USA, VA: Alexandria’s Aslin Beer Co. planning new facility in town next month

Alexandria’s Aslin Beer Co. plans to open its new production facility and 3,500-square foot tasting room in June at 847 S. Pickett St. in the city's West End neighborhood, Andrew Kelley, a co-founder, said on May 8.

And the company is hiring.

Aslin Beer is hiring cooks, food runners and bussers.

Aslin decided last year to move its headquarters from Herndon to Alexandria.

The lease is for 25,000 square feet, which will include 15,000 square feet of production. The rest will be taken up by office space, private event space, a tasting room and retail space, according Kelley.

The company brews the #1 beer by Virginia Beer Advocates according to votes from Virginia beer fans. The beer is called Double Orange Starfish, a New England IPA.

Aslin is already getting involved in the Alexandria community. The company is one of the sponsors of SCAN’s (Stop Child Abuse Now) 7th Annual Croquet & IPA Day coming up in Alexandria on May 16, from 5-8 p.m. at Waterfront Park in Old Town. Croquet Day provides funding for SCAN to address the needs of the community’s most at-risk children.

One of the reasons Alexandria was a natural choice, Kelley said, is because Port City has done such a good job of "paving the way" for other craft beer companies.

Aslin decided to move to Alexandria before the Amazon announcement, but having Amazon nearby is another huge benefit to being in Alexandria, Kelley noted.

The company's owners also like the neighborhood feel of Alexandria, its number of small, family-owned businesses and its walkability.

In addition to Kelley, the other partners in the business are Kai Leszkowicz and Richard Thompson. They started home-brewing about seven years ago before opening their doors as a small business in 2015 in Herndon. Aslin Beer Co. has already closed their tasting room in Herndon, but the production facility is still open and they continue to sell limited releases out of their facility there.

The company gets its name from the Aslin family — two of the Aslin family's sisters are married to two of the partners in the business. Another sister is married to the brother of a partner.

Aslin updates its website daily with information on new beers and touts its "Mug Club," a $250 annual membership — but enrollment is based on a lottery each year and is usually maxed out. Lucky members get first access to bottle releases, online reservations and early access on release days.

09 May, 2019