Stone Brewing - Why Does Everyone Love Them?

Regardless of their beer the distribution network they created to support craft beer and fight InBev for shelf space has done more for to further craft beer than anything imo.

 

They make several great offering, enjoy by and xocoveza come to mind. They also make lots of pretty good beers. But they were also the pioneer in the industry and have done more for craft beer than any other company that I can think of.

 

Would you say they were"the" pioneer in the industry more so than Sierra Nevada?

 

Anchor, Sierra Nevada, and Sam Adams were/are all inarguably more important to the development of craft beer as a whole. If we're just talking San Diego, yeah, Stone would hold that title, but putting them on that pedestal nationwide is showing regional and/or recency bias.

 

I agree. I also feel that all of these pioneers, Stone included have largely chosen to purposefully fall behind the times in hopes that the current fads of adjunct stouts, NE IPA's, wild ales and barrel aged beers will phase out. Some have tried to capture part of these markets but all seem as a mostly half hearted attempt compared to the efforts of breweries currently leading those segments. It will be interesting to see if their stubbornness against keeping up with current market demands will pay off in the long run.

 

Good points. The counter would be to look at New Belgium who has tried to capitalize on relatively current trends and it’s been a failure for a variety of reasons.

 

I would say they are more important for their distribution role in helping other smaller craft breweries. I’m not saying Sierra Nevada wasn’t important and hasn’t done great things for the industry, same for Sam Adams. Anchor just lost some respect because they sold to someone (I can’t remember the details).

 

Perhaps there’s a degree of hesitation on the part of these big breweries to fully invest in fad styles because they’re aware of the market and realize they wouldn’t be taken as seriously as some of the rarer offerings simply because they’re not as rare? Just a thought.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again...take a look at the top 250 (according to beer nerds), there’s not a whole lot there that isn’t inaccessible for 99% of the rest of the country.

 

Consistent high quality. Occasionally fantastic limited releases. Independent. Some awesome barrel aged releases. Reasonable price points. Etc. Etc.

 

So many reasons why I love Stone:

• Their standard beers are consistently good and available (i.e. it's not uncommon anymore to see Stone IPA or Arrogant Bastard at non-beer bars around here)
• 3.99 Bombers of Arrogant Bastard
• Wide distro which includes places that sell their beer in the proportions that I like (i.e. you can commonly find them at Trader Joe's, and Trader Joe's will sell you a single 12 oz bottle at 1/6 the price of the 6 pack -- try it!)
• Depending on your mood, their beers can be as plain or as crazy as you feel like
• Depending on your wallet, their beers can be as cheap or as expensive as you feel like
• Lots of collaborations with breweries I'd otherwise not have heard of, including international
• They try to keep things interesting, even if it means sometimes failing miserably
• They stay innovative without necessarily feeling like they have to chase the current trends
• They broke into Germany
• They seem to have no desire to sell out (although we shall see, because certain other breweries didn't seem interested in selling out...until they did, i.e. Ballast Point, Elysian)
• They saved Avery

 

I don't know the story of saving Avery, can you explain? This sounds like a great story.

 

It is. We went on the tour of Avery Brewing this summer. The tour guide told us that after a couple of years, they weren't doing so well and could have gone under. The brewmaster decided that since they had always played it safe but now had nothing to lose, he was going to make the type of beer that he always wanted to -- a big, hoppy barleywine (Hog Heaven). Their friends at Stone heard about this beer and put it on tap there. The rest is history.

 

So Stone putting Avery's Barleywine on tap saved the brewery? There's got to be more to this story, please continue.

 

They said it became really popular there and without their help with the exposure in CA they may not have made it. Going by what I heard from Avery, not Stone.

 

To me, Stone was my gateway brewery. I still have such a fond memory of purchasing one 12oz bottle of each of their core beers back in 2006. I was blown away by them, at the time. I still have intense nostalgia for their old silk-screened logos and their old core line-up, such as their original Pale Ale, Levitation, Smoked Porter, Ruination, etc. And don't even get me started on their seasonals (Old Guardian, Impy Stout, Double Bastard). I feel like they've lost their way by discontinuing all of these great beers, but I don't own a business with hundreds of employees in a competitive market, so I guess I can't browbeat them too hard.

 

Stopped in at the Stone Oceanside store Saturday evening. First time in 2+ years. I would visit the Stone Oceanside or Pasadena store back when Enjoy By bombers or growler fills were available at the store only. Or when they started selling the Enjoy By kegs to the public. They had 5 new IPAs on tap that I never heard of including their newest release Merc Machine (was released in early Nov). I actually brought home a crowler of Stone single Hop they had on tap that I really enjoyed. Less than $7 for a crowler. Not a bad deal. Maybe they need to put a Stone Store somewhere in the OC? Anaheim would be cool. I usually don’t do Stone beers anymore, but maybe if they had a store nearby I wouldn’t mind an occasional crowler fill of some new IPAs.

 

are you a member bro?

 

so happy to see this will be released nationally (albeit in limited quantities)...soo good!

 

I don't love them but they do brew some excellent beers. I haven't had a Stone beer in months.

 

Perhaps Fyodor, Mikhail, or Xocoveza should be in your future?