Why no Love for Stone?

I have a group of friends who predominately drink craft beer but aren't beer geeks. They don't visit beer advocate, they don't know about all the special releases or beers not sold at bevmo/total wine etc.

Every get together someone if not multiple people have stone six packs or bombers.

As said before, stone along with other breweries that fall in the same category SN, New Belgium etc aren't in high demand for most people on BA but I will say for the general craft beer consumer in South California they sell well. The same friends create text threads when a local establishment is having a stone tap take over and visit the brewery when they are anywhere near one of their locations.

 

Drinking "good beer" and knowing what it is, is DECIDEDLY different than chasing whalez and rarez.

This is why Stone, and other solid breweries like Victory and Great Lakes, don't get TONS of love on beer geek sites.

 

FTFY.

No reason to "drink local" if your local breweries aren't making great beer.

 

You know that they still make these beers, right? They just don't brew them every year.

 

I and many people I know still love Stone. Greg Koch is coming to Duckworth's in Huntersville NC next week for a tap takeover. Can't wait!

 

Is there any guarantee that they're going to bring these beers back in 2018? "Still making these beers" but not making them available each year is a drag; especially because they were seasonal offerings to begin with. I feel like I'm justified in being annoyed that they indefinitely retired two incredibly great beers.

 

Yikes...

 

No, I completely agree with you. I'm annoyed as well.

 

Here's a thought for Stone: Make less of those beers (Russian Imperial Stout; Old Guardian; Double Bastard; etc.). Maybe the young, whale-chasing, hazy IPA-drinking demographic doesn't give a shit about these great seasonal beers, but it doesn't mean that they have to go away. Or, put these beers in six-packs one year to re-ignite enthusiasm for them? Maybe each account only gets a couple cases of each beer instead of 20 cases? Something other than discontinuing them.

 

I enjoy Stone's beers. I really enjoyed Tangerine Express, surprised it wasn't talked about more here. For better or worse, a lot of the beer crowd is always looking for the next thing and established breweries that consistently make a very good product don't get hyped.

Yes I'm glad to try any new beers, but personally try to appreciate standards I can actually buy at a local store.

 

I think Stone (along with Sierra Nevada & Ballast Point) have just started to hit that "Sam Adam Boston Beer Company-level" where their acclaim starts to suffer in the face of over-abundance.

Make no mistake - my girl & I just polished off a six-pack of Enjoy By 7/04/2017 Unfiltered. It was great!

BUT!, between Houston and Austin I have TONS of great options to choose from. Additionally, brewers like Founders & Prairie are also putting out great stuff that competes for my hard-earned dollars.

Like everything else - it comes down to sheer economics. Create an interesting & compelling product - and consumers will buy.

 

Spot on. Many breweries seem to feel the need to continuously outdo themselves by making a beer that is a little more complicated than the last guy made. I am a craft beer drinker, but I prefer a simple basic beer that I know is going to be high quality and consistent year after year. There is a place for both certainly, but I have to think there are a lot more people like me out there.

 

It's still one of the most misunderstood beers, and I still think it's one of the most "future" beers out there, even after all these years. Not only does nothing else taste like it, could anyone else even sell a beer like that now?

 

Unusual for me order a Stone IPA, but I did on my last trip to my bar. It's been forever, and I find the bottled version to be deceidedly
average , but that beer fresh on tap was spectacular. I love the Enjoy Bys quite a bit, but I thought this the best beer I've had from them . Soo.... I'm supposing I've had older IPAs in the bottle then, they were polar opposites. I won't hesitate to buy it on tap again that's for sure.

 

Dale, my guess as well would be that the bottled Stone IPA that you had was non-fresh.

I personally prefer to drink hoppy beers on tap with the hope that kegged beers are fresh. For the most part this strategy works for me.

Cheers!

 

The few times I have purchased their beers I thought they were weak compared to others. At least they were in bottles I do not buy cans.

 

I always naturally assume tap beer is the fresher option, but I don't think it's always the case. I talked to a bartender not too long ago that told me kegs can sit around for a lot longer than cans and bottles. He went into the specifics of why, but I'm not a very good listener. I'm sure it depends entirely on the place and on the beer. Cheers sir.

 

The bar I go to has dated kegs, ive asked.

 

Yes. you are not 100% assured that all kegs are fresh.

You are correct here. One of my local beer bars that I go to regularly will list the kegged date of their hoppy beers on their electronic chalkboard. At lease at that place I am completely assured of drinking fresh hoppy beer.

Cheers!

 

Stone is a favorite of mine, one of the most consistent breweries out there. I realized as I was going through my cellar not too long ago that a lot of what I have in there is from Stone.