By DCBeer Contributor Matt Humbard. Find more of Matt's stylings at @drabmuh or at his blog.
Nanobrewery may not be a term people in the DC metro area find especially familiar. Twinpanzee Brewing Company (@twinpanzee and on Facebook here) hopes to change that. The self-funded operation aims to provide people in the DC area with a destination to enjoy small batch beers from a locally owned business. The owner, Antonio Maradiaga, describes the project as, "a family owned nano-brewery that was started by one of its own lifelong local citizens…. Twinpanzee Brewing Co will be a laid-back place filled with smiles and tasty brews. I can promise you that none of our staff will ever be 'beer snobs' and will be more inclined to laugh at one of your jokes with a sincere smile."
The brewery and tasting room will be located in Fairfax county at a location to be determined. Due to their close ties with Antonio's alma mater, George Mason University, Twinpanzee is looking for space near the university and hopes to open its doors in late 2014. "We've focused our search for locations around the Fairfax area near [George Mason University]…Our aim is to find a location that's reasonbly priced while will proving ample space to expand as Twinpanzee Brewing Co grows…My family and I have deep roots in Fairfax County (born and raised), and I want Twinpanzee Brewing Co to continue and strengthen some of my own strong local ties with homebrew clubs, area schools and organizations in the DC & Northern VA area," Maradiaga explains.
Twinpanzee has launched an ambitious Kickstarter campaign to help raise the money necessary to make this brewery a reality. While exploring different options to fund their new venture, Twinpanzee eventually decided to go the crowd funding route that has been successful for several recent breweries, "We understand that self-funding and starting on a nano-scale is more work, we're very optimistic about our our long term plans as we will be able to expand quickly and better evolve our company as we talk and interact with our thirsty patrons. This is one of the reasons we really need everyone's help in pushing our Kickstarter project to our ultimate goal of $100K." The Kickstarter project has several graduated goals, $100,000 being the highest. For details about donation levels and different reward packages for backers of this project.
Additionally, Twinpanzee is hosting a party at the restaurant PING in Arlington (4060 Campbell Ave. Arlington, VA 22206) to celebrate the launch of the Kickstarter campaign on July 12th. This will be an opportunity to meet the owners and taste some of the beers they hope to bring to market. Three beers will be showcased at this event: Bourbon Vanilla Porter, Grapefruit Hefeweizen, and a Citra IPA. Tasting tickets will be available to attendees (over 21) to sample these three beers. RSVP to twinpanzee@gmail.com for tasting tickets.
