"If you get into mass producing, then you're Anheuser-Busch." Though he wants to grow, his aim is to stay a boutique brewery. I think we'll be opening some people's eyes."Įither way, Isley will keep the Scott's Addition location open, and plans to throw an anniversary event Oct. "It's an untapped market, as far as I see it. "Chesterfield sees what kind of revenue I can generate, and I do too," he says. This time, the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce and Planning Commission asked if he would be interested. Isley originally planned to open a brewery in Chesterfield, but couldn't get the zoning to work. He hopes to hold on-site events, open a tasting room and brew beer for distribution. "My desire is not to be everywhere in Virginia."īut Isley is eying plans to open a second location on his 80-acre farm in Chesterfield. "I want to keep it as local as possible," he says. Brown Distributing has asked him about expanding beyond the Richmond area, but he isn't keen on the idea just yet. Looking ahead, Isley is considering bottling or canning his beer. "There's a reason McDonald's and Hardee's have always opened side-by-side," Isley says. For now at least, Isley welcomes the competition. Not far away, Strangeways Brewing opened off Dabney Road last year. Scott's Addition has become a brewing magnet, with Ardent Craft Ales opening five blocks away, joining Isley in the spring. "He thought I was going to rob him in a parking lot somewhere," Isley says. They're created by brew master Josh Stamps, whom Isley found by posting an ad on Craigslist. Since starting, the brewery has made at least 25 different beers, featuring six at a time on tap. "I want to make something different every time we brew."Įvery week Isley holds Friday Night Infusions, mixing all sorts of flavors. "That was our version of a shandy," Isley says. For the Fourth of July, brewers created the Patriot Punch, a hefeweizen spiked with Hawaiian Punch. There have been kiwi-infused Belgian white ales and oatmeal-chocolate-coconut porters. Isley's done pineapple white ales and lime-cilantro hefeweizens. This freedom has led to some out-of-the-box experimentation. Our size really gives us a foot up on what we can do." "We are so small, we can do a one-off batch of beer and it's not a huge investment," Isley says. In comparison, he says his brewery probably will do a small fraction of that - 750 to 1,000 barrels in its first year. He estimates that Hardywood does somewhere between 10,000 to 20,000 barrels annually. He'd been looking to start a second business, and he'd found it, opening the brewery in October. While patrons grabbed beer, he began to count cups, and did some quick math on a napkin. Isley, who also owns Winter Plumbing and Heating, was inspired to open a brewery while attending an event at Hardywood. "That's one of my least favorite beers, and one of our best-sellers," he says. Take his Choosy Mother peanut butter oatmeal porter, for instance: From the moment you meet him, you know he's going to tell it like it is. in Scott's Addition is busy, and owner Mike Isley is surveying the scene from a seat at the bar. It's the final minutes of the World Cup, and going into extra time, Germany and Argentina still are tied.
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