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.
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.