We headed out on a rainy brew day to make a full grain-to-glass video featuring a Stone Pale Ale kit from Craft a Brew. The weather was miserable, but the brewing setup made things easy. The kit was created in partnership with Stone Brewing and included pre-measured ingredients, detailed instructions, and clearly labeled hop additions. That simplicity made the brew day move quickly, especially with the hops already portioned for each stage.

The Recipe & Brewing Process

Let’s go through the recipe

Stone Pale Ale Clone Recipe

Batch Size: 5 gallons

Grain Bill:

  • 8 lb 5 oz Briess Two Row Malt
  • 1 lb 2 oz Briess Munich Malt
  • 1 lb Briess Caramel 60L
  • 4 oz Briess Caramel 80L

Hops:

  • 0.75 oz Columbus at 60 minutes
  • 1.4 oz Ahtanum at 10 minutes
  • 2.2 oz Ahtanum at flameout

Yeast:

  • Imperial Yeast A07 Flagship

Water Additions:

  • Spring water
  • 4 to 5 grams gypsum
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet at 15 minutes

Fermentation:

  • Fermented about 10 days at 65°F
  • Cold crashed for 2 days
  • Kegged and carbonated for 3 days

Stats:

  • Original Gravity: 1.056
  • Final Gravity: 1.012
  • ABV: 5.4%

The finished beer poured a deep golden copper color with a persistent foamy head. The aroma had some candied orange peel, light peach character, and noticeable malt richness. The flavor leaned malt forward, but still finished fairly dry thanks to the yeast performance. Mike thought the bitterness could have been pushed even further to better match the aggressive bitterness people usually expect from older Stone beers. I actually liked the smoother balance and long lingering bitterness.

Final Thoughts

This kit really captured the old school homebrewing experience. Everything arrived neatly packaged and clearly labeled, making the brew day simple and enjoyable. The pre-measured hops especially removed a lot of the hassle from timing additions. The finished beer had a rich malt backbone, pleasant hop character, and a clean dry finish that made it very drinkable. It also fermented quickly and was ready much sooner than the suggested timeline. Overall, it was a fun project and a nice reminder that brewing kits can still produce excellent beer without overcomplicating the process.

Use code: THEBREWDUDES for 20% off ingredients.

Brew ON!