By Julia Kauffman
What started out as 21-year-old Joe Rivera’s part-time bartending job at Alamo Drafthouse in Ashburn turned into a full-fledged brewery career in just five years. After working at Old Ox Brewery and 3 Stars Brewing Company, a collection of brewing industry insiders—Jonathan Staples (owner of Vanish Brewery), Jeb Carney, Frank Madden (local entrepreneurs) and Nils Schnibbe (local restaurateur)—approached Rivera to run Eavesdrop Brewery.
Staples will help run the beer program, along with Kenny Allen (who is currently opening a brewery in Maryland), and Schnibbe’s food truck Sunday Chicken will be one of many options for food. (Schnibbes is opening his own beer garden in Round Hill this year).
Eavesdrop’s three-barrel system will focus on sours, New England-style IPAs, farmhouse ales and barrel aging. Located on a farm in Yorkshire—just outside Manassas—Eavesdrop will harvest from its own apple trees, berry bushes, spruce trees and hop garden (Canadian Red Vine, Cascade and Centennial) for recipes.
There’s also an emphasis on co-brewing with local beer-makers. “Even though there is competition with the many breweries in the area,” says Rivera, “we still work together, help one another and become real friends.”
At least half of its 10 brews on tap will feature collaborative creations, including a double IPA with Sterling’s Solace Brewing Company and a sour with Leesburg’s Crooked Run Brewing.
Continuing with the collaboration theme, a rotating line-up of local restaurants will serve food from the prep kitchen for beer dinners and tasting events, plus regular visits from food trucks.
The brewery occupies an old farm building, and the tasting room now sits where a pigeon-racing farm used to be, which inspired Eavesdrop’s logo.
The open windows, wooden features and old barrel tables contribute to what Rivera describes as a “contemporary farmhouse look.” Guests can sit at tables inside or outside, where they can eavesdrop through the conjoining windows.
Eavesdrop Brewery is set to open next month. // Eavesdrop Brewery: 7223 Centreville Road, Yorkshire
*This post has been updated
