These days, instead of receiving all those wistful—if not downright desperate—letters that start with the line “PLEASE sell your beer in [any one of previously Stone-free zones],” we are happy to be reading more and more letters from folks who can hardly believe their eyes when, upon unsuspectingly walking into their local bottle shop, they see before their disbelieving eyes the brown bottled deliciousness that is Stone, proudly declaring its residency for the first time! These thank you notes are a real shot in the arm, and its a great feeling to hear from so many happy Stone lovers. Here’s an excerpt from one such letter:

Moved to Raleigh NC five years ago and had to console myself with lesser brews since you didn't distribute to my area. Imagine my happiness when I saw a big gargoyle display right by the front door of the Peace St. Market yesterday! I'm drinking my first Bastard in years as I type this. Thanks for finally sending your liquid heaven out to my neck of the woods!

Eric, Raleigh NC

And how about this one:

I just got the news of the DECADE today and discovered that you guys DO listen to your fans …you’ve actually started distributing to GEORGIA! I have one thing to say about that: HALLELUJAH!

Rory Atlanta, GA

The response in Dixie has been no less enthusiastic. Our own Head Brewer, Mitch Steele, was in Georgia a couple of weeks back, where he and our Southeast Stone rep and native son of the South, Scott Sheridan, attended some of the Stone kick off celebrations at places like The Trappeze Pub in Athens. According to these two very seasoned veterans of the beer trade, they’d never before seen such a successful roll out. People were ecstatic!

Adam Smith, a salesman from Savannah Distributing, was just a LITTLE excited to finally have the chance to get Stone out to his customers: He got some serious ink laid down on his right shoulder by Matt Roland at Tribal Urge in downtown Augusta. Way to represent, Adam!

And because one good turn deserves another, Mr. Sheridan has now headed down to Florida to usher in a great new era of great beer in the Sunshine State. Here’s what he said of the recent rollout:

“Sure Joe Maddon and the Rays made it to the World Series...Sure Tim Tebow and the Gators are having a great year...But what could be bigger than the arrival of Stone Brewing Co. in Florida? Uh...nothing!!"

Scott was on hand to celebrate the Florida kick off at the Gulf Coast's Oldsmar Taphouse on Saturday, November 14th. On tap was a lineup of Stone beers as never seen before and, quite possibly, never again (at least not any time soon...). Year-round award winners such as Stone Pale Ale, Stone IPA, Stone Ruination IPA, Stone Smoked Porter, Stone Levitation Ale, Arrogant Bastard Ale, and Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale were gracing a Forida tap tower for the first time. He also managed to wrangle away from the Stone brewery in California archived masterpieces such as Stone 08.08.08 Veritcal Epic Ale, a trio of Stone Anniversary Ales featuring the 10th, 11th, and 12th versions, 2008 Imperial Russian Stout, 2008 Old Guardian Barleywine, 2008 Double Bastard Ale, and the gracefully aged 2006 Double Bastard Ale. Now THAT'S a kick off! Nicely done, Scott!

Back here in sunny So Cal (sat by the pool and read a sci-fi novel on this glorious 80 degree morning--not to gloat or anything), I look forward to hearing from all our new fans--and of course, our old friends too. So please drop us a line whenever you feel like sharing your enthusiasm with us. It really makes our day. Cheers!

-Ken Wright