Homebrew invasion pt. II: Stone-Maui-Ken Schmidt

October 29, 3:45 PMSF Craft Beer ExaminerBrian Yaeger

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Maui's Garrett Marrero, homebrewer extraordinaire Ken Schmidt, and Stone's Mitch Steele

Stone Brewing Co.

It may not be long underwear time yet, but there's a distinct autumn chill in the air. As your thoughts wonder to warmer moments, how about a beer that transports you to the island of Maui. Why just fantasize about sipping fresh Kona coffee while cutting open a ripe coconut to munch on when you can do all the above in one amazing new beer? After all, a great beer is truly a vacation in a bottle.

Stone Brewing in San Marcos (North San Diego) and the Arrogant powers that be decided to take their annual American Homebrewers Association (AHA) Rally up a notch. The winner, this year, wouldn't merely take home a pat on the back, but would get to brew his or her winning homebrew recipe on Stone's system and have the beer go on tap at their Bistro.

The winner was a local homebrew hero named Ken Schmidt who concocted "Aloha Plenty," a Porter brewed with 100% Kona coffee, macadamia nuts, and toasted coconuts.

“I had been thinking about the recipe for six years, said Ken, “but it was Garrett’s (Garrett Marrero of Maui Brewing) Coconut Porter that inspired me to go ahead with it. I wanted to brew something that infuses all of the elements of the islands and captures their essence.”

Well, Stone already had three collaboration beers under its belt when Chief Bastard Greg Koch got a nutty idea. Why not make this a fourth and take it to people far beyond the Stone Bistro who could use a taste of the tropics?

The Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter, given a suitably Hawaiian-sounding nickname KoCoMaCocoPo by my Seattle counterpart Helen Pitlick, is a rich, smooth, velvety beer that truly amalgamates the world's most delicious coffee variety (Danish brewer Mikkeller brews Beer Geek Brunch-Weasel using Kopi Luwak coffee made from actual droppings of civets after they've digested the coffee cherries. One deterrent, besides drinking something that has past through a civet's digestive track, is that it retails for about $18 per 22-oz. bottle), sweet and nutty macadamias, and the essence of a macaroon. It is simultaneously a breakfast beer and a dessert beer.

Regrettably, standard Bay Area liquor stores one would turn to in order to buy this beer such as City Beer Store, Healthy Spirits, Ledgers Liquors, and the Jug Shop have run out, where 12-oz bottles retailed for $8 on average. But if you hurry, you can still try it at Church Key (1402 Grant Ave.), a beer-centric bar in North Beach, for $14 a bottle. Is it worth it? Keep in mind the specialty ingredients are expensive to begin with. Besides, it sure is cheaper than buying a flight to Maui.

Related article: Homebrew invasion pt. I: Sam Adams Longshot

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© 2009 by Brian Yaeger