represented us proudly. Server and yoga instructor Lindsay Holy continued to lead employees through fabulous classes. A group of SSBC employees is training for half marathon in May 2012.

7. Our sustainability efforts gained traction and inspired others

Other businesses started employee bike commuting programs and installed bike racks, motivated by our efforts. Our efforts gained notice including Oregon Sustainable Business’ Innovation award, the Ashland Conservation Commission’s Conservation Hero award, BTA’s Alice Award and a Silver Bicycle Friendly Business designation. We’re touched, and geared up to do more.

6. The Ashland Growers & Crafters Market moved to our street

We welcomed our favorite local farmers and food producers to Oak St for the weekly market, and launched a Saturday brunch in their honor. The market and our brunch will be back in the spring of 2012!

5. Brewmaster Larry Chase crafted a slate of fabulous specialty beers

Larry delivered a diversity of well-received specialty and seasonal beers, including I Heart Oregon, Jefferson Common, Indie Pilsner, NPK Ale, Hop Night, Chocolate Stout, Madrone Red, Benefit Bock and more.

4. Customers enjoyed Pints for a Purpose

We revamped our giving program (where we donate a portion of specialty beer sales to nonprofits) to invite non-profits to apply, then voted for recipients and held kickoff events to build community involvement. Thanks to all who enjoyed specialty beers (over 2,000 pints) to help us donate more than $900 across Rogue Valley Farm to School, AIFF and Mt Ashland Give a Kid a Lift.

3. There’s a garden on our roof

Seeking to bring our food production in house, we put a container garden on our roof. Customers enjoyed greens, tomatoes, tomatilloes, herbs and more harvested just steps from our kitchen.

2. New babies joined our family

Standing Stone couples Alex and Danielle, Eric and Sophie, Rachel and Rob, and Ashley and Matt became the proud parents of beautiful babies. We can’t get enough of them!

1. We started a farm!

Realizing a long held goal to farm, we signed a lease for 260 acres of City land, which is home to our cattle, egg laying and poultry chickens, sheep and sheepdogs. Our community joined us there for our Pumpkins and Pints event, and we’re planning more ways to welcome folks.

Thanks for helping make 2011 so fantastic. We look forward to an even better 2012 together!

Posted in Brewery & Beer, Community, Employees & Partners, Events, Standing Stone Farm, Sustainability
Tags: Growers & Crafters Market/Farmers Market, Pints for a Purpose, specialty beer & seasonal beer

Photo: M. Schweisguth

One of our sustainability goals is reaching zero net energy use at our restaurant and brewery. This means making sure the energy we make at Standing Stone Brewing is equal to or greater than what we take from utilities. This reduces emissions, increases energy independence and cuts operating costs.

Several years ago, we commissioned an audit to map out electricity and natural gas consumption, and develop a plan to reach zero net energy use. We’ve been making progress since then, including installing an Energy Management System (automates heat, light and other systems), putting solar panels on our roof and adding a heat exchanger (also known as waste heat recovery).

Heat exchangers transform “waste heat” emitted by appliances and building systems—like the warmth you feel behind your refrigerator—into fuel for other processes. By harnessing it, we avoid wasting this resource and reduce external energy needs. To share more about the process we asked co-owner Alex Amarotico, who set up the heat exchanger and spearheaded our zero net energy plan, to tell us about it.

What does a heat exchanger do?

We installed a water-cooled heat exchanger. This captures heat that’s produced by condensing units in refrigerant systems like our walk in cooler, walk in freezer and glycol chiller, and transfers it to our hot water heating system.

What are the main pieces and how does it work?

It has a stainless steel heat exchanger (made of many plates of thin stainless steel), valves that divert waste heat to the water-cooled heat, an exchanger for heating water (or our original air-cooled heat exchanger), circulators that push water through the heat exchanger, and a computerized control unit that monitors and controls system operations.

Why did you decide to install a heat exchanger?

The zero net energy use plan we commissioned showed this was one of the measures with the highest energy savings and cost efficiency. We’re prioritizing improvements by overall impact to make the most of our resources and generate savings to invest in additional pieces of the plan.

How much energy does it save?

It cuts about 10% of our energy use. Given the energy load of a typical brewery and restaurant, this is significant!

What’s next for SSBC’s energy conservation and renewables efforts?

