Escondido, CA
Stone Brewing Company is the fifteenth largest craft brewery in the country, not that we care about size, and a San Diego institution. If Stone brews a bad beer, we haven't had it. All of the company's beers, from the Pale Ale, to the Arrogant Bastard, to the Ruination IPA, astound. Stone brews only ales and most of those ales are big on maltiness and hop character. Between 1996 and 2009, Stone's sales increased from 400 to 98,500 barrels annually, a testament to inventive marketing and creative brewing. Greg Koch, Steve Wagner, and Mitch Steele are alchemists.
