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The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance
From the craft favorite brewery, a guide to making the best beer at home, with accompanying recipes and insider lore.
Since its inception in 1996, Stone Brewing Co. has been the fastest growing brewery in the country. Beer lovers gravitate to its unique line-up, which includes favorites such as Stone IPA and Arrogant Bastard Ale. This insider's guide focuses on the history of Stone Brewing Co., and shares homebrew recipes for many of its celebrated beers including Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, Stone Smoked Porter, and Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. In addition, it features recipes from the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens like Garlic, Cheddar, and Stone Ruination IPA Soup, BBQ Duck Tacos, and the legendary Arrogant Bastard Ale Onion Rings. With its behind-the-scenes look at one of the leaders of the craft beer scene, The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. will captivate and inspire legions of fans nationwide.
Since its inception in 1996, Stone Brewing Co. has been the fastest growing brewery in the country. Beer lovers gravitate to its unique line-up, which includes favorites such as Stone IPA and Arrogant Bastard Ale. This insider's guide focuses on the history of Stone Brewing Co., and shares homebrew recipes for many of its celebrated beers including Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, Stone Smoked Porter, and Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. In addition, it features recipes from the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens like Garlic, Cheddar, and Stone Ruination IPA Soup, BBQ Duck Tacos, and the legendary Arrogant Bastard Ale Onion Rings. With its behind-the-scenes look at one of the leaders of the craft beer scene, The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. will captivate and inspire legions of fans nationwide.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published August 2, 2011
29 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 11, 2023
A bit out of date, now that Stone has been sold to Sapporo. Beer lovers will still appreciate its historical significance and beer recipes.
December 18, 2024
Interesting, but unsurprisingly single-sided and a bit shallow. Nice to read, but I will also quickly forget about it I think.
March 26, 2020
The book is divided into three parts: 1) beer and Stone history, 2) Stone's products, and 3) Stone food and beer recipes. Material is unsurprisingly presented with the "too cool for school" attitude that defines the brand, which can be a bit annoying at times (yeah, we get it, you're awesome), but whatever.
Part 1 covers the craft beer revolution and Stone's role in it. Some of the anecdotes are pretty amusing.
Part 2 examines Stone's core beers (as of 2011) and a handful of specialty offerings. Details of how and why they came to exist are included.
Part 3 provides recipes from Stone's restaurant as well as homebrew versions of many of their beers. Although I don't intend to brew any of the latter, I found the glimpse into their process and approach quite informative and am pleased that Stone remains so involved in the community.
Part 1 covers the craft beer revolution and Stone's role in it. Some of the anecdotes are pretty amusing.
Part 2 examines Stone's core beers (as of 2011) and a handful of specialty offerings. Details of how and why they came to exist are included.
Part 3 provides recipes from Stone's restaurant as well as homebrew versions of many of their beers. Although I don't intend to brew any of the latter, I found the glimpse into their process and approach quite informative and am pleased that Stone remains so involved in the community.
March 16, 2024
Not that worth of reading. Apart from the first 25% talking about how stone was found, the rest is just marketing… the book was not even written by the founders. No nutrients at all. I prefer the Business for Punks from founder of Brewdog.
July 6, 2019
I’m excited to try some of the recipes out!
December 31, 2019
Як родинна біографія , тільки пивна. Про зародження, зліт, ідеологію і рецепти.
April 14, 2021
A fun read but not particularly enlightening.
March 29, 2013
Don't read this if you are happy with your Coors/Bud/Miller Lite. You are not worthy of my opinion.
I'm a big fan of hoppy beers and Stone is probably the boldest brewery when it comes to hoppy beer. I am still amused by the label of Arrogant Bastard Ale. Koch, Wagner and company are unrelenting in their scorn of industrial beer and Arrogant Bastard is the perfect antagonist to Bud.
Humility is a quality absent from this book. I get a sense it is in scarce supply in any aspect of the Stone operation. But as Dizzy Dean said, "It ain't braggin' if you can do it."
