Stone Brewing was already one of the most popular brewers in the U.S. Now, Sapporo-Stone Brewing stands to take the Escondido-based brewer to new heights.
The brewer also stands to promote other San Diego-based beers as well.
Sapporo USA acquired Stone Brewing in 2022 and immediately kicked off a $20 million expansion of its Escondido facilities. Sapporo-Stone will soon brew all the Japanese beer for the U.S. It used to be brewed and bottled in Japan and Canada before being imported.
“It's the same recipe, just going to taste a little bit different, a little bit better because of how fresh it is,” explained interim Sapporo-Stone Brewing CEO Zach Keeling.
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The expansion added 125 jobs in Escondido. Sapporo-Stone also spent $40 million expanding its Richmond, Virginia-based brewery.
“Anything that brings more light to San Diego and all of the breweries here is great,” smiled Erik Fowler, executive director of San Diego Brewers Guild.
Fowler said San Diego County is home to roughly 150 craft breweries. He explained while the number of breweries isn’t growing as fast as it did in the past, the quality is maturing.
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“We're not seeing the growth that we did five, 10 years ago. But what we're seeing is a healthy amount of neighborhood breweries,” Fowler said. “You can walk into almost any brewery in San Diego, and the beer is going to be some of the best in the world.”
“I still think San Diego is the mecca of craft beer,” agreed Keeling. “You feel part of the craft movement, even though you can drink it in Ohio or Minnesota or Maine or here in California.”
Keeling said Sapporo-Stone is now the 12th largest beer company by volume in the country. He said he’d eventually like to crack the top 10.
