Citing a rising demand for their beers like Arrogant Bastard Ale or Ruination IPA, Stone Brewing of California announced last month that they are considering opening a brewery in Europe.

“I’m very happy with what we’ve accomplished,” said Greg Koch, CEO and co-founder of Stone on a recent video blog “And we get a lot of inquires from Europe saying ‘hey, send your beers over here’.”

Instead, the brewery is thinking beyond shipping and actually setting up shop overseas. Currently they are in the process of creating a Request for Proposal that will be available to municipalities, cities or even countries, that can respond with pitch to get Stone’s potential new European home.

Stone, in a press release, said they might be the first American craft brewery to consider opening a new facility in Europe. Even if other had considered it, they certainly have not been as vocal as Stone.

Such a move would mark a dramatic shift in the brewing world, a reversal of brewing history that saw established European breweries coming over to a new America more than 200 years ago with their coveted recipes.

Currently distributed in 34 states and in limited quantities to Japan, Sweden and parts of England, Stone produced 99,000 barrels of beer last year, increasing their volume by 24% in the first half in 2009.

A Europe brewery would allow Stone, like so many other craft breweries, to control the quality of pints poured across the pond.

“We’d rather have it be fresh, have it be local, and have it have a lower carbon footprint,” said Koch.  He said that while they might be interested in new development, an ideal situation would likely be an existing facility that could be retrofitted.

Koch conceded the Stone is not entirely sure that they want to go ahead with this plan but that they are willing to give it some serious consideration.

“Except we won’t do it in France,” said Steve Wagner, president and brewmaster at Stone. “They work 20 hours a week and go on strike, c’mon.”

Koch promised that the brewery would keep Stone enthusiasts abreast of the plan as it progresses.

 “We don’t know where it will go,” said Koch,” but we’ll find out.”

-- by John Holl

John Holl writes about craft beer and the culture of drinking. He may be reached at johnholl@gmail.com.