We’re exploring ways to reuse waste cooking oil to make electricity or heat. We currently provide this to a biodiesel company but would love to close the loop, and process and reuse it in house.

Thank, Alex! If you’re intrigued and inspired, try a few simple tricks at home. If you have an oven that vents through one of your stove burners, plan ahead to cook on that burner when you’ll be baking. Steam veggies above a pot of pasta. If you have a cat or a laptop, keep them on your lap and turn down the thermostat down a few degrees, too (wink).

Feel free to ask for a peek at the accessible parts of our system the next time you visit our brewpub and restaurant, too.

Posted in Sustainability
Tags: energy & resource conservation, heat exchanger

All of us at Standing Stone lovingly remember the chalkboards at the heads of our elementary school classrooms. Our teachers used them to give lessons, illustrate topics, stay organized and play. We took a learning from our early education and brought chalkboards to our brewery! We feature them in every area of the restaurant, with ever-changing info for our customers and coworkers.

These eco-friendly boards allow us to communicate a range of news, updates and offerings without using paper (and trees). And, they’re fun! They’ve also helped us discover hidden art talents among our staff and let employees express their creativity. Here’s  virtual tour of our gallery:

Since its unveiling two years ago, the Standing Stone Specials Board has become a favorite centerpiece for our customers. This three-tiered hanging chalkboard is colorfully bursting with daily food and drink specials, often boasting local ingredients from our Standing Stone Farm and neighboring farms.

If you’ve visited us during the past year, you’ve no doubt noticed the vibrant chalkboards on display in the front windows and dining room. These are “chalked-full” of information about upcoming events, specialty beers, and lots more. Our resident artist, Sienna Quinn, illustrates these, making them extra eye-catching. Check them out on your next visit, and see what’s happening around here.

To share the fun, we recently replaced our paper kids’ menus with reusable mini chalkboards! Now kids can create chalk art of their own at the table. It’s okay if adults want to try their hand and art and play. too.

We make all of our chalkboards and thought we’d share tips for those who want to try this at home.  We craft ours from repurposed wood, often using extra pieces from construction projects. We smear each board with two coats of chalkboard paint then rub the boards with chalk to prep them for use. Check out the chalkboard paint at your local hardware store and try making your own at home! They make great reusable message boards as an alternative to paper.

Keep an eye out for these fresh, new boards around the restaurant and brewery. And enjoy them while they last, because odds are, you won’t see the same one twice!

Posted in Other Good Stuff, Sustainability
Tags: chalkboards

There’s nothing like a hot drink to warm your hands and heart after weathering winter’s chill. This season, our thoughtful beverage gurus have created a few drinks to do just that, providing holiday cheers for young and old. As a gift to you, we’re sharing a few recipes from our current drink specials list, in both spirited and non-alcoholic versions.

These holiday drink recipes are ideal for hosting get-togethers. Save time by preparing batches of the ingredients early on and storing them in the refrigerator, then whipping up individual drinks as you’re ready.

Wassail

This traditional English beverage combines mulled cider with ale. Its name comes from the custom of “wassailing” through the streets at Christmastime, signing and drinking to the health of the apple trees.

1 quart apple cider
2 sticks cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp grated nutmeg
4 whole cloves
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced

Combine all ingredients in a pot on the stove, and simmer on low for 1 hour. Once your mulled cider is ready, strain or ladle 1 cup into a glass, add 4 oz of Oatmeal Stout and ½ oz of rum. Or, serve on its own as a delicious spiced cider. Enjoy warm!

Hot Buttered Rogue

This drink mixes a seasonal classic with Oregon’s own Rogue Dark Rum, distilled by Rogue Spirits in Newport.

½ cup softened butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
pinch salt

Blend all ingredients and refrigerate to harden. To make one drink, add 2 scoops of batter to a mug, top with 2oz Rogue Dark Rum, fill with hot water and stir. For a non-alcoholic version, top batter with warm milk. Garnish with a cinnamon stick for extra merriment!

Raise your warm, full glasses and cheer to the holiday season! Remember to swing by and grab beer to go for Wassail at home, or to enjoy on its own. All of us here at Standing Stone wish you happy holidays, and encourage you to celebrate responsibly.

