What the hell happened to Stone?

Stone is now grocery store dad beer.

 

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Stone beers. It’s a few of us here on BA. We’ve just moved on. Well, at least I have. My first Stone anything was the Pale Ale. Hated it. That was back around 07. Maybe early 08. Next up was their IPA. Thought it was different, but good. I think the Elder bottle came soon after. That’s a different story. I have a can of the latest Enjoy By given to me by my bro in law. I’ll open on Halloween evening.
IMO, I think most of us here has moved on. There are so many great breweries out there and more are coming. Most are average at best. Stone, has fallen into that category as “I remember when I had a Stone ………..”
They, like others have the newbies and their followers still purchasing their meh cans and stuff. Times are getting short for me to think Stone.

 

I have to admit, I bought some cans of Delicious IPA recently and really enjoyed them.

Also, I saw a Stone beer (forget which one) and the tagline was "It's all good". Pretty much the exact opposite of "You're not worthy". Funny how marketing trends change.

 

I've rated 280 beers here on BA and the highest is a Stone beer - Fyodor's Classic. Not sure of the vintage but probably 2014 or 2015. Granted, I stopped rating beers years ago so who knows what my highest rated beer would be had I continued but man that Fyodor's was phenomenal.

 

I had first the Ruination and their IPA circa 2006 or 2007 and they loved it so much. Then I managed to find a bottle of their 10th Anniversary DIPA in this store (Lone Hill Liquors or Walnut Liquorette in Glendora, I know some people know what I'm talking about) where almost all places have ran out, it tasted phenomenon.
I had a bottle of vintage Stone IRS in Tirana, Albania in this specialty beer bar in 2019. The price was exuberant but thoroughly enjoyed it.
I went to their Pasadena location the first time last weekend and had their Spirit Shroud DIPA. It's more amber color with a thicker mouthfeel, bitter with a adequate malty taste to back it up. Overall I quite enjoyed it.

 

Lone Hill and Walnut Liquorette were some of the pioneering craft beer stores around here. At the time, my main beer store destination was the original Ramirez Liquor on Soto. On special occasion I would make the drive to Lone Hill and Walnut. I remember grabbing my first bottle of Parabola at Walnut and my first Dogfish 120 at Lone Hill (long before Dogfish distributed to CA). It’s hard to believe how scarce craft beer was only 15 years ago. Nowadays there is craft beer in nearly every gas station and grocery market.

 

It’s okay to disagree. I just haven’t bought or had any Stone in several years. Yes, Go To was probably my last favorite Stone I had and then nothing. The others mentioned I really haven’t had in awhile except for PIzza Port and Fremont. The only time I’ll have a Lagunitas is when it m in the United Club. SN Celebration Ale is still the only time in lol buy SN.
So looking into my fridge stash I still have 2 Stone bombers.

 

That sounds like from The Life of Riley.

 

Its 2013. I have 3 in my fridge and you're right. Its phenomenal

 

Grocery store beer granddad here. Are you comparing to Milwaukee's Best, or what??? I would drink Stone IPA over 99% of the beers on the market in my area these days.

 

to be honest I am not sure what your point is. And I say that not to be snarky. My point of the post is that stone is no longer a brewery that craft beer enthusiast seek. They are in every in grocery store in my area and they are perfect for the “dad’s” aka middle aged beer drinkers that want more than Milwaukee’s best, etc. the grocery store dad is a guy who likes craft beer as opposed to AAL but doesn’t seek out new beer or breweries. They still think stone is top tier. But this is my own opinion and perception. I would say the vast majority of my friends are this way. They don’t drink coors light and think stone is great but aren’t aware of the local breweries that are killing it.

I will add that I don’t think stone is bad beer it’s not what I am generally seeking.

 

This is clear. Your earlier comment was not clear to me; hence my question about the meaning.

 

I probably should have expanded on my thought. I wasn’t saying stone is bad. Sure beats Milwaukee’s best.

 

Worst beer experience of my life was an Old Milwaukee. Was offered a beer in my teenage years from a family farmer friend. After my dad nodded OK, I was handed one from a 12 pack carton that was in the bed of the field truck...no cooler in sight. Should've been a red flag my dad declined one. I have no idea how many days that particular 12 pack had been bouncing around in our friend's field truck, but it was far and away the worst beer experience of my life. I've had infected Stone beers that tasted better than that can of 'Old Swill'.

I would just love to see periodically some of the early Stone beers. Levitation, OG Ruination, OG IPA, Double Bastard, Oaked Arrogant, IRS, etc. What I do see from Stone on the shelves are things I'm not particularly interested in, as often there's a better or cheaper (for comparable quality) option to select.