Hot Plate Brewing Co., a Latina-owned brewery in Downtown Pittsfield, plans to have a soft opening in early February, and by the middle of the month, they will be kicking off an ambitious 10-day lineup of events in conjunction with the 10×10 Upstreet Arts Festival presented by Downtown Pittsfield Inc. in partnership with Cultural Pittsfield and Berkshire Mountain Distillers, sponsored by the Milltown Foundation.

Founded by Sarah Real and Mike Dell’Aquila, a pair of award-winning homebrewers who have recently made the jump into brewing commercially, draw inspiration for their beers from an eclectic number of sources. From honoring musicians like Ben Folds and the Wu-Tang Clan to filmmakers like Wes Anderson and actors like Daniel Day-Lewis to historical figures like St. Hildegard von Bingen and Margaret II, a medieval Belgian countess, all of Hot Plate’s beers are intended to tell a story and to widen the reach of the world of craft beer by using these cultural touchstones to provide new entry points for consumers who wouldn’t normally see themselves as beer drinkers.

Over the course of Hot Plate’s 10-day celebration, they will be teaming up with both local musicians, artists, and business owners as well as prominent members of the New England craft beer community. In fact, for the last day of the event, Hot Plate’s Women in Beer panel will feature Katie Stinchon, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild as well as Andrea Stanley, owner of Valley Malt in Hadley, MA, and Christine Bump, Co-Owner of Big Elm Brewing in Sheffield, MA, among others.

“We talk a lot about our mission of making the craft beer industry more inclusive,” Real said, “and I’m thrilled that we were able to have so many amazing women in the brewing community support us for this event and our soft launch, but we’re also excited about events like Bricks & Brews with Erin Laundry and the Art of Dressing Well event with Evan Valenti because they’re giving us a chance to talk about beer in a brand new context and have some events you might not normally expect to see in a brewery.”

Hot Plate will be kicking off “The First Ten” event with a special performance by local musicians Chris Merenda, Dave Brown, and Daniel Broad on February 16^th at 7pm. The full list of events, descriptions, and collaborators can be found here: https://www.hotplatebeer.com/thefirstten

About Hot Plate Brewing Co.

Founded by award-winning homebrewers Sarah Real and Mike Dell’Aquila, Hot Plate Brewing Co. is a mission-driven craft brewery coming soon to Downtown Pittsfield. Driven by the belief that craft breweries can and should be a force for good, Hot Plate’s products, services, and taproom experience are all designed to embody the company’s core values of craft, community, and conservation.

Learn more at hotplatebeer.com, or by following our journey on Instagram @hotplatebeer