Stone Brewing Co. is looking to expand East of the Mississippi

Discussion in 'Beer News' started by DaltonC, Mar 8, 2014.

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  1. AlienSwineFlu

    AlienSwineFlu Savant (1,135) Dec 14, 2012 Ohio

    How do you come up with 22? By my count, there are 11 currently (not including AB or BJ's, and counting Barley's and Smokehouse as the same brewery). That would be 11 new breweries in the next year, and the only two I'm aware of that are opening doors soon are Pigskin and Land Grant. What do you know that I don't know?

    Edit: my 11 I'm counting are SideSwipe, Zaftig, Elevator, Columbus Brewing, Barley's, Actual, Wolf's Ridge, North High, Seventh Son, Zauber, and Four String.
     
  2. AlienSwineFlu

    AlienSwineFlu Savant (1,135) Dec 14, 2012 Ohio

    I think Columbus would be absolutely perfect for Stone. That's a tad bit of me being selfish, but a lot just because of the amazing (and growing) craft beer scene we have here in Columbus, not to mention one of the largest populations in the United States.
     
  3. DouginCMH

    DouginCMH Initiate (0) Jul 28, 2014 Ohio

    Bradford's point was that regulations that govern beer distribution do a better job of ensuring that 'fresh beer' will be taken care of in transit than would a lowest bidder, less regulated system.

    By the why, when you said:

    We're you referring to Stone going to Ohio, or Stone going to Germany, where they'll need to brew beer in compliance with the Reinheitsgebot?

    Or do German regulations not count?
     
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  4. DouginCMH

    DouginCMH Initiate (0) Jul 28, 2014 Ohio

    I track this in a Word doc. I'll post the details tomorrow, but here are some you're missing:

    First, Smokehouse Brewing and Barley's are now separate entities, though they share a brewer. I now count them as two breweries.

    Gordon Biersch
    Lineage Brewing, 2015 in Clintonville
    Temperance Row Brewing, Westerville
    Hofbrauhaus, opens in October

    I also go outside Columbus but stay within the MSA, which includes places like Staas, Rockmill, a couple of places in the Granville, Newark area.
     
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  5. napdynmite

    napdynmite Initiate (0) Jul 19, 2014 Illinois

    Chicago is a perfect spot. Join Lagunitas, Goose Island, Three Floyds, Revolution, etc. and bring incredible beer to some of the most astute and thirsty beer lovers in the world.
     
  6. ErnieShanko

    ErnieShanko Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2014 North Carolina

    Craft beer is blowin up outta control here - as I type this there are 3 microbrew pubs being built, and the Wilmington supply shop is in the process of expanding their business space tremendously due to the demand. It's a great up and coming spot with a ton of potential.
     
  7. DouginCMH

    DouginCMH Initiate (0) Jul 28, 2014 Ohio

    Referring to the master list, I have 23 breweries in the Columbus MSA, 18 existing, 5 under construction (the list below shows those outside of the central Columbus area at the end):

    1 Columbus Brewing Company - 525 Short St, Columbus

    2 Seventh Son Brewing Co. - 1101 N 4th St, Columbus

    3 Zaftig Brewing Co. - 545 Schrock Rd, Columbus

    4 Barley's Brewing Company - 467 N. High St., Columbus

    5 Smokehouse Brewing Co. - 1130 Dublin Rd., Columbus

    6 Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant - 401 N. Front Street, Columbus

    7 The Actual Brewing Co. - 655 N James Rd, Columbus

    8 Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus - 161 N High St, Columbus
    Elevator Brewing Company– 165 N. 4th Street, Columbus

    9 Sideswipe Brewing - 2419 Scioto Harper Dr, Columbus

    10 Four String Brewing Company - 985 W 6th Ave, Columbus

    11 Zauber Brewing Company - 909 W 5th Ave, Columbus

    12 North High Brewing Company - 1288 N High St, Columbus

    13 Wolf's Ridge Brewing -215 N 4th St, Columbus

    14 Hofbrauhaus Columbus – 800 Goodale Blvd, Columbus (autumn ’14)

    15 Lineage Brewing - 2971 N High Street, Columbus (2015)

    16 Pigskin Brewing Company - 81 Mill Street, Gahanna (autumn ’14)

    17 Land-Grant Brewing Company - 424 Town Street, Columbus (late summer ’14)

    18 Temperance Row Brewing – 41 N State St, Westerville (late ’14)

    19 Rockmill Brewing– 5705 Lithopolis Road NW, Lancaster

    20 Staas Brewing – 31 W Winter Street, Delaware

    21 Homestead Beer Company – 811 Irving Wick Drive West, Heath

    22 Granville Brewing Company – Granville (no tasting room)

    23 Buckeye Lake Brewery – 5176 Walnut Road, Buckeye Lake
     
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  8. BeerBuckeye

    BeerBuckeye Savant (1,223) Oct 2, 2009 Ohio

    Well, considering Chicago is not a finalist, I wouldn't hold your breath.
     
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  9. BeerBuckeye

    BeerBuckeye Savant (1,223) Oct 2, 2009 Ohio

    And that list doesn't even include places just outside the Columbus MSA like Weasel Boy and Hoof Hearted.

    I would love a Stone/Jackie O's collab, haha.
     
  10. Dil_thebeerdrinking_do

    Dil_thebeerdrinking_do Initiate (0) Jan 21, 2014 Georgia

    all these Ohio people going to be butthurt when its not them. The odds arent in your favor. lol
     
  11. Feel_the_Darkness

    Feel_the_Darkness Initiate (0) Oct 17, 2012 Virginia

    I honestly couldn't give half a crap about Stone's beers, Richmond can have em for all I care. But I think Norfolk is the better location for a brewery and they would be remiss in not opening up here.
     
