Stones Brewery (William Stones Ltd) was a brewery founded in 1856 by William Stones in Sheffield, South Riding of Yorkshire, England, after he bought out his former partner's share of the business. Stones' success saw him die as one of the richest men in Sheffield. The brewery is famous nationwide for Stones Bitter, which was originally brewed at the Cannon Brewery, Sheffield in 1948 and was designed for Sheffield's steel workers. It was brewed there until the brewery's closure in 1999. The company was subject to a takeover by Bass in 1968, and is now a functionally dormant subsidiary of Molson Coors. Brewery conditioned Stones Bitter (3.7 per cent alcohol by volume) is brewed by Molson Coors at their breweries in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire and Burton upon Trent, and cask conditioned Stones Bitter (4.1 per cent ABV) is contract brewed by Everards of Leicester.
Stones Bitter was originally available across the south of Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, with distribution extended to the rest of the north of England in 1977, and nationwide from 1979. The beer reached its peak in 1992 when it was the country's highest selling bitter, selling 240 million pints annually. The beer has been considered to be "one of Sheffield's most famous exports". Stones notably sponsored the Rugby Football League Championship and its successor the Rugby Super League from 1986 until 1997. Since the withdrawal of the majority of marketing support by Bass in 1997 in favour of the Worthington ale brand, the beer has experienced a heavy decline in sales, which are down to less than 10 per cent of their peak, although it remains among the twenty highest selling ale brands in the United Kingdom.