Stone Brewing Co.
Location: Escondido, California
Founded: 1996

Strong flavors, big bottles and a lot of alcohol. Stone has spent the last decade not so much expanding the accessibility of craft beer to the drinking public, but serving as a stalwart for beer drinkers to have their heads bashed in with hops and alcohol. While beers with a 10% ABV aren’t uncommon in the beer industry, most breweries release them like a novelty item, but the 10% mark is the standard for Stone.

While its Ruination IPA clocks in at paltry 7.7% ABV, it’s one of the most heavily hopped beers on the market, clocking in at an astounding 100 on the International Bitterness Units scale (Sierra Nevada, by comparison, has a 37 IBU score). Not only do Stone’s beers rake in awards and are consistently tasty, they also come in handy if you happen to have an engine block that needs cleaning.

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