Ventura-based brewery makes evolutions to their wholesale offerings and market penetration with new products and launch initiatives
December 16, 2024 - Ventura & Santa Barbara Counties, CA
Topa Topa is starting a new decade of business by rounding out their core offerings with the introduction of two new core products, a new line of hazy 19.2’s, and a growing calendar of thoughtful, charitable community activities to celebrate these products throughout the new year.
Along with these new products, Topa Topa is nearly tripling their availability in Southern California by growing from 2,000 retail outlets to 5,700 in the same footprint. “This growth has recently been reflected in scan data, where Topa Topa has emerged as the fastest-growing brand among the Top 30 in Southern California, according to Circana data for the BWS category,” shares Director of Sales Sean Beaucar. The liquid filling this footprint includes all new core products, new spins on fan favorites, and the return of select seasonals.
Topa’s next decade starts off with their first new year-round core since 2019. Sunburst White Ale arrives at all five Topa Taprooms on draft and in 6-packs January 22 as it rolls out to Topa Topa’s distribution footprint stretching from San Luis Obispo County to San Diego County. This easy drinker is a 5.3% ABV white ale that is true to style with small nods to their agriculturally immersed backyard built into its recipe and packaging.
The recipe uses real tangerine peel, rather than bitter orange peel or natural extracts, to impart a hint of citrus balanced with just the right bit of spice in this pillowy, easy-drinking option. Hand drawn packaging art features the locally beloved Matilija poppies against Ventura’s iconic mountains and waters, with the sun bursting forth.
Launching Sunburst is a bit of a full circle moment for Topa Topa. A slight Belgian influence in the production of the white ale stems back to Topa’s earliest days, when their very first beer brewed back in 2015 was Flatlands Saison, a beer which Brewmaster, COO & Founder Casey Harris says, “brought a rustic complexity to the table,” and resonated strongly with a thirsty Ventura fanbase. With that proof of concept in mind, Harris found an opportunity to shift the focus to crafting a white ale that is refreshing, versatile, and balanced. “The final product embodies the vibrant flavors our community loves,” adds Harris, “making it the ideal choice for any occasion.”
The addition of this new core product not only rounds out the beer styles offered in Topa’s line-up, it also provides a regularly available lower ABV crowd pleaser for their growing distribution footprint, and serves the market with a white ale competitor brewed by a local small business and 1% for the Planet certified member.
Winter also brings the new Good Good Hazy Series of 19.2s to market, featuring four staggered releases of hazy single and double IPAs each made in partnership with select 1% for the Planet non-profits from California’s southern Central Coast. These quarterly releases provide fans with always unique, always fresh hazy hoppiness with a purpose, in a package format carrying an appealing price point. The series allows space for Topa’s team to drop innovative, rotating hazy recipes that are relevant to everchanging customer demands.
Not only will the Good Good Hazy Series give monetary support to their non-profit partners, the series will highlight communal efforts to do good for good causes while hosting fun, local events around each launch. The four beers will be released one at a time throughout the year, beginning with a 7.2% hazy IPA in partnership with Heal the Ocean, a Santa Barbara-based non-profit that focuses on combatting ocean pollution that is caused by wastewater and ocean dumping. Heal the Ocean and Topa Topa will celebrate the launch by hosting beach cleanups in Ventura and Santa Barbara in late February, followed by beers at Topa Taprooms with special offers available only to beach cleanup volunteers. Each new release will bring similar activations throughout the new year.
As the summer months heat up, a new clear West Coast IPA will join Topa's core line-up and distribution footprint as Weekender IPA arrives in 19.2 oz cans. While the flagship Chief Peak IPA showcases hops and malt in harmony with citrus, pine, and tropical notes, Weekender will boast the drier, brighter flavor profile popular in today’s modern IPAs. Harris shares that he and his team developed the final Weekender recipe with, “a bold, hop-forward approach that uses an array of traditional hop pellets and innovative hop oils to drive bitterness, crisp clarity, and a dry finish that lets the hops truly shine. Both IPAs have their strengths, but each brings a different experience for the drinker.” Die-hard fans may remember a Weekender can from Topa Topa’s past, but this time it’s back in a very tall format as a clear, dry, bright IPA that has been trialed and tasted throughout the year at Topa Taprooms to resounding customer delight.
Topa Topa’s beers can be found at all five taproom locations across California’s southern Central Coast and at retailers across Southern California at Whole Foods Market, Vons, Alberston’s, Ralphs and other retailers as listed in their Beer Finder.
To stay up to date on new releases and activities, sign up for the Topa Topa newsletter and receive one weekly summary of Topa Taproom updates.
ABOUT TOPA TOPA BREWING CO.
Topa Topa® Brewing Co. was founded in 2015 in Ventura, CA, nestled between the Topa Topa mountains in Ojai and the salty shores of the Pacific Ocean. With five taprooms along California’s southern Central Coast, Topa Topa is upheld by a trifecta of values: quality, craftsmanship, and community spirit. This means using the freshest ingredients, working with the most skilled brewers around, and thriving on uplifting and unifying our community. Topa Topa is a proud member of 1% for the Planet, donating at least 1% annual sales to local, approved environmental partners.
Website Topatopa.beer | Instagram @topatopabrewingco
0 comments (click to read or post):
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment...I do moderate each comment so it may not appear immediately...and please be nice! You can also comment using Disqus (below) or even comment directly on Facebook (bottom).