When I first flipped through the book, my impression was that it was a vanity project. Lots of I & me, sometimes a we. Pretty pictures, better bound than any other beer book I've seen.
However, the introduction was good. A very good discussion of why everyone should do it their way, not necessarily the way of the experts. Koch, Wagner and Stone have done it their way throughout the history of the company, without regard to the opinion of the experts.
The first chapter, the discussion of what beer is and how it is produced is much better than the usual beer book. The writing is more lively and entertaining. I've read the same material about 20 times in the past few weeks and this is my favorite.
The second chapter is a very short history of beer. It introduces Stone as the savior of beer in the US, perhaps the world. (I exaggerate.) However, as I said, humility is the least present ingredient at Stone.
The third chapter is the meat of the book. It reveals how this lack of humility springs from a devotion to doing things the right way. It also reveals a willingness to try almost anything and give it up if it doesn't work. This is as close to humility as they come. They created hoppy beers and stood behind them, no matter what the business cost. When distribution was a problem, they created an excellent distribution system. At some point I realized that this devotion to quality was present in the book I was reading. The thick, hard cover, the high quality photography, the generous size were all much better than the other beer books I've read.
I enjoyed the first part of the book so much, I even read the catalog of beers they've brewed, successful and otherwise. Then I read the recipes, even the food recipes! The catalog of beers is extensive. These guys bring out more different beers in a year than our most local successful brewer, Summit Brewing, has brought out in 26 years. The catalog got to be a little boring, especially compared to the rest of the book. I think this was the greatest vanity in the book. Sort of like someone showing you too many pictures of their kids. The food recipes I might even try.
This is a good business story and a good introduction to Stone. Even if you don't like hoppy beers, you might like Stone as a company.
No fifth star for this book because I am still seeking more knowledge of brewing technique and treatment was rather slight.
I'm a big fan of hoppy beers and Stone is probably the boldest brewery when it comes to hoppy beer. I am still amused by the label of Arrogant Bastard Ale. Koch, Wagner and company are unrelenting in their scorn of industrial beer and Arrogant Bastard is the perfect antagonist to Bud.
Humility is a quality absent from this book. I get a sense it is in scarce supply in any aspect of the Stone operation. But as Dizzy Dean said, "It ain't braggin' if you can do it."
When I first flipped through the book, my impression was that it was a vanity project. Lots of I & me, sometimes a we. Pretty pictures, better bound than any other beer book I've seen.
However, the introduction was good. A very good discussion of why everyone should do it their way, not necessarily the way of the experts. Koch, Wagner and Stone have done it their way throughout the history of the company, without regard to the opinion of the experts.
The first chapter, the discussion of what beer is and how it is produced is much better than the usual beer book. The writing is more lively and entertaining. I've read the same material about 20 times in the past few weeks and this is my favorite.
The second chapter is a very short history of beer. It introduces Stone as the savior of beer in the US, perhaps the world. (I exaggerate.) However, as I said, humility is the least present ingredient at Stone.
The third chapter is the meat of the book. It reveals how this lack of humility springs from a devotion to doing things the right way. It also reveals a willingness to try almost anything and give it up if it doesn't work. This is as close to humility as they come. They created hoppy beers and stood behind them, no matter what the business cost. When distribution was a problem, they created an excellent distribution system. At some point I realized that this devotion to quality was present in the book I was reading. The thick, hard cover, the high quality photography, the generous size were all much better than the other beer books I've read.
I enjoyed the first part of the book so much, I even read the catalog of beers they've brewed, successful and otherwise. Then I read the recipes, even the food recipes! The catalog of beers is extensive. These guys bring out more different beers in a year than our most local successful brewer, Summit Brewing, has brought out in 26 years. The catalog got to be a little boring, especially compared to the rest of the book. I think this was the greatest vanity in the book. Sort of like someone showing you too many pictures of their kids. The food recipes I might even try.
