That's almost a penny less per bottle! I hope you bought them all!!!!1!!1one
Do u think stone is a top 5 brewery in the U.S.?
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That's almost a penny less per bottle! I hope you bought them all!!!!1!!1one
two_hearted
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Well, the question didn't specify the criteria. Stone has a huge distribution network across the country, they produce quality craft beer on a massive level AND do some pretty creative stuff (mixtape, enjoy by, anniversary series). To do the creative stuff on a level probably larger than your hometown brewery does their flagship beers is pretty cool. They're investing and risking a lot for the sake of cool beer (and selling it). I think that makes them deserve a top 10 spot at least.
Now, my personal tastes... maybe not in my top 10 list, but I am always willing to try something new from them (despite getting burned by beer sitting on the shelf a bit too long and warm). And even though I poke fun at their owner for his silly looking beard and bizarre behavior I still think stone deserves a lot of respect. I think that about Dogfish Head too.
I am willing to bet a trip to the brewery might boost them up in my list. I would love to drink their beer fresh and see what crazy stuff they have in the pub only.
oconnorshomebrew
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I've never really had a bad Stone beer. I think Greg Koch is hilarious, and I respect any brewery that large that consistently delivers tasty, unforgettable beers.
Coff
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I think everyone should send me samples from their favorite brewery.
I'll take one for the team and put together a true top five list after a thorough evaluation
I'll take one for the team and put together a true top five list after a thorough evaluation
tgmartin000
Well-Known Member
Top five? Hell no!
Top six? Definitely!
Top six? Definitely!
Calichusetts
Well-Known Member
Me thinks you dont have access to Tired Hands line up in Mass.
Me thinks I regularly trade beers and have amazing beer friends. But know, you are right. They come to many beerfests around here though. Hell, Anyone from Mass has to basically drive to Hill Farmstead to get their line up...and its only 2 hours away!
Weezy
Well-Known Member
IPA is the top craft beer style in the USA, right? IMHO, Stone's Best By is the IPA that best exemplifies the state of brewing West Coast style IPAs today. Hands down.
Does that make it a top 5 brewery? Not in my book. When I think of top breweries I imagine someone saying, if you could only drink beer from a single brewery, which brewery would that be? Stone would not be on my top 5 list in that case.
Does that make it a top 5 brewery? Not in my book. When I think of top breweries I imagine someone saying, if you could only drink beer from a single brewery, which brewery would that be? Stone would not be on my top 5 list in that case.
Given the choice of just one brewery I would probably stay with an Ohio brewery like Brew Kettle love White Rajah, Tunguska, red eye pa, old 21 etc. Imo Stone's lineup is amazing and I enjoy the colllaborations and experimental beers they produce. I don't think I've ever tried one of their beers that I thought was sub par.Weezy said:
huntb
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Devilsnight
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never heard of stone... I guess nobody has access to every brand though. Definately not on my top 5 for that reason :cross:
bobmcstuff
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Bearing in mind I can't get hold of a lot of US brews, out of the ones I have tried on that list I would put Stone above Hopping Frog, Flying dog and maybe Firestone Walker
Green flash, Oskar Blues, Clown Shoes are pretty awesome though; maybe better.
Russian River and DFH are simply not available this side of the atlantic (I've asked a couple of specialist importers). I've seen a couple of DFH collaborations but stuff like 90 Minute which seems to be quite well reviewed is not available.
The main advantage that Stone has for me as far as US brews go is that I can actually get hold of it reasonably often...
Green flash, Oskar Blues, Clown Shoes are pretty awesome though; maybe better.
Russian River and DFH are simply not available this side of the atlantic (I've asked a couple of specialist importers). I've seen a couple of DFH collaborations but stuff like 90 Minute which seems to be quite well reviewed is not available.
The main advantage that Stone has for me as far as US brews go is that I can actually get hold of it reasonably often...
two_hearted
Well-Known Member
Ok, I decided to try some more Stone last night to give it the benefit of the doubt and picked up a bomber of Enjoy by 11/12 and RuinTen. Bought off the shelf, not refrigerated. I haven't found a place near me that keeps them cool. They both had very little hop aroma, tasted sweet and alcoholic and moderate hop bitterness. They just tasted really old and not fresh compared to what most people are saying about them and what I've experienced.
