Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Close to Home — What it’s like on the street where you live
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Stone's Zombie Love Potion returns for Halloween
This time, it's Imperial strength for a longer lifespan
“The original brews of Zombie Love Potion have been brewed at our Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station location since 2014," says Kris Ketcham, Stone Brewing Senior Manager of Brewing and Innovation. "Always a fan favorite over the years, with each batch customed to our brewers' flavor preference, varying in flavor year to year, containing about 7.0% ABV. In 2023, Liberty Station released a 9.0% version called Zombie Love X-Potion and our team was convinced we needed to get it into bigger production."
Bigger production meant moving brewing operations for the ale from Liberty Station to Escondido, where the Stone team could scale tenfold. The result, Imperial Zombie Love Potion, hit taps and shelves in September, rather than the older version’s typical release date coinciding with Valentine’s Day. That doesn’t mean Stone doesn’t envision this beer pulling a disappearing act before February — just that the theming seemed appropriate. Ketcham continues, “We decided to go Imperial strength for better micro stability and shelf life so this beer would make it to Valentines Day and beyond the grave. The release in October was the perfect time, since Zombies and Halloween go hand in hand. In addition, darker beers are typically enjoyed more during the colder seasons and not so much during the warmer seasons. Having this beer released in February would have been short-lived before it started to warm up. October gives us more time to warm bodies with this potion.”
Another aspect of Imperial Zombie Love Potion that screams October and Halloween is its use of chocolate. As a porter, notes of chocolate are expected to come through, but this porter ups the ante with dark chocolate and an addition of pomegranate juice late in the brewing process — to, as Ketcham says, “pull everything together, creating the perception of dark chocolate-covered pomegranate.” This is not to say it’s a sweet porter; there’s a slight bitterness, plus hints of pine from the Centennial hops at the finish that round out the flavor.
While Imperial Zombie Love Potion will be available throughout the fall and winter, Stone is also prepping the release of another of its longtime winter favorites: Stone Xocoveza Tres Leches. The Imperial Stout, inspired by Mexican hot chocolate and (of course) tres leches cakes, is set for release on November 3. But fans will have to put a little more effort into finding that beer. It’s part of the Brewery Exclusives Series, meaning it will only be available at Stone Brewing locations.
The creamy, smooth stout is full of flavor, brewed with chocolate, coffee, pasilla peppers, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Perfect for the coming crisp evenings, Stone Xocoveza Tres Leches initially offers coffee and cinnamon flavors balanced by vanilla and caramel. Finally, the peppers come through with a dash of heat, which combines with the 8.5% ABV to chase off any cold.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Stone's Zombie Love Potion returns for Halloween
This time, it's Imperial strength for a longer lifespan
Stone's Zombie Love Potion returns for Halloween
This time, it's Imperial strength for a longer lifespan
“The original brews of Zombie Love Potion have been brewed at our Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station location since 2014," says Kris Ketcham, Stone Brewing Senior Manager of Brewing and Innovation. "Always a fan favorite over the years, with each batch customed to our brewers' flavor preference, varying in flavor year to year, containing about 7.0% ABV. In 2023, Liberty Station released a 9.0% version called Zombie Love X-Potion and our team was convinced we needed to get it into bigger production."
Bigger production meant moving brewing operations for the ale from Liberty Station to Escondido, where the Stone team could scale tenfold. The result, Imperial Zombie Love Potion, hit taps and shelves in September, rather than the older version’s typical release date coinciding with Valentine’s Day. That doesn’t mean Stone doesn’t envision this beer pulling a disappearing act before February — just that the theming seemed appropriate. Ketcham continues, “We decided to go Imperial strength for better micro stability and shelf life so this beer would make it to Valentines Day and beyond the grave. The release in October was the perfect time, since Zombies and Halloween go hand in hand. In addition, darker beers are typically enjoyed more during the colder seasons and not so much during the warmer seasons. Having this beer released in February would have been short-lived before it started to warm up. October gives us more time to warm bodies with this potion.”
Another aspect of Imperial Zombie Love Potion that screams October and Halloween is its use of chocolate. As a porter, notes of chocolate are expected to come through, but this porter ups the ante with dark chocolate and an addition of pomegranate juice late in the brewing process — to, as Ketcham says, “pull everything together, creating the perception of dark chocolate-covered pomegranate.” This is not to say it’s a sweet porter; there’s a slight bitterness, plus hints of pine from the Centennial hops at the finish that round out the flavor.
While Imperial Zombie Love Potion will be available throughout the fall and winter, Stone is also prepping the release of another of its longtime winter favorites: Stone Xocoveza Tres Leches. The Imperial Stout, inspired by Mexican hot chocolate and (of course) tres leches cakes, is set for release on November 3. But fans will have to put a little more effort into finding that beer. It’s part of the Brewery Exclusives Series, meaning it will only be available at Stone Brewing locations.
The creamy, smooth stout is full of flavor, brewed with chocolate, coffee, pasilla peppers, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Perfect for the coming crisp evenings, Stone Xocoveza Tres Leches initially offers coffee and cinnamon flavors balanced by vanilla and caramel. Finally, the peppers come through with a dash of heat, which combines with the 8.5% ABV to chase off any cold.
Comments