It’s no secret that California has a reputation for its craft beers. From West Coast IPAs to being known as the craft brewing capital of the United States, the Golden State offers a wide variety of amber ales and other gold-toned brews — and Yolo County is no exception.

In West Sacramento, four friends came together to build a unique watering hole, honoring their shared interests of biking, dogs and beer with the creation of Bike Dog Brewing Company.

Bike Dog hosts a different food truck each day, according to general manager Matt Wambsgans. The brewery also hosts live music on Fridays, according to its website.

Bike Dog offers a variety of options with 16 beers on tap, including the popular West Coast IPAs, an amber lager and a 1990 style red IPA, which Sage Smith, co-owner of Bike Dog, describes as “more malt forward.”

“That’s the nice thing about craft beers,” Smith emphasized. “You go into the taproom one week, you come back the next week and there’s something new. It’s constantly changing and hopefully always evolving.”

At the time when Bike Dog opened its doors, there weren’t many breweries in the Sacramento area. The owners of the West Sacramento taproom, which is located at 2568 Industrial Blvd. Suite 110, initially planned to open only for very limited hours.

“We were one of the new kids on the block,” said Smith in a previous interview with the Daily Democrat. “We only used to do nights and weekends. Just the four of us working our day jobs and then coming and working at the brewery. We did that for about a year before we started hiring people.”

By 2016, the company had expanded from a three-barrel system to a 15-barrel system, enabling much higher beer production. The next year, the brewery opened a taproom in Sacramento on Broadway Street.

Then, just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns across the country, Bike Dog moved their taproom to share a space with Baker Family Wines, owned by Chick Brenneman and manager of the Houston Astros, Dusty Baker.

The idea stemmed from the concept of a one collaborative space for beer and wine lovers to unite, and while lockdowns were tough for the business, Smith said they attempted to make the best of a bad situation by using the extra time provided by pandemic lockdowns to perfect their new space.

“It did give us a little bit of extra time in that we didn’t feel constrained by the pressure of ‘oh we gotta get this done right now,’” Smith said. “It gave us a little wiggle room, and we were able to do a little bit more of the work ourselves versus paying somebody else to do it.”

One of the best parts about owning a brewery — according to Smith — is the community. Between collaborating with fellow breweries, bartenders, customers, and the dogs — which are always welcome inside at the West Sacramento location — there is always something fun brewing at Bike Dog Brewing Company.

“The people who come really set the tone,” Smith explained. “The one thing I always hear is that the vibe is good and everyone is feeling good. It’s just a really warm environment. We always say Well-behaved dogs, well-behaved children, well-behaved adults, they’re all welcome.”

For more information on Bike Dog Brewing Company, visit their website at https://bikedogbrewing.com/.