About two years ago, three guys who met in college started working toward opening their own brewery; now, they’re gearing up to celebrate the adopted first anniversary of Brass Cannon Brewing in Toano.
Brass Cannon Brewing’s owners, CEO Tony Artrip, President Phil Norfolk, and Brewmaster Scott Kennedy met while they studying at Old Dominion University. Around February 2008, the college friends brewed their first batch of Oktober-fest-style beer as a homebrew. Because of luck and a good working relationship, Norfolk, who is also head of sales, said the group became “cocky enough” to start their own business.
In April 2012, the first keg of Brass Cannon’s beer was sold to Buffalo Wild Wings in New Town Williamsburg. Shortly after, Green Leafe Cafe started purchasing kegs. Though Buffalo Wild Wings and Green Leafe no longer serve the beer, Brickhouse Tavern in Williamsburg does.
“That was the culmination of finishing up the last of our test batches and the last of our licenses came in … It’s only a year but, my, years are long it turns out,” Norfolk said.
The brewery is located in a strip center across from an industrial area in Toano. With a warehouse-type feel, the guys created a bar in the front of the business and a brewing area in the back.
The bar is made from wooden pallets, the mash tank for beer making is a 1920s dough fryer they purchased from an online equipment site, and the liquor and boil kettle are repurposed tanks from a pharmaceuticals company that had been heavily cleaned prior to being used for beer.
Turning a homebrew effort into a business required a different skill set.
“Homebrewers can make great beer but there’s a different methodology to brew on professional equipment” because the same beer has to be produced repeatedly, Artrip said.
Brass Cannon currently offers four different beers on tap: Caliber Red Ale, Barrage Brown Ale, Smoothbore Stout and Muzzle Flash American Amber Ale.
With the cannon theme, Brass Cannon needed to open in a location near Williamsburg or Yorktown, and the guys really liked Toano.
“James City County has been really supportive,” Artrip said.
Currently, Brass Cannon and Williamsburg Alewerks are the only craft breweries open in the Historic Triangle.
Brass Cannon brews about 6,000 gallons, or 800 kegs, per year. Artrip and Norfolk said they have plans to bottle or can the beer in the future, but a basic bottling system costs between $10,000 and $50,000. They are hoping contract bottlers will eventually provide service in the area so they can still offer their beer in a more portable way, without the steep cost to do it.
The beer made at Brass Cannon uses more than 30,000 pounds of grain and 300 to 400 pounds of hops. The spent grains, or the grains that have been used for one brew cycle, are given to a local farmer who uses them to feed cattle. A local hop grower has approached the brewery about possibly selling the hops to it.
“Being a local business, we love supporting local business,” Norfolk said.
About 60 people visit the brewery each month. Visitors can taste the beers by flight or buy pints, kegs or growler fills. Growlers are almost gallon-sized jugs filled draft beer for home consumption. The brewery also sells Brass Cannon-branded growlers, glasses, shirts, stickers and small cannons.
To celebrate the anniversary, an after-hours event, featuring $3 pints rather than the regular $4, will be hosted at the brewery starting at 5 p.m. Saturday. The tasting room will still be opened during regular hours, starting at noon, that day.
The brewery is venturing into seasonal brews and is hoping to launch a summer seasonal called Split Shot Rye Wheat. If the test batch of the beer comes out well, Split Shot’s premiere tasting will also be Saturday.
Brass Cannon Brewing is located at 8105 Richmond Road, No. 105 in Toano. The tasting room is open noon to 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. For more information, visit Brass Cannon’s Facebook page.
Volunteers are always welcome to lend their services at the brewery. People interested in learning how to brew are also invited to visit and watch the brewing process. Interested volunteers and brewers should email [email protected].
