USA, VA: Moon Hollow Brewing opens its doors in Montgomery County

A portion of an old schoolhouse in Montgomery County now has a boozy second life, WSLS 10 reported.

Moon Hollow Brewing officially opened within the old Prices Fork Elementary School on January 24. The brewery now occupies what used to be the school’s kindergarten classroom.

“Nobody puts a brewery in the building where you attended kindergarten, but we’re doing it," said Hannah Lester, Moon Hollow Brewing’s head brewer. "It’s awesome that the community is so excited about it.”

The new brewery is just a small part of the old school’s rehabilitation; most of the school is now senior housing, while another space in the school is now a shared commercial kitchen for interested chefs.

The grand opening attracted a capacity crowd to the brewery. However, no one had a shorter distance to travel than Stephanie Gilmore, who lives in the converted schoolhouse.

“My grandson went to elementary school here, his mother went to elementary school here, and her mother went to elementary school here,” Gilmore said. “It took me only a half an hour since it opened to get here to start drinking. It’s pretty good.”

Gilmore said she’s excited to have a place to have fun with friends right around the corner from her apartment, especially in a building with as much history as the old school.

“I love the idea of taking a building and re-purposing it," Gilmore said. “It makes my heart happy. It really does. It’s a wonderful thing.”

31 January, 2020