The James River Steam Brewery was started by D. G. Yuengling Jr. in 1866. (Photo courtesy Richmond Beeristoric)
What happens when a group of certified “beer nerds” get together and throw back a few? Sudsy ideas start to brew. Rewind to 2010, when Richmond historian Mike Gorman and Jacob Brunow of Brown Distributing were hanging out at a favorite watering hole. Having recently discovered the book “Richmond Beers,” by Danny Morris and Jeff Johnson, they were compelled to share its stories with others and highlight how beer is woven into the city’s history.
At the time, the number of breweries around town was slim — Legend Brewing Co. and Extra Billy’s Smokehouse were all we had. Richmond and beer weren’t yet synonymous with one another, and the national spotlight surely wasn’t being cast on our city.
Fast-forward eight years, add 30-plus breweries into the mix as well as a dedicated gang of beer advocates in tune with the scene, and Richmond Beeristoric, a nonprofit working to showcase the city’s burgeoning brew scene and history, was born. As Gorman says, “It all began with two guys riffing on possibilities.”
Co-founded in late 2018 by Gorman and Brunow, Richmond Beeristoric’s board also includes president and beer author Lee Graves; writer and editor Annie Tobey; professional historian Eric Mink; local attorney Brandon Carter; and Mike Killelea, former head brewer for Center of the Universe and Legend Brewing.
Richmond Beeristoric co-founder Mike Gorman guides a beer walking tour. (Photo by Lee Graves courtesy Richmond Beeristoric)
“To me, Richmond is the most beer-historic city in the United States,” Graves says with pride. “I don’t think there’s any other city that can claim a presence of beer dating back to 1607.”
Graves shares that when John Smith and other settlers came from Jamestown, they held a gathering with beer, wine and brandy in Fulton Hill with the local Powhatan Indians. And according to Gorman, when Home Brewing Co. opened in the 1890s, it boasted a massive 50,000-barrel setup, and in 1935, the city was the test market for canned beer, a revolutionary invention. Within a year, the cans were ubiquitous.
Today, Richmond’s role as a transportation hub and its identity as a welcoming, convivial city with a beating historical pulse, along with a diverse lineup of brews from IPAs to lagers and wild fermentations, provide the ideal foundation to establish it as the beer capital of the East Coast.
“For a lot of people, it’s kind of an unsung story, and it’s fascinating, actually, the various places that beer has intertwined with history,” explains Graves, who believes the beer in Richmond is comparable to brews from across the world.
Richmond Beeristoric’s main goal is to host events that combine history, education and experiences to highlight and promote the past and present of beer in Richmond.
One of the main tools will be a walking tour in May that puts attendees face to face with the genesis of beer history in the city, with visits to the places where landmarks such as the Eagle, Swan, Rising Sun, Indian Queen and Bell taverns stood, as well as a bus tour in November to the former brewing sites at Home Brewing Co. and Rosenegk Brewing, spanning more than a century of Richmond history.
According to Graves, the historic taverns hosted politicians Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Marshall and Aaron Burr, as well as the author Edgar Allan Poe and our invaluable Revolutionary War ally from France, the Marquis de Lafayette.
The beer cellars at Rocketts Landing (Photo by Chris Johnson courtesy Richmond Beeristoric)
Richmond Beeristoric is currently working with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to place a roadside marker on Route 5, pointing out the former site of the five-story James River Steam Brewery, the largest brewery in the city when it opened. There, the remaining beer cellars have been vacant and untouched since a fire in 1891 leveled the brewery building. The cellars demonstrate the fermentation and warehousing of brews that took place almost 150 years ago.
Having a nonprofit foundation allows the group to be structured and create long-term goals. It also presents the opportunity for individuals, breweries and other entities to contribute financially through events and sponsorships. Early supporters of Richmond Beeristoric include Capital Ale House and An Bui of The Answer and Mekong, as well as local breweries such as Hardywood, Triple Crossing, Stone, Ardent, Castleburg, Strangeways, Legend and Väsen.
Beeristoric is working with Richmond Region Tourism and Virginia Tourism Corporation to ensure that the city’s beer story gets beyond its borders, too.
One point that’s repeatedly echoed by Beeristoric’s board members: There aren’t a whole lot of beer scenes like Richmond’s.
“The growth that’s been happening here now is part of history, and we’re not just talking about things in the past, we’re talking about what’s happening now,” Gorman says, later adding, “Change is the story of history, and who knows where we’ll be in 50 years, but I don’t think we’ll lose beer. That flag has been planted too firmly.”
