Stone Brewing tour

While visiting SWMBO's family for the holidays, I went to the Stone Brewery in Escondido, CA with my wife and her BIL. It was nice, but we voted it not worth it. The place is very POSH, not what we expected at all (never been to a brewery with valet parking). They have a nice, distinctive style, but it all seems a bit much. We got there around 11:30 for the 12:00 tour, and had to wait in line a half hour to get tickets for the 2:00 tour (week after Christmas= busiest time for them). We went and ate lunch in the bistro, which took us an hour and a forty-five minutes. The food was good, but very pricey; I dropped $75 on lunch for two. This included splitting an appetizer, 2 entrees, 5 beer samples and one full beer. The food was good, like I said, but I don't think it was THAT good. Then we took the tour. Very informative about the brewing process, but we learned nothing about the history of Stone brewing or the specific beers they made there. The tour actually takes you into the brewing floor, so that was cool, but they do not provide samples until the very end. At the end, you get four free samples, but they are the exact same samples I paid for in the bistro at lunch and you felt rushed to chug them; the sample area is the same as the store, and it's a very "go go go" atmosphere (again, we were there during their busiest week).

So, to summarize my experience:
Pros:
- very good beer
- the bistro offers a HUGE variety of beers, not just what Stone brews
- pretty cool atmosphere/decor
- food is tasty and locally cultivated
- get to actually go onto the brew floor

Cons:
- have to pay extra for variety of samples
- extremely posh
- cheapest food on the menu was something like $8 for a bowl of soup; cheapest entree was a $13 BLT
- tour guide only shared the brewing process, nothing about what makes Stone different than other breweries
- could not find ANY information/description on Stone beers outside of the $25 book they sold in the shop
- felt rushed to finish free beer samples

We went to New Belgium's brewery a couple years ago with the same people and we loved it. New Belgium felt like they really loved the beer they made and were happy to share it. Stone felt like they loved the beer they made and were happy to sell it to you. Will I drink Stone beers in the future? Yes. Will I go back there? No. Will I tell other people to go? I won't tell them to avoid it, but I will tell them what to expect.

Thanks for the heads up. Seems like they have really grown and are into the business end of it all. Makes sense... that's what I expected after I heard about the theme park. Nothing special or limited release on tap eh?

I don't remember having to pay for samples last couple of times I went. Just from going on the tour they give you some rather large number of free samples as I recall.

Did you have Pliny the Elder when you were there?

You should have checked out Green Flash Brewery while you were in the area. It's a dirty warehouse with none of the hype and some decent beers.

Skip the food at Stone, thats what I do...too pricey for my taste..
Go get yourself a carne asada burrtito(sd has the best mexican food btw), eat it in the parking lot and then go in for some beers.. and save about 50 bucks....
Cant beat their draft and bottle selection tho...
igotsand

Greg Koch really wants his brewery to be so damn high end, classy yuppie crap that I really can't stand him or Stone brewery. They make some great beer, but he's so arrogant about it and he goes around like he saved the beer industry, or that he's the best brewer ever because he's "pushing boundaries."

Wow how arrogant a bastard valet parking at a brewery........

gunner65 said:

Wow how arrogant a bastard valet parking at a brewery........

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yumm double bastard....

igotsand said:

Skip the food at Stone, thats what I do...too pricey for my taste..
Go get yourself a carne asada burrtito(sd has the best mexican food btw), eat it in the parking lot and then go in for some beers.. and save about 50 bucks....
Cant beat their draft and bottle selection tho...
igotsand

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This would definitely be my advice, but SWMBO has to limit the amount of California burritos I consume while in San Diego.

The free samples were the Pale Ale, Smoked Porter, IPA and Arrogant Bastard, in that order, and you can't substitute. If you ask for samples in the bistro, they're $2 a sample. It's a good sized sample, but there are plenty of places that will give you an ounce taste for free so you'll buy the beer you're sampling.

(I did not try Pliny the Elder, but did sample Moose Drool, which I can't find back home on the East Coast.)

I think Stone would be a cool place to go and order a beer and walk around the garden area relaxing, and you'd have to go every day for a year to sample every beer they have available there. Maybe the tour would be better when it's less crowded, but I left knowing nothing about Stone or its beers that I didn't know before I walked through the door (though if I had bought the $25 book I probably could have learned something). We decided that Arrogant Bastard is a perfect flagship beer for Stone.

Yeah this really optimizes the Stone attitude. They had some rep of theirs out here on the east coast to do a beer tasting, and the guy acted like he was trying to sell me a ShamWow. I get it man...it's beer with a gargoyle and zany beer names ...but it's still just beer...and I still just drink it. I'm not going to hold it against the beer, but it's one of those things you just sigh and roll your eyes at haha. At times it seems like Stone is trying to compete with DFH for the craft beer spotlight.

i've been to the Stone Bistro several times and never have gotten that attitude

their food is locally sourced, organic and as high quality as they can get - def not pub food or something to eat everyday but it's always been well worth it for us.

