by Eli Raffeld

Stone Brewing Co. has defined the landscape of American craft beer for the last 16 years and continues to do so. Founded in 1996, by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch, Stone’s bold brews have converted many fizzy yellow beer drinkers into hopheads worldwide. In 2011, Stone produced 150,000 barrels of beer (nearly 17.9 million liters!), with the 22oz (650ml) bottle of Arrogant Bastard being the #1 selling single-serving craft beer in the United States. The exponential rise of Stone’s success can be seen in their now 430 employees, Stone Brewing World Bistro Restaurant & Gardens, a distribution channel, catering company, the Stone Store, and the soon-to-open Stone Hotel.

When you arrive at Stone in Escondido, CA, there is no sign out front, no directions, just the sweet smell of barley being mashed. Following your nose you dip under the canopy of bamboo, encounter a giant wooden door and pull. Sixty-foot ceilings and massive gargoyles alert you that you’re no longer in the real world; you’re in Stone’s.

Interview with Greg Koch
CEO and Co-Founder of Stone Brewing Co.

“You’re not worthy!” Why? Who is the Arrogant Bastard?

The premise of the Arrogant Bastard Ale is that only those who are certain that they are worthy are the ones that are worthy of drinking it. If somebody is not certain and can simply be influenced by some external source, such as a bottle label, then perhaps they are not worthy. It’s really up to each individual to decide. If they don’t have the fortitude to decide for themselves, then the Arrogant Bastard ale will decide for them: you’re not for me. Arrogant bastard ale is named Arrogant Bastard Ale because that’s what it’s named, dammit.

Greg Koch’s message to all readers in Japan who know somebody who is always a fizzy yellow beer drinker:

One, why are you hanging out with those people and spending your time with them? Two, it’s time to not allow your friends to cheat themselves of the glory that is great quality craft beer. No longer do your friends have to live their lives under the shadow of mediocrity. It’s time to break free! If it requires reading this message, from an American craft brewer in San Diego speaking out loud to you and your friends… Then break free from your chains of oppression!

What are your thoughts on craft beer’s collaboration with the arts?

I see them combining in a great variety of ways. I think that art, music, great beer and great food are best when they share a setting with other points of greatness. A fantastic art show with fizzy yellow beer is a less than fully satisfying experience. Yes, you can have every appreciation for the art show, but you’re just missing an important element. It’s like going to an organic farm and handing out plastic bottles of water.

I’ve always approached my business, personal life and communication with others as an opportunity to urge them that there are so many wonderful things, so much depth that life has to offer; why cut yourself short on any element? Not everybody can know about everything, that’s what sharing this culture is all about. If you know what great beer is and your friend knows what great art is, then get together.

What expansions does Stone have planned?

The rumors about a Stone Brewery in Harajuku are false. We will be opening a Stone Hotel here and I can tell you that it will not be a typical hotel experience. We are finalizing designs now, (he smiles) and it’s going to be really cool. Somebody that comes and stays at the Stone Hotel will wake up knowing they are in the Stone Hotel. There will be a bar in the lobby, growler fills, and you can take a pint to your room.

How do you manage the growth of your brand with the growth of your brewery?

I believe in the old saying: Why do things the easy way when we can do things the hard way? With everything we do, we try to carry forward the philosophy “lets do an excellent job and lets really focus on being amazing at it.” When we make merchandise we try and create really cool stuff. When it comes to the choices for the food in our restaurant, it’s not just how we prepare the food, but what we allow in the back door–only organic vegetables and grass-fed beef. We focus on making amazing choices.

I want Stone to stand for the willingness to be amazing. I’m sure not everyone will agree, but I think it’s cool that we make our own in-house kimchi. Part of being amazing is recognizing that it’s not necessary for everybody to agree with your decisions. It’s common that this philosophy gets perceived as being arrogant, but this philosophy is not about being arrogant. It’s about the willingness to do things the way you believe they should be done. And I don’t think that needs to be arrogant or even should be. I mean, if you are going to try to be great, what’s the more amazing thing, to be arrogant about it or just focused on trying to be great?

It’s common for companies to produce at lower quality than what they are capable of because it’s what the public wants. We see it all the time. I’m not sitting here saying we are great, but I am sitting here saying we are trying our very best to be great.
MITCH STEELE
Head Brewer

What’s your philosophy on brewing?

There are a few things that are part of our brewing philosophy. We want to make beers with big flavor—that’s a big part of it. It doesn’t necessarily need to be high alcohol or high in bitterness. We have a reputation for brewing really hoppy beers because that’s a lot of what we like, and we brew what we like to drink. Not everybody does this, but we’ve been able to make it work. The people who run the company and work here are all beer geeks and fans of exciting beers.

We are also not afraid to take risks with flavor. There are things that we will put into our beers that may not work the way we’d like, but ultimately it’s about taking risks and wanting the beers to taste good to us.

How does the inspiration come about for a new beer? Is it vision first or ingredients first?

It does go both ways. Most of the time we have a conceptual idea of what we want the beer to taste like, then we try to find the ingredients to make that happen. A lot of times with a special release, we will come across a new ingredient, hop or malt and then build a beer around it, especially with IPAs. Other times special release beers are just happy accidents.

The Vertical Epic this year, with green chilies, was an experiment that ending up working out. New Mexico hatch chili has fairly mild heat, and I thought, what will happen if we brew with this? We threw it into a Belgian beer and said OK! That will work for the Epic. Other times, out in the distance, we envision some beer that we’re trying to hit–that’s how it’s been with the black IPAs. We’ve always approached that beer with the end result in mind.

Inspirations can come from anywhere. We are inspired by what other brewers are doing, we are inspired by tasting a beer we think is fantastic and thinking we can maybe take it in a different direction—and historical beers have provided some inspiration as well.

The Green Tea Collaboration IPA with Baird Brewing and Ishii Brewing was a great success–have you thought about experimenting further?

I was scared about the green tea; I thought that it would make the beer too tannic, too grassy, but it really worked out. I liked it. I don’t know too much about tea. I’m a coffee drinker, but my wife is into tea. I go with her to the teashops in town and wonder what this (tea) would be like in a beer. It’s only a matter of time before more teas are experimented with in brewing.

How do you mediate staying a “craft” beer company producing quality beer with Stone’s enormous brand growth?

Craft is a philosophical approach. The approach to craft brewing is using interesting ingredients and brewing things that are cutting edge. Most of our brewers are home brewers. We’ve got a 20 gallon pilot system and we are always looking at different hops. We will take our Stone IPA and put it in 5 gallon carboys and dry hop it with different hops just to evaluate the hops. It doesn’t get more craft than that.

As you grow you tend to become more analytical and scientific with how you evaluate your brewing process, but I think that’s just natural. If you look at Sierra Nevada, they are probably as technically advanced as any brewery in the world, but they still hang hops in their tanks in bags when they dry hop.

It depends on whether the brewery is brewer-driven or marketing-driven. We make the beer and then we sell it. I’ve come from the other direction at Anheuser Busch, where the marketing division will tell you what beer to make.

That doesn’t happen here. It’s a brewing decision. Greg or Steve may have an idea for a beer but everybody has to be on board with it. We’re not necessarily looking at what’s hot out there. That’s never been our approach. We are about bold, flavorful beers that we want to drink and that keep things exciting.

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This article was published in Japan Beer Times # () and is among the limited content available online. Order your copy through our online shop or download the digital version from the iTunes store to access the full contents of this issue.