What about brew on premises? Shenandoah Brewing, VA

Just went to a friends party at the Shenandoah Brewery in Alexandria, VA and I thought I would share my experience.


Overview:

Shenandoah Brewery (SB) is located on Pickett road right across from Joe Ragan's office furniture (why did I notice this) and next to a pretty nice Latino cafe/bistro (get the empanadas but skip the coffee - apparently no one knows how to work the espresso machine).

Welcome to Shenandoah Brewing

The brewery is housed in a row of buildings that used to be either warehouses or some sort of distribution center, lots of loading ramps and bumper guards. The building is divided into to thirds with a bar near the entrance, the 10 or so brew kettles to the right, and a storage space/bottling area in the back.

The bar was nicely stocked with some of their brews to sample and normal bar food (AVOID the chili - tasty but I still feel like the Hindenburg 8 hours later). The actual brew system is VERY nice: steam kettles (enough for a 10 gallon batch -maybe more) with vacuum lines, plenty of work space (not that you really need it), and some large fermentation rooms in the back (frustrating to lager in VA during summer).

The Brew:

Shenandoah offers a pretty broad selection of beers to brew, including a number of belgians, some nice IPA's, and plenty of lagers. The selection process today was pretty easy since we were lucky enough to be brewing two recipes, so we went with a pilsner and a marzen (why not lager when you don't have to worry about it?). The staff, while VERY busy, were nice enough to explain each beer and give their own two-cents (again while pouring and serving the 30-40 people brewing today).

After selecting our brew the staff led us back to the bottling area to gather the ingredients for the pilsner and marzen. Understandably it is tough to get 10+ people engaged in a single brew, but the staff did a great job of explaining exactly how grain + extract + hops = good. Here is perhaps my one gripe with Shanendoah's on site brewing - they use extract.

I have brewed both AG and extract and, recently, I have saved the extract brewing for when I'm either A) pressed for time; B) lazy; or C) lazy and pressed for time. AG just tends to taste better, again this is just one man's opinion (and I have brewed some awesome extract beers), but it seems to be one shared by many. Understandably, the logistics of brewing 7-10 different AG batches is certainly daunting, if not impossible, but nothing is stopping them from using a common wort. Also, I wasn't too jazzed about using corn syrup in place of LME, I've never liked the taste too much when it is over 15% or so (it was 2.5lbs out of 10)

The great part about brewing at SB was that you don't have to clean, sanitize, lug, carry, finagle, toss, stir, or aerate ANYTHING -absofreakingloutely nothing -awesome. All you have to do is open the lid, add extract, add hops, wait, add more hops, get drunk - which, again, is awesome. Coming from 6-7 hour AG marathon sessions where it gets up to 90 degrees in my kitchen and my cat keeps threatening to take a dip in my freshly chilled wort, SB was a nice break.

When it came to pitching the yeast I was a little disheartened to see the Nottingham pack come out for both brews. Again, I have nothing against dry yeast and keep a bunch of Safale in my fridge for my APA's and IPA's, but for the amount of money you are paying for brewing at SB you should get a little more customization.

While we haven't bottled yet, the setup looks pretty straightforward. C02 lines to single bottle fillers, apparently they filter out the yeast at some point?

Conclusion:

SB is a great introduction to home brewing, albeit somewhat stripped of its more refined qualities (AG, yeast, cats). I'm curious to hear what others think of brew on premises setups - they are pretty rare on the East Coast from what I can tell. While I won't be going back to SB ($), it is definitely worth a look for those thinking about getting into brewing or trying to convince others to!

I looked through the website and it seems like a pretty sweet deal, considering everything. The price seems reasonable considering that they are doing the majority of the grunt work. I think it would be a cool way to introduce friends to homebrew and very simplified. It seems like a neat business concept. Would I do it? Probably not, but I love to brew at home, with my set up. If I had never brewed before, I would definitely be interested. As a matter of fact, I seem to recall this when I lived in Fairfax 4 years ago (before I ever brewed) and it definitely caught my eye.

It seems like you had a good experience and a fun day.

As far as extract vs all-grain...I think AG introduces too many moving parts for the brand new brewer. It also extends the time that it takes you to brew, reducing their turnover. I can understand why it would be extract. Is their a partial-mash option? That would only add about an hour and is very simple.