I agree that the tour was lacking when I had taken it but if you ask questions the guide is usually helpful or will find the answer for you - it's meant to appeal to the masses, not the beer dorks unfortunately. they get insane amounts of visitors there and it's a hassle to have to wait so early to get a spot on the tour but they do arrange private tours if you have 10 people or more in your group.

I think everything about that brewery is awesome! My wife loves being there also.

One of my favorite places to eat and drink. Glad to have some norcal style local/slowfood type establishments taking root down in the south. Beers are fantastic with plenty of special edition/collabs etc on tap as well as a great non-stone selection, usually 25-30 beers plus hundreds in bottles. I disagree with a lot of the stuff about the attitude of the place, but you know what they say about opinions.

To correct about Green Flash, they're no longer up in north county- they had the good sense to move into my backyard, down in Mira Mesa now, so I can choose to walk to Green Flash, Ballast Point, Aerdale, Alesmith, Hess, Rough Draft, Tailgate, Karl Strauss, and even White Labs!

igotsand said:

Go get yourself a carne asada burrtito(sd has the best mexican food btw)
igotsand

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California Burritos from Roberto's on Miramar

I like a lot of their beer, but I'm not surprised they don't tell much - the oh-so-clever diatribes on their bottles tell you diddly about the beer. Whoever mentioned Greenflash is on the money - Hop Head Red is as good as anything Stone brews, and at least they tell you it's Amarillo dry-hopped. I think they're in North suburban San Diego as well.

terrapinj said:

i've been to the Stone Bistro several times and never have gotten that attitude

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I honestly find that hard to believe. Stone is a great beer destination, but the arrogance extends from the marketing to the brew house and into the restaurant. There's a wink-wink element at times, but that's not universal among the staff, too many of whom seem to think being associated with great beer somehow implies their own, personal, greatness.

The grounds, beer and food are all worth the visit. It's just unfortunate that you have to add "in spite of the attitude" to the end of that sentence.

Sounds like SoCal to me.

We did Stone and the Ballast Point small batch/home brew store location. Two very different tours. Both fun. I preferred the Ballast Point tour (and beers) however.

WTF I guess I must be missing something, because nobody has ever come off as arrogant when I was there.

dogbar said:

I honestly find that hard to believe. Stone is a great beer destination, but the arrogance extends from the marketing to the brew house and into the restaurant. There's a wink-wink element at times, but that's not universal among the staff, too many of whom seem to think being associated with great beer somehow implies their own, personal, greatness.

The grounds, beer and food are all worth the visit. It's just unfortunate that you have to add "in spite of the attitude" to the end of that sentence.

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wow - i'm really surprised to hear this, very sorry to hear people have had that experience

every greeter, server, bartender, tour guide, cashier etc has been nothing but extremely friendly and accommodating - they clearly love their job but never gotten the slightest sense of arrogance or air of superiority from anyone in there

Lagunitas has an awesome tour if anyones in that area to check it out...5 or so samples of their beer while they tell you comical stories about the breweries founding and endured trials, then they take you to look at the brewery floor before releasing you into their "beer sanctuary". Great food, beer, and people.

Maybe the attitude all depends on when you're there. Like I said, this is apparently their busiest week of the year and I'm sure it gets frustrating and hectic. I'm making it a point to visit Ballast Point next time. I like their beers better, too.

RedGuitar said:

Maybe the attitude all depends on when you're there. Like I said, this is apparently their busiest week of the year and I'm sure it gets frustrating and hectic. I'm making it a point to visit Ballast Point next time. I like their beers better, too.

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i was there for lunch on Monday - it was super busy

Alpine is high on my list to visit next, def off the beaten path but the food is supposed to be outstanding and I can't get enough of their beers

daksin said:

One of my favorite places to eat and drink. Glad to have some norcal style local/slowfood type establishments taking root down in the south. Beers are fantastic with plenty of special edition/collabs etc on tap as well as a great non-stone selection, usually 25-30 beers plus hundreds in bottles. I disagree with a lot of the stuff about the attitude of the place, but you know what they say about opinions.

To correct about Green Flash, they're no longer up in north county- they had the good sense to move into my backyard, down in Mira Mesa now, so I can choose to walk to Green Flash, Ballast Point, Aerdale, Alesmith, Hess, Rough Draft, Tailgate, Karl Strauss, and even White Labs!

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rough life you have haha

chemman14 said:

rough life you have haha

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Somebody's got to live here