About Us

Started on a hot plate. Still going.

What's in a name?

In 2017, a code violation left co-founders Sarah Real and Mike Dell'Aquila without heat, hot water, or a functioning stove in their Brooklyn apartment. Rather than put her dream of a career in craft beer on hold, Sarah started brewing on a literal hot plate—learning the process, writing recipes, completing a commercial brewing training program.

Those years were hard. They also taught us something: do what you can with what you have. That motto followed us out of Brooklyn and into Downtown Pittsfield, where we opened Hot Plate Brewing Co. in 2019.

Our Taproom

We built Hot Plate to be a place where everyone is welcome—not as a tagline, but as a design principle.

The taproom features a wheelchair-accessible bar, a lounge area, boardgames, and an open-door policy on outside food—bring something from a neighbor downtown, or bring whatever you want. Alongside our house-brewed beers, we offer gluten-free options including wine, hard cider, and hard seltzer, plus a full café program: espresso, drip coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and hot apple cider.

Our Company Values

CRAFT

We take the work seriously. That means the beer, and it means the community of artists, farmers, and makers we're proud to be part of.

COMMUNITY

We're here to be useful to Pittsfield. That looks like partnerships with mission-aligned organizations, showing up for our neighbors, and treating this city as more than a backdrop.

INTENTIONALITY

Every decision we make—what we source, how we use it, what we do with what's left—is a chance to do things right. We try not to waste that chance.