Eric

The Flying Barrel in Frederick Maryland does the same thing. Seems like a good idea if 1. you are exposing a lot of people to brewing or 2. they have the abillity to brew much more beer than you (15 or 20 gal instead of 5 gal).

interesting idea! I'm currently a 20 min drive from Alexandria, I'll have to check it out. One question though, do you bottle yourself? I'm guessing the whole party doesn't come back a second time, or do they?

With the Brew on Prem. I went to you would come back 2 weeks later to bottle.

My friend says that SB wants the back in late September to bottle, seems like a long time to lager. I'm ale only at home, need to build a fermentation chamber to lager.

I considered trying SB out before I invested in any equipment just to determine if I would like it... It would have been super convenient considering I live all of 2 miles from their location. I never made it because I pretty much came to realize that I would love homebrewing before I even tried it, so I used the money I would have spent at SB to invest in more equipment.

I do think it would be a lot of fun if you had a big group of buddies who had never brewed and went in there together to try it out.

FWIW, the folks at SB have been very generous sponsors of our local mountain bike club, and even donate kegs to our club Christmas party each winter. The beer they've donated has been delicious.

alcibiades said:

interesting idea! I'm currently a 20 min drive from Alexandria, I'll have to check it out. One question though, do you bottle yourself? I'm guessing the whole party doesn't come back a second time, or do they?

Click to expand...

Yes but you need to buy the bottles from them.

Bottles are included in the total cost from what I understand. I won't be going back for the bottling, I have an IPA that needs some attention! I think BOP is good concept but it is VERY hard to get 10+ people involved in the actual brewing process, espeically if they use extract. When I'm brewing at home it is a different ballgame altogether. I also was wondering about the 2 month lagering, seems a little much doesn't it?

I seem to recall that bottles were NOT included in the initial price. But I could be wrong on that, it's been a few years since I was last there and I'd always keg 5 gallons and bottle the rest. Always thought it was WAY over priced but I was limited living in an apt. in VA at the time, and no burners allowed on the balconies.

I also will not be heading back. Why pay $150 plus when I can pay $40 per batch?

Looks like a fun place. I like the fact that they're also a brewpub. I started out brewing my own at a similar place - Incredibrew in Nashua NH. They have lots of choices for 15 gallon recipes and the staff are always great. They also offer recipes for wine & root beer. I've brewed about 8 batches with them before I started brewing at home. I still would go back since it is much easier to have them do all the cleanup. The only thing they are missing is the brewpub aspect. I have had to go to the nearby Chili's afterward for a few beers & a burger.

Resurrection for an important reason: this place is closing soon unless it's bought.

In case anyone has the desire and enough funding or credit to do so, this place is up for sale, and will close PERMANENTLY by the end of June if no one buys it. I asked the price for curiosity's sake and was told $400k (includes taking over the lease and all equipment on site, several multi-barrel conicals and such).

I've lived just down the road from this place for years, finally made an effort to swing by. The beers they had on tap were tasty enough, and the brew-on-premises idea is cool (even if pricey), and I'd really hate to see it go. However, without winning the lottery no way I'll be taking that on.

If someone's wanted to run their own brewery, has a mountain of funds, and doesn't want to build it from the ground up, here's your shot.

People pick strange places to start a business. It's beautiful out there, but I bet the place would still be open if it were in VB, Norfolk, or Richmond. It would be awesome if a bunch of us on the board got together and bought the place

Was this place saved? Looking at their web page it may have been...
The reason I ask is I have been contemplating opening a BOP in New York City so I search "Brew-on-premises operation" and this thread came up.

I'm not sure, I'd have to swing by there. I can do that and report back. Last time I drove by (a couple weeks ago) there was a big "FOR LEASE" sign hanging (like the space was vacant and up for lease), but from the website it looks like they might have made it through.

Drove by last night, when according to their hours they should be open. The "for lease" sign is gone, and it looks like everything is still set up inside (bar stools, tables, chairs, their row of bottles in the window). But they were closed. So I have no idea if it's still open or not. I'll swing by again and take another look soon.

Thanks for the up date, maybe I'll just call and ask "how it going."