Stone Brewing Co. is on the hunt for a new factory east of the Mississippi and RVA is one of a few cities they are considering – and that list of cities may have just gotten a little shorter.
Stone Brewing Co. is on the hunt for a new factory east of the Mississippi and RVA is one of a few cities they are considering – and that list of cities may have just gotten a little shorter.
Columbus, Ohio is on the list – but oddly enough, limits on legal ABVs in the buckeye state could shut it out of the competition. WOSU has more details:
Known for its bold beers and novel names for them – the Arrogant Bastard Ale, for example – Stone Brewing has popular special releases, some with high alcohol-by-volume – or ABV – content. At 13.5 percent ABV, the w00tstout 2.0, released this summer, is described as a “sipper.”
But you can’t buy it in Ohio.
That’s because its alcohol content exceeds the state’s cap. State law prohibits beer companies from brewing, distributing or selling beer with ABV above 12 percent.
Harrison said that could be a sticking point for Stone.
“They want to open a brewery on the east coast so that they don’t have to ship any beer from California to the east coast,” Harrison said. “Some of the beers that they produce, not most of them, and not their biggest sellers, but some of the beers they produce they would not be able to produce in Ohio right now.”
Stone Brewing Co is promising 400 jobs and millions in revenue to which ever city ends up being their East Coast hub, and every city courted has been chomping at the bit to be number 1.
Richmond City Council even held a special meeting in early August to rush through some legislation which would make the choice to move to RVA even easier.
California-based Stone Brewing was started in 1996 with their flag ship brew Stone Pale Ale. RatemyBeer.com calls their beer and their “Bistro and Garden” attached restaurant “World Class” with a perfect 5 stars out of 314 user ratings.
One RMB user described the San Diego location as “grandiose and arrogant,” but still full of “ridiculous awesomeness:”
Turn a shitty dirt hill into a relaxing, comfortable world class destination. With gardens and a pond, which after the sun sets on a warm sunny day comes alive with countless frogs chirping. Eat world class food, drink world class beer.
We’ll keep you posted on Stone Brewing Co.’s decision as the issue evolves.
