By Bob Shallit

In another sign of the growing popularity of craft beer in Sacramento, Capitol Beer and Tap Room is opening a second location – at a key downtown corner that once was targeted as the site for a midrise apartment building.

Capitol, which opened in August 2012 in Campus Commons and is now regarded as one of the region’s top beer destinations, last week signed a lease to open a new shop at 1431 I St.

“We feel it’s going to be a really interesting space,” said company co-owner Ken Hotchkiss. “It’s an old auto shop, with roll-up doors, and we’re going to try to incorporate all of that” into the design for the new use.

He said his goal is to have the downtown business open by September.

“People appreciate that we keep an interesting lineup of quality beer, and they like the way we rotate it.”

Hotchkiss and co-owner Patti Aguirre plan to have about 40 brews on tap – double the number at the existing shop.

They also are going to offer small plate food selections prepared there, a change from the beer-only format at the original location.

The Campus Commons location – which fronts on a University Village shopping center patio that’s set to be renovated later this year – has drawn praise from aficionados for the rotating selections of brews on tap and an adjoining retail shop that has about 400 bottles in stock.

“People appreciate that we keep an interesting lineup of quality beer, and they like the way we rotate it,” Hotchkiss said.

No bottle shop is planned at the new location.

Opening the original business was a leap of faith for Hotchkiss, who had been working as a tile contractor until the recession hit, forcing him to look for another line of work.

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Beer Week is upon us! Come visit our booth, and try some awesome beers with us! For more info click the Sacramento Bee link below. It is chocked full of info on the event and goings on!

Sacramento Beer Week Official Site

Sacramento Bee – Beer Week

By Blair Anthony Robertson

Let’s say you’ve got beer-connoisseur friends visiting from San Francisco or London or Berlin or Brussels, and they ask if there’s a good place in Sacramento to go for a pint.

If you send them to Capitol Beer and Tap Room, you won’t have to worry that Sacramento is going to come up short when it comes to great beer bars. Hidden in the back of a busy strip mall at Fair Oaks Boulevard and Howe Avenue, CapTap, as it is known to regulars, promises a world-class tasting experience seven days a week.

More than likely, your pals will encounter multiple beers they never have tasted or even heard of, and they will engage with like-minded beer lovers working their way through an ever-changing tap list that is closely followed and much-discussed.

“Capitol Beer has pretty much become the beer geek spot in Sacramento.”

Owned by Ken Hotchkiss and his life partner, Patti Aguirre, Capitol Beer has become a major force in the local craft beer industry, attracting serious connoisseurs and newcomers alike. The bar is so influential these days that it can help launch a new brewery’s reputation; if you can’t find a fledgling beer there during multiple visits, it probably means it’s not ready for prime time.

“It’s safe to say (Hotchkiss) is really one of the guys who sets the bar, and he set it very high,” said Ken Anthony, owner/brewmaster at Device Brewing, who has made Capitol Beer’s anniversary beer the past two years.

“Capitol Beer has pretty much become the beer geek spot in Sacramento,” said Dave Prillwitz, who has tasted and reviewed 8,300-plus beers on RateBeer, the popular website and phone app for beer fans.

Hotchkiss and Aguirre opened the business in the summer of 2012 with big ideas but a shoestring budget. All of the equipment and furnishings were bought second-hand, and the setting in those early days was admittedly sterile. But word spread that this place was serious about its beer.

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