Stone Brewing to Open Berlin Brewery
Five years after announcing its intentions to open a brewery in Europe, San Diego’s Stone Brewing Co. has closed on a deal, recently revealing plans to open a production brewery and restaurant in Berlin. The $25 million project is expected to open by late 2015 or early 2016 and will include renovating a former gasworks complex in Marienpark Berlin into a brewery and packaging hall, a Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens and a Stone Company Store.
“This is a historic moment for Stone. I’ve wanted to say these next words for many years now: We’re coming to Europe. We’re coming to Germany. We are coming to Berlin!” said Stone CEO and co-founder Greg Koch in a press statement.
The brewhouse will have at least a 70-barrel (83-hectoliter) capacity and will produce year-round and special-release Stone beers for on-premise consumption and eventually distribution.
Stone also launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo and raised more than $2 million for its Berlin brewery and its new Eastern U.S. brewery, the location of which is still to be announced. While the company had secured all of the funds for both its Berlin and its eastern U.S. locations, the money raised will expedite the construction of its World Bistro & Gardens at both breweries.
The crux of its Indiegogo rewards are collaboration beers, sold for $30 each, to be brewed at the Berlin brewery and packaged in 1.5-liter bottles. The first round includes collaborations with Dogfish Head and Victory Brewing Co., Scotland’s BrewDog and Italy’s Baladin. Other rewards include the opportunity to step in on a brew day for $500 or a $10,000 Founder’s Package, which comes complete with your name engraved on a fermenter.
A second San Diego brewery plans to bring its hoppy brews to Europe. Green Flash Brewing Co. announced that it has partnered with Belgium’s Brewery St-Feuillien to brew, bottle and ship the brewery’s flagship beer, West Coast IPA, for distribution throughout Europe.
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