Nelson County’s three craft beer breweries are enjoying such high levels of demand, they are all preparing to undertake major expansion projects.
Blue Mountain Brewery, located in Afton on Route 151, is planning to break ground Feb. 1 on a “mammoth” 4,950-square-foot addition to the brewery’s existing 3,360-square-foot restaurant and brewery space.
“We’ll be gaining quite a bit of space for our thirsty customers,” said Mandi Smack, co-owner of Blue Mountain.
Blue Mountain’s expansion will triple the size of the kitchen, add space for a “beer library,” expand seating in the restaurant and allow the brewery to begin hosting private events, such as rehearsal dinners or corporate meetings.
Meanwhile, 13 miles down Route 151, Devil’s Backbone Brewing Co. is finalizing details on construction of a $5 million production facility in the Shenandoah Valley. The new facility, which is expected to open by the end of 2011, will allow Devil’s Backbone to bottle and keg its beer and to expand production to such a level that it could be distributed statewide.
“We’ve basically been at maximum capacity almost since we opened our doors,” said owner Steve Crandall. “We realize that there’s substantial room for growth.”
In nearby Nellysford, the newly opened Wild Wolf Brewing Co., a beer brewery and brewing supply shop, is planning to begin construction on a brewpub in the spring.
Wild Wolf, which started selling beer in early November, features beer brewed by Danny Wolf, son of the company’s owner, Mary Wolf, a retired AOL marketing executive.
“We have people coming in regularly with their growlers to be refilled,” she said. “That’s always a good sign.”
Maureen A. Kelley, director of Nelson County Economic Development and Tourism, said the county has been aiming to attract beer-loving visitors by promoting the growing number of award-winning craft breweries. In partnership with Albemarle County, Nelson has been marketing the area as the Brew Ridge Trail, which includes Nelson’s breweries, as well as Crozet’s Starr Hill Brewery and Charlottesville’s South Street Brewery.
“The Brew Ridge Trail has become another tourism destination for Nelson County,” Kelley said. “Add to the three breweries a hard cidery (Bold Rock), slated to break ground in spring 2011, and we have a full compliment for the craft beer enthusiast.”
Bold Rock Cidery will be located on Route 151 near Nellysford. It will feature a production area, a cider pub and a restaurant.
Bold Rock will be the Charlottesville region’s second hard cidery, the first being Albemarle CiderWorks, a hard apple cidery in North Garden that is also part of the Brew Ridge Trail.
While technically in competition with one another, each of the breweries’ owners said the number of breweries in Nelson County has made the area a destination and benefited them all.
“It’s a perfect scenario of a rising tide lifts all boats,” Crandall said.
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