Name of business: Tap Truck Central Valley

Type of business: Mobile beverage catering

Location: Travels to 21 cities throughout the Valley, including Turlock, Hilmar, Delhi and Denair

Hours: By booking only

Contact information: 209-541-5301

Specialty: Almost anything on tap

History of business:

There’s nothing better than locally-crafted brews like beer, wine and cider — that is, unless they roll up to your event in a custom restored 1964 GMC Panel truck. It sounds too cool to be true, but Tap Truck Central Valley has helped classic car lovers who also consider themselves beverage aficionados keep the party flowing since they rolled into business earlier this year.

“When we pull up to a party in that truck with beer on tap, no one is ever disappointed,” Tap Truck owner and operator Julie Amaral said.

Amaral, a Modesto native, and Hilmar resident Monica Farhat were inspired to bring a mobile beverage catering service to Turlock and the surrounding area after seeing a similar company in Portugal, she said. They connected with Tap Truck founders Taylor Steers and Corbin O’Riley, who originally started the business in San Diego but have since branched out to other regions, and were pointed in the direction of the vintage GMC thanks to their guidance.

Just a few months and plenty of restoration later, the Valley’s Tap Truck made its debut at a launch party in March.

“They told us we could customize the colors and we were sold,” Amaral said. “We had a vision for what we wanted ours to look like and that’s what you see.”

The Tap Truck features a striking turquoise paint job and chrome bumpers, inspired by the cars that cruised the streets of Modesto in the George Lucas film “American Graffiti,” and, of course, several taps on the side of the truck that can pour the beer, cider or wine of the party thrower’s choice.

Amaral said that the Tap Truck enjoys recommending local brews from businesses like Dust Bowl Brewing in Turlock, Last Call Brewing in Oakdale and Blaker Brewing in Ceres for those who are unsure of what they’d like on tap.

“There are quite a few craft breweries in the Central Valley, and we like to pour local whenever we can,” she said. “We enjoy the local beer scene that we have here.”

The Tap Truck is available to book for events ranging from 25 to 5,000 guests, including simple wedding rentals to corporate events, brewery festivals, football game tailgates and more. The Tap Truck can show up anywhere as an event’s mobile bar.

“We knew there was a market for it here — it was just a matter of being a unique niche in that market,” Amaral said.

For more information about the Tap Truck Central Valley, visit www.taptruckcentralvalley.com.