Stone Brewing Co.

jeffaz02t

Arizona

4.75/5  rDev +6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$$

While on a family vacation in San Diego, we decided to hit up Stone after 5+ hours of Sea World. Good move.

First off, the bistro is the shit. The beer selection is excellent; west coast brews, plus other Euro and harder to find North American brews. I opted for Blind Pig IPA to start, then got a cask-pour of Green Flash Palate Wrecker. Cannot go wrong with these brews, especially since the RR brew is not available in AZ, and the Green Flash will not be on cask at any bar in AZ that I know of. Maybe Papago could pull that one off...

The food was great; the duck tacos were excellent and the sides of beans and rice were 100% on point. Nice balance on the seasonings; not too spicy, but also not 'pussified'.

The chicken schnitzel my wife got was the best since we moved from Germany almost 4 years ago. It had a sauce on it, which my wife usually would hate, but she approved of this sauce (and thus no bitching). Her sides were mashed potatoes and veggies. Both items were phenomenal.

The prices are high. They make no qualms about it. They use great ingredients and humane meat products. While if I lived here I would eat there maybe 1-2x per year due to the prices. However, I would rather they charge what they do and maintain the quality than try to cheapen their menu up.

The outside garden area was just beautiful. My wife and I both said it had a very Euro-centric atmosphere. I could have hung out there for a long, long time! They offer some great beer/food books for "checkout" so you can enjoy a pint over a good book.

The brewery tour was the low point. It was cool and all, but you get to see very little of the brewery, and the tour guide did not seem to take it very seriously. Nice guy, but I wanted details on the brewing that takes place, not a stand up comedy routine. You do not see anything on the tour that you cannot see through the glass in the bistro. Well, other than the bottling line.

I feel that they have a lot of room for improvement on on the tour. I have taken tours of smaller micro/craft breweries and had a much better experience.

In closing, this place is a must-visit for all beer lovers who find themselves in San Diego County. The tour could be better, but I honestly do not feel that anything else needed any work.

Stone is 100% on point.

03-18-2011 04:24:18 | More by jeffaz02t

tourdot

Wisconsin

5/5  rDev +11.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

The atmosphere and vibe at Stone is awesome. These guys put some serious thought and dough into the design of the brewery which includes a store, bar/restaurant, and outdoor bar/dining/relaxing area. The indoor restaurant has table seating, a bar with a lot of seating, and giant booths for large groups. The outdoor area is filled with vegetation, small waterfalls, and lounge chairs along with tables in the dining area and an outdoor bar area. The store offers a ton of shirts, glassware, bottled beer, and certain growler fills depending upon the day. I was greeted when I walked into the door and was treated very well during my visit. The beer selection is outstanding as they offer all the Stone regulars, current seasonals, occasional special releases, and plenty of guest taps. If you want to go all out, the bottle list is amazing, just be ready to pay for it. Though I didn't try any of the food, the menu is very extensive and the food that others were eating looked excellent. Tours are offered a few times a day and are only $3 which includes the tour, a Stone glass, and 4 samples. Tours are about 40 minutes. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Stone and would highly recommend it.

05-15-2013 19:52:57 | More by tourdot

jpaulsen

California

4.63/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

This is one of the best breweries to visit. The tour is great and you get lots of free beer at the end and it's free! They also have some great events here throughout the year. The menu is eclectic and fun just like Stone beers. Definitely visit when you 're in the area.

05-11-2013 20:26:36 | More by jpaulsen

MadCat

New Jersey

4.26/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.75 | $$$

Atmosphere- This is a popular place, but they make it very inviting. Very open and warm, bright, charming, very welcoming

Quality- Excellent. Very nice place, what more can be said for quality?

Service- Excellent. Bartenders are quick, and eager to help and serve you. Very knowledgeable and personable.

Selection- More taps than I can count, and even larger bottle selection. Who could ask for more?

Food- Had the beer cheese soup and duck tacos, both were amazing. Lots of good selection

Value- Not cheap, but worth the money paid. Easy to spend a lot, but again, worth it.

05-09-2013 01:44:57 | More by MadCat

IanSpindler

Alberta (Canada)

4.83/5  rDev +7.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Finally putting a review online since our visit in Jan 2012 Big shoutout to my wife and mother-in-law for entertaining my beer obsession. I somehow got here on an day off from a Walt Disney Land vacation with the family!

All I can say is that the atmosphere is perfect for beer drinking and the selection is top notch. I became a beer nerd because of Stone. Cheers! Being from Canada nobody should every complain about pricing at this brewery, it's basically happy hour all the time compaired to Calgary prices haha.

The food is also top notch. Everything we had was excellent!

This is the best craft brewery every to blow up and expand!

Cheers!

03-17-2013 03:30:59 | More by IanSpindler

MilwaukeeCrusher

Wisconsin

5/5  rDev +11.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

Wow, what a place. A beer garden with walking trails, cascading water, and lush vegetation. I remember joking with the bartender where the deer where and if we could feed them. Never have I seen before such poured into a brew pub, and it made me feel better that at least something good... I mean great came out of that crappy hair metal music.

If I wanted to go somewhere with a lady friend this would be the place I would want to go. If I wanted a brew pub with a lively atmosphere, this would be the place I would want to go. And the beers are amougst the best in the country with an owner that has passion for this sort of thing.

How can you not give a perfect score to this place? Seriously?

03-15-2013 23:28:03 | More by MilwaukeeCrusher

AnitaBrewski

Massachusetts

4.95/5  rDev +10.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Outstanding experience at Stone Brewery, everything about our visit was perfect, their beer is incredible but they also distribute for Russian River which was greatly appreciated. Will love wearing my Areogant Bastard bike jersey on future rides! And the 2 liter bottle of 12.12.12 Vertical IPA went down very nicely with my pals at a party the next day.

03-11-2013 19:01:03 | More by AnitaBrewski

KollinSLC

Utah

4.73/5  rDev +5.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.25 | $$$

Beautiful brewery. Plenty of seating and large bar. They also have an outdoor bar which opens later in the evening. Not hard to find the place, but hard to see it from the street. It's in a business building with little in way of signage. Front store is large with a variety of apparel.

A great garden to stroll thru or relax in, fire pit and seclusion a plenty. Great place to visit and a must for beer enthusiasts. Take the tour!

03-06-2013 16:22:23 | More by KollinSLC

jeffhenders0n

Illinois

4.9/5  rDev +9.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$$

The most beautiful brewery you will most likely ever visit, this place is almost literally a castle, and the grounds out back are simply gorgeous. We didn't take the tour but opted instead for several rounds outside in the sun (it was December, we're from the Midwest). Food was good, service was great, and of course the beers were excellent. Gift shop was even swanky.

02-16-2013 15:34:37 | More by jeffhenders0n

WifeofKegatron

Pennsylvania

5/5  rDev +11.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$$

I love this place! I reserved a private tour for my business group after an offsite and we had a blast. Ken was an awesome tour guide and many of my colleagues were hooked. I rated it $$$ because the food prices may seem a little expensive if you aren't from a larger city but the food is fabulous, totally worth it.

02-03-2013 18:10:51 | More by WifeofKegatron