It's Wednesday, and there's a lot of news that's happening!

Stone Brewing's got a recall issue involving their extremely rare release, Imperial Russian Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels. We'll be giving you everything that we know so far . . . Plus, we've got all kinds of other news bytes that we think you should know and some hot new releases that you'll want to chase down.

So, on to "Everything We Think Matters" . . .

STONE IRS RECALL

(Escondido, CA) Word spread on Monday that Stone Brewing's Imperial Russian Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels may be carrying an infection, and they are pulling it from shelves . . . Stone Brewing's Media and Communications Linchpin, Randy Clemens, shared some info on Beer Advocate:

We're looking into the half-fills and the reports of infected bottles as we speak, and we'll have much better information (as well as a solution to make it right!) after our meeting tomorrow. If you can't wait that long, you're welcome to bring your bottle(s) back—filled, empty, or anywhere in between—for a full refund, no questions asked. More details to come; thanks all for your patience, understanding, loyalty, and hopefully forgiveness.

KARBACH KICKING ASS!

(Houston, TX) Karbach Brewing Company is having an amazing first year, according to the Houston Chronicle:

Karbach, which began selling beer late last summer and released its first packaged product this spring, just completed one brewery expansion and will launch another in the fall. The company is on track to produce 8,000 barrels of beer this year, which founding brewmaster Eric Warner said is about what he expected in year three.

EBAY CRAFT BEER AUCTION HELD TO HONOR LOST FRIEND

An eBay seller is auctioning a complete set of Cigar City Brewing's 110K+OT bottles from 2008 through 2012, and he's doing it for a very good cause:

I have decided to auction these bottles because one of my close friends recently died of lung cancer at the young age of 41. These bottles are some of the rarest in my beer collection, and I wanted to make some financial gesture that will benefit a cancer organization so that hopefully some day others don't have to lose people close to them from this horrible affliction. All proceeds from this auction (100% of the purchase price) will be donated to LUNGevity, a cancer research organization based in Chicago, so that they may continue their work of finding more effective treatments, and hopefully a cure, for lung cancer.

The auction includes one unopened bottle of 110K+OT Batch 1 "Der Rauch Gott, a corked and caged 750ml bottle that was never sold commercially. He is using eBay's Giving Works for this auction.

NEW RELEASES YOU WANT TO LOOK OUT FOR

Elysian Brewing Company - Torrent Pale Beet Bock (Torrent is the seventh of Elysian's 12 BEERS OF THE APOCALYPSE series. It will soon be available on draft and in bottles with labels featuring the artwork of comic artist Charles Burns from his weirdly apocalyptic Black Hole series.)

Boulevard Brewing Company - Reverb Imperial Pilsner (If you liked Collaboration No. 1 in 2010, you're going to love this newest addition to their SMOKESTACK SERIES. This special edition summer seasonal will hit shelves in mid-August.)