USA, VA: Triple Crossing Brewing Co. purchases new building for expanding in Richmond’s East End

Another local craft brewery is planning to increase its presence in the Richmond area, Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on February 8.

Triple Crossing Brewing Co. said on February 8 that it plans to expand its brewing and beer-tasting operations to a site in Richmond’s East End.

The company has purchased a 30,000-square-foot building at 5203 Hatcher St. in the Fulton Hill neighborhood.

Co-owner Adam Worcester said the new location is expected to open this year or in early 2017 and will allow the brewery to “grow our production output while providing a unique tasting room and outdoor experience.”

Triple Crossing opened in April 2014 with a small brewing operation and tasting room at 113 Foushee St., near Virginia Commonwealth University.

That space will remain open, Worcester said.

“It is a great spot,” he said. “We have built up a great fan base there. We do all of the brewing on site. We are hand-bottling everything.”

The business needed a bigger location to do enough brewing to distribute its brands to retail locations.

“We always had plans to be able to distribute more product to the market both in cans and bottles,” said Worcester, who co-owns the brewery with Scott Jones and head brewer Jeremy Wirtes, who is currently the only full-time employee. The brewery has several part-time employees.

With the expansion, Worcester said the business likely will employ eight to 10 full-time staff.

Triple Crossing’s planned expansion marks another growth notch for the Richmond-area’s craft brewing industry, which has sprouted more than a dozen new businesses over about a three-year period.

Other recent expansion announcements include Three Notch’d Brewing Co.’s plans to open a 4,000-square-foot tasting room in Scott’s Addition, a neighborhood that is now home to several small craft breweries.

In November, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery started work on a new facility in Goochland County that will expand on its operations in Richmond.

The new location for Triple Crossing is not far from California-based Stone Brewing Co.’s first East Coast brewery, which is under construction.

Worcester said he does not think having the larger Stone brewery nearby will be an issue.

“I think with all the tourism that will be coming into the city and going to Stone, it will be a symbiotic relationship,” he said. “They will come visit the local guys as well.”

The brewery’s beers include Falcon Smash, Element 79 and Udderly Beautiful.

It is planning two bottle releases this month. Its Liberty or Death porter will be released on February 13, and its Nectar and Knife double IPA will be released on February 20.

10 February, 2016