Stone and Wood's annual Stone Beer is here, and it rocks This year's Stone Beer is "dark and malevolent." Picture: Peter Lalor Stone Beer Stone & Wood Brewing, 7.2% alc AMONG the pearls of wisdom Bob Dylan cast among the hippy swine was the notion that "everybody must get stoned." How I wish it were so. Unfortunately when it comes to Stone Beer, only the tuned-in few will be able to turn on as this limited-edition drop from Stone & Wood Brewing is hard to get your hands on, but well worth it if you can. These Byron Bay brewers have forged themselves a first-class reputation for their more readily available Pacific Ale and unique lager, both of which are celebrated regularly at beer competitions, here and abroad. Once a year, however, the brewery takes a break from conjuring up those two beers, pumps up the music and throws its doors open for the making of the much sought after Stone Beer. It's quite a day. The playlist on the stereo is confined to relevant songs, the barbecue works hard and the heating of the stones on a large outdoor fire has almost become a (tongue in cheek) pagan ritual. Head brewer Brad Rodgers is no geologist, but he has a collection of cherished and well-travelled rocks that are critical to the production of this unique drop and have been in his care for many years. "I lived in Fiji for two and a half years and we did an awful lot of underground cooking using the stones," he says. "They call it lovo but it's a bit like the Maoris do with the hangi," he explained. When his job was done on the island Rogers packed up the rocks and brought them back to Australia. Imagine the excess luggage bill and the questions at Customs. Now, after setting up the brewery with partners Jamie Cook and Ross Jurisich, he uses them for the annual drop. The S&W ale and lager are new-world beers in tune with their location. They are beer garden brews, made for drinking as the sun sets over an ocean - in stark contrast to the studied urban characters of most craft beers. Their light, floral tones have proved an enormous hit and have seen the brewery increasing production to keep up with demand every year. Stone Beer, however, predates stainless steel tanks and harks back to the pre-industrial age. Back in the day, before stainless steel, breweries used wooden vessels to make their ales. To boil the wort, the stone-age brewers dropped heated rocks into the mash rather than light a fire beneath, which would have been disastrous. The hot rocks not only brought the wort to the boil, they also caused the malt sugars to caramelise and gave the beers a rich, distinctive flavour. The sweet coated rocks were then transferred to the fermentation tanks, where they created quite a candy feast for the yeast. The Germans called these brews "steinbiers" and to this day there are still some being produced in Europe but they are almost unheard of down here. Stone & Wood has been making the Rock Beer for five years. Those in the know make sure they are on hand to grab the limited release. Some is put into barrels, most into 500ml bottles and a rare few into the old fashioned swing seal ceramic bottles. This year's Stone Beer is a darker - Rogers says it is "all but black" - and more malevolent drop than previous brews. Like all the beers from the brewery, the flavours find a balance. At 7.2 per cent alcohol, it needs some serious hopping to counter the caramel nut sweetness and this is achieved by the heavy use of two local hop varieties, Summer and Ella (formerly known as Stella). Rodgers, who in a past life was part of the team that got the Matilda Bay brands back on track, says making the Stone Beer is an event he and the brewery's friends look forward to. A music tragic, he programs the track list for the day with tunes from bands who have stone in their name (Roses, Rolling, Poneys...) and appropriate songs. Tunes with fire in the title seem popular. The Prodigy's Firestarter was the tune that best encapsulated the bacchanalian spirit of the afternoon. That hectic track is a long way from Bob Dylan, but it seems times are changing up in Byron Bay. For the better.