St. Stan's Brewery is a

microbrewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The company was established in 1984. In 2017, St. Stan's reopened in downtown Modesto, with a taproom as well as offsite brewing of craft beers by their original brewmaster of 25 years, Bill Coffey, brewing originals such as Red Sky Ale, Whistlestop Pale Ale, Amber and Barley Wine, in addition to plans for some new styles.

History

The brewery originally produced traditional German beer styles. St. Stan's was the first brewery in the United States to brew an Altbier style beer. The brewery was a leader in the

movement in the 1980s. It was lead plaintiff in a 1997 class-action suit against

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...

, which it accused of engaging in anti-competitive practices by coercing or bullying distributors to get them to stop distributing product for smaller breweries. A Justice Department investigation was ended but the class-action lawsuit was unaffected. In 2008, Susan Little-Nell, a former owner of St. Stan's, was one of a number of craft breweries lobbying against an attempt by

to get California state law changed to allow it to give out free souvenirs up to $5 value rather than just $.25. She described the tough situation of small brewers in the face of "free-for-all promotional spending of international corporations." The Nell's operations of St. Stans, both the brewery and the brewpub, closed on an unknown date, sometime in early 2015.

References

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* {{- Beer brewing companies based in California Companies based in Stanislaus County, California American companies established in 1984 Food and drink companies established in 1984 1984 establishments in California