November 30, 2018

We're officially expanding!  Monday, construction begins on two new restaurants, located right next door to our brewery and taproom in Sterling!  Coming Spring 2019, Daybreak Biscuit Company and Nectar Cocktail Bar will offer even more eating and drinking options for visitors to our thriving Sterling brewery.

For these two new concepts, we've partnered with Damian Dajcz, owner of Senor Ramon Taqueria.  The first, called Daybreak, is a breakfast and brunch place that will serve house made biscuits piled high with fried chicken, avocado, grilled tomatoes, and other interesting toppings.  Think southern meets west coast.  This is much more than just country gravy, with an exciting mix of creative and healthy options as well.  For later meals, we'll offer some delicious hot chicken sandwiches, covered with chili oil and bread-and-butter pickles, along with award-winning locally-roasted coffee, juice, and many kinds of salads.

The second concept is called Nectar.  Nectar features a state-of-the-art cold pressed juice machine.  Nectar will offer fresh juice-based mimosas such as peach, passion fruit, and clementine, as well as juice-based cocktails.  Lastly, Nectar will feature guest beers from other breweries we collaborate with, with a diverse and unique taplist unseen in Virginia.

In addition to these two new restaurants, the new space next door will feature a private event space, a stage for live music, and a lounge area.  The new space will be connected to our existing space, so you'll be able to walk around with food and drinks from either location.  Also, our sour beer production will shift over to additional brewing area located behind the restaurants, allowing us to produce even more coolship and mixed-fermentation beers.

I am excited for this expansion for so many reasons.  The restaurant concepts are very unique, and I believe they will stand out in a saturated market.  Sterling has a dearth of breakfast places.  We've seen the success of Cars and Coffee, the weekly morning meetup we host at the Sterling brewery, and the virtues of having offerings that span a wide range of hours.  The cocktail bar will finally allow patrons who are not beer drinkers to more fully enjoy themselves.  Most of all, additional seating will help with the overcrowding in Sterling on weekends.  We are fully aware of how many patrons feel about Sterling due to lack of seating, and this should greatly alleviate these problems.

I eagerly anticipate the opening of next door in the spring.  Our goal is to really transform our space into a destination accessible to everyone.  In the mean time, stay tuned for more updates, and expect a continuation of new and exciting beer releases!