With the Silver Spring Lagerhaus & Biergarten at brewing capacity, Silver Branch first turned to Warrenton, Virginia, purchasing the former home of Wort Hog Brewing and its 15-barrel (bbl) brewhouse. This move doubled their beer making potential, though the second brewery has yet to approach its limit. Silver Branch would like to devote more space in Silver Spring to events and dining, and are looking at properties in Rockville, Maryland, to install a 20-bbl brewhouse and small taproom. That’s right, get ready for a third Silver Branch location, and you can help. Silver Branch Rockville Beerworks will be the brewery’s main production space, with a modest tasting room. Without a signed lease or letter of intent, the brewery is hesitant to talk about specific locations, but we’ll note that there is at least one brewery space available in Rockville.
Atlas Brew Works used crowdfunding for their most recent Alexandria location, and Silver Branch will do something similar via Honeycomb, offering equity in the company and its subsidiaries, including a new venture, Mosaic Pizza. The brewery provided DC Beer with an advanced copy of a press release, which notes: “Silver Branch hopes to raise upwards of $700k in crowdfunded investment to open the new taproom, a pizza company, and relevant kitchen upgrades. The 3800 BBLs per year brewery has recently advanced plans to double production with a larger facility in Rockville, Maryland, and will increase its distribution into Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. Additionally, the move will help lower production costs, and further increase taproom revenues with expanded food offerings.”
Silver Branch is making two bets here. The first is that there is still money to be made in regional distribution, adding Delaware to DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The second is that their strength in on-premise sales can be further improved with expanded food options and a larger dedicated events space in Silver Spring; infrastructure improvements in Warrenton, including a patio; and a tasting room in Rockville, served by an in-house pizza truck.
Moving production to Rockville will allow the original Silver Spring location, across the street from the red line, to become more of an events hub and dining destination for area families, though it does come at the expense of the brewhouse. “Families are looking for pizza, not necessarily craft beer,” co-founder and CEO Christian Layke says, though he notes the “complimentary demographics” of the beer and pizza crowds. Eventually, Silver Spring may not retain any brewing capacity, though a 3- or 5-bbl system there is possible.
“As a subsidiary, Mosaic Pizza will provide the full menu to all three taprooms and offer pizza and beer delivery to all three communities. To match Silver Branch’s globally inspired, award-winning beer, the menu is designed by Executive Chef Devin Bozkaya, formerly of The Inn at Little Washington,” adds the press release.
In sum, funding will help Silver Branch:
Beyond cosmetic improvements, the Warrenton location is not immune to the staffing issues often found in exurban breweries: it has been difficult to hire and retain staff. Old Ox’s Middleburg, Virginia brewery also recently had a brewer resign. Absent the stability of a brewing team, Silver Branch Warrenton will probably remain below beer making capacity for some time. It would be easier to brew closer to population centers, and closer to Silver Spring Lagerhaus & Biergarten. “Quality through consolidation” is how Layke puts it.
The pizza truck would provide food at the Rockville brewery, and a beer dispensing truck could be rented out for events and give Silver Branch more options at area festivals outside of the usual jockey boxes. Layke noted a truck as both a mobile advertisement-conversation piece and a better way to serve beer.
Silver Branch’s fifth Oktoberfest celebration in Silver Spring starts on Friday, September 20, with a stein line and other Teutonic classics. Silver Branch returns to Snallygaster this year, and they’re bringing their Oktoberfest and a firkin of Fletcher’s Finest Brown Ale, which means you can find us there, toasting to the future Silver Branch Rockville Beerworks. Should you wish to invest, you can do so via Honeycomb.
