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Greetings from Spilker Ales….we’ve got some BIG changes happening.
The Good news is that Hopaluia will live on, but produced in a new
location.  We’re moving production of Hopaluia draft beer to
Thunderhead brewing in Axtell, NE thanks to a great team effort.
The Other news is that April 6th, 7th, and 8th will be your
last chance to celebrate Spilker Ales’ Frankenbrewery extraordinaire
in Cortland.  After 21 years of operation, we’ll be ceasing
production in Cortland and we’ll be giving the brewery a great
farewell with an open house, tours, sampling, collectibles, and food
vendors on that weekend in April.
You won’t want to miss the keg load of fun here in Cortland on
those 3 days in April.  THURSDAY April 6th 3:00–8:00 pm, FRIDAY
April 7th 3:00–8:00 pm, and SATURDAY April 8th 12:00–5:00 pm.
Those will be the last days you can buy bottles of our Technique DPA.
The last sips of Sonar JAM or Sonar Tropic Grunge ever sampled…and
the last brewery tours will surely be the best!   Besides Technique
DPA, Sonar Botanic Punch, and Hopaluia, we’ll also have Apricot
Jackpot  for sale in 22 oz. bottles.  No limits on any case buys,
we’ll have enough.  Apricot Jackpot has a big stone fruit aroma and
flavor, with a lightly hoppy backround.
While Hopaluia keg beer will stay in production, the rest of our
lineup will be phased out of distribution sometime this fall.
Eventually Sonar, Hopaluia Bottles, and Technique will come to an end
in 2017.  The first batch of Hopaluia kegs brewed with our added team
mates is tasting like a piece of liquid art!  We’ve brought a lot of
wild and wacky techniques to the new home of Hopaluia, and now there
are plans for Hopaluia to be found in cans within a year down the
road.
Why are operations ending in Cortland?  We looked at many
different ways to move forward here, but each path had its own set of
steep risks in a competitive market.  The most financially viable
option would lean heavily on “taproom & hospitality” operations, but
that sits squarely outside of my wheelhouse, its still very risky,
and the miss-match of skills would be really hard on the family life.
We are emphatically grateful for everyone who has supported
Spilker Ales through out the years.  I know many of you went “above
and beyond” with your help!  In addition, we look forward to keeping
the “Gospel of Hops”, Hopaluia flowing that so many of you love.    A
special thanks of gratitude goes out for the support from my wife,
Lisa, over the years.  I also want to thank Lonnie Mulder for getting
the dirty jobs done when it counted.   The relationships that we’ve
made are priceless, and never to be forgotten.  Though its likely
brewing won’t be my main occupation in the future, there still may be
a very unique venture or two for Spilker Ales in years to come.
Please stay in touch!
See you in Cortland at 300 W 4th st soon, and don’t forget to
bring some friends and family to get the last tour of a pioneering
brewery in Nebraska.  Cheers!  Sam Spilker.

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Hopaluia has been brought to the masses. With hoppy inspiration, Spilker Ales works passionately to brew “The Gospel of Hops” for you. Spend time getting to know what sets Hopaluia apart and you’ll understand why Hoapluia is truly “The Gospel of Hops” and so much more.

Spilker Ales was founded Dec., 1994, by owner Sam Spilker and produced its first batch of beer in July, 1996. The brewery was conceived while Sam was enjoying a good beer the summer after graduating from Colorado State University in 1993. The idea hit him like a huge thud. Sam was very disturbed he had not thought of opening a brewery sooner, and rued the day he didn’t have a brewery in operation by his 21st birthday. Perhaps Sam’s college years were not in total vain as a degree in Biochemistry would come in handy.

The air at Spilker Ales is one of dedication, creativity, and obsession. We’re huge fans of many beers, but to strive for greatness we decided to focus on one beer for many years: Hopaluia. Every step in the creation of Hopaluia is on our minds 24/7. When you focus on one style of beer you think about details that would otherwise go unnoticed – and that makes all the difference in the world. We do perhaps go a little overboard sometimes. “Is it really necessary to know how to pour a stratus cloud of foam on the top of Hopaluia versus a cumulus?” Maybe not? But it’s this kind of thinking that led to the birth of Hopaluia in the first place.

Hopaluia was born sometime in 1997. In an experiment 15 kegs of beer were dry hopped with different varieties and combinations of hops in very large quantities and one of those kegs was a revelation. It had an incredible aroma and a flavor of intense hops balanced with a tasty maltiness with indescribable fragrances of fruity esters hiding in the background. That keg didn’t last very long, because drinking it just wanted to make you say “Halleluia!” After a few more experiments and tweaking “The Gospel of Hops” was born!

The “Gospel of Hops” is the fusion of many different practices that evolved at Spilker Ales. Sam has always been inspired by the ways of English, German and Belgian brewers who strayed from the norm. We’ve borrowed a few unusual practices from just about every major brewing culture, and come up with several of our own.

After brewing Hopaluia exclusively for eleven years, we decided to relelase a new beer Sonar, the “Aroma Adventure”.  We’ve decided to focus on the same style of beer, but with a quite a different twist.  Every batch of Sonar will have a different array of dry, finish hops and yeast.  These aren’t just some minor tweaks between batches.  Sonar will really ping your nose with large amounts of aroma and flavor that completely change with every new batch.   Sonar will allow us to explore the great depths of aroma in the world of hops, and the “Aroma Adventure” will take your hop seeking buds on a hoppy trip that has no equal.

Technique Double Pale Ale is our latest offering.  It has all the hops you’ll ever need and allow you to mind your P’s & Q’s at the same time.   Technique DPA uses some very bizarre hopping methods and groundbreaking hop varieties that are new to the brewing world.   The result is a very unique, big hop flavor that you can go back to again and again.

Start to finish our beers are made with many painstaking techniques that add complexity, flavor and, of course, great hoppiness into “The Gospel of Hops” , Sonar the “Aroma Adventure”, and Technique DPA.

We hope you enjoy Hopaluia, Sonar, and Technique DPA as much as we do! Cheers!