Stone Brewing's Escondido Home Closes After 220 Workers Lose Their Jobs

The End of a San Diego Craft Beer Era

One of the most consequential chapters in San Diego's craft beer history is coming to an end, as Stone Brewing's longtime Escondido operations are being shut down and approximately 220 employees are expected to lose their jobs. The closure will effectively end Stone Brewing's two-decade presence as a major brewing and production operation in Escondido — the North County city that became synonymous with the company as it grew from a scrappy local craft brewery into one of the most recognizable beer brands in the country.

Stone Brewing launched in 1996 in San Marcos and relocated to Escondido in 2006. At its peak, Stone ranked among the top ten craft breweries in the United States. Stone Brewing was a fixture of the local economy for nearly twenty years — the brewery drew visitors, anchored a stretch of commercial activity, and carried the city's name into taprooms and grocery aisles nationwide.

A Layoff Timeline Unfolding in Phases

Sapporo USA — which sold Stone Brewing to Firestone Walker Brewing Co. and Duvel Moortgat USA in a deal that closed May 15 — plans to lay off a total of 220 employees as the new owners shift production to Paso Robles and Kansas City, Mo. The layoffs will begin with 58 workers on October 19, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letters that Sapporo USA filed with the state on August 20.

The initial cuts affect workers at Stone facilities at 1999 Citracado Parkway, 2865 Executive Place, and 2005 Harmony Grove Road, and include brewers, packaging employees, warehouse and logistics workers, quality assurance personnel, and other production-related positions. The remaining positions will disappear on an unspecified schedule, and no final closure date has been made public. Sapporo USA CEO Zach Keeling said the company "has not yet found a viable long-term solution" for the site , effectively confirming that a buyer for the massive Escondido complex never materialized. At the time the brand sale was announced in April, Sapporo said it was seeking another operator for the Escondido facilities and hoped a deal could preserve roughly 300 jobs.

How Stone Got Here: A Corporate Ownership Saga

Stone's 2022 sale to Sapporo was particularly notable. The Japanese brewer acquired Stone in a deal valued at approximately $165 million and began using Stone's production infrastructure to increase domestic production of Sapporo beer. Employees in Escondido spent years adapting the facility to manufacture the Japanese company's flagship products. Sapporo's strategy subsequently shifted toward concentrating U.S. production at Stone's larger brewery in Richmond, Virginia, while Stone itself was sold again.

In May 2026, Sapporo USA completed the sale of the Stone Brewing brand to Firestone Walker Brewing Company and Duvel Moortgat USA. That transaction transferred the Stone brand, beer portfolio, and several Southern California hospitality locations to the new owners, while the massive Escondido production complex remained with Sapporo. The layoffs are associated with the shutdown of the Escondido operation retained by Sapporo — they are not a mass layoff of the new Stone Brewing organization being built under Firestone Walker and Duvel.

The Brand Survives, But the Community Pays the Price

Stone Brewing beer will continue to be made. Production of the Stone portfolio will gradually transition to Firestone Walker's brewery in Paso Robles, Calif., and Duvel USA's Boulevard brewery in Kansas City, Mo. Firestone Walker and Duvel USA plan to hire a "significant number" of Stone Brewing employees across hospitality, sales, and marketing. Firestone Walker and Duvel Moortgat also issued a joint statement pledging continuity, saying "Stone Brewing will retain its distinct voice, joining a family of breweries that share a deep respect for beer tradition and culture."

Craft beer production declined by more than 5% in 2025, with a majority of breweries reporting decreases. Rising costs, inflation, shifting consumer preferences toward lighter beers and alternative beverages, and increased competition have all contributed to a more challenging environment. Industry leaders are increasingly responding through consolidation. Stone's story is a case study in that trend — a beloved independent brand swallowed by a corporate giant, then sold again when the strategy didn't pan out, leaving the workers who built it holding the bill. Stone's Escondido brewery represented the era when craft breweries were building increasingly large facilities to meet rapidly expanding demand. The new model is more about using existing production infrastructure efficiently. For Escondido, that shift is more than a business pivot — it's