Inside Stone Berlin

When Stone opened a brewery in Berlin, it meant that European beer drinkers could now get the beer even fresher. We spoke to Thomas Tyrell, Director of Brewing Operations Stone Brewing Berlin

What do you think sets Stone Brewing apart from other breweries? What was the ethos that Stone first set out with?
Our goal at Stone has always been to brew outstanding, bold and – for the most part – very hoppy beers. We brew what we love and hope that others will love it too. Although we never compromise, we do like to brew a variety of styles so new craft beer fans can discover new tastes. Another aspect of Stone culture that I appreciate is our commitment to the close-knit craft beer community. We often work together and collaborate with friends from other breweries, and since starting at Stone in 2015 I’ve had the chance to meet over seven teams from some of my favorite breweries like BrewDog, Aleman Brewing, Dogfish Head, Victory and Maui Brewing. I’ve also had a great time getting to know some smaller European breweries. Just last month we did a collaboration with Browar Sza?piw from Poland who won Best Beer at the Beer Geek Madness Festival in 2016.

Why was now the right time to open a brewery in Germany?

At Stone Brewing one of our goals is to always deliver delicious fresh beer to our fans. Shipping beers from California didn’t help us keep that promise to beer fans in Europe. It goes without saying that overseas transport also didn’t help our carbon footprint. By opening our new brewery in Berlin, we are able to get fresher beers out to fans faster. At this point we’re shipping fresh beer from Berlin to over 20 European countries. Beyond logistics, we also were watching the trends of other European craft breweries evolve, and felt that it was the right time to join brewers across Europe in the effort to show how diverse and exciting the world of beer can be. The search for the perfect place to begin was long. Stone considered over 130 sites in nine countries before finally settling on the beautiful old gasworks factory in Berlin – now home to the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Berlin. The gorgeous red-brick buildings dates back to 1901, and were the perfect place for us to develop our state-of-the-art 100hl brew house as well as our smaller 10 hl experimental brewery where we now brew prototypes and collaborations. Craft beer in Berlin has also taken off and is poised to develop into the beer center of Germany.

What does this mean to drinkers of Stone in the UK?
Well, most importantly they will be getting fresh beer brewed just across the channel. We’ll be importing the full range of our “Core Styles” which include Stone IPA, Stone Cali-Belgique IPA, Stone Ruination Double IPA, Stone Go To IPA, Arrogant Bastard Ale. Beyond that – it’s just an hour flight from London. We’d love to welcome everyone in Berlin!


Will there be any special just out of the German brewery, or will it just reflect the Stone Brewing range?

We’ve been developing prototypes and special beers since getting our pilot brewery running about a year ago. Some of these kegs will be available for pubs and restaurants in the UK, including our Stone Berliner Weisse. Bars in the UK participating in our “Damn Good Beer Program” will feature a new beer from our pilot brewery every month. The featured beer for May is Stone Pilot Series Red IPA.


You clearly see a development in the European market – how do you see the scene developing in the next few years?
I think each European country will develop differently. There are some countries which seem similar to the United States in the mid-80’s. These are countries where there isn’t much diversity of beer styles and most of the beer is being brewed by a few large companies. I think these countries are where craft beer has the most potential to take a foot hold, and that the creative and independent beer scene has huge potential for growth similar to what happened in the States.  However, I expect countries like Germany or Belgium will have a less extreme change. These are countries where there is a strong brewing culture which supports smaller independent brewers, and I expect that these breweries will begin taking more chances and being even more creative as time goes on.

As well as a solid core range, Stone Brewing makes a huge range of specials: How do you go about choosing what to make next?

There’s always a mix of ideas, inspirations and collaborators.  Sometimes it’s even production issues that force us to get creative.

If there was one of your beers that everyone should try, what is it?
Arrogant Bastard Ale!

What other breweries are you enjoying at the moment?
My list of favourite beers is always changing. This is one of the things I find most exciting about the craft beer scene. Right now I’m loving Hops & Barley and Superfreunde from Berlin. I’m also really into Himburgs BrauKunstKeller. Baladin from Italy is always fantastic and I’ve been into the beers we have on tap at the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens from Aleman Brewing in Chicago.