Copper State of the Brewery Address: 2025

We are turning eight years old. Eight is…great, as they say. In numerology, the number eight is often associated with themes of power, leadership, ambition, and success. Like an elusive 8-pack of abs. But not at all like a pack of hot dog buns that will never quite live up to the 10-pack of dogs. Eight. According to AI, which is right at least 42% of the time, this is a year to be assertive, to focus on our goals and manifest our desires. Again, like our abdominals. The eighth anniversary traditionally has two themes: bronze and pottery. Bronze symbolizes strength and integrity, while pottery reflects the beautiful thing we have hand-crafted along the way. This all seems appropriate as we look back over the brand and the culture we’ve created, the beer we’ve crafted, and all with strength and integrity. Like the abs. It all comes back around to the abs.  Every year, we like to pause and reflect upon the last year in business, the ups and downs, the goals we’ve achieved, and the fun we’ve had. We also like to look forward to the coming year and make some crazy promises and goals. Like an 8-pack of abs.

So without further ado, here are some of Year Eight’s accomplishments:

·       Released several new beers, including the Garten Party IPA, Scurvy Dog Citrus Lager, Warm Fuzzy Peach Ale, Oatmeal Deductible, Frozen Coast IPA, and the Pick Me! Draft Draught. We also brought back an old favorite, our One Cent Wheat, to the great delight of at least six people.

·       Upgraded the patio—put in three new firepit tables and the heaviest (read: hardest to steal) chairs we could find, and we added some overhead heating as well so we can enjoy patio season at least two days longer on each end of the season.

·       Put in a new brewhouse wall and garage door—to be fair, we were forced to complete this goal after someone drove into the building (on a related note, did you know that somehow 1800 square feet of glass equates to about 17 tons of broken glass? I realize the math doesn’t math, but after sweeping up all the glass for the past 8 months, I don’t think I’m wrong).

·       Made it through the NFL draft, which was best described as “Meh” on our end, probably because we are not the NFL or the Green Bay Packers.

·       Did not get sued by anyone. #winning

·       Kicked our “Ales Agent,” Tom, out of our business to start his own business. This is more of an accomplishment for him and a loss for us, but we’re like proud parents and from this day forward we shall forever take his accomplishments as our own.

·       Won some Untappd awards for our beer—our Chocolate Coffee Peanut Butter Porter is apparently the #2 Porter in the land (but it’s #1 in our eyes…and in our mouths)

·       Ditched the seed oils in our restaurant, to mostly positive reviews, aside from those sad vegetarians who don’t really want to be happy anyway.

·       Made it onto the show America’s Best Restaurants and filmed an episode with them that our children’s children’s children will be able to watch someday.

·       Started writing a book about starting a brewpub—this might be more of a personal accomplishment, but our personal and professional lives are so intermingled that just making it through the years to be able to write about the years without PTSD is an accomplishment all on its own—working title so far is “Start a Brewery,” they said. “It’ll be Fun!” they Said. Stay tuned.

And here are some goals, dreams, hopes, and aspirations (too soon?) for the upcoming year:

·       Finish the first draft of my brewery book and look into self-publishing, unless any of you want to publish it for me. There’s a beer in it for you.

·       Explore expansion ideas—spaces for a potential second taproom and potential distribution to Western Wisconsin. And then take over the world, Pinky.

·       Continue to have the brewmasters with the best hair of all the brewmasters in the land.

·       Clothe the homeless in Green Bay with eight years of lost and found items.

·       Continue to brew beer for the good of our community, including a collab brew to benefit “Ales for ALS” as well as contributing to several fundraisers and events in our fair city.

·       Not have anyone drive into our building. I think that’s a great goal.

·       Not make a pumpkin beer for the 9th year in a row. We’re staying strong, Green Bay, amidst so much pumpkin pressure.

·       Continue to live out our mission statement every day:

Connecting people. Creating experiences. Crafting great beer.

Thanks for sticking with us these past eight years, Green Bay. This bronze age, this time of manifesting our desires or something equally poetic. This time of being assertive and focusing on our goals, like our 8-pack of abs. Even through times of broken brewhouse walls like so much discarded pottery. Thanks for helping us craft a gathering place in town for everyone who wants a good beer or a good coffee or good food with good people. We love serving you.

Late night at the brewhouse...

Felt cute. Is that what they say?

Draft Draught. Homonyms are funny.

Look, Mom! No seed oils!

Yep, that was a thing. If you missed it, here's the link to watch it with your friends: https://americasbestrestaurants.com/rests/wisconsin/copper-state-brewing-co