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Stone Brewing in Escondido, California

Stone Brewing and the rise of San Diego craft beer

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Photo: Tim Wilson from Blaine, MN, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Greg Koch and Steve Wagner met in Los Angeles and started Stone Brewing in San Marcos in 1996. Their beers were hoppier and more bitter than most American beers of the time, and Arrogant Bastard Ale, launched in 1997, came with a label that dared drinkers to try it.

Stone grew quickly, and in 2006 it moved to a larger brewery in Escondido with a restaurant and garden that became a destination for beer fans.

A beer region

Stone was one of several breweries, including AleSmith, Ballast Point and Port Brewing, that made San Diego County a center for West Coast IPAs. The county now has well over 100 breweries, and beer tourism supports tasting rooms in North Park, Miramar and the North County cities.

Growing and selling

Stone expanded aggressively, opening a brewery in Richmond, Virginia, and one in Berlin, Germany, which it later sold. Craft beer sales flattened in the late 2010s, and the industry consolidated. Ballast Point was sold to Constellation Brands in 2015.

In 2022, Japan’s Sapporo bought Stone. The Escondido brewery remains, but the company is now part of a larger global group.

The local impact

San Diego’s craft beer industry supports thousands of jobs, from brewing to distribution and restaurants. Some breweries have closed as the market tightened, but the region’s reputation remains a draw.

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