It is the natural progression of the rise of seasonality and farmers market devotion, attention to sustainability and organic methods and the explosion of local beer that a farm would turn into a brewery, grow its own hops and offer it all CSA-style.
In the middle of a 21-acre farm in Midland, between Routes 28 and 29, sits a barn that, starting Sunday, will be the home of Powers Farm Brewery.
Kevin and Melody Powers have been farming in Fauquier County since 2012 and spent the last year fixing up the barn, as well as tending to fruit, vegetables and 1,000 hop plants.
The heirloom fruits and vegetables grown on the farm will play a big part in the brewery, and act as the basis of flavor and inspiration. Kevin will be the master brewer with over 10 years of homebrewing experience and experiments. He has some solid base recipes but plans, he says, on following the “French [farmhouse] tradition, which is really just a loose framework.” Beers will also be dictated by what Melody harvests that week. Debut beers include Passion Flower Saison, Lemongrass Pils, Black IPA, Sooner IPA, Lemon Balm Wit and Spelt Biere de Garde.
The brewery’s taproom is open from Thursday through Sunday and, unique to NoVA, also includes a CSA option. Like produce CSAs (which Powers also runs), subscribers pay at the beginning of the season and then collect a growler fill each week. The Field Beer CSA has 20-week options with either 64- or 32-ounce growler pick-ups every Thursday.
The barn will also house the five-barrel system that Kevin plans to keep very busy with a new flavor and experiment every week. Powers also plans to harvest wild yeast on the farm to be used in the brewing process. Wild yeast is harvested overnight during the more temperate spring and fall, which adds another layer of interesting seasonality to the beer.
The brewery opens this Sunday at noon. Find details about Powers and other Northern Virginia breweries in our beer directory. // Powers Farm Brewery: 9269 Redemption Way, Midland
Additional reporting by Elissa Davis
