AUBURN, Calif. — Knee Deep Brewing Co. in Auburn created a mascot over 10 years ago that now appears around Sacramento and worldwide, which is exactly what the company intended.
“The Hoptologist” is a cartoon mad scientist who is not human but a hop with arms and legs, and he was originally created around 2012 with the intention of championing Knee Deep’s newest double IPA at the time called the Hoptologist, according to Knee Deep CEO Jerry Moore.
The hops used in breweries are actually the dried female flower clusters of a hop.
“He can now be found somewhere on pretty much all our labels, a bit of a ‘where’s Waldo?’” Moore said. “In this case, where’s Hopto?”
The mascot was created in Lincoln by a person who worked on graphics part time for the brewery, Moore said.
He said the Hoptologist beer with the mad scientist on the label ships to Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Australia.
“On one of our brewery walls, we have a picture of a lady drinking from a Hoptologist bottle at the Seoul, (South) Korea airport,” Moore said.
Several versions of the mascot appear on a variety of craft beers. The mascot appears in the style of a headless horseman for the company’s “Midnight Hoppyness,” for example.
Other versions include a blue mascot for their “Tahoe Blue” brew and the mascot in overalls in a ice cream parlor employee-style uniform for its cold India pale ale, “Frosty Boi.”