Summer in Alabama is not for the faint of heart. The heat is real, the humidity is realer, and the only appropriate response is great company, great food, and a cold beer that genuinely stands up to the season. This summer, we're featuring the Stone Buenaveza, a craft cerveza-style lager from the legendary Stone Brewing that's becoming the go-to pour of the summer. Trust us: once it's in your cooler, it's not leaving.
About Stone Brewing
If you know craft beer, you know Stone Brewing. Founded in 1996 in San Marcos, California by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner, Stone helped spark the American craft beer revolution, and they did it by being unapologetically bold. While the big commercial breweries were racing toward lighter, blander beers, Stone was going the other direction entirely: massive IPAs, aggressive hop profiles, and a fearless willingness to brew whatever tasted great, mainstream acceptance be damned.
Their iconic Arrogant Bastard Ale (launched in 1997 with the tagline "You're not worthy") became a cult classic and announced to the world that Stone wasn't interested in playing it safe. They grew into one of the largest craft breweries in the US, opened locations in Berlin and Shanghai, and became a template for what an independent brewery could achieve with quality and conviction as its north stars.
But here's the thing about Stone that sometimes gets lost in the hop-bomb glory: they're also exceptional brewers of technically precise, elegant beers when they put their minds to it. The Buenaveza is proof.
So What Exactly Is the Buenaveza?
"Buenaveza" is a playful mashup of "buena" (Spanish for "good") and "cerveza" (Spanish for "beer"), and that's exactly what it is: a really, genuinely, wonderfully good beer. No gimmicks, just an expertly crafted cerveza-style lager built for maximum refreshment.
It pours a beautiful light golden color with brilliant clarity, the kind of beer that looks amazing in a glass on a hot Alabama afternoon. The head is white, soft, and settles to a fine lace. On the nose: subtle grain sweetness, a gentle floral note, just a whisper of hop aroma. The flavor delivers: clean malt sweetness up front, a light hop bitterness that keeps things from being cloying, and a crisp, dry finish that makes you want another sip immediately. Light enough to drink all afternoon, but there's genuine craft underneath that sets it apart from mass-produced lagers.
The Buenaveza clocks in at around 4.5% ABV, right in that sweet spot for a day-drinking session beer. Sessionable without feeling thin, refreshing without feeling like flavored water.
How to Drink It Right
The cardinal rule: serve it ice cold. Pop your glass in the freezer for ten minutes before you pour and watch the magic happen.
Drink it straight, with a wedge of lime squeezed in for the classic cerveza experience. Or go full Michelada: salted rim (Tajín for the chili-lime kick), a mix of tomato juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and fresh lime, topped with the Buenaveza poured slowly over the back of a spoon. It sounds like a lot of steps. It's worth every one of them.
Perfect pairings: Street tacos, smoked chicken, boiled peanuts, spicy pimento cheese on crackers, elote (Mexican street corn), or anything coming off a charcoal grill.
