On Beer Wars - Part 3: Greg

Stone Brewing has always had a special place in my heart.  Any brewery that names a beer Arrogant Bastard is good in my book.  They also have some really cool bomber designs and they just make good beer.  Not a lot to complain about.  So when I saw that the owner, Greg Koch (I wonder if he's related to Jim?) was one of the stars of Beer Wars, I knew I was in for a treat.  Or something.  This is kind of an awkward opening.  Onwards.
I love the motivation Greg has for making his beer.  To paraphrase him, after drinking fizzy yellow beer for a while and realizing it was robbing him of taste, he was angry.  I don't know if he thinks he makes angry beer, but I definitely do.  He is not afraid of hops and flavor punching the drinker in the mouth hard enough to have them coming back for another.  Maybe it's a phase, but I love the strong flavors he uses.  Sure, he may not have beers that appeal to everyone, but according to Stone's facebook page, they start brewing 24/7 on Monday to keep up with demand, so I'd say he's doing alright.

It seems like Greg is almost the bizarro Jim Koch, but only in the good ways.  Jim seems to not care a ton about the big breweries and Greg appears to be in an all out war against them.  Jim makes easier drinking east coast styles, Greg makes the hoppier and harsher west coast stuff.  I'd really like to see the two interact face to face, I'm guessing it'd be an interesting conversation.  The nice part about all their differences is that they seem to disappear when it comes to helping further the craft beer movement, they are both obviously passionate about making good beer and helping others do the same.

I was watching a recent episode of "Drinking Made Easy" (love them or hate them, these guys are at least entertaining) in which Zane Lamprey and Steve McKenna visit the Stone Brewery.  In normal fashion, Steve "Steve McKenna's" about 5 taster glasses in quick succession.  It's apparent that Greg isn't super happy with this, but he's a good sport.  It's also funny to see the other patrons reactions, a few cheer but most have an obvious "WTF?" look on their faces at this homeless looking guy pounding some very hoppy and high ABV beer.

A quick personal aside, during parts of his screen time in Beer Wars, Greg is drinking from an awesome Arrogant Bastard glass.  It's a tall stemmed pilsner glass, and I knew as soon as I saw it that I needed one.  I scoured the internet to find it, but it was out of production and long gone from shelves.  Dismayed but not defeated, I emailed them to see where I could get one and was informed that they were remaking them and releasing them in April 2011.  Of course, in my incessant checking to see if they had them in stock, I discovered their baby section, and when the $9 glasses (http://stonecompanystore.com/store/product/611/ABA-Specialty-Glass/) came in stock, I purchased one as well as a onesie that says "My Daddy is an Arrogant Bastard" for my daughter (http://stonecompanystore.com/store/product/1657/ABA-My-Daddy..-Onesie-12mos/).  $18 well spent and it will likely remain the most expensive onesie in the closet for quite some time.

As with the other two characters I've posted about, I'm running out of things to say.  I think Greg's an awesome guy that's really doing a lot for the craft beer industry, if by no other means than publicly chastising the big breweries for forcing their "beer" on the market.  I really hope to meet him (and Jim for that matter) in the future and have a chance to talk more about his thoughts on the industry, the competition, and brewing in general.  Time will tell, but until then, I'll keep drinking his beer and adorning my big ugly Jeep with his stickers.  Bottoms up.