The love of beer and the magic of the pub. Sarah Real and Mike Dell’Aquila have been together since their days at Penn State, and since, through their days in New York City, traveling around the world and now finding their ways to the Berkshires – they are now fulfilling their dream to open a brewery. Hot Plate Brewing Co. is expected to open on North Street this fall. Meanwhile, the couple is busy telling their story through community, creative social media content and, of course, developing exceptional brews. In our conversation we cover the early days and early inspiration in their days at Penn State, a cross country trip, speaking the language of beer internationally, the universal magic of the pub, making beer in a tiny New York apartment, the incredible origin story of the Hot Plate name, extract vs. all-grain brews, Sarah’s Mexican American heritage and its importance in this industry today, their journey to the Berkshires, falling in love with North Street, the business model for Hot Plate, documenting their journey, German Reinheitsgebot, craft beer as punk rock, beer bros., the three-tier distribution system for beer, shelf wars, quality control, beer telling the story of a culture, the visibility of the brewing process in downtown and an intuitive dog.
I hope you’ll enjoy my conversion with Mike and Sarah!
