E-Malt.com News article: USA, VA: Charlottesville’s South Street Brewery closed for remodelling till September

Local beer makers say discerning palates and unyielding interest and support for high-quality local food and drink are sustaining growth in the Charlottesville area’s brewing industry, The Daily Progress reported on July 13.

The latest changes to the local scene come via Blue Mountain Brewery, which recently purchased Charlottesville-based South Street Brewery. In operation for 16 years, South Street is closed for remodeling but will keep its name when the brewery and restaurant reopen in September, said Blue Mountain founder Taylor Smack.

“Craft beer has been very steadily becoming accepted as what beer is,” Smack said in an email. “It’s flavor and tradition, but it is also new and just plain good. A sense of hyper-localism is really allowing this industry to go wild too; craft beer at heart is about a smaller, localized product.”

In addition, an expanded tap system will be installed, and South Street beer also will be available “on tap in restaurants and in every sort of store that sells beer throughout Virginia,” he said.

“Our new distribution partnership with Virginia Eagle for this brand is allowing us to realize the dream of getting beer we make in more of our customers’ hands, and we’re overflowing with excitement to join the great portfolio of local beers they represent.”

From an industry perspective, Smack said legislative changes, too, have been helpful, specifically Senate Bill 604. Passed in 2012, the law allows breweries to conduct on-premises sales and sampling, which eliminates the need to operate a restaurant in order to make running a brewery a profitable endeavor.

“That’s allowed the realization of breweries like Three Notch’d, Hardywood Park, Champion, Three Brothers and dozens of others,” Smack said.

“I agree that the beer culture in Charlottesville is particularly strong and supportive,” Hunter Smith, Champion’s founder and owner, said in an email. “Charlottesville is proud of its local suppliers and has a population that in some ways can afford to support a number of breweries.”

Beer originating from the Charlottesville area frequently receives national accolades. Starr Hill Brewery won a Bronze Medal in the 2014 United States Open Beer Championship. The international competition recognizes exceptional professionally brewed and homebrewed beers from around the world.

Starr Hill’s Soul Shine Belgian-Style Pale Ale won the honor in the competition’s Out of Bounds Pale Ale category, where judges use only their taste buds and preferences, according to a recent announcement from the Crozet-based company. Overall, the contest drew more than 3,000 beer and cider entries.

“The thirst to create outstanding beers is strong at Starr Hill,” said Mark Thompson, the company’s founder and master brewer. “We are honored to have won a medal in such a significant competition.”

Like Virginia’s wine industry, Smith stressed that quality, not quantity, will be the element that sustains the Charlottesville area’s burgeoning beer culture.

“I think there is certainly room for more breweries. Though, as saturation sets in, it will be important to have unique products and maintain high levels of quality control,” Smith said. “The latter is the primary risk for new breweries.”

Smack echoed that sentiment, saying that he thinks both the simple brewery tasting room and full-scale brewpub restaurant approaches will be successful.

“Our industry is definitely getting more competitive, and as raw goods become scarcer and the prices rise, only great beer will prevail,” he said.

“And that’s the beauty of the craft beer industry,” Smack continued. “In many other market segments, only large businesses that can leverage their size can make it through spikes in the availability of goods for production, but the growing number of craft beer drinkers aren’t afraid to pay a few more bucks as long as the extra spend is reciprocated with the quality of the product. After all, even ‘expensive’ beer is a relatively cheap thrill in life, and one a lot of us will never go without.”


16 July, 2014