News on Tap

This month marks the One-Year Anniversary of the kick off of our Standing Stone Brewing Co. Commuter Bike Program: the RPM Club. The goal is to Reduce car trips, Promote living and working in Ashland, and Maintain an active lifestyle

Employees who’ve worked 1000 hours with Standing Stone and agree to bike commute at least 45 times to and from work per year receive a free Kona commuter bike.

We’ve had rolling success with this program, with over 700 logged trips made among our employee bike commuters! This is truly exciting for Standing Stone, since a large majority of our bike riders were car commuters before last August.

Since purchasing our first round of 17 bikes, with a lot of support from Ashland Bicycle Works, we’ve added another four to our fleet and piqued interest in our program from other businesses in the area. Rogue Creamery purchased their own bikes last year after consulting with our owners and admiring our enthusiastic employees. In fact, they brought on even more bikes to their staff than our original round!

In celebration of our anniversary, we will be participating in the annual Bike Commute Challenge put on by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance of Oregon. For the month of September, businesses and individuals who participate log trips and mileage to challenge others in the state and local community. And we do it just for fun! We have several employees who have not yet received their Standing Stone Commuter bikes and they still participated last year to contribute a large portion of our logged miles. A big thanks to our staff for showing motivation all on their own!

At Standing Stone, we’re big fans of delicious, sustainable, local foods and the farmers that provide them. We also love to enjoy our beautiful surroundings, through hiking, biking, running, swimming, rafting and other recreation.

So, when we heard about the Siskiyou Challenge, a multi-sport relay race held on September 25th here in Ashland, OR, we jumped in to support it and want to encourage others to get involved.

The race benefits Rogue Valley Farm to School, one of our favorite nonprofits. They connect schools and local farms to teach kids about sustainable farming and healthy eating, and get school lunch programs to use locally produced foods.

The route is scenic and challenging with 5 legs: 11K run, 3K kayak, 25-mile road bike, 9-mile mountain bike and 5K run. It begins and ends at ScienceWorks and passes through farms, orchards, mountains, parks and central Ashland, with the kayak leg at Emigrant Lake. Individual or teams up to five people can participate. There’s also a fun run/walk for those who prefer a more bite-sized course.

Beautiful Emigrant Lake

After the race, we’ll be serving a free meal to all racers, of course featuring local foods. Other sponsors are providing great prizes for a random drawing and awards for overall winners. Adding to the festivities, there will be a pre-race barbeque on September 24th in Lithia Park.

Join us in the fun and sign up to race or volunteer. You can get more information on the event website or contact the race director, Deborah Gordon, via email or phone: 541-944-4118.

Hats off to Deborah, co-organizer Tracy Harding of Rogue Valley Farm to School and the rest of the great sponsors! See you there!

Did you know Standing Stone uses over 90% Certified Organic ingredients in our beers?

There are a several organic certifiers, which must all be approved by the United States Department of Agriculture, otherwise know as the USDA. The UDSA oversees the National Organic Program, including the USDA Organic labeling program. One certifier approved by this program, located in our home state, is Oregon Tilth.

Using organic ingredients in our beers and food is part of  our broader mission toward sustainability. Here’s more about our commitment to being eco-conscientious.

From beginning to end, being mindful about our impact and working to improve is healthy, smart, and sustainable.

What do you do already to live lighter?

Fun. Everyone should have plenty of it.

It’s good for your health and well-being as well as peace of mind. Plus those around you benefit when you’re having fun.

Having fun usually means you’re in a good mood, want to share that mood and are being thoughtful of your surroundings. Whether it’s curled up on a couch with a good book, out on a bike ride, or enjoying a local establishment with friends.

We believe in having fun. Lots of it. Every day.

To go with good fun, we believe in good food, good beer and good people. You’re one of the latter.

Hope to see you at SSBC having fun soon. After all, it’s good for everyone.

Mmmmmmmmm……ahhhhhhhhhh…..ooooooooooo!

Just imagine you’re smelling some of your favorite things. What are they and what kind of feelings and memories do they conjure up?

Let us ask you today – when you eat and imbibe:

• Do you smell your food?
• Do you smell your beer?

We owe all that wonderful sensory input to our Bowman’s Gland otherwise known as the Olfactory Glands. They let us savor these things well before we get to taste them. They’re physiologically entwined with our taste buds and if we put them to work, we get a richer, deeper tasting experience that uncovers flavor nuances fully.

So be sure to smell – your beer, your food, your environment. Breathe deeply, take it alllllllll in.

 Our latest fresh, seasonal beer is Midsummer Dream. It’s not necessary to drink it only at night because it’s a wonderful daytime summer beer as well. Larry Chase, our brewer, shared some specs about the beer.

• Session style, only 4.9% ABV (Alcohol By Volume) – lighter alcohol content. Session style means that it is designed for you to be able to responsibly enjoy a few in a session.  For instance, it’s perfect for enjoying while listening to our Sunday Summer Jazz out on the patio.
• Crisp and refreshing – using some Mt Hood variety hops from the Indie Hops farm.
• One of the malts (meaning malted barley) is a Gambrinus Organic Pilsner style malt which means that you get this gorgeous light golden color with plenty of flavor (don’t equate color and flavor together – they’re different).

Come on in to enjoy a pint or two. We’ve got lots of great foods to pair with it like our Marionberry Rocket Salad or fish tacos…and that’s just for starters.

Cheers!

Mmmmmmmm…..fresh beer.

Here’s a nice article by the Ashland Daily Tidings offering up all sorts of outside venues to enjoy fare, beverages and fine Southern Oregon weather.

Traveling here soon? Already living here? On holiday? Visiting friends, family or simply on a road trip? We’re always glad to welcome you ‘home’ to Standing Stone.

Our back deck has both sun and shade available for whichever you crave, our beer is made in-house and served fresh as is our oh-so-tasty food. Our knowledgeable servers take good care of you when you’re here – of course, supported by our entire team.

Come visit soon.

p.s. check out our live music this summer!

Our beer contains over 90% organic ingredients

Today we’re sharing a thought from Ode Magazine:

“What do the terms “organic apples” and “social entrepreneurs” have in common? Both are pleonasms; they contain unnecessary repetition.”

Right on – food should be organic and business should be responsible, by default. It’s been our philosophy from the start to be environmentally and socially responsible while succeeding in business. Of course, this is an ongoing journey and there’s always more we can do, and we’re in it for the long haul.

We at SSBC are committed to offering high delicious, quality, mindfully produced food and beverages – organic, sustainable and responsible, along with high quality beer, in a repurposed, restored comfortable, welcoming brewpub.

American Craft Beer Week has come and gone, but our celebration always continues!  We had a fantastic week of community fun, tapping new beers nightly from all over Southern Oregon, proudly hanging the Declaration of Beer Independance for all to sign, and tying everything up with an all-ages bike ride to Alpha Beta Hops Farm here in Ashland. 

Hopefully you’ve been continuing to celebrate American Craft Brewers following American Craft Beer Week as well, running from May 17th – 23rd 2010.  It’s as easy as visiting your local brewpub and enjoying a fresh pint.

ACBW Celebration at Standing Stone

p.s. ACBW 2011 = May 16th – 22nd