And just like that the calendar year equivalent of a wet fart is over. I think we’ve probably all heard enough adjectives to last us an unprecedented lifetime unlike any other about 2020, so we’ll just choose to ignore the comprehensively covered bad, and focus on the good from our very little corner of the world.

For all the macro, systemic level monstrosities that 2020 unleashed, overall Badlands had a year that, while a lot of the time was spirit breakingly difficult, I think we’ll probably look back at it with a large asterix of pride, and maybe even joy (my wife and I had a kid, so we’re pretty joyful about that #Liam). 2020 will always represent a pretty major milestone/turning point for Badlands (In case you haven’t guessed yet, we’re talking about finally getting a brewery that can make more than 100L of beer at a time). 

Since 2015 we’ve been working through what we loosely referred to as “Phase 1”for the brewery, which was basically comprised of 1) getting a brewing license 2) getting a tiny brewery with all the savings we had in our broke ass bank accounts; and 3) turning that damn brewhouse over as much as we physically could and reinvesting 100% of the money we made from the business, and from our day jobs until we could get a loan for a new brewery. And as of September 2020 we had finally completed that final part!

We haven’t really had a chance to sit back and catch our breaths yet, and really until I sat down to write this, I hadn’t given the year a good, existential look. So when we look back at the year that was 2020 for Badlands and consider it against the backdrop of a global health crisis that took the lives of millions, paralyzed the global economy and gave rise to one of the largest civil rights movements in decades, the problems in our little corner of the world seem quaint by comparison.

Thank you to everyone who supported us through 2020, everyones dollars are shorter than ever these days, and each one you send our way allows us to keep making beer the Badlands way for you all. For that we are, and will always be speechlessly thankful. See you in 2021