For Immediate Release 6/21/2004 Contact: Greg Koch, CEO, Stone Brewing Co. (760) 471-4999 x102 or greg@stonebrewing.com Stone Brewing Announces New Brewery Location Escondido, San Diego County, CA --- Founded in 1996, the Stone Brewing Co. began brewing in a 7100 square foot business park suite in San Marcos. The fledgling company brewed 400 barrels of beer that first year. By 2003, Stone had expanded to adjacent suites and grown to occupy 26,500 square feet, brewing just shy of 25,000 barrels (the company projects nearly 32,000 barrels of Stone beers will be brewed in 2004). All this growth has catapulted Stone to the ranks of the fastest growing companies in the US, according to Inc Magazine. Stone Brewing has become nationally and internationally famous for brewing uncompromising, big character beers. Additionally, Stone Brewing has become the largest independent specialty beer wholesaler in Southern California. The meteoric growth has led to a space and capacity crunch. Big time. In late 2002, with an annual growth rate of 50% and greater over the previous six years, it became clear that Stone would outgrow its current facility and company founders began looking for a future long-term home for the company. After 18 months of searching, the new location has been found: the Escondido Research & Technology Center (ERTC), a large, high-end business park nestled in the rolling hills on Escondido's west side. "Stone will not only bring a respected, successful business and jobs to the ERTC, it will also be an attraction and provide a unique experience for residents, visitors and employees," said Escondido Mayor Lori Holt-Pfeiler. "I have been impressed with Stone Brewing for years and to have them kick off this development is phenomenal." "This is great news for Escondido and the ERTC as this is the first business to relocate here," said Escondido City Councilmember Ed Gallo. "Based on past history of Stone Brewing and the two upstanding entrepreneurs that started the company I look forward to having this good corporate neighbor in Escondido." All told, the property, 50,000 square foot building, tenant improvements, brewery equipment and installation are valued at nearly ten million dollars. Stone Brewing's "brewhouse" is being upgraded in size from a current per-batch capacity of 30 barrels (930 gallons) to 120 barrels (3720 gallons). "The new brewery will allow us to brew well over 200,000 barrels a year," said Stone Brewmaster and co-founder Steve Wagner. "Sure, the big brewers literally brew that amount of beer in mere hours, however from our perspective as small, specialty brewers, that's a lot of beer!" Stone Brewing is working with ERTC developer JRMC Real Estate to create a facility that is both architecturally interesting, as well as highly functional. "I know that fans of Stone and great beer are counting on us to make the new facility an incredible brewery," said Koch, "and we are certain we will exceed their expectations. Of course, we're counting on them to continue to spread the word of Stone too." The new brewery facility, gift shop and tasting area will be open to the visiting public six days a week, a dramatic increase from the currently limited Friday and Saturday hours reported Koch. "At our current location, folks coming in to get their growler jugs filled have to compete with brewery operations, which have forced us to limit our hours. In the new facility, we'll have a dedicated gift shop and growler-filling station." (Growlers are refillable 2-liter take-home jugs.) In the nearer term, the Stone 8th Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival will take place at the development on Saturday, August 21 from Noon to 4pm, giving the public a chance to view the "before" of the project. "JRMC Real Estate has generously offered the ERTC site to host our anniversary event, giving us much needed room to expand what has become the largest beer festival in Southern California," said Koch explaining that the cul-de-sac where past fests have been held was getting a bit small for the growing number of beer fans. "We think people will be excited to see the new brewery location, and amazed when they come back a year later for the Stone 9th Anniversary event and see the completed brewery, which should be nearly up-and-running by then." Close to 4000 craft & specialty beer lovers are expected to attend this fundraising event, which benefits the Surfrider Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos, and the Escondido YMCA. Previous Stone Anniversary Celebrations have raised more than $75,000 for local charities. In addition to featuring Stone brews, 22 other hand-picked specialty brewers will be in attendance serving samples of their beers. Stone Brewing is currently located at 155 Mata Way in San Marcos, CA, and is open for tours and tastings on Fridays from 3-6pm and Saturdays from 11-3pm. For more info, go to www.stonebrewing.com or call the brewery at (760) 471-4999.