(Escondido, CA) – Late Tuesday night breaking news from Stone Brewing…

Live blog below. 20 Updates & counting. Original report on the bottom.

(Photo credit: @DrinkEatTravel)



Update I: Drink Eat Travel leaked that there will be an unveiling of a new beer series today and focus on Stone’s electric vehicle charging stations and other sustainability efforts.

Update II: Looks like it was actually the North County Times that leaked the news on Tuesday afternoon: “[…] Stone Brewing applied to the city of Escondido to add 36 parking spaces to its Citracado Parkway location and to expand its kitchen by 2,000 square feet, said Rozanne Cherry, a planning official. The company also applied to add carports with solar panels on the roofs, Cherry said. In its news release, Stone said it would add electric car charging stations.”

Update III: Both San Diego Reader and SanDiego.com are reporting that Stone will open a 50-room hotel right near the current brewery.

Update IV: Failed to note earlier that Stone is reportedly on pace to hit 150,000 barrels this year which would be a 30% increase off of 115,000 barrels in 2010.

Update V: Best way to follow updates is this Twitter search.

Update VI: Stone Company Store in South Park to open in approx. 30 day according to multiple Twitter reports.

Update VII: Liberty Station blueprints and other pics from Drink Eat Travel

Update VIII: Per @SanDiegoMag, “Liberty Station 20,000 sq ft restaurant and 10 barrel pilot brewing system opening spring 2012.” @VisitSanDiego reports, “Stone Brewing is the third most visited attraction in North County. Now they are coming south to central San Diego.”

Update IX: The Full Pint reports, “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.” Wow.

Update X: Stone is hiring a lot of people right now.

Update XI: Craft Brewers Conference is next May. Have to wonder what they will have finished before that time.

Update XII: Map of Stone Farms via Drink Eat Travel (best coverage today IMHO).

Update XIII: On another note, Liberty Station was a trending topic on Twitter in San Diego earlier. Despite the magnitude of the Stone news, the San Diego Union Tribune (who got the exclusive scoop) still isn’t putting it on the front page as the main story of the day. Have featured stories about bad traffic and a toddler hit by a drunk driver instead.

Update XIV: Per @SaysGranite on Twitter, the Stone farm will not be used as a hop farm.

Update XV: Paraphrased from The Full Pint, Stone Farms isn’t meant to be a revenue generator; an organic farm that can be an “agricultural education platform” for the local community.

Update XVI: Forming a catering operation as well.

Update XVII: Hotel will be operational by summer 2013 per New Brew Thursday

Update XVIII: WestcoasterSD also providing great coverage. From their live blog, “Stone will open production space just to the south. 55000 sq ft production facility. All packaging and bright tanks will move. 400 to 500 thousand increase in production. Fermentation tanks to be added in current location. 6.3 million initial investment

Sour beers and barrel aging to take place in another location.”

Update XIX: Another update from WestcoasterSD, “To the east, more expansions. A 40 to 50 room boutique hotel with event space. Event space will be in and around barrel aging program. Potential outdoor space.11 million initial investment currently being designed. Open approximately summer 2013. Stone will have new offices for management and the catering division will be there.”

Update XX: Once again, via @NewBrewThursday, “Special collaboration brew with Stone/Baird/ishii brewing – green tea IPA. @stonebrewingco donating 50,000$ to Japan relief”

Update XXI: From The Full Pint, “The second BA version will be the Highway 78 Scotch Ale, aged in Scotch Whiskey Barrels, which will have a wider distribution.”

Original Story:

Sign on San Diego broke the big news about Stone’s $26.6 million local expansion project. Here is the gist of what is planned per the report:

• Bringing a 400-seat restaurant to Point Loma’s Liberty Station, complete with bocce courts, an outdoor space for movie screenings, a 19,000-square-foot beer garden and a small brewery.

• Expanding the company’s Escondido home, more than doubling its footprint and allowing it to produce about a half million barrels of beer a year.

• Running an 18.7-acre farm in North County to supply organic produce to the company’s two restaurants — Liberty Station and the existing Stone World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido.

• Opening a shop in South Park on 30th Street’s “beer corridor,” selling Stone ales in bottles, kegs and half-gallon “growlers.”

• Tackling a half dozen projects at once — adding 250 employees, acquiring 35 acres, building 125,000-plus square feet of work space and spending almost $27 million […]

Stone Brewing Co-Founders, Greg Koch and Steve Wagner, will be making some additional announcements on Wednesday going into more depth about their plans so expect some additional reports to trickle out during the day.

H/T to The Full Pint for spotting the report.