Clayton Storm Hall, Bryant’s Dry Cider’s sale’s manager, designed The Lab, a space in Richmond where customers can consume beers and could eventually be allowed to create their own. (Filip De Mott photos)
As it looks to broaden its visibility in Richmond, a hard cider maker from the farm country of Nelson County is pushing further into the beer business.
Bryant’s Dry Cider has added an in-house brewery to its taproom at 2114 E. Main St. in Shockoe Bottom.
The move into beer downtown follows a similar strategy Bryant’s owner and cidermaster Jerry Thornton has deployed at the company’s flagship location in Roseland, known as The Farm, about 100 miles west of Richmond.
Bryant’s beers will begin flowing out of the Main Street storefront on June 18, with a Kolsch, ale and IPA on draft. Those three main beers along with the company’s ciders will be produced at The Farm, while the new Shockoe Bottom setup will function as a mini brew house — and specifically as a sour house, centered around more experimental beer creations.
“It really is my place to play,” Thornton said. “It’s really my place to get weird and make stuff.”
The Lab includes vintage furniture, including a cabinet from the 1800s.
The Richmond beer launch also will serve as the opening opportunity to preview an expansion of the Shockoe Bottom space. Guests will now have access to “The Lab,” a back portion of the location that was inaccessible before.
Since launching Bryant’s on his family farm and orchard in Roseland in 2018, Thornton said he always held on to the idea of joining the beer-producing market. He explained his desire to work with beer by comparing it to cooking.
“You have a whole lot more ability to flex the actual outcome of a beer than you do of a cider,” the 41-year-old entrepreneur said. “It’s just more fun having the freedom to play with it.”
Despite beer’s creative potential, Thornton said the process to make it can be much more costly than cider. While hard cider only necessitates pressed juice and a fermentation vessel, beer demands labored effort around the handling and milling of grain.
Beer also requires additional equipment, which in turn required expansions and renovations at Bryant’s rural and urban locations.
Bryant’s Dry Cider has tried to invoke a Victorian mood at its Richmond tasting room as a loose tribute to the building’s original era.
Built upon a storage space that was cleared during the pandemic, The Farm’s brew house cost about $30,000, Thornton estimates. Meanwhile, the city’s Main Street tasting room also got an enhancement. Thornton invested $20,000 into its refurbishment and gave his sales manager, Clayton Storm Hall, the reins to design The Lab.
The space balances the aesthetic of a chemist’s laboratory and a cozy, Victorian-themed den. Guests are seated around barrels lit by strung light bulbs and metallic appliances toward the back.
To furnish the room, Storm Hall inquired across the state for vintage furniture, including a bar from the 1920s and a cabinet from the 1800s.
Other future plans for The Lab include potentially allowing customers to create their own beers, playing around with mixtures and personal flavor ideas.
“Usually with any local breweries, you get the finished product,” Storm Hall said. “We really want to get you feeling that you’re your own mad scientist.”
Storm Hall noted plans to provide outdoor seating behind the building sometime next month, as well as intentions to upgrade the bar’s storefront.
Meanwhile, to elevate its brand, Bryant’s Dry Cider is a few weeks away from releasing a line of new merchandise, which can be bought at both the Richmond hub and The Farm.
“2022 is looking up,” Storm Hall said.
A student of a Cornell-affiliated cider school, as well as the beer program at the University of Richmond, Thornton chose to start with a cidery due to the many apple trees growing on The Farm. Soon after, Bryant’s Dry Cider opened in Jackson Ward, moving to its current Shockoe Bottom location in 2020.
After prepping the new space, Thornton remembers aiming to open in March of that year, the same month that COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. The cidery spent that summer centering its business model around delivery and to-go orders.
During that time Thornton’s goal was to keep his staff employed, which he managed using Paycheck Protection Program loans from the SBA.
The Lab’s space is divided between a seating area and a brewery.
Coming out of lockdown, he described a slow and difficult process of building a customer base while balancing COVID safety.
Still, the pandemic’s timing provided an opportunity to add to the business with the expansion toward beer.
While the company has gained a reputation for its sugar-free cider, Thornton finds that not everyone is immediately willing to try it, presuming that it’s a sweet beverage. Jokingly calling the new beers a “gateway drug,” he sees the breweries as a way to bring in a fresh set of clients, potentially introducing them to Bryant’s ciders along the way.
Storm Hall concurred, adding: