When Topa Topa Brewing CEO Jack Dyer and brewmaster Casey Harris started the Ventura, California, brewery in 2015, they knew they were in it for the long haul, committing to a business that was anchored in quality beer “with a purpose.”
The duo crafted a taproom-focused brewery that was a love letter to hops, drafting a business plan that prioritized connecting with the community and supporting environmental causes since Day One, including being a member of 1% for the Planet and donating 1% of annual sales to non-profits.
By Year 2 of the company, Topa Topa had already reached the 10-year pillars of Dyer and Harris’ business plan.
Now, Topa Topa has actually hit the decade mark, celebrating its 10-year anniversary last month. Despite operating in a vastly different craft beer market in 2025 compared to 2015, Topa Topa has been able to maintain growth, with no immediate signs of slowing down.
Topa Topa has bucked craft’s trends due to its ability to pivot, Dyer told Brewbound. One of the largest pivots came in late 2019 with the addition of packaged products after four years of being a draft-only operation.
The move couldn’t have been better timed, as the on-premise world shut down a few months later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Topa Topa’s production volume fell 21% in 2020, to 8,400 barrels, the brewery gained nearly all of it back in 2021, with volume increasing 19%, to 10,000 barrels, according to data from the Brewers Association (BA).
Now, Topa Topa is the 139th largest BA-defined craft brewery, increasing production 6% in 2024, to 17,675 barrels of beer, according to the May/June issue of the BA’s New Brewer magazine. The latest production expansion followed 12% growth in 2023 and 49% in 2022, with the latter pushing the brewery into regional brewery status (15,000 barrels or more) for the first time.
“We have a brite tank on our brewery floor that when it’s completely full, it contains more beer than we made in our entire first year of operation,” Dyer said. “So pretty, pretty cool to see that happen on a regular basis.”
Topa Topa’s revenue is split almost evenly between its wholesale business and its five taprooms. The company continues to expand both channels, with one common denominator: Everything stays in California. About 95% of Topa Topa’s beer is sold in the Golden State, with the remaining 5% exported to markets such as Japan.
“We don’t want to go too far, too fast, because then people will end up having a worse experience with our brand and with our product, and that’s not something we want to do,” Dyer said.
“When things scale, from the consumer level sometimes there’s a perception the product might not be right, and so we try and combat that with really good equipment, really good processes, and really paying really tight attention to our code dates, because that’s generally the thing that turns people off from beer,” he added. “The fresher the beer the better.”
On the distribution side, Topa Topa is “nearly tripling” its availability in Southern California in 2025, leading with its No. 1 core offering Chief Peak IPA (7% ABV). The beer expanded into 19.2 oz. single-serve cans in 2024 – Topa Topa’s “big bet” for the year, and its first foray into the package format – and continues to grow, with volume up 70% year-to-date, Dyer shared.
Next to Chief Peak 19.2s in many convenience and grocery stores is Huckster Double IPA (8.8% ABV), a beer that was previously only available at Topa Topa’s taprooms. The single-serve package format for the high ABV offering, paired with its presence next to the more familiar Chief Peak, has helped skyrocket the brand, Dyer said.
Also leading the way in Topa Topa’s California distribution expansion is its second-largest core offering, Dos Topas (4.5% ABV), a Mexican-inspired lager that is also available in 19.2 oz cans, and does well on draft, Dyer said. The latter has been key for Topa Topa as it expands further away from its Ventura headquarters, particularly in the on-premise channel, acting as a “house lager” for some retailers.
As a lager, Dos Topas also offers a “consistent,” “good” and “affordable” option that doesn’t have to compete with the dozens of more local IPAs that are available from other California craft breweries in the area, Dyer said.
Recently launched Sunburst White Ale is serving a similar role. The 5.3% ABV offering was released on draft and in 6-packs in late January, replacing Spectro Hazy IPA (6.3% ABV) in Topa Topa’s core lineup.
“We’re laying a foundation for something that could hopefully have significant growth in the future,” Dyer said of Sunburst. “And if it grows just a little bit more than what we had in its place before, then we consider that a major win.”
Hazy fans should not fret, as Spectro Hazy is still available at Topa Topa’s taprooms. Additionally, Topa Topa launched a new quarterly 19.2 oz. single-serve series this year called Good Good Hazy that will rotate four hazy single and double IPAs. Each is made in partnership with 1% for the Planet non-profits.
“I’m a firm believer that people buy why you make something, not what you make,” Dyer said. “So as a purpose-driven company that is part of the 1% for the Planet network, we really try and let our core values and our beliefs come through in the packaging and the brand.”
Topa Topa is tracking 16% depletions growth halfway through 2025, with trends “accelerating” into the summer season, Dyer shared. Should those trends continue, the company could end the year up as much as 20%, with its production headquarters “already pretty darn close to capacity.”
Dyer also acknowledged “a lot of shifting in the Southern California distribution marketplace right now, that we’re a part of,” and that the company “had a really crazy good back half of last year,” but “we still think we can cycle some of those numbers.”
Note, Topa Topa was distributed in Los Angeles by Scout, which was recently acquired by Hand Family Companies’ Sunset Distributing, the latest move amid myriad California distribution consolidation.
On the taproom side, Topa Topa plans to add another location or two within the next two years, with the goal of eventually maxing out the eight licenses allowed per brewery in California. Its five existing locations in Ventura (headquarters and downtown taproom), Santa Barbara, Ojai and Camarillo had a “rough start to the year,” but have seen an uptick in business ahead of the summer, and had positive growth over the past couple of months, Dyer said.
The increase in taproom revenue was driven by pint sales, but that isn’t always the case, Dyer said, emphasizing the importance of giving consumers more than just great quality beer. Topa Topa has made “some intentional shifts” at its taprooms, including adding kid-friendly attractions and hosting numerous events, which have helped boost business, Dyer said.
“They’re not always the things that stroke your brand and elevate your brand to these crazy levels,” he said. “But if they get butts in seats and get people engaging with you, then that’s really important.”
Topa Topa was named a 2024 Brewbound Rising Star. Dyer talked more about the brewery’s journey and ambitions in a video interview with Brewbound editor Justin Kendall. Watch the award video here.