Here's the flip side of Stone in Richmond.

No, we'll likely never return to the time when three huge brewers dominate the entire beer marketplace. However, as the big "craft" players from the West Coast continue to establish production facilities on the Eastern Seaboard (Sierra, Oskar Blues, New Belgium and now Stone), aren't we looking at a scenario wherein retail shelf space comes to be their province in much the same way?

Hinkle: Brewery deal comes with a hangover, by A. Barton Hinkle (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

The way public officials acted last week, you would have thought they’d already had a long quaff of Stone Brewing Co.’s strongest. The company’s decision to place a brewery in Richmond “really puts Virginia on the map,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe enthused. According to Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones, while Richmond is already “one of the coolest cities ... we’re about to get a whole lot cooler.”

Make no mistake: The announcement that Stone chose Richmond as the site for its first brewery east of the Mississippi is great news. The launch will create almost 300 jobs, generate $74 million worth of investment and help revitalize a part of the city that has struggled to go from shabby to chic. Cheers and toasts all ’round.

But at the risk of behaving like the skunk at a beer-garden party, we shouldn’t let the moment pass without noting that the incentives the brewers will get are substantial. Richmond is issuing $23 million in bonds to build the brewery and an additional $8 million to build the restaurant. Stone also will get a $1.5 million economic development grant and a $500,000 sustainability grant ...

And then, there's this.

... The special favors conferred upon Stone must make central Virginia’s longtime craft brewers gag. Companies like Legend Brewing Co., Hardywood Park and Triple Crossing have not always gotten the red-carpet treatment from City Hall themselves. Now they will watch their hard-earned tax dollars help a competitor. If that leaves a bitter taste in their mouths, you could hardly blame them.

It will be interesting to see how long "craft" beer maintains its legendary camaraderie amid the pressures to come.