Stereo Brewing / Placentia, California

Photo Credit: Stereo Brewing

About Stereo Brewing Company

Owner of Stereo Brewing, Rick Smets, found a way to mix his lifelong love of music and brewing after a long night of listening to great vinyl and drinking great beer. His eclectic taste in music shapes his brewing style and the names of his beer.

Rick’s experience as a professional brewer spans over 12 years.

Formerly, he started as the head brewer of Left Coast Brewing Company. Then in 2009, he became a brewer for Firestone Walker Brewing Company, where he met his wife, Amanda Pearce Smets, and won numerous awards for his flavors and as part of the Firestone team.

Thereafter, Rick opened Stereo Brewing in Placentia, California, where he operates as owner and head brewer. While his wife, Amanda, is their Operations Manager for Stereo Brewing and says she’s been a craft beer enthusiast since her first visit to Firestone Walker in 2010.

Flavored Beers

Their brewing facility has a 1,000-square-foot tap room, serving tasting flights, pints, and fresh beer in to-go Crowlers®. The tune on the restored reel-to-reel inspires this unique experience of drinking a beer.
While the music is the source of inspiration, The Perfect Purée is the source of fruit flavor in their beer. Rick and Amanda learned about The Perfect Purée from an employee. “[Our bartender] was impressed with the product [after using it to create some craft cocktails] and thought it would work well in beer,” Amanda says.

Currently, Stereo Brewing has several beers accented by Perfect Purée flavors. Including Heavy Water Light Show (9.5% ABV), the Pineapple Lilikoi Tart Ale (4.5% ABV), and Wing Turquoise Bird.

First, the Heavy Water Light Show is named appropriately after the long-running 1960s Los Angeles light show. This imperial sour ale’s top flavor notes come from The Perfect Purée’s Blackberry and Key Lime Concentrate.

Compared to their Pineapple, Lilikoi Tart Ale is known for its taste of freshly grilled pineapple slices and complex sweetness. They use The Perfect Purée Concentrate Carmelized Pineapple and Passion Fruit to create their base for the kettle-soured tart ale. “The Carmelized Pineapple gives a rich, complex sweetness. The deep flavor [allows it to] stand-alone and balances well against Perfect Purée’s Passion Fruit,” says Amanda.

Lastly, the Wing Turquoise Bird is tart and fruity without being overly sweet; its deep purple color inspires its psychedelic can art.

Amanda says wise brewers create excellent beer during the cold side, otherwise known as the time after the kettle is off. Stereo adds purée to the cold side after fermentation for the best flavor.