California State Fair Results, New Taproom open, and more

Hey Friends,

Well a lot has been going on lately and we've not really had even a moment to process very much but we do have some big news.  Pyro's Prost, Hop Dogma's jalapeno conditioned pilsner beer, just took a gold medal at the California State Fair.  This beer has always done well in competitions but the gold has remained elusive until this year.  It's safe to say this one has a nice little cult following now.  It sounds scary but it's really just delightful!

 Even better, our keller pilsner, Ol' Keller, received a bronze medal in the Pale European Lager category.  In recent years, we have really grown fond of our lagers and take special pride in making them.  This is our pilsner's third overall award at prestigious beer competitions and this one might just be the one we're most proud of.  To us, making pilsners and other craft lagers is important work.  There is so much banter out there that these beers are inferior and not considered "craft" but that couldn't be farther from the truth as far as we are concerned.  We not only love making them but we seriously love drinking them too.  

Our new taproom is now open! We cant even begin to describe the amount of relief and excitement we are experiencing seeing all of your faces again and getting back to good times.  The taproom has been rocking and we are have been destroying our own sales records and gotten such great feedback on our new space. It's a dream come true to have persevered through all of the drama we went through and come out on the other side with all of your support in-tact and stronger than ever.  We are forever grateful for you.  You guys make this place work and we couldn't be more thankful.  

We still cannot brew on site.  We are awaiting our plans to be approved from the County but we are getting closer. For now, we are brewing at our friends' spaces whenever we can sneak a batch in.  When this is all said and done, we just might write a book about how this industry came together in support of us through this process.  We are a community and although we are technically competitors with one another, we have each others' backs and know that it's good people and their actions that make this industry so special.  

That's it for now!

Cheers,
Hop Dogma

Ethan Martini