USA, VA: Hidden Wit Brewing Co. on track to open at the end of the summer in Moseley

Nearly six years in the making, Hidden Wit Brewing Co., in the Moseley area of Chesterfield County, is on track to open at the end of the summer, the Richmond BizSense reported on June 8.

Construction is nearly complete on the 10-acre farm brewery at 21110 Hull Street Road. Inside the 10,000-square-foot building will be a tap room and dining area, event space, a full kitchen and a 20-barrel brewing system. The remaining land is being transformed into a patio with an outdoor bar, an turf lawn, a gazebo and a stage for live music.

The project is led by an ownership group of Virginia locals: Butch and Kim Taylor, Brad and Andrea Cooper, Jessica and Chad Ritter, and Dave Butler and Stephan Parry.

The Taylors are the majority owners. Butch led the project’s development and will continue to oversee the brewery’s growth. He also owns Titan Auto & Tire with his wife, Kim, who’s a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. Kim will handle advertising and events for Hidden Wit alongside Andrea Cooper, who also owns Midlothian brewery Steam Bell Beer Works with her husband, Brad.

Jessica Ritter is a designer at Glave & Holmes, the architecture firm that worked on the project. Her husband, Chad, will be Hidden Wit’s head brewer.

Butler and Parry, who owns Parry Restaurant Group, are investors in Hidden Wit and will be involved with business operations and food and money management. Parry Restaurant Group owns hotels, a winery and a multitude of restaurants across Virginia and North Carolina, including Q Barbeque, which has locations in Glen Allen and Midlothian.

The group is in the final stages of an idea derailed by the pandemic. The Taylors bought the land for the brewery in 2019 and dug the well just days after most of the state went into COVID lockdown in the spring of 2020. It wasn’t until March 2022 that they finally broke ground on the brewery, and the original estimated cost of $3.5 million now exceeds $5 million.

Butch Taylor said the extra cost is related to inflation and an upscaling of the group’s vision to include higher-end, more expensive materials. In addition to Butler and Parry’s contribution, and financing from Old Point National Bank, the project also is funded by other unidentified local individuals, partners and businesspeople.

Chad Ritter said people in the county have been waiting a long time for Hidden Wit. He and others on the team often get messages from locals asking when the brewery will open. ‘

Butch added that with the years of delays, the project hasn’t been easy.

“It’s been nerve-racking to say the least, but you know, if it was easy anybody could do it,” Butch said. “We’re building something that we want to be proud of and the community to be proud of … I get choked up just thinking about it.”

Hidden Wit is targeting an Aug. 1 opening. It’ll have a full restaurant and serve six or seven beers at first, then eventually expand to 18 beers on tap. Butch said the brewhouse will run at 100 percent capacity with extra product planned for distribution, although the group hasn’t signed with a distributor yet. The brewery also will serve Virginia wines and signature cocktails.

Hidden Wit is starting to build out its employee team now, interviewing executive chefs and general manager candidates. Hiring will begin full throttle next month with about 30 staff roles to fill.

Titan Construction Group, unrelated to the Taylors’ similarly named auto business, is the general contractor on the project. Campfire & Co. handled the brewery’s initial branding.

Hidden Wit will be the Richmond region’s 47th brewery. Two others are in the works: Waygone Brewery on Patterson Avenue in western Henrico and Local Craft Pizza & Beer in Chesterfield.

08 June, 2023