There are countless reasons to be glad 2016 is over. But, there are also many reasons we’ll look back on the roller coaster ride that was the past twelve months as a pretty incredible year for Dock Street Brewery.
At a glance, we:
- Launched bottles, cases, 12-packs, and 6-packs of Dock Street Rye IPA and Dock Street Bohemian Pilsner. (Our Rye IPA won Sports Illustrated’s Draft Pick and our Bohemian Pilsner was featured on The Food Network’s Burgers, Brews, and ‘Que.)
- Developed our Rare Beers for School Supplies Initiative, which has blossomed into one of our most successful philanthropic efforts to date
- Created new jobs and hired some incredibly talented Philadelphians
- Worked with local musicians and artists, including Chill Moody and Flightschool
- Sold clean out of special brews like nicethings IPA, our collab with Chill Moody, which even made it’s way up to NYC for The Roots Picnic and into the hands of rappers and producers who sang it’s praises.
- Our sister company, Dock Street Spirits won a Silver Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
- Got to relive the good times and good vibes by sharing a final bottle of our Wu Tang Clan beer, Dock Street Beer Ain't Nothing To Funk With with Questlove and Terry Gross at a live podcast taping.
- Harvested our own proprietary wild yeast strain, wrangled from local parks in West Philly
- Laid the smackdown on some beer giants with our #PhillySteady campaign
- Thrillist named us one of the 17 Best Pizzeria Brewpubs in America, and Airbnb says a visit to Dock Street is one of the 30 Best Things To Do in Philadelphia.
The list goes on…
Indeed, 2016 was a phenomenal year for us...except politically.
Artwork by Alexis Grant
It’s no secret what Dock Street doesn’t represent, and who we weren’t voting for. Although our ideal political scenario didn’t pan out, with our Friends don’t let Friends Vote Drumpf series we were able to show the world that not every American, or business for that matter, shares the same views as our current leadership. While “Be the change you wish to see”’ seems a little too cliché, Dock Street pledges to go forward into 2017 with the goal of strengthening the core values of our company, community, and city.
Our stance, and our pledge is as follows:
- We are, and have been a woman-owned business. Through continued fair hiring practices, equal pay practices, and support of Women’s Rights groups we will always keep promoting this value.
- We are, and have been an immigrant-owned business. Through continued fair hiring practices and equal pay practices, we will always keep promoting this value.
- We are a company of about 30 employees. We are Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Gay, Straight, Male, Female, young and old etc. We will continue to build a diverse and tolerant company, and encourage others to do the same.
- We believe strongly in education at all levels. We will continue and develop our Rare Beers for School Supplies initiative and we will hope to influence others to believe in the same principles of education for all.
- We respect the environment. We believe Global Warming is a reality. We continuously explore possible alternative energy suppliers for Dock Street, and invest in equipment and practices to minimize water use, energy use, waste, shipping, & consumption of raw materials.
- We will continue to work with local artists, musicians, venues, non-profits, charities, and individuals that perpetuate altruistic values and strive to benefit our local, national, and global community.
AND...
- We’re expanding our brewing operations in 2017. More on that later. We hope that our beer,spirits and cocktails will define the state of the art when it comes to imbibing the best.
- We will create new jobs in our neighborhood, new sales jobs in our city, more environmentally-friendly packaging, and a more efficient operation overall.
We love what we do and we are proud to call Philadelphia our home. Our glasses are raised to a beautiful and exciting 2017.
Cheers,
Dock Street Brewery