USA, VA: Bull Island Brewing on track for October 29 opening

More than a year after a fire gutted the Phoebus building that was originally slated to house Bull Island Brewing, Hampton's newest beer company will open its downtown location at the end of October, the Daily Press reported on October 1.

Doug Reier, the Poquoson contractor-turned-brewer and owner of Bull Island, said he's been working in the space below the Crowne Plaza parking garage on Settlers Landing Road every day since the end of March. The only reprieve was a brief two-day trip to Cape Hatteras with his family.

The spot still smells more of cut wood than hops, but Reier said the brand new brewery is on track for an Oct. 29 opening.

The garage doors that open out to the river view are up and the bartop Reier made of clear resin and grains of barley is done.

Perhaps most importantly, the rows of stainless-steel vats that house the beer are up and running.

He has a floor to put in, some sprinkler work to do and a bunch of beer to brew, but just about everything for the main space is done.

"We're going to be pushing out beer. It's going to be a six-day-a-week brewhouse," said Thomas Lee, Bull Island's head brewer and a recent transplant from Reno, Nev.

By the time they open at the end of October, Reier and Thomas expect to have nine batches of seven different beers, which adds up to over 1,900 gallons of brew.

The options at opening will include things like a Belgian tripel, a double stout, an India pale ale and a couple of seasonal beers — one flavored with pumpkin and another with an oyster-jalapeno combo.

Reier's goal is to have 12 different in-house brews on tap.

Reier said he recently signed a lease for the storefront next door as well, giving him even more space looking out on the Hampton River. He leased a pair of commercial spots at the parking garage in March and knocked out the wall between them to make the current space.

The opening, scheduled from 1 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Oct. 29, will coincide with a Halloween block party in downtown Hampton.

02 October, 2016