The Hoppy Times

WILLOW GLEN, CA - From their little pilot facility tucked away in Willow Glen, those uniquely-odd brewers at HBC, have managed to put together their very first holiday ale to be released just after Thanksgiving. "Our Holiday Ale is a “special” version of our flagship product - Hoppy Face™ Amber Ale; only bigger for you to enjoy during this holiday season," comments Josh Williams one of the brewers partly responsible for the recipe.

"It's characterized by its distinctive hop aroma and rich, ruby color, which I believe will redefine the way you think about a holiday ale," adds Josh. "We use only the finest two row malted barley, some very aromatic hops grown in the great Pacific Northwest, and some secret spices that I would love to tell you about, but Troy would put me on mop duty if I did. In any event, we believe this combination results in a clean, crisp, and refreshingly unique hand-crafted experience. We never use any "artificial" preservatives, flavors, or colors in any of our ales, and our Hoppy label is your guarantee of a finally hand-crafted brew," concludes Josh.

DENVER, CO - For the third year in a row the Hoppy Crew made its annual trip to the Mile High city to attend the nations largest 15th annual event in celebration of beer. This event is usually held in October, but this year the event was held on the last week of September; so one would figure that the weather would be a bit nicer... "We actually had snowball fights on Wednesday and Thursday nights after it decided to snow on us," comments head snowball thrower Troy Paski. "It was really nice to be able to slide around town and visit a growing number of different brewpubs on any given evening, comments financial officer Patrick McKenzie. On the other hand, I walk around our beautiful downtown San Jose with all of its perfect weather and think...San Jose could be like this one of these days. Just picture a number of brewpubs downtown, all within walking distance, thereby giving the consumer an opportunity to walk through our beautiful town on their way to their next stop for some really good beer. What a thought!!!" "Who knows...it might actually happen," adds Troy.

"This years GABF had a record setting 365 breweries pouring 1,400 beers to more than 30,000 attendees, and the festival truly represented the exploding American brewing scene," commented Association of Brewers Marketing Director Sheri Winter. "Words alone can not explain paying $28 for a glass and getting to try beer from 365 breweries and 1,400 different styles of beer in 1 oz. tastings for four hours," comments Troy Paski. "It's just impossible to try all of them on any given evening; so I've learned to pick a certain style of beer and then just visit those breweries offering that style," adds a very thirsty Patrick.

"This year they had a small beer garden upstairs, with all of the industry suppliers up there, a few breweries pouring six-ounce pours, and I believe it made more room for the additional brewers on the ground floor. However, we did have people coming by our booth, who'd been looking for us upstairs where we were last year, and wanted to have more of our Hoppy Face, and to try our new Liquid Sunshine. We apologized for the relocation, and continued to get rave reviews for our beers; not too mention our little Hoppy Face tattoo's," adds Troy Paski.

SANTA CLARA, CA - The grads over at Santa Clara wanted something to do during their homecoming weekend, and with no football to gather around and cheer for, they decided to put together a nifty little beer festival.

The festival was held in the Alumni park (in between Toso Pavilion and the football field) under a relatively big tent from noon until 4:00pm. There were about 20 microbreweries there with about 700 thirsty alumni in attendance.

The Hoppy Crew had the tattoo's going, and some attractive volunteers that had just graduated last year attracting guys to our table and tagging them... Let's just say they were having a GOOD time... "I believe next year will be even bigger and its something that the crew definitely wants to stay connected with...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Brews by the Bay was held at Pier 45 from 2- 6:00pm on Saturday October 26th, and was the first time that the Rotary of Fisherman's Wharf put on this type of festival. With about 2,000 people in attendance, 70 breweries from around the area, local food merchants, some incredibly good music, a couple of pool tables with some pro's from Chalkers, and some Cooking with Beer Demo's, there were a lot of people having a world of fun.

In addition, the Hoppy Crew made their first public appearance with their newest brand - Total Eclipse™ Black Ale, and were they ever pleased with the response they received! "The verdicts in, and people are really impressed with how unique this new beer is," says the Hoppy Crew's newest Event Coordinator Theresa Cleary.

SAN JOSE, CA - Fast off the heals of the GABF, the Hoppy Crew helped kick off the October "Fest" Season, with those good folks over at LaBadie Productions and the San Jose Downtown Association. "These guys put together a GREAT weekend of Beer Tasting and Stand-Up Comedy on San Pedro Square in downtown San Jose, comments Steve Rickman. I just wished we could do this every weekend."

The annual event ran from noon to 7:30 on October 5 & 6th. San Pedro was blocked off with stages at each end of the street where the 18 scheduled comedians filled the street with tons of laughter over the course of the weekend. Coincidentally, there were 18 breweries along the street pouring some of their unique creations. This was the first year that live music was available. They had six bands playing a variety of music in the parking lot next to the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Event proceeds go to benefit the SJ Historical Musuem Association and the SJ Downtown Association. In cooperation with the San Pedro Square Association and with the grant support from the City of San Jose and the SJ Redevelopment Agency.

If you missed it this year, the Hoppy Crew will be there with their tattoo agents ready to get you Hoppy next year; so plan early!!!

HALF MOON BAY, CA - After a recent promo at Cameron's Inn in Half Moon Bay, the Hoppy Crew got involved with sponsoring one of the local Co-Ed softball teams. "This was something new for us," says Director of Promotions Robert Helms, but we figured that this would be another great way for us to support the local community."

The following is a schedule for those interested in taking a drive some evening to Half Moon Bay and watching a softball team that is a lot of fun, and could win the championship. "A Hoppy Championship...hmmm I like the sound of that," concludes Robert as he stares off into the distance thinking about that trophy...

Thursday Co-Ed League at Smith Field

HBC Manager - Dana Baynes 415.726.2252

Nov 07 6:30 HBC vs. Sea Monkeys
Nov 14 9:00 G&T vs. HBC
Nov 21 7:45 HBC vs. Wicked "Jazz" Chasers
Nov 28 NO GAMES
Dec 05 9:00 Sea Monkeys vs. HBC

In addition, if you decide to go over there, please make sure to stop by Cameron's Inn for a pint of Hoppy and say hi to Cameron and/or Decki for us.

SAN JOSE, CA - On Oct. 21, 1996 those fun loving guys over at Hoppy released their third micro-brewed beer and called it Total Eclipse™ Black Ale. This follows on the heels of their very popular Liquid Sunshine™ Blonde Ale release this past July, and their flagship product, Hoppy Face™ Amber Ale which has been on the market since July of '94. "I think Total Eclipse is a dark beer with a light taste," comments brewer Josh Williams. "I really believe this brew represents our company's dedication to crafting the finest ales available today," concludes Josh.

With their latest offering, Hoppy Brewing Company has continued its development of high-quality ales with a distinctive hop character. “The birth of Total Eclipse is a result of a small pilot brew which came together quicker than anticipated," said Troy Paski, President and CEO. “Sometimes the best things come unexpectedly, especially when it came to the development of our new black ale,” said Director Patrick McKenzie. "In addition, our company plans to continue revolutionizing the way people view a truly good ale," adds director of promotions Robert Helms.

Total Eclipse Black Ale has been described as similar to a light, dry stout. Characterized by its distinctive hop aroma and rich, black color, Total Eclipse redefines the way you think about a dark ale. Brewed at a low temperature to create a refreshingly dry finish, Total Eclipse uses only the finest two row malted barley and hops grown in the great Pacific Northwest. This combination results in a clean, crisp, hand-crafted experience. Hoppy Brewing Company has never used any artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors in any of its ales. The Hoppy label is your guarantee of purity.