USA, CA: Hoobys Brewing planning to open by the end of October
A Winters family plans to start selling its beer out of a taproom and restaurant on the towns Main Street next month, the first step in a plan thatll culminate with a beer garden overlooking Lake Solano, the Sacramento Bee reported on September 27.
Curtis Stocking and his adult children Chad, Melanie, Jackie and Courtney plan to open Hoobys Brewing by the end of October at 9 E. Main St., Suite J after home-brewing for the last five years. Theyve knocked down walls in what used to be Main Street Cellars to create a 2,400-square foot taproom with a back patio and bocce court.
All beer is being brewed at a converted country store on the corner of Highway 128 and Pleasants Valley Road, where the Stockings own a 5-acre property neighboring Lake Solano. Bought more than 20 years ago from an eccentric old man with the last name Hoobyar, the site was supposed to serve as Hoobys brewery and primary taproom.
That plan was tweaked when the downtown building became available this summer, though the Stockings still plan to open a second, all-outdoor bar on the farm sometime next year. It will likely have food trucks, in contrast to the paninis and salads prepared downtown, though customers can bring their own bites to either.
Chad and Courtney Stocking have been tapped as Hoobys head brewer and general manager, respectively, and the rest of the family will help out in various ways. Chads beers tend to be on the hoppier side, Curtis said, though hes also produced stouts and saisons and is experimenting with apricot- and pumpkin-infused brews. There are no plans to sell Hoobys beers outside of the 10-tap bar.
Hoobys will be Winters second brewery after Berryessa Brewing Co. and its lone downtown taproom. The 7,000-person town boasts an impressive selection of locally-sourced food and drinks and has made a tourism push in recent years, including a 73-room downtown hotel currently under construction.
The Hoobys farm is about 4.5 miles from the taproom, with Berryessa Brewing sandwiched halfway between the two on Highway 128. With the U.S. expected to surpass 7,000 craft breweries including 1,000 in California within the next year, Curtis Stocking said he thinks Winters is big enough to support two of its own.
I just think itll be totally different (than Berryessa Brewing), Curtis Stocking said. Its almost like wineries where the more you have closer together, the better. It becomes lets hit em all, or lets go to this one then that one.
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