Again, nothing against the brewery. I have vivid memories of the time I had a really fresh Stone IPA and a fresh ruination years ago. They were great. Nothing like what I drank last night.
I guess around here the craft beer movement is booming, so everyone stocks up on lots of great beer and ships them warm, stores them warm and sells them warm on the shelf. The knowledge hasn't caught up yet with how to keep the beer fresh. I even ordered kegs for my wedding last year from a distributor and was disappointed when none of them was fresher than 3-4 months old.
I find myself staying away from most beers that are not found in the Midwest and constantly looking for a brewed on date. If there's no date, I don't buy it most of the time. Not trying to be elitist about it, but I've just been burned so many times.
Again, nothing against the brewery. I have vivid memories of the time I had a really fresh Stone IPA and a fresh ruination years ago. They were great. Nothing like what I drank last night.
I guess around here the craft beer movement is booming, so everyone stocks up on lots of great beer and ships them warm, stores them warm and sells them warm on the shelf. The knowledge hasn't caught up yet with how to keep the beer fresh. I even ordered kegs for my wedding last year from a distributor and was disappointed when none of them was fresher than 3-4 months old.
I find myself staying away from most beers that are not found in the Midwest and constantly looking for a brewed on date. If there's no date, I don't buy it most of the time. Not trying to be elitist about it, but I've just been burned so many times.
terrapinj
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the RuinTen was bottled months ago AFAIK so not much of a surprise there but the Enjoy By 11/12/13 is still pretty fresh - really surprised it had already turned
Johnnyhitch1
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Guess thats the price for cross country distro...funny how plenty of the other breweries in cali dont grab that much out here though....
eltorrente
Well-Known Member
It's only 10 bucks here in Baltimore, too - so I don't think cross-country has anything to do with it. It's just your local distributors charging too much. I'm sure there's another place you can find some at the price it should be.
Calichusetts
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It should be law that they have the brewed on date. Also, there are apps now where you can enter or scan bar codes and the like to get the brew date.
bobmcstuff
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I paid £13 for a SINGLE 1pint 6floz bottle of Arrogant B*stard in the brewdog bar here in Aberdeen. That's nearly $20.
Go figure.
Ruinten was released in June, so that's to be expected. Enjoy By should be a hop monster, so it's definitely been mishandled. I agree with you, though. I generally don't buy hoppy beers from outside of California (stuff out of Oregon doesn't even seem very fresh) because of the severe drop-off in quality it suffers during shipping.
I've waited a while to chime in here. IMO what it comes down to is not whether they are a Top 5 brewery, but whether a majority of people would consider them a Top 5 brewery. There is no right or wrong answer because it's a subjective question. One could qualify an answer if it were based on something that gave a definitive number, such as Top 5 selling, or Top 5 use of ingredients even.
My answer is: For me they are not a Top 5 brewery. Perhaps if I lived closer and could get a good variety of their beers I would change my mind. But as it is, they might one of the top breweries for hoppy beers, but as I've only had opportunity to sample a couple of their offerings, they don't quite score that high for me.
To be honest, I don't really have a perfect ranking system because I've had some mediocre beers from some top notch breweries and some fabulous beers from some mediocre breweries. Plus my tastes keep changing. I like variety.
I simply don't have a top 5.
My answer is: For me they are not a Top 5 brewery. Perhaps if I lived closer and could get a good variety of their beers I would change my mind. But as it is, they might one of the top breweries for hoppy beers, but as I've only had opportunity to sample a couple of their offerings, they don't quite score that high for me.
To be honest, I don't really have a perfect ranking system because I've had some mediocre beers from some top notch breweries and some fabulous beers from some mediocre breweries. Plus my tastes keep changing. I like variety.
I simply don't have a top 5.
Johnnyhitch1
Well-Known Member
I f-ing love Stone's beers. Easily a top 5 for me in the US and yes in my Top 5 in the world.
But for those who don't dig Stone, hey, its a great big world of beer. Drink what you like.
But for those who don't dig Stone, hey, its a great big world of beer. Drink what you like.
