Greg Koch is one of the

leading young Turks in

an industry made up

almost exclusively of

young Turks. Greg and his colleagues

at Stone Brewing Co.

helped pioneer the potent, hopforward

ales that brought West

Coast brewing to the next level

during the late 1990s and early

2000s, and Stone is now taking

these beers across the country

to great acclaim. In talking to

Greg, I was surprised to find that

he reminded me a lot of Fritz

Maytag, craft brewing’s original

young Turk. While Mr. Maytag is

unlikely to ever put streaks of

color in his hair or Twitter obsessively,

the two California craft

brewers share a similar philosophical

outlook, an impressive

intellectual breadth, and a fierce

moral integrity.