Posted in Restaurant & Menu
Tags: holiday drinks, seasonal drinks and cocktails

Photo: M. Schweisguth

Once fall comes into full force and edges toward winter, we often see this as end of the produce growing season. However, in Southern Oregon, and many climates, we can cultivate food year round. We just need to do a little digging to learn what can weather the winter, and how to protect plants and soil from the elements. Several crops can be plated in the fall or late winter for harvest through the winter or early spring. Others are traditionally planted in the fall and mature later in the spring.

At Standing Stone Brewing Co, we’ve been doing a bit of research to help us expand our rooftop garden into a year-round source of fresh ingredients for our restaurant.

To help get more folks into the fulfilling, sustainable fun of four-season gardening, we thought we’d share some of what we’ve learned. While it’s a bit late to plant all but a few roots and bulbs for the fall, you can start planning to get an early start on your 2012 garden.

Choosing Crops

Lots of well-loved veggies can take the cold, including beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, chard, collards, kale, parsley, parsnips and scallions. Garlic and fava beans are generally planted in mid- to late-fall and mature in spring. Don’t forget perennial crops like sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), which sustain themselves year after year. To determine what will work where you are, look for localized gardening calendars and information, check seed packets and plant tags, or ask seed providers for temperature ranges needed for germination, growth and survival.

Raise the Temperature

Reuse old windows and doors, laid on bricks or a wooden frame, to make a cold frame. Cover rows with home-size tunnels from a garden supply store, or make some from reused plastic sheeting or pallet wrap on a frame of bamboo or flexible branches. Those with more space and extra cash might consider a small greenhouse. We’ve built a cold frame for our rooftop garden and are devising a way to route heat from our waste heat recovery system to our garden to warm it in winter.

Protect Plants

Pallet wrap garden cover (photo: M. Schweisguth)

Cover plants that aren’t in a cold frame or other shelter when nighttime temperatures are predicted to get close to or below the lowest temperature at which they can survive. Reused large plastic bags and pallet wrap work well. Gardening stores sell various plant coverings, too. Put leaves, reused plastic sheeting or seasonal row cover over the tops of root vegetables to keep them alive during hard frosts and snow, then uncover during the day to promote growth.

 Safeguard Your Soil

Mulch around plants to keep soil from freezing. Mulch or cover unused garden beds to prevent soil compaction from heavy rain, sleet and snow, too.

Grow Indoors

Small plants like herbs and greens can thrive indoor in pots, and you won’t need to brave the elements to harvest them. Turn sunny windows into winter gardens, and delight in the flavor, clean air and ambience this provides.

Happy gardening!

Posted in Food, Sustainability
Tags: gardening, rooftop garden

Once a year, we get our collective heads together here at Standing Stone Brewing and organize a beer dinner, offering one fun, sumptuous event for beer lovers and culinary enthusiasts alike. We present our 2012 Winter Beer Dinner, Thursday, January 12th at 6:30pm!

This formal dinner features six courses of beer and food pairings. Chef Eric Bell has once again devised delicious fare, created to pair perfectly with six of our beers. We’ll highlight flavors of the season and the state, with Oregon coast Dungeness crab and rockfish, Mama Terra goat cheese from Williams, and potatoes from Klamath Falls, to name a few. This year, for the first time, our Beer Dinner menu features our very own Standing Stone Black Angus beef, served in a rib eye cut with wild foraged chanterelles. This grass-fed beef comes from our very own farm, just a few miles away in Ashland, OR!

Seats for this event are $60 a person. Seating is limited, with 80 seats available for this year’s dinner, so be sure to make your reservation soon to save your spot at one of our tables! We have tables in various sizes, and you’re welcome to reserve seats together with friends and family.

In the spirit of the holiday season, we’re also featuring a Beer Dinner Gift Pack as a great gift for your favorite beer aficionado. This gift pack includes two logo’d pint glasses, two half gallon growler bottles and a gift card for filling with a favorite Standing Stone beer, as well as a gift card for two seats at this year’s Winter Beer Dinner. It’s the gift that keeps giving! We also have gift cards available in any amount, so you can purchase seats separately, or put together your own gift package.

To make your Winter Beer Dinner reservation, call the restaurant at (541) 482-2448, or come in and speak with a bartender or server to learn more. You can also email us at Rachel@standingstonebrewing.com. We look forward to seeing you there!

Posted in Brewery & Beer, Events, Restaurant & Menu
Tags: beer & food pairing, Beer Dinner