USA, VA: Richmond’s Canon & Draw Brewing Co. closes down for good

Richmond’s Canon & Draw Brewing Co. closed this month at 1527 W. Main St. after a four-year run, the Richmond Biz Sense reported on August 23.

Launched in 2018 as an offshoot of Chesterfield-based Steam Bell Beer Works, Canon & Draw struggled to return to its pre-pandemic levels, said owner Brad Cooper.

“Pre-COVID we’d have private parties for 200 people. After COVID we’d still have private parties, but it’d be like 20 people,” Cooper said. “We were never able to get back the people that we had before COVID.”

Canon & Draw occupied 5,000 square feet on the ground floor of The Eclipse, a mixed-use building owned by Blackwood Development.

Principal Nolen Blackwood said the brewery’s vacated space, which sits below 16 apartments, is available immediately for lease and could be subdivided into a pair of 3,500- and 1,500-square-foot suites. The Shopping Center Group has the listing.

Cooper said it was bittersweet to pull the plug on Cannon & Draw.

“We put a lot into it. Part of me is definitely sad to see it go. But part of me is also like, we’ve also got so many good things happening at Steam Bell and now we can really free up some resources to be able to do it,” Cooper said.

One of the new things Cooper is alluding to at Steam Bell is the addition of a permanent food truck run by the brewery. He said he’s also considering plugging in some of Canon & Draw’s old brewing equipment at Steam Bell.

“I would love to use some pieces of it at Steam Bell, but a lot of it we just don’t have room for,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out exactly what we’ll do with it.”

Shuttering Canon & Draw will also allow Cooper to focus on opening Hidden Wit Brewing Co., a farm brewery in Moseley he’s working on with Kim and Butch Taylor, and Jessica and Chad Ritter. Cooper said they’re hoping to open Hidden Wit in early 2023.

Brewery closings have been rare in Richmond’s recent beer boom. Prior to Canon & Draw the most recent closure in the market was the Shockoe Bottom taproom of Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery in 2020.

23 August, 2022