think your better off going cataylst

I don't see the problem with it. Well double Philo seems redundant, but to me a Philo Stone is useful on any champion in the early/mid laning phase.

I've gotten one a couple times on Corki against the plethora of Vayne's that I've been seeing mid, and I've completely wrecked them because of it every time. I actually do get one with Brand too if I know for sure I'm going to have a poke heavy lane/mid.

The regen for that price just can't be beat, and is extremely cost efficient. I would just advise against getting two unless you're looking to rush an expensive item like a T-Force, Rabbadon, or a IE. (which can all be obtained in about 20-25 minutes with good farming and a kill/assist if you're in a solo lane).

Personally, I don't think philo stones are required on Brand. I have a hyper aggressive play style and I don't require any HP regen at all and only need one mana regen item. I'm comfortable farming and killing early game and I purchase items to increase my damage output.

So to respond to your build,
It is possible to farm and harass without philo stones (+regen). Brand won't benefit much from upgrading the philo stones so the Gp5 will serve as a small loss or at best break even on the money spent on the stones. Consider buying Kage's pick if you would like a Gp5 item (it may also be possible to upgrade it depending on the enemy team comp). Buying a philo stone or two does mean you're sacrificing a potential increase in damage output.

That said, build whatever you like and whatever suits your style of play. If it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work and vice versa. Experimenting with builds is useful and fun. There'll never be just one way to build a champion because there are so many factors in every game that make it different (team composition, laning partner/opponent, etc)

The philo stacking is a fun build and it's good to see it being played with on different champions. Remember that philo stacking is for fun unless your champion takes full benefit. Champions that greatly benefit from philo stacking (and max cdr) include Alistar and Taric becase they enjoy increased HP regen, as well as CC, healing and have great survivability (the list of benefits goes on) and can benefit from the upgraded versions of up to 2 philo stones.

JJ what kind of runes do you take? Even with a chalice, if I don't take a lot of mana regen I run out of mana. I like to constantly be casing something and 2 stones barely meet that requirement. I usually cast and cast and cast, wait for a minute while i fully regen and start in again. with just one stone I would be sitting and waiting a lot more for mana regen and sometimes health depending on who i am laning against, possibly another brand. And it is more than just the 5Gp, I make a lot more money killing minions because I'm never saving mana up and not farming... I probably farm twice as fast as anyone else would. Most of the time I have at LEAST 33% more kills then the person i mid against and usually closer to double that by 15-20 in...