By Nicole Bayne
It’s all because of the glycol chilling system.
Right now, BadWolf Brewing Company can only produce ales, not lagers. And that’s a serious limitation.
Because of the small space at the Manassas brewery, there wasn’t room to install a glycol chilling system, which allows owner and head brewer Jeremy Meyers to control the temperature of each beer fermenting, just like a refrigeration system. To compensate, Meyers has been brewing ales (which can be made at room temperature) as well as experimental ales made with lager recipes.
Set to open in June on Kao Circle just 10 minutes from the original location, the new location will offer bar snacks, including housemade popcorn, and will stock delivery menus for customers to order in as well as arrange for food tucks to sell meals and snacks.
Meyers plans to hold events and business meetings in the taproom, host live music and possibly showcase live bottling of BadWolf beers. They are also building a glass-walled yeast lab so patrons can watch them isolate yeast strains to use in new beers.
The larger size also will enable sourcing from local hops providers, something BadWolf can’t do in its current location. Local hops distributors sell by the 44-pound bag, and because BadWolf doesn’t have room for that amount, the hops would go bad. The Meyers (Jeremy owns the company with his wife, Sarah) currently buy from BrewCraft USA, a collective of hop growers in the Pacific Northwest, but will soon try working with local hops providers.
“There are a lot of hops that grow well in Virginia, like Columbus Centennial,” says Meyers. “I would like to be able to source all of those varieties from Virginia. We are big believers in small business and in buying local. You tend you get better, fresher, good produce if you buy local goods. It helps the local economy.” / New location opening in June: Bad Wolf Brewing Company; 8420 Kao Circle, Manassas
