Spring 2020 Update

Wow, what a year, so far! The first thing I would like to say is thank you to all our loyal friends who have made HWY 50 Brewery their home. Diane and I continue to realize just how blessed we are to have so many amazing friends who continue to support us on a regular basis. To all of you, THANK YOU.

WE’RE OPEN DURING LOCKDOWN

It goes without saying that the last five weeks have been a trying time for all of us. We are not able to spend time with family and friends and enjoy our community as we’ve always done. However, many of you have made it a point to stop by, grab a beer and a pizza to go and to let us know how much you appreciate us being here for our community. Thank you, it is our privilege to serve all of you!

OUR AMAZING STAFF

I need to mention our amazing staff (and volunteer Tracey). As always, they have acted in an unselfish manner, supporting HWY 50 Brewery and each other under unique circumstances. They have worked together to adjust and create schedules everyone can live with. We cannot put into words our deep appreciation and love for the people that make HWY 50 Brewery, a true family business.

WE ARE BUSY BREWING!

While things have been a bit subdued in the tap room, we have been busy in the brewery. Last fall, we added two new 15-barrel fermenters, as many of you have seen. This has permitted Tyler and me to schedule our brewing sessions better to increase production during busy times and to use our smaller fermenters to age beers we plan on putting into barrels.

HWY 50 SCOTCH ALE WINS HEARTS AND AWARDS

We are working towards adding one of your favorite HWY 50 beers—our Scotch Ale--to our regular lineup. It has been so well received, it’s going on tap full time! We are also acquiring additional rum barrels to ensure we can keep HWY 50 Rum-Barrel Aged Scotch Ale as a seasonal option.

On that note, our barrel-aged HWY 50 Scotch Ale was very well reviewed by judges at the El Dorado County Fair, 2020 Commercial Microbrew Competition. They gave it Double Gold and Best of Show, which is humbling and makes us truly grateful!

Judges also awarded HWY 50 Dry Stout with a Bronze Medal, inspiring our commitment to continue making all our beers better and better.

IMPERIAL STOUT ANYONE?

Due to overwhelming support for our Scotch Ale, we recently brewed an Imperial Stout. Mmmmm, good stuff! To make it I dusted off an old homebrew recipe and scaled it up to fit our brewhouse. When it has finished fermenting, we will put it away in bourbon barrels for additional aging. But if you’re anxious to try this intense and flavorful beer, don’t worry--we will have a non-barrel-aged version on tap as soon as it’s ready! I am personally looking forward with a lot of excitement to share this beer with you!

HARD SELTZER IS COMING!

We are also busy working on a hard seltzer for the warm months ahead. We want to provide our valued friends a seltzer that everyone will love and that we are proud to serve.

We’re trying different yeast strains to produce the clean flavor you expect in a seltzer. Who would have thought water and sugar would present such a challenge! But it has been an extremely exciting project and the results are very refreshing. We’re making apricot and blueberry lemonade versions to start with. Other flavors will follow along with a “gluten-free” option for friends with gluten sensitivities. Oh, did I say our hard seltzer already tastes fantastic?

SPECIAL DEALS

We have been running several specials to make things a little easier for everyone during some very trying times and to invite your continued support for HWY 50 Brewery.

Current specials include a crowler and pizza deal and also low prices on select beers. See our home page for details.

A favorite special right now is our Pizza Kits (cauliflower available also). We understand your need to keep the kids (young and old) busy and active! So rather than typical pre-assembled take-n-bake pizzas, our kits give you all the ingredients to make your own pizza at home. You and your kids start by rolling out the same great dough we use here and then adding the toppings before popping it in the oven and watching it bake. Something fun and delicious we invite you to try!

THANK YOU, FRIENDS

We wish each of our amazing friends a very safe and healthy future, and we thank you again for your unwavering friendship. Your continued support is helping us keep the lights on and ensures we’ll be here when the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us and everyone’s lives get back to normal. May it be soon!

Cheers,

Gary and Diane

Gary Ritz