Featuring Stone w00tstout 2.0 Collaborators Wil Wheaton, Drew Curtis and Aisha Tyler
Grab a phaser, dust off your Gunstar, fire up the Batmobile and join Stone Brewing Co. in San Diego for Hop-Con 2.0: The w00tstout Launch Festival on July 23 at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station.
In 2013, Stone CEO and Co-founder Greg Koch invited actor and overall geek idol Wil Wheaton and Fark.com creator Drew Curtis to co-brew a massive yet seductive imperial stout dubbed Drew Curtis/Wil Wheaton/Greg Koch Stone Farking Wheaton w00tstout. With Koch on sabbatical, Curtis called on longtime friend and multitalented actress, comedian, homebrewer and gamer geek Aisha Tyler to join the group of unconventional brewers for this year’s special edition brew. In addition to a new brewer, the collaborators added a new ingredient—stone-ground chocolate—to the beer, augmenting the wheat, rye, pecans, and rich bourbon flavors derived from barrels shipped in from Kentucky. Together, the eclectic trio brewed Stone w00tstout 2.0, which will be available in 22-ounce bottles and on draft at select Southern California retailers, restaurants and bars beginning the week of July 14.
Last year, Hop-Con, a festival of geekery, both craft-beer and standard varieties, was thrown to celebrate the collaboration, and it proved to be an epic blast for guests and worthy of a second episode. Hop-Con 2.0: The w00tstout Launch Festival will be held at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station (2816 Historic Decatur Road, #116, San Diego, CA 92106) on Wednesday, July 23, from 7 to 10 p.m. Wheaton, Curtis, Tyler and Koch (who will have surfaced from his around-the-world travels), will be in attendance to meet, mingle and rub elbows with fans. Hop-Con 2.0 is about celebrating all things geeky in a relaxed festive atmosphere with great food and awesome craft beer.
Admission to the celebratory fest is $62.06 (including service fee) and may be purchased at brownpapertickets.com/event/680025. Tickets include 10 four-ounce beer samples, a commemorative Hop-Con 2.0 glass, delicious edibles, and a lineup of Stone year-round and specialty brews that will satisfy any beer geek’s (or just plain geek’s) palate. Special beers to be offered include:
- Stone w00tstout 2.0
- Stone w00tstout 2.0 on cask (available only at Hop-Con 2.0)
- Drew Curtis/Wil Wheaton/Greg Koch Stone Farking Wheaton w00tstout (2013 vintage)
- Stone Cali-Belgique IPA aged in White Wine Barrels
- Evil Twin/Stillwater/Stone “The Perfect Crime” Black Smoked Saison aged in Red Wine Barrels
- 2012 Dogfish Head/Victory/Stone Saison du BUFF
- Ken Schmidt/Iron Fist/Stone Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout
- 2010 Double Bastard Ale aged in Bourbon Barrels
- Three secretively collaborative and suitably nerdy yet-to-be-announced Liberty Station beers
For a $30 donation, Dave Gibbons, famed comic artist and co-creator of the “Watchmen” series, will sign a lithographic print of the Stone w00tstout 2.0 label he designed. At the request of the artist, Stone is also donating the label-design commission fees he would have received to The Hero Initiative, a charity organization providing retirement funds for golden-age comic book artists.
For more information about Hop-Con 2.0 or to purchase tickets to the event, visit stonebrewing.com/hop-con/.
About The Hero Initiative:
The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strict to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterday’s creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It’s a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment. Since its inception, The Hero Initiative has had the good fortune to grant over $700,000 to the comic book veterans who have paved the way for those in the industry today. For more information, visit www.heroinitiative.org or call 626-676-6354.