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  12. Ysgard

    Ysgard Zealot (665) Mar 5, 2008 Virginia

    Antiquated German regulations don't count.
    via wikipedia: The Reinheitsgebot is no longer part of German law: it was replaced by the Provisional German Beer Law in 1993
     
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  13. John_Beeryman

    John_Beeryman Initiate (0) Jul 19, 2014 Virginia

    Even if you don't like Stone (really?) you have to be in favor of the jobs and money it will bring to the area. Norfolk will take them :slight_smile:
     
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  14. Ysgard

    Ysgard Zealot (665) Mar 5, 2008 Virginia

    The only complaint I have against Stone now is the cashgrab crowdfunding thing they did with the Europe brewery.
     
  15. StoneGreg

    StoneGreg Initiate (0) May 16, 2002 California

    Not really a crowdfunding thing. It's selling beer via a crowdfunding site. As we have posted on our IndieGoGo page:
    This is NOT a fundraising campaign! It is an exclusive "presales" event.

    When people see the same beers on retail shelves for more expensive in a couple years (once they're produced), interestingly I don't think "cashgrab" will come to mind. Sell them for less via IndieGoGo, and for some folks the word does. Learning experience for me!

    Of course, many have been reacting with "Yay beer. I wanna get some!" and the presales event has been quite successful overall.

    Cheers,

    Greg
     
  16. DouginCMH

    DouginCMH Initiate (0) Jul 28, 2014 Ohio

    Why don't they count? By the way, the requirement that Stone adhere to German law is referenced here:

    http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/07/21/stone-brewing-plans-for-european-expansion/

    "And then there’s Germany’s nearly 500 year-old beer purity law, known as the Reinheitsgebot, that’s still part of that nation’s tax code.

    Koch doesn’t see that as a problem, either: “The vast majority of our beers fall within the Purity Law, and I think it is silly and outdated and irrelevant in today’s world. Most industrial brewers use it as an excuse to make really mediocre beer.”

    The point being debated is why would Stone possibly build a brewery in a location where they can't brew all of their beers? Germany is such a place. As Koch says, "(t)he vast majority" of their beers can be brewed there, but not all. Similarly, the vast majority of Stone's beers can be brewed in Ohio. I agree with Koch that laws of this sort are outdated. The trend in Ohio is to lessen such regulation, and encourage the further growth of the craft beer industry here. I would assume that we'll be at a 21% cap soon. Will that be good enough for Stone? Is the current 12% cap an issue? I hope not, but honestly don't know. It's one variable that is not an advantage for Columbus. Others, like a lower excise tax (17 cents a gallon, versus 26 cents in VA); a larger metro area; a much stronger existing market for Stone beers; a much larger local craft beer economy; a much better distribution location (noticeably better than Richmond, dramatically better than Norfolk) certainly favor Columbus. It's cool that Greg Koch grew up here, as well, but I don't seriously think that it'll be a big deal in Stone's final decision.

    You know, we can debate the variables we know about all day long (and probably will). But, of course, it's what we don't know that really matters. We don't know which variables Stone is weighing more heavily than others. We don't know the details of what is being offered to Stone by the three candidate cities. All we can really do at this point is hope for the best (from our selfish points of view) and drink copious amounts of Stone beer in hopes of whipping up some good karma for our particular city's bid.
     
    #256 DouginCMH, Aug 20, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2014
  17. miketd

    miketd Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2006 Ohio

    I would love for Columbus to be the location, but won't be "butt hurt" if it's not. Columbus may not be a desired vacation destination, but neither is Richmond or Norfolk... at least not for me. What I think will be decisive, is money, and by that I mean taxes. I don't know the tax structure in Virginia, but it can't be much worse than Ohio.
     
  18. Ranbot

    Ranbot Pooh-Bah (2,389) Nov 27, 2006 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Richmond and Norfolk are both within a 1 hour drive from Williamsburg, VA, which is a tourist destination. Norfolk is also less than an hour drive from all shore vacation areas around Virginia Beach.
     
  19. miketd

    miketd Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2006 Ohio

    And Columbus is a large market in a densely populated State. Stone isn't going to have a hard time getting people at their place, either way. Like I said, pretty sure this will all be about what makes most sense for them financially.
     
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  20. DouginCMH

    DouginCMH Initiate (0) Jul 28, 2014 Ohio

    The tax issue is NOT something I know much about. My guess is that it's complicated as hell. I did run across that excise tax item, where Ohio's is lower than VA's (I was wrong about the number in Ohio, though; it's 18 cents a gallon, not 17). I did see a story recently out of SC that stated that they felt one reason why they lost out on this is that their excise tax on beer is much, much higher, 66 cents/gallon.

    There was a Columbus Dispatch article last month that included the following:

    "Columbus economic-development director Steve Schoeny was unavailable to comment on what incentives the city could offer Stone, but a deal cut for an expansion at Alliance Data System’s Easton operation might give a hint. The City Council agreed to a 10-year, 65 percent income-tax break for Alliance Data, worth an estimated $8.5 million. JobsOhio, a private, statewide economic-development group, said Ohio has the lowest corporate tax burden in the Midwest and third lowest in the nation. Ohio does not tax corporate profits, product shipped out of state, inventory or new machinery and equipment. Stone made it clear in a request for proposal on its website that incentives and tax breaks are important to the project."

    How this stacks up against common practice in Virginia, I have no idea.
     
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