Stone Brewing is the pride and joy of craft brewing in San Diego California and has great aspirations for local and international growth. In addition to recently announcing two new brewing facilities, Stone is in the process of a dramatic entry into Canada. First up is BC and Alberta with the east to come shortly there after.
Stone Brewing does not brew in British Columbia and does not have any plans to start so you may be asking why this article even exists? With the launch event taking place at Vancouver’s Olympic Village Craft Beer Market, Beer Me BC took the opportunity to catch up with the brewery’s team to learn more about why they chose to come to Canada and more specifically British Columbia. We all know that BC is a booming craft beer destination but from one of the biggest craft breweries out theirs perspective what is so inciting?
Stone beer can be currently found in 41 different states and with a new, East Coast Brewery in the works, capacity is soon to be much greater. With growing capacity and an local market that is eager to try new beer and be educated about craft, Stone’s frame of mind and diverse line of beers is a great match. The entrance strategy is based around education and touch points with the local community and industry.
One of the first tasks at hand is to connect with local retailers and publicans to arrange education seminars. Stone hopes to connect with consumers and teach them about beer styles, flavours and why Stone Beer tastes so good. Education is crucial not only in growing the market share for a newcomer into BC but also necessary to grow the proportion of consumers who drink craft beer as a whole.
In addition to seminars connecting with the local brewing community is at hand. Stone brings to BC a massive amount of experience and expertise that local brewers can leverage and in doing so the first collaboration beer will be a joint effort between Stone and Vancouver’s own Bomber Brewing.
Stones philosophy has always been to push boundaries, experiment, and grow without compromise. BC is a natural step on their journey and we welcome them with open arms. Cheers!
