E-Malt.com News article: USA, VA: Fair Winds Brewing to open in Lorton this fall

Last year Fair Winds Brewing Co. raised funds to open a brewery in Northern Virginia, and now the owners are in talks to lease a 12,000-square-foot brewery space in Lorton, Washington Business Journal reported on March 18.

Owner Casey Jones was originally hoping to locate in Merrifield to take advantage of that neighborhood's substantial residential density, but he could not find a space that worked in that part of Fairfax County.

"Commercial real estate has been our bane," he said. "In Virginia, for a brewery, you have to have industrial zoning, so you're really talking about Lorton or Chantilly."

If all goes well, Fair Winds could open by early fall, Jones said. In the meantime, he and brewers Todd Parker and Shawn Johnson have been testing out recipes in a garage to get ready for the fall. When Fair Winds opens, there will be four staple beers: the Howling Gale IPA, a pale ale, a red and a kolsch.

Fair Winds is tentatively setting aside 2,000 square feet for the tasting room. The owners also want to keep the production capability front and center, so they plan to put the brewing equipment behind glass so it's visible from the tasting room.

Fair Winds is just one of several new breweries coming online in the area. There's also Jailbreak Brewing Co. in Laurel, which expects to open in April; Denizens Brewing Co. in Silver Spring; Old Busthead in Warrenton, which just started selling beer; and Hellbender Brewing Co. and Low Brau, both of which aim to open in the District.


19 March, 2014