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Sweet taste of arrogance
And this isn’t just big talk. The barley bullies at Stone Brewing back up their claims with bigger beer and a unique business approach. "We don’t go to the masses; we don’t care about the masses. The masses are numbskulls, and we don’t brew beer for numbskulls," says Greg Koch, CEO and co-founder of Stone Brewing. "We don’t go to the masses, we expect people to come to us. And they’re coming." God damn. If their beer were a car, the bumper sticker would most likely read, "My kid beat up your honor student." And let’s be clear: This beer will kick your ass. Arrogant Bastard Ale is an assertive, hoppy brew with a rich flavor that actually gets stronger the more you drink. Their Stone Smoked Porter is a meal in itself, a bold, dark, malty delight. The rogue brewery from North County San Diego also produces a variety of pale ales and seasonal brews that are equally intense. Let there be no doubt, conceit can be a very attractive thing, and this bottled arrogance tastes as sweet as sin on Sunday. The high quality of Stone Brewing’s beers comes from the dedication of two bona fide beer lovers–Koch and Brewmaster and co-founder Steve Wagner–and a business strategy that considers quality the only priority. "The business perspective is that we want to make great beer," says Koch. "We don’t have a competing business perspective, because when we make great beer we just need to have good business practices, in other words don’t spend more money than we take in, make sure the people we have in our brewery are a passionate, competent crew. "If you make beer, beer is capable of being an incredible experience," he continues. "When you look at it from that perspective, ‘How incredible can I make this beer?’ the answer is you can make it very incredible. The thing is most breweries choose not to make their beer incredible because they know the masses don’t like incredible beer… But you can get sales without advertising and falsely pumping up your image and your presence. Just do it real, as long as you have some patience and take your time, work the streets and do it in an organic way."
"I am an unabashed beer geek," says Koch. "And who do you want making your beer, a beer geek or some Harvard business grad? The Harvard business grad is going to be thinking about how to mass market and how to make you drink their beer. The beer geek is going to think about the beer first. That’s how we do it. I don’t care if you drink our beer. I don’t care if you like it or not. I only care that it’s amazing." This dedication to quality has helped the regional specialty brewery, founded in 1996, survive both the natural selection process of the specialty brewing industry that slowed in the late-’90s and the Bush economy of the new millennium. "(From) 1990 through ’95, the specialty brewing industry was growing at a pace of 40 to 45 percent a year. In 1996, the brakes went on, and our industry moved 7 percent that year," says Koch of the business climate when Stone Brewing entered the market. "We picked exactly the wrong time… It was the most horrible timing you could imagine." But in the case of regional specialty brews, quality wins out over fashion, and ultimately taste won out over trend. "There were a lot of marginal players, because in the ’90s you could be marginal and be successful," says Koch. "In the late-’90s through now, if you’re marginal you are not going to be successful. There’s always an exception, but generally speaking it was a thinning of the herd. It was just a natural thing. Just look at any industry. Look at dot-coms. The ones that are alive today and doing well are solid players and not those marginal players that thought all they had to do was put dot-com at the end of their name." Stone Brewing has not only survived, but has prospered. The small Southern California brewery now sells its product in 18 states and both Beeradvocate.com and Ratebeer.com have ranked Stone Brewing the No. 1 brewery in the country. Ratebeer.com also ranked Stone Brewing No. 3 in the world. Koch and Co. were in town earlier this month to celebrate Stone Brewing’s infiltration of Colorado with a kegger at the Falling Rock Tap House in Denver. This weekend, they are back for the Great American Beer Festival. "It’s for the love of beer," says Koch of the festival. "It’s a celebration of how great beer can be, and it’s a great way for people to come in and sample their way to nirvana. And I don’t mean alcohol bliss, I mean nirvana of the palate." But don’t think for a second that success has softened the brash brewers from Southern California. "We make angry beer," says Koch. "Our beer is aggressive and strong in character. The beer comes first. We make big, aggressive beers, and then we present them accordingly. "I don’t want to get misperceived that we make beer with an attitude. That’s such a stupid phrase," he concludes. "What I’m getting at is that our beer is what it is. We just don’t care. It’s not about our attitude. Our beer is the way it is because of the realities of our attitude about it. I don’t care if you like our beer. If you like our beer, it’s not a compliment to us, it’s a compliment to you." After trying any one of Stone Brewing’s confrontational concoctions, you’ll want to compliment yourself again and again. The Great American Beer Festival starts at 5:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday, Sept. 25 and 26, and at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Colorado Convention Center, Hall A, 700 14th St., Denver. For more information, contact the Association of Brewers at 303-447-0816, or at www.beertown.org. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com |
Beer labels are required to convey warnings regarding their contents to potential drinkers, but Stone Brewing Company takes this to a new extreme–one of smug arrogance. As Stone Brewing cautions on their aptly named Arrogant Bastard Ale label: "It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth."
While this perhaps solipsistic approach to beer making may seem unconventional to some, to Stone Brewing it makes perfect sense.