E-Malt.com News article: USA, VA: Chaos Mountain Brewing coming to Franklin County

Chaos Mountain Brewing announced on January 27 that it plans to be up and running later this year, producing 2,500 barrels of beer in its first year and employing more than 20 people. A former bed factory at the foot of Cahas Mountain is being retrofitted to churn out a variety of brews for retail and restaurant consumption, according to Roanoke Times.

Joe Hallock, the owner of Chaos Mountain, said he had a stake in SleepSafe Beds, the company that owned the building. When he decided to sell his piece of the company, he took the building as part of the agreement. It had been on the market for about three years, since the bed manufacturer moved operations to a different location.

He said he always enjoyed the rural location of the factory, in the Callaway community, and originally planned to name the brewery after Cahas Mountain. Soon, though, he realized a slight tweak would give it a universal ring and branding advantage. “Chaos just seemed more appropriate,” Hallock said.

Right now, Hallock is working to complete the arsenal of equipment that will be necessary to run a 30-barrel brew system. He said the goal is to open the facility for business in March.

The Franklin County Board of Supervisors offered financial assistance to urge the project onward, a $23,500 payment that will be made when the brewery opens.

Michael Burnette, Franklin County’s director of economic development, said county officials have been working with the brewery since July. Breweries are viewed as especially beneficial, he said, because they create jobs as well as an asset that can be advertised as a draw for potential residents.

The announcement also shows an expansion of interest in the more rural areas of the county.
“We’re fortunate that we’ve seen a lot of development in the Westlake area and in Rocky Mount, but now we’re seeing some growth in other parts of the county, like Callaway,” Burnette said.

In this case, residents will have an alluring reason to head toward Callaway. Hallock said the brewery has built a tasting room that can accommodate about 60 people. Eventually about a dozen brews will be on tap regularly, along with seasonal and limited release beverages.

Hallock is hoping to tap into the region’s burgeoning beer scene — 11 breweries operate within an hour of Roanoke, including Sunken City Brewing Company just across the county — with a wide variety of beers.

“We’ll offer a pretty broad assortment of beers,” he said. “We’ll do ales, pale ales, all the way up to some of your big Belgian beers.”


29 January, 2014