There are? Care to share? I have Brewbuddy on iOS, which lets you scan a bar code but that just ("just") identifies the beer and links to reviews. A quick scan of the app store didn't find anything that gave a brew date.
As a bonus, if you lived in Escondido you would be a short drive away from Lost Abbey which makes both top notch Belgian styles and American styles (under their Port Brewing label).
two_hearted
Well-Known Member
I totally agree. Do you have any more info about this app? A name?
Babybatch
Well-Known Member
crhall41 said:
SSR! First time having it. First set of demo-bottles. Drinking one now! My first bottle I shattered the rim of the bottle and didn't feel okay with the possibility of consuming bits of glass. I if I had a coffee filter I would have tried to filter it. But I ended up pouring down the drain.
this beer does keep Stone high in my list. Just sayin'.
Oceantendency
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You forgot that the owner hates fishermen and is a contributor to Anti-Fishing enviro freak movements, still hate the ******* over that one.
DaveHunter5
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Oceantendency said:
I am a commercial fisherman out of Kodiak, AK. I didn't know that about the owner of Stone and previously would have said I truly enjoy their IPA and enjoy by (I live in WA so it's reasonably fresh). However with this new information brought to my attention I may have to permanently boycott Stone beers. We are closely monitored and regulated to ensure future fish stocks for years to come and if managed correctly (which AK had a record year in many parts of the state) is an excellent example of renewable resources. That being said I don't want to go off on a tangent and talk about salmon and I'll throw this disclaimer out there that I didn't read the whole thread, just back a few posts so I am presuming that the owner mentioned in above quote is the owner of Stone and if I am incorrect than I will gladly withdraw my statement and start purchasing stone beer again
IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
Oceantendency said:
That's strange because they sell Ballast Point beers in their restaurant and the guys at Ballast Point are all about fishing. If he was really an anti-fisherman nazi like you make him out to be he wouldn't carry beer from guys that are avid fishermen.
hiphopperforever
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I would like more info too. I fish the east coast new england area recreationally. If Stone is anti-fishing, I will stop buying their beer.
I am a commercial fisherman out of Kodiak, AK. I didn't know that about the owner of Stone and previously would have said I truly enjoy their IPA and enjoy by (I live in WA so it's reasonably fresh). However with this new information brought to my attention I may have to permanently boycott Stone beers. We are closely monitored and regulated to ensure future fish stocks for years to come and if managed correctly (which AK had a record year in many parts of the state) is an excellent example of renewable resources. That being said I don't want to go off on a tangent and talk about salmon and I'll throw this disclaimer out there that I didn't read the whole thread, just back a few posts so I am presuming that the owner mentioned in above quote is the owner of Stone and if I am incorrect than I will gladly withdraw my statement and start purchasing stone beer again
IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
hiphopperforever said:
That's BS. They sell Ballast Point beer at their restaurant and the guys at Ballast Point are fishermen. They even did a collaboration with Ballast Point. Why would they collab with fishermen if they are so hardcore about being against fishermen?
They also serve fish tacos in their bistro.
Stone Brewing Company said:
Found on the web so may or may not be true.
IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
bleme said:
Yeah but that's totally different from labeling them as "anti-fishing enviro freaks" like a pervious poster said.
That quote shows that they are dedicated to preserving our environment. I'm sure Stone doesn't ride around in boats harassing fishermen with hoses, smoke grenades, or other stuff that the real enviro freaks do.
Oceantendency
Well-Known Member
Did you go to every single MLPA meetings and Blue Ribbon Task Force like my wife and I to speak out against the MLPA process and the stupid closures that we were based on old "Scientific Data" and bad science. research the financial contributors to the MLPA process; You'll find STONE is a financial contributor to it and actions speak louder than words. Ballast Point is incredibly huge out here in San Diego out here, you would be pretty stupid not to work with them. Ballast Point also has it own LBHS, so of course you'd like to be connected to Ballast Point. I didn't know STONE had its own restaurant. Not trying to rub anybody the wrong way, but that's the deal. But if you like Stone and want to support that, then ok. You can also Contact the Waterman's alliance directly, and I'm sure they can easily supply you with the correct document.
