Stone Brewing Co. – Live Coverage of Media Blitz

TheFullPint is live with Stone Brewing Co. this morning, as we are on a media tour to see their new brewing facility, and find out some other BIG pieces of news to share. We will be updating this post as the information flows in. Cheers, TFP

Refresh often to read the latest updates.

9:57 AM Headed on a chartered bus with Greg Koch, Jacob McKean, Randy Clemens, Esq, Dr. Bill, Drink Eat Travel, New Brew Thursday, JohnC of Ratebeer, Food GPS and other members of Stone and the local media. Our destination is Liberty Station in San Diego.

10:38 AM Inside new facility with even more members of the local media. A projector is set up for the big conference. Took my obligatory Greg Face Pic with Greg Koch. http://twitpic.com/4zc59r

10:44 AM Steve Wagner and Greg Koch are taking the podium. Showing a retrospective slideshow.

10:50 AM Greg informs us Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens is the 3rd largest tourist destination in North County San Diego.

10:54 AM Greg informs us they received over 50 proposals for the Europe brewery project. Currently focusing on Belgium and Germany. No news will break today on this front.

10:56 AM Greg speaks on South Park store location. Wants to get closer to the San Diego metro area. T-Shirts, glassware,keg and growler sales are slated.

10:57 AM New Southpark Store should be open within 30 days.

10:58 AM New Southpark Store will have 14 beers on tap. Now shifted to Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens Liberty Station.

11:05 AM 3,000 sq foot kitchen, 40 taps, same food philosophy and commitment to locally grown organic products. Stone Company Store with growler fills. 10 barrel pilot brewing system, private events held and Stone Special Events.

11:05 AM New beer festival called Pour it Black. Will feature porters, stouts, black IPAs, etc.

11:07 AM $3M + initial investment for Liberty Station Location, slated to open 1 year from now.

11:13 AM Q and A Time with Greg.

11:17 AM Question as to how Stone will integrate with the heavy art culture in Liberty Station. Greg assures they will be participating in that culture.

11:19 AM TFP Question: Where is the 26.6 M coming from. Greg responds they are working with their bank, this is not an outside investment, and they will be getting it in disbursements, not in all one lump sum.

Now at Stone Farms

12:44 PM Dr. Bill announces ‘Stone Ludacrisly Low Impact Cola’, a diet soda, not to have aspartame in it.

1:06 PM Greg informs us Stone Farms is Organic. Took control of it this past March. 5 farmable acres.

1:12 PM Plans for future events and an agricultural education platform.

1:15 PM Stone Farms will not bring in revenue, and will immediately hit the bottom line with the goal of eventually breaking even.

Back at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens

1:51 PM Nice spread of cheese, beers and desserts. BARREL AGED UnCamino Real!!!

2:00 PM Greg is running down the accomplishments of the Stone World Bistro and Gardens Escondido project.

2:01 PM Steve Wagner is showing us their new Cetrifuge to help filter beer with less waste and increased their yield by over 5,000 bbls.

2:04 PM Stone just added a hybrid truck to their bio-diesel line as well as 3 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations coming June.

2:06 PM Stone has grown 17% from last year , 115,000 bbls brewed last year, 14th largest craft brewery in the US, distributes to 36 states + DC.

2:08 PM Stone represents over 25 craft and specialty breweries with their distribution program.

2:10 PM Stone World Bistro and Gardens will surpass 1 million dining guests this year. Has given 2,000 tours to 47,000 + people last year. Sold out over 50 ticketed events.

2:12 PM Escodido facility will be expanding, items such as more parking spots, a kitchen expansion.

2:13 PM Stone announces Stone Catering: Will provide catering services for all of San Diego. Will find out where else.

2:15 PM Stone will be adding 55,000 sq. feet of production space, will move all of their packing, filtering and seperation processes, and will allow to at 400-500,000 bbls in the future.

2:16 PM Greg wants to expand product line to include Sour Beers and Barrel Aged beers with new room to grow. First BA product will be available in June.  Maui/Stone/Ken Schmidt was most popular Collaboration.  672 bottles of BA run.

2:17 PM Greg announced 40-50 room boutique hotel! All this Escondido expansion rings up to a $11 M initial investment.

2:19 PM Stone hopes to have this expansion kickstarted before 2011 and done by 2013.

2:20 PM Stone has just opened up 38 positions at stonebrew.com.

2:22 PM Stone is happy to announce their next Collaboration with Ishi Brewing and Baird Brewing.

2:23 PM Will be called Japanese Green Tea IPA. Charity beer for Japan Tsunami Relief.

2:27 PM Stone wants to be in the hotel business because its one of their most requested services. Folks travel around the country to visit Stone, and would love a place to crash that’s part of the experience.

2:30 PM The first batch of the BA series (BA Aloha Plenty) will be sold at the brewery only, and they are still formulating a lottery system. They are NOT going to be doing the line up at 4am model. The retail price will depend on the particular beer, and the yield.  The second BA version will be the Highway 78 Scotch Ale, aged in Scotch Whiskey Barrels, which will have a wider distribution.