Jake's restaurant career started at the age of 13 washing dishes at a local steakhouse in his home town of Mariposa. By sixteen, Jake began dreaming and telling people of owning his own restaurant someday. Sixteen years and twelve restaurant jobs later, his path led him to San Luis Obispo where he met his future wife and business partner Hanna. Hanna also had a passion for the food and beverage industry, and ongoing conversation and vision for their own place quickly unfolded.
After much encouragement from Jake's mother to move home to Mariposa (she owns a restaurant in Mariposa too!), and with the support from both of their families and friends, their dreams quickly became a reality. In April 2013 with the help of Hanna's dad "Cowboy Bob" who was a general contractor the restaurant underwent a 30 day complete renovation of their space. A short 30 days later, 1850 opened its doors to the public on May 1st, 2013 and has proudly been serving quality, fresh food ever since.
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Jake and Hanna were married at 1850 Restaurant in November of 2014.
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In August 2016 the couple expanded their ever growing business to include "The Loft at 1850" which is their two bedroom loft above the restaurant that sleeps up to 6.
As soon as the restaurant and The Loft were on their feet, Jake began dreaming of expanding 1850 into a brew pub. Jake worked many hours in 2015 along side of Mike Hall at Yosemite Alewerks learning of the craft beer world. Mike quickly became Jake's mentor and close friend.
In 2016 Jake and Hanna purchased a tiny 1.5 BBL brewing system and by March 2017, they were licensed and Jake was brewing. Jake quickly realized that keeping up with the demand from 1850 Restaurant was more work than one person could handle, so Shelby Dutra (Hanna's sister) made the move to Mariposa to lend a helping hand and has become Jake's "Brew Ninja." Jake and Shelby both attended brewing courses at U.C. Davis to expand their knowledge into the beer world.
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In May 2017 1850 Brewing Company hosted a Brewery Launch Party where they rolled out Jake's brews. They quickly realized that with the demand of the restaurant, they had already outgrown their system and their small brewing space. The Wackerman's moved into their new 9,000 square foot location in 2019, and plan to expand the brewery and open an onsite tasting room by 2022.
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1850 Restaurant + Brewing Company currently employs 50 local Mariposa residents. Jake and Hanna hope that by expanding the brewery they can add jobs for another 30 people within the next five years.
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Jake shares his love of baseball with the local youth as a baseball coach, and serves on the Mariposa County Little League Baseball Board of Directors.
Hanna served on the Mariposa Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors from 2014 to 2018, and is still active in the Chamber. She also acts as the Treasurer for the Mariposa County Little League, and holds a board seat as well.
The couple both hope that their hard work and investment in the community will inspire other young entrepreneurs to invest in Mariposa as well.
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