THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504190461
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
In an old, nondescript warehouse on Norfolk's 24th Street, a new, specialized trend is brewing.
Norfolk will soon join scores of other American cities whose entrepreneurs are taking a stab at making a name in the micro-brewery business. Lee and Brenda Scanlon, a husband and wife who moved to the area to give brewing a try, plan to launch Steamship Brewing Co. beer in local supermarkets next month.
``If the West Coast and New England are any indication of what we can do,'' Lee Scanlon said Tuesday, ``it's just a matter of time before micro-brewing filters down here.''
The Scanlons have invested about $500,000 in buying equipment and setting it up in the warehouse, Lee Scanlon said. They moved into the building in November, and have been busy lately tinkering with the recipe of their first two products - Captain's Lager and Steamship Raspberry Ale.
They plan to make 5,000 barrels - 31 gallons each - during their first year in business, but eventually could pump out as many as 25,000 barrels annually.
Norfolk and Hampton Roads are latecomers to the micro-brewery trend. There are 205 of them nationally. A micro-brewery, by definition, produces fewer than 15,000 barrels of beer per year, according to the Institute for Brewing Studies in Boulder, Colo. There are another 363 brew-pubs, bar-restaurants that sell more than half their beer on premises.
The Scanlons are banking on Americans' budding taste for specialty beers to continue. Craft brewers supplied just 1.3 percent of the beer in the United States in 1994, but the number of barrels sold by craft breweries has been increasing 40 percent to 50 percenteach year, the IBS said.
Virginia has three micro-breweries and three brew-pubs, the closest of which are Legend Brewing Co. and Richbrau brew-pub in Richmond.
Mark Scanlon, Lee Scanlon's brother who will be the head brewer, said Hampton Roads residents who are not familiar with micro-brewed beer may need to become accustomed to its heartier taste.
``It's like going to the symphony if you don't like classical music,'' he said. ``If you hear it in person, you get a better appreciation for it.''
Steamship plans to sell its beer for $6.50 a six-pack and about $75 for a keg.
The Scanlons have been encouraged so far by the interest their new venture has stirred in the area's home-brewing clubs. Brewing hobbyists have been calling and stopping by the warehouse to tell the Scanlons they would be willing to help get the brewery up and running.
But for those who want a hometown beer, plus a hometown brew-pub to drink it in, the Steamship Brewing Co. isn't the answer. Not that Scanlon hasn't been asked.
``Everybody calls and asks,'' Lee Scanlon said. ``I just got off the phone right now. But no, we're going to stay away from the restaurant business for now.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Martin Smith Rodden
Lee Scanion stands besides a tank used to brew beer. He and his
wife, Brenda Scanion, plan to launch Steamship Brewing Co. beer in
local supermarkets next month. Their first two products will be
Captain's Lager and Steamship Raspberry Ale.
KEYWORDS: BEER BREWERY by CNB