An early 20th century farmhouse in Virginia Beach is soon to become home to the city’s first Virginia Farm Winery and Back Bay Brewing Co.’s second brewery location. Farmhouse Brewing, LLC, a partnership with Back Bay Brewing Co., local developer Edward Hewitt and general contractor Ross Vierra, announced their plans to renovate the 1910 farmhouse and have set the facility’s grand opening for March 24, 2018.
The soon-to-be renovated farmhouse sits on 8.6 acres on Kempsville Road. The brewery-winery hybrid will include amenities such as tasting rooms, lounges, ADA-accessible facilities, a fruit orchard, open-air market, a tented outdoor special-event space and a metal building for the brewing of small-batch beer.
The brewery also announced plans to produce hard cider on-site. The property’s new 50-by-50 foot metal building dedicated to cider making will house the largest cider production in Coastal Virginia.
Farmhouse Cidery will source Virginia-grown apples from orchards statewide, notably Silver Creek Orchards in Nelson County, as well as produce their own set of crops in the property’s fruit orchard. Farmhouse Cidery will double as Virginia Beach’s newest craft beverage destination as well as a vehicle to create a new stream of tax revenue. Prior to opening, the cidery will offer five new positions with an average salary of $45,000.
Gov. McAuliffe approved a $20,000 grant provided by the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund to secure this project. “Investments like this create jobs, tourism activity and grows the tax base while creating new markets for Virginia’s farmers as craft beverage producers look to source apples, hops, fruit, honey and other agricultural products,” says McAuliffe in support of Farmhouse Brewing’s venture.
Managing members of Farmhouse Brewing, Josh Canada and Edward Hewitt, expressed their gratitude for such generous funding. “We are ecstatic that the Commonwealth has awarded us this grant. By doing so, they have enabled us to create a one-of-a-kind destination where the lines of cider, beer and wine are blurred,” Canada and Hewitt say. “We are grateful to both the City of Virginia Beach and the Commonwealth for helping us to make our vision a reality.”
Farmhouse Brewing is located at the historic Wood Family farmhouse at 1805 Kempsville Road in Virginia Beach. Be sure to check out Back Bay’s Farmhouse Brewery’s Facebook page for the most-up-to-date information on their renovation process.
Grace Silipigni
Grace Silipigni is an elementary school Spanish immersion teacher based in Virginia Beach and a regular contributor to Coastal Virginia Magazine, covering a wide range of topics such as health and wellness, education and learning, food and drink, happenings and events, travel and getaways and more.
- Grace Silipigni#molongui-disabled-linkApril 23, 2018
- Grace Silipigni#molongui-disabled-linkSeptember 19, 2019