Media & Press Kit
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Sarah Real, Owner & Head Brewer
After working as a consumer insights and media research expert for the last 17 years, Sarah decided to pursue her true passion for craft beer several years ago. Through classes taken at Bitter & Esters, an award-winning homebrew shop in Brooklyn, collaborating with commercial breweries through the Pink Boots Society, and completing the Concise Course in Brewing Technology at Siebel Institute as well taking beer industry-related courses at the University of Vermont, she spent several years preparing to make this transition. Today, she is answering the call for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in the craft beer industry, not only as a Latina brewster and brewery owner, but also by leveraging her professional background to reach, educate, and serve underrepresented communities through her passion and craft.
Today, she serves on the boards of the Pink Boots Society, the Massachusetts Brewers Guild, and the Massachusetts Latino Restaurants Association.
Mike Dell’Aquila, Co-Founder & General Manager
As an award-winning creative marketer and fiction writer, Mike has found a way to pair his appreciation for beer and beer culture with storytelling across a variety of platforms. In addition to developing the Hot Plate brand and overseeing the marketing of our products and services, Mike continues to find ways for our organization to make a tangible, real-world impact with our neighbors and collaborators in Pittsfield as well as the surrounding towns in The Berkshires. He also serves as a contributing editor for our digital publication The Coil and is responsible for our Small Batch Salon series in the taproom, along with all other events.
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Sarah Real first fell in love with the craft beer community during a cross-country trip in 2005. Having recently completed her graduate program in telecommunications, she considered pursuing a career in the beer industry then, but not seeing herself reflected in the community, she ultimately decided to take a job as a media research analyst. However, beer continued to be a big part of her life, and during a period when she worked for Nickelodeon’s International Research team, she found herself traveling to pubs and breweries all over London, Amsterdam, Berlin, and other European beer capitals.
In 2017, she started thinking more seriously about making a big career change and finally pursuing the dream she’d deferred more than a decade prior. As she started learning more about brewing and the craft beer industry at large, the NYC Department of Buildings turned off the gas to our condo building due to a code violation. Refusing to give up on this dream a second time, Sarah went out and bought a hot plate, which is what she used to continue refining her craft and started designing her own recipes.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, Sarah and Mike were still living in this condo and still had no heat, hot water, and a functioning stove. Reaching their breaking point, they decided to use the extra time they had on our hands to work on a business plan, do some market research in order to determine where we might move and open a brewery, and continued to make as much beer as possible while sheltering in place.
After raising money through friends and family investors, and getting a significant economics incentives package from the City of Pittsfield, Hot Plate Brewing Co. broke ground on the project in July 2022 and plans on a soft opening by the end of 2022, with a grand opening to follow in early 2023.
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#3 Best New Brewery, USA Today' Readers’ Choice Awards, March 2025
Best Brewery, Rural Intelligence Readers Choice Awards, December 2024
Best Brewery, The Berkshire Eagle’s Best of the Berkshires, September 2024
Community Partner of the Year, Berkshire Pride 2024
Silver Awardee, Mass Econ Economic Impact Awards, Spring 2024
19 Best New Breweries, VinePair, December 2023
Best Brewery, Rural Intelligence Readers Choice Awards, December 2023
Organization of the Year, NAMI Berkshire County, Fall 2023
Imbibe 75, Imbibe Magazine, January 2023
Berkshire County Forty Under 40, September 2022
First Place, Increasing Visibility Campaign, Casita Brewing Co., February 2022
Brewers Association Mentorship Program, Fall 2021
Technical Grant Award, Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation, Fall 2021
Travel Scholarship, Pink Boots Society, August 2021
First Place, Berkshire County EforAll Pitch Competition, Spring 2021
First Place, English Beers, Homebrew Alley XV, March 2021
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Where are you located?
3 School Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
What kind of beer do you serve?
We will have 12 taps, and we split those taps into thirds: the first four taps will be dedicated to classic European styles; the middle third will be focused on crowd-pleasers like New England IPAs and hazy Pale Ales; and the last third will be devoted to our experimental beers like our Chamomile Blonde Ale and Jalapeño Pale Ale
Do you serve any other beverages besides beer?
In addition to beer, we also serve wine, cider, hard seltzers, kombucha, coffee, and tea.
Do you serve food?
We offere some snacks, but will largely encourage our guests to either order in from neighboring restaurants or even bring their own food.
How big is your system?
We have a 2-vessel, 7-barrel brewhouse along with six 7-barrel unitanks.
Where can I buy your beer?
We distribute through Berkshire Brewing Co., and you can find us on tap or in cans throughout Massachusetts. If you don’t see Hot Plate at your local bar, restaurant, or package store, just ask them for it!
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