Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Stone still fights establishment 20 years later

Brewery announces True Craft investment fund, celebrates Reinheitsverbot

At the Reinheitsverbot party at Stone Brewing Berlin, craft fans drink beers made using ingredients that fall outside the 500 year old Reinheitsgebot Bavarian beer purity law.
At the Reinheitsverbot party at Stone Brewing Berlin, craft fans drink beers made using ingredients that fall outside the 500 year old Reinheitsgebot Bavarian beer purity law.

The founders of Stone Brewing Co. went against the grain when they launched their craft-beer business 20 years ago, an effort that included fighting the beer establishment. Last week, outgoing CEO Greg Koch announced a new consortium pledging $100 million to help combat the influence of corporate money in the craft sector.

Place

Stone Brewing Co.

1999 Citracado Parkway, Escondido

Koch announced the True Craft consortium on April 29th, during a presentation at annual lecture series, the e.g. Conference. Its $100 million fund, staked by unnamed private investors, is earmarked for independent craft food and beverage companies.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Commodity brewers have been quietly purchasing a number of craft breweries in a plan to steal craft away from its independent authenticity," he said during the presentation, referring to a Burbank Airport bar where every IPA being served came from former craft breweries like Golden Road, Elysian and 10 Barrel — all now owned by the world's largest beer company, AB InBev.

Such craft acquisition has been a major concern in the craft-beer industry, as highly visible companies including Ballast Point have been sold to corporate interests, and 10 Barrel plans to open an AB InBev-backed San Diego brewpub to compete with local brewers. Koch has been outspoken about his intention to keep Stone an independent company and characterized such corporate-owned businesses — which are legally required to prioritize the profits of shareholders — as the antithesis of craft beer's focus on quality of product. "Artisanal entrepreneurship is a different kind of system than publicly traded companies," he noted, “one that follows an ethos that involves passion, heart, and soul."

Koch described the True Craft program as an effort to provide an alternative investment platform wherein beer companies would receive an influx of cash in return for a minority, non-controlling stake in their company. "They can make their own decisions about their future," he said. "They can get financing and flexibility that they need to flourish while keeping their soul and control."

Via press release, Stone cofounder Steve Wagner echoed these sentiments: “This is about setting up a consortium so we can not just survive, but continue to thrive in a world in which craft is being co-opted by Big Beer." While Stone contends several craft-beer companies have already shown interest in selling stake to True Craft, no such partnerships have been announced.

In the meantime, Stone has taken a more playful approach in disrupting established German beer traditions. April 23rd marked the 500th anniversary of Reinheitsgebot, Bavaria's so-called "Purity Law" that limits beer ingredients to water, barley, and hops. While core beers produced at Stone's new Berlin brewery meet Reinheitsgebot standards, its seasonal beers feature coffee, vanilla, and other nontraditional flavorings.

So, Stone marked the anniversary at its brewery's newly opened Library Bar with a party dubbed Reinheitsverbot, or "purity ban," which exclusively served beers with additional ingredients. Koch said of the event, "Should someone wish to have their choices limited for them by a 500-year-old taxation law, then perhaps April 23 is not the best time to visit Stone."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
At the Reinheitsverbot party at Stone Brewing Berlin, craft fans drink beers made using ingredients that fall outside the 500 year old Reinheitsgebot Bavarian beer purity law.
At the Reinheitsverbot party at Stone Brewing Berlin, craft fans drink beers made using ingredients that fall outside the 500 year old Reinheitsgebot Bavarian beer purity law.

The founders of Stone Brewing Co. went against the grain when they launched their craft-beer business 20 years ago, an effort that included fighting the beer establishment. Last week, outgoing CEO Greg Koch announced a new consortium pledging $100 million to help combat the influence of corporate money in the craft sector.

Place

Stone Brewing Co.

1999 Citracado Parkway, Escondido

Koch announced the True Craft consortium on April 29th, during a presentation at annual lecture series, the e.g. Conference. Its $100 million fund, staked by unnamed private investors, is earmarked for independent craft food and beverage companies.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Commodity brewers have been quietly purchasing a number of craft breweries in a plan to steal craft away from its independent authenticity," he said during the presentation, referring to a Burbank Airport bar where every IPA being served came from former craft breweries like Golden Road, Elysian and 10 Barrel — all now owned by the world's largest beer company, AB InBev.

Such craft acquisition has been a major concern in the craft-beer industry, as highly visible companies including Ballast Point have been sold to corporate interests, and 10 Barrel plans to open an AB InBev-backed San Diego brewpub to compete with local brewers. Koch has been outspoken about his intention to keep Stone an independent company and characterized such corporate-owned businesses — which are legally required to prioritize the profits of shareholders — as the antithesis of craft beer's focus on quality of product. "Artisanal entrepreneurship is a different kind of system than publicly traded companies," he noted, “one that follows an ethos that involves passion, heart, and soul."

Koch described the True Craft program as an effort to provide an alternative investment platform wherein beer companies would receive an influx of cash in return for a minority, non-controlling stake in their company. "They can make their own decisions about their future," he said. "They can get financing and flexibility that they need to flourish while keeping their soul and control."

Via press release, Stone cofounder Steve Wagner echoed these sentiments: “This is about setting up a consortium so we can not just survive, but continue to thrive in a world in which craft is being co-opted by Big Beer." While Stone contends several craft-beer companies have already shown interest in selling stake to True Craft, no such partnerships have been announced.

In the meantime, Stone has taken a more playful approach in disrupting established German beer traditions. April 23rd marked the 500th anniversary of Reinheitsgebot, Bavaria's so-called "Purity Law" that limits beer ingredients to water, barley, and hops. While core beers produced at Stone's new Berlin brewery meet Reinheitsgebot standards, its seasonal beers feature coffee, vanilla, and other nontraditional flavorings.

So, Stone marked the anniversary at its brewery's newly opened Library Bar with a party dubbed Reinheitsverbot, or "purity ban," which exclusively served beers with additional ingredients. Koch said of the event, "Should someone wish to have their choices limited for them by a 500-year-old taxation law, then perhaps April 23 is not the best time to visit Stone."

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Next Article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.