Stereo Brewing was born after a long night of listening to great vinyl and drinking great beer.  Rick Smets, now Owner & Brewer wanted a way to mix his love for music with his lifelong passion for brewing.

When describing Stereo, Rick tends to mention bands that would never play a stage together – Grateful Dead meets Dead Kennedys meets Duke Ellington. His eclectic music tastes carry over into Stereo’s beer styles. Some high notes include Hazey Jane II, a refreshing ginger beer, Blonde on Blonde Kölsch (named after the great Bob Dylan album) and Perfect Day IPA - a citrusy piney nod to Lou Reed. It addition to the brewing facility, Stereo has a 1,000 square feet on-site tap room open Wednesday through Sunday. The tap room serves tasting flights, pints and fresh beer to-go in Crowlers®. Come in to listen to music from our restored reel-to-reel or help us pick out the next record to spin.

Rick Smets, Owner & Brewer

Rick has been a professional brewer for over 12 years, notably serving as the Head Brewer of Left Coast until 2009, when he became a brewer for Firestone Walker. In his career he has won numerous awards both for his own recipes and as a part of the Firestone team. His love for brewing is only rivaled by his love of music. Before starting his career in brewing, Rick spent his time going to Grateful Dead shows and collecting vinyl. When asked why open a brewery, he simply says “Because I can’t do anything else.”

Amanda Pearce Smets, Operations Director

Amanda has been a craft beer enthusiast since 2010 after her first visit to Firestone Walker. It was love at first lush sip of Velvet Merlin. Since then, Amanda has spent time learning and tasting beers from all over. In her spare time she likes to watch every episode of Judge Judy and go to kick-ass rock concerts.