Charleroi man ‘living his dream” as owner of Stoney’s Brewing Company
John LaCarte, president of LaCarte Enterprises and CEO of Stoney’s Brewing, headquartered in Charleroi, speaks to those in attendance of a Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting held at the Charleroi Elks Lodge on Tuesday.
Evan Sanders
John LaCarte, president of LaCarte Enterprises and CEO of Stoney’s Brewing, headquartered in Charleroi, speaks to those in attendance of a Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting held at the Charleroi Elks Lodge on Tuesday.
John LaCarte admittedly smiles whenever he talks about his new business venture, Stoney’s Brewing Company, now headquartered in Charleroi.
“You’re looking at someone who quite frankly is living his dream,” LaCarte told an audience at a Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting Tuesday at the Charleroi Elks Club. “People are always saying, ‘John is smiling because he’s doing what he wants.'”
On March 31, LaCarte and Jon King officially acquired the trademarks and licenses to brew and sell Stoney’s Premium and Light beers.
Jon King is a great-grandson of brewery founder William “Stoney” Jones.
LaCarte, vice chairman of the Mon Valley Alliance and president of LaCarte Enterprises, said the new business venture is all about proving that “business can be fun.”
He said there are three keys to success in business: having a great product, a recognizable brand and a great story.
Stoney’s is a 100-year-old beer, brewed originally in Smithton, which is weaved into many local families, who have thousands of stories about the local brew. It even has its own theme song, he said.
“Everywhere I go, people have stories about Stoney’s,” LaCarte said. “We started to see an emotional connection to the product. If you want to be successful, get your customers emotionally attached to your product.”
Legend passed down by the Jones family has it that William B. “Stoney” Jones won the Eureka Gold Crown Brewery in a poker game.
LaCarte’s family owned a bar in Smithton and sold Stoney’s on tap as well as a livery, which delivered the local beer on horse-drawn carriages. LaCarte said it is likely that his great-grandfather, Joseph Ferrando, was helping Stoney bootleg a shipment of beer the brewery owner was arrested in 1922 for brewing during Prohibition.
Following the repeal of Prohibition, Eureka Gold Crown was changed to Stoney’s.
The brewery was sold to the Podlucky family in 1988. The Smithton brewery was closed in 2002 and the beer was produced in Lawrenceville and Wilkes-Barre for awhile.
In late 2015, LaCarte and King were having a business lunch at Speers Street Grille when King mentioned that Jones Brewing might be for sale. LaCarte’s business appetite was whetted.
The pair spent 2016 navigating the government regulations to get state and federal brewing licenses.
On March 31, Stoney’s Brewing completed the purchase of the trademarks and recipes for Stoney’s Beer. The first batch was brewed on May 9.
The new packaging formula will be unveiled next month.
LaCarte said it will be marketed as a retro beer, aimed at a younger audience.
And the new Charleroi-based company will be reaching out to the community for support. He noted that it is already on tap at the Salatino’s River House Cafe.
King joked that before they bought the company, all LaCarte knew about beer was how to drink it.
“I’m having a lot of fun with this,” LaCarte said. “This is our local beer, the beer your families drank.”