This is a good business story and a good introduction to Stone. Even if you don't like hoppy beers, you might like Stone as a company.
No fifth star for this book because I am still seeking more knowledge of brewing technique and treatment was rather slight.
August 1, 2016
Fairly interesting read. I read a digital version and i understand the hard copy is a nicely designed coffee table book. I missed out on those characteristics.
As for the text, the book is split up in different sections which were of different interest to me. The part dealing with the history of Stone brewing, told by all people involved but mostly Greg Koch, was of most interest to me. This part was fairly interesting but quite concise. I would have liked them to delve a bit deeper into this. (Compared to Kenn Grossman's story about Sierra Nevada for instance, Grossman's book was much more detailed and more interesting if you ask me.)
Then there's a bit on the ingredients of beer and some light technical stuff about brewing. Some interesting things but again quite concise. There are other books you could rather read if you want to know more about this but Koch does talk about some stuff i hadn't read in other books.
There's a part where all Stone Beers are described. Bit of their origins and characteristics. This did get quite dull and repetitive quickly. This was a part which probably works better in the hard copy book where you might flick to the book at times and read a bit about the particular beer your drinking at that time. Without the beers available, not so much.
Then there's a part with recipes from the Stone Bistro and a part with Stone recipes for the homebrewer. Quite interesting if you're into that but i skipped most of it as i don't brew and don't really cook either.
The writing style of the book is a bit hit-and-miss and all in all the book reads a bit as a extended promo/guide to Stone brewing. Nothing wrong with that, just not quite the sort of book i like to read.
As for the text, the book is split up in different sections which were of different interest to me. The part dealing with the history of Stone brewing, told by all people involved but mostly Greg Koch, was of most interest to me. This part was fairly interesting but quite concise. I would have liked them to delve a bit deeper into this. (Compared to Kenn Grossman's story about Sierra Nevada for instance, Grossman's book was much more detailed and more interesting if you ask me.)
Then there's a bit on the ingredients of beer and some light technical stuff about brewing. Some interesting things but again quite concise. There are other books you could rather read if you want to know more about this but Koch does talk about some stuff i hadn't read in other books.
There's a part where all Stone Beers are described. Bit of their origins and characteristics. This did get quite dull and repetitive quickly. This was a part which probably works better in the hard copy book where you might flick to the book at times and read a bit about the particular beer your drinking at that time. Without the beers available, not so much.
Then there's a part with recipes from the Stone Bistro and a part with Stone recipes for the homebrewer. Quite interesting if you're into that but i skipped most of it as i don't brew and don't really cook either.
The writing style of the book is a bit hit-and-miss and all in all the book reads a bit as a extended promo/guide to Stone brewing. Nothing wrong with that, just not quite the sort of book i like to read.
July 2, 2012
The book is broken into five parts: one, a history of Stone, as retold by people who were there; two, a detailed description of the elements of beer, including malt, hops, and yeast; three, a set of recipes from their brewpub/bistro; four, a description of every beer they've ever released, including one-off brews; and five, a set of detailed recipes and instructions for brewing several of their beers at home.
The first part was entertaining and fascinating, the food recipes look great, and the beer recipes are a ballsy move and would probably be pure gold for me if I was a home brewer. The beer descriptions section got pretty repetitive after a while - after the eighth or tenth "and for THIS year, we made it even hoppier and stronger!" they started to run together for me.
All in all, a fun book, though. Would read again - at least the recipes!
The first part was entertaining and fascinating, the food recipes look great, and the beer recipes are a ballsy move and would probably be pure gold for me if I was a home brewer. The beer descriptions section got pretty repetitive after a while - after the eighth or tenth "and for THIS year, we made it even hoppier and stronger!" they started to run together for me.
All in all, a fun book, though. Would read again - at least the recipes!
November 13, 2013
A good book about the Stone Brewing Company, the Craft Beer Industry and the people behind these wonderful brews. The story shows just what dedicated people who like to work hard and have fun can do. Quality, Fun and giving people more for the buck are trademarks of SBC and this book. Recipes for food from their bistro are included as are recipes for their beers taken down to home brew size. The only thing that would have made this book better was if it came with some Stone Smoked Porter! It would have made 5 stars then!
October 3, 2011
What an amazing little book! I have been a Stone Fan since they first started up in San Marcos and I was glad to see and read about all the early history. Great beer ideas, interesting recipes from the Bistro.
I loved the chapter on the April Fools beers, back when he had time Greg used to send out the weirdest April Fools e mails. You never knew if he was serious or not. But, this book is serious.
The best pairing I can think of is a bottle of AB while enjoying this book...
I loved the chapter on the April Fools beers, back when he had time Greg used to send out the weirdest April Fools e mails. You never knew if he was serious or not. But, this book is serious.
The best pairing I can think of is a bottle of AB while enjoying this book...
March 21, 2012
If you like beer, or especially if you are a brewer, this is a fun history of Stone, with a few great beer and food recipes. I borrowed this from the library, and now it is going on my gift wish list! I'd love to try all the food recipes and several of the beer recipes. At the top of my list are the variations on the Stone Smoked Porter. But which variation is hard to call-chipotle or vanilla? Both sound great!!
January 5, 2013
Enjoyable walk through the history of one of the quintessential American craft breweries. Always entertaining and frequently more insightful than I expected. Great book for a newcomer to the craft beer world due to the sections about how to brew, food pairings, serving and cellaring tips, etc.
I would welcome a full length, in depth account of the Stone story in the vein of Part One of this book.
I would welcome a full length, in depth account of the Stone story in the vein of Part One of this book.
October 4, 2011
This is my favorite beer brand. I enjoyed reading about their story. I'm happy to have a list of Stone Brewing's past and current releases. Can't wait to see what they come up with in the future. The recipes sound delicious. I'll be making the Arrogant Bastard Onion Rings in the near future. A few of their beer recipes were included too.
February 10, 2013
An interesting book very much from the perspective of the guys who set up, run and make Stone the fine brewer they are today. What made it worthwhile for me was the inclusion of beer recipes for some of their best beers with the exception of Arrogant Bastard Ale (and variants!) which remains a closely guarded secret.
July 2, 2012
Easy read about brewing, Stone Brewing in particular, and it includes home brewing recipes of most of their beers as well as beer-related recipes from their restaurant's kitchen. What other brewery do you know that gives away its trade secrets like this? They practice what they preach.
September 6, 2013
A big beautiful book full of pictures and anecdotal stories. Clever, funny at times, and slightly informative - not particularly big on depth, but a nice coffee-table book if you have beer loving friends.
May 3, 2015
As a homebrewer I was glad to see a whole section of recipes for Stone's beers. One glaring omission was their flagship "Arrogrant Bastard" IPA. If it weren't for the recipes in the back end I would have thought this was a pamphlet you got during your brewery tour.
May 25, 2015
Mildly interesting to flip through, but was a lot more 'meh' than I was expecting. The author also came across.... a little like Stone's signature beer.
Nice of them to include a bunch of their recipes, though.
Nice of them to include a bunch of their recipes, though.
September 18, 2017
Great job of diving the content into unique sections. Thought the how to serve beer section was very interesting. After reading a few craft brewing startup books, this one was enjoyable but not as compelling as the Dogfish Head, Lagunitas, and Brooklyn Brewery stories.
February 10, 2012
A good read if you're a fan of Stone (though you have to like parenthetical comments). Really worth it for the food/beer recipes.
December 30, 2011
Great book!
April 18, 2015
Very good food and home brew recipes but I was hoping for more of a narrative on the beginning of Stone and more biography on Greg and Steve.
May 7, 2015
Inspirational to say the least...
February 18, 2013
Greg and his team at Stone are world class hosts, entertainers and beer craftsmen. Cheers!!!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews