By Jessica Hudgins
SDUN Reporter

The fastest growing craft brewery in the country is bringing its locally brewed beer to South Park. Stone Brewing Co. recently announced it would be opening a Stone Company Store in a location Stone’s Arlan Arnsten described as “perfect.”

“We want to share our culture and beer education in other parts of San Diego, and we thought what better place than the central and walkable South Park,” said Arnsten, vice president for sales at Stone.

Arnsten explained that the idea stemmed from customer feedback.

“One of the complaints that we get about our brewery is that it’s too far away,” he said.

Located in Escondido, Stone Brewery Co. is known for brewing bold craft beers and maintaining sustainable production methods. The North County brewery has one of the largest solar arrays in the state installed on its rooftop and is committed to buying its organic produce from small farms in San Diego County.

One of the main reasons Stone was attracted to South Park, Arnsten said, was the neighborhood’s support for environmental and social responsibility.

“There’s been lot of growth and interest in all things local that happened in the restaurants and retail stores all along 30th Street in North Park and South Park. Those are philosophies we hold dear,” Arnsten said. “There are a lot of sustainable activities happening in that neighborhood.”

The new store in South Park will include a similar retail assortment found at the Escondido headquarters, including cases of bottled beer, apparel and various accessories, but Arnsten said he expects the main attraction will be Stone’s refillable glass jugs.

“One of the things we’ll do there is sell these reusable half-gallon jugs called growlers that can be filled from the tap at the store and then taken home,” Arnsten said. “It’s the most sustainable style for making beer available at home.”

According to Arnsten, growlers are not a new concept, but a long-standing tradition.

“Centuries ago in Europe, it was very common to go off to your local pub in the morning, fill up your jug and have your beer for the rest of the day,” he said. “It’s an old-world style of drinking beer.”

While growler refills are available at other breweries, Arnsten said the new Stone Company Store in South Park will be the first store in California to offer growler service. To get a growler filled there, state law requires that the growler be purchased from Stone and it must have the Stone label on it. Growlers range in sizes from 40-ounce canteens to 2-liter jugs and can cost between $9.25 and $50.

Arnsten said local reaction to news that the store would be opening couldn’t have been better.

“The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” he said. “I’ve been approached by the local business owners, and they all are thrilled.”

While Stone has signed a lease for the property, the address has yet to be released. The Stone Company Store is expected to open by the end of the year.