Stone Brewing makes its Chicago debut with a massive rollout of beers

Southern California beer-maker Stone Brewing bombards Chicago this week with a balls-to-the-wall rollout involving dozens of rare kegs, dinners with special beer pairings, and lots of chances to meet the people behind the company. Stone's sales reps and brewers will hit 34 bars, restaurants, and stores between today and April 9. Bars will have from three to 32 different Stone brews on tap. 

Stone has been a major player in the West Coast craft beer scene for years and its move eastward was overdue. The company is known for making big, dark beers with lots of alcohol, lots of hops, and often experimental ingredients—don't expect any lagers or anything that you'd feel good about chugging down. 

Worth hunting down: the Vertical Epic beers (three at the Lincoln Park Whole Foods and Finnegan's Irish Pub & Restaurant in Plainfield; four at Hopleaf), each of which follows a different recipe but is designed to be cellared until 2012 and compared in a vertical tasting—served side-by-side. Finnegan's will also tap six vintages of Stone's Russian Imperial Stout. Starting Sunday, The Map Room will have the Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. Several bars will be pouring vintages of Old Guardian Barley Wine made since 2007. For a full list of bars, restaurants and stores serving Stone during the rollout, check the brewery's website.