Tap Handle #846: Valley Brewing

November 27, 2024

Tap Handle #846: Valley Brewing - Hitman Gold

Tap size: just over 7"

Rarity: 10 or less seen, hand-made, small scale, beer and tap no longer produced

Mounting: 3/8" ferrule on 5/16" anchor bolt

This is a great vintage tap from Valley Brewing featuring Bret "Hitman" Hart, the professional wrestler. The tap handle artist did a remarkable job in matching the tap to the art on the beer label, which was created by Hart himself. The tap was produced in 2002, and the first batch suffered from the cracking and peeling paint issue that you see from a lot of older resin taps. A few were made years later from aged resin that do not have this problem. I actually have both the older resin and the newer aged resin versions, but I've chosen to photograph the aged resin version for one simple reason: I want everyone who sees these photos to experience the tap as it was intended to be seen when it was attached to a tap for the first time. There's nothing wrong with tap handles that have defects - I've mentioned before it's part of the tap's character - but if I have a choice, as I do in this case, I like to imagine the excitement the brewery felt as they unwrapped these when they were new. Since the tap is so short in size, I have not taken zoomed in photos. From my recollection, the first Hitman tap was not seen on the secondary market until 2015, which is pretty remarkable that it took 13 years for that to happen. The price has ranged from a high of $270 in the early listings to a low of $75 for the last one listed in 2022.

The Valley Brewing Company was originally founded as the El Dorado Brewing Company in Stockton, California in 1994 by Creighton Younnel. A local entrepreneur, Younnel wanted to bring back the El Dorado name, which was a brewery that previously existed in Stockton from 1853 into the 1950's before it closed, and their most popular beer was called Valley Brew. Younnel leased a historic brick building on what was known as the "Miracle Mile" - a boulevard of palm trees that mimicked the "Miracle Mile" in Los Angeles - and opened a brewpub, hiring brewmaster Steve Altimari and chef John Burnett. By 1996, Younnel had fallen significantly behind on rent. Building owners Kellie Craig (Jacobs) and her father Pat Craig, agreed to forgive back rent if Younnel turned over the brewpub operation over to them, which he did. Kellie was a medical office manager, and Pat had owned Craig & Hamilton Meat Company for 35 years. Neither of them had experience running a brewpub, but thought it sounded fun and exciting.

After bringing on a partner - chef Eric Davis - they quickly remodeled the structure to include a large banquet facility called The Tavern Room, along with an extended outdoor patio. Multiple large-screen TV’s were installed, along with autographed sports memorabilia from hockey, baseball, football and local sports greats. A vintage 1946 Indian motorcycle was suspended over the bar. Altimari and Burnett retained their positions through the transition, and the brewpub was renamed Valley Brewing Company. The small in-house brewing system was not able to keep up with demand, as the brewpub often ran out of some of their beers. But it was the banquet room that Kellie added that was the game-changer: a 100 seat banquet facility adjacent to the brewpub, decorated with carpet and chandeliers, that hosted office meetings, private parties, and wedding receptions. In the late 1990's the brewery struck a licensing deal with Bret "Hitman" Hart, a famous professional wrestler, to create a beer using his name. Hart created the artwork for the bottle label that featured a caricature of himself, and a matching tap handle was created as well a few years later.

By 2008, business for Valley Brewing had quadrupled. Kellie launched a bigger microbrewery off the Stockton Deep Water Channel, 20,000 square feet of leased space in a warehouse-like building formerly occupied by a company that made computer chips and representing an investment of $400,000. The brewery began to sell kegs for distribution to liquor stores, tap rooms and restaurants, while Altimari still used the smaller system at the original brewpub to make specialty beers. Kellie was also serving double duty as a member of The Miracle Mile Improvement District Board of Directors. Business got another positive jolt with the openings of the Stockton Ballpark and the Stockton Arena downtown, which led to an influx of drinkers and diners before and after sporting events. In 2009, the smaller brewing system was shut down and the original site became a tap house rather than a brewpub. In 2010, Valley Brewing's London Tavern Ale won a silver medal in the World Beer Cup. But while the name recognition was good for the brewery, it got to be too much for Kellie. Instead of running a successful restaurant and banquet site, which she loved, she had to change her focus to overseeing beer distribution and production, which she did not enjoy.

Realizing that financially she was unable to compete with macro brews in the Stockton beer market, combined with the dissatisfaction of running a production brewery, she made the decision to sell off the production site, and with no onsite brewing capability at the tap room, Altimari was let go. In 2012, Valley Brewing partnered with the nearby University of the Pacific (UOP) Brubeck Jazz Department and established a Jazz Club called "Take 5 Jazz at the Brew", spearheaded by Simon Rowe, the director of UOP's Brubeck Institute. Simon and Kellie transformed the banquet room in the back of the restaurant into an intimate jazz club with exposed-brick walls, beaded chandeliers, white-linen-covered tables with lighted candles and, in the back, framed photos of Brubeck in action. The Club had great success with Jazz performances by world renowned artists, but Valley Brewing also hosted a variety of entertainment, including a comedy / hypnosis act and a jam session featuring local musicians held every other Sunday. UOP students and administrators had always provided a boost to Valley Brewing's customer base, especially on weekends for $5 pitchers, to watch sports, and to take advantage of the food specials made possible by Davis, who in addition to being co-owner, stepped in to be the new chef.

In 2015, Kellie made the decision to start brewing on site again, finding that she missed the in-house brewing component of the business. A copper kettle brewing system was installed, capable of turning out 10 kegs per batch of beers unique to Valley Brewing. It represented an investment of tens of thousands of dollars in new equipment and installation; however, paying for malt, hops and yeast and brewing craft beers in house costed far less than buying kegs from other breweries. A new brewer was hired to take on most of the brewing responsibilities. In 2020, 3 murals at the brewpub were restored by Dennis Cochran, executive director of the Graffiti Abatement Society, a nonprofit that helped to create jobs by eliminating graffiti that affected businesses. In the late 1990s, owners Kellie and Davis had commissioned Stockton muralist Carlos Lopez to create three murals on the back wall of their building. The murals depicted labels of some the beers that were served at the pub. After more than two decades, the paintings had weathered, leaving some of the paint cracked and chipped. Cochran focused on eliminating and repainting the damaged areas and keeping the good areas untouched, meticulously matching the existing colors to make the touch-ups look as seamless as possible. Once repaired, the murals receive an anti-graffiti coating. Currently the brewpub continues to produce their classic brews, including award-winners such as London Tavern Ale and Uberhoppy; their flagship Indian Red Ale; and old favorites like Black Cat Stout and Valley Brew IPA. There are about 24 taps on site, with roughly 8 of those allocated to in-house beers. Live music is featured on weekend evenings, with a variety of local and regional bands performing blues, rock and jazz.

Hitman Gold began as a Blonde Ale but by 2005 had been changed to an American Pale Ale. As a Blonde Ale, the flavor was smooth and malty with a slightly spicy bitterness from imported Czechoslovakian Saaz hops. Once it became an APA, the smoothness remained but it was aggressively hopped with Simcoe hops. The beer was inspired and licensed by the famous wrestler Bret “Hitman" Hart, who was also the artist who designed and drew the logo for the label. That logo is now immortalized on a mural on an outside wall of the brewpub. The beer was discontinued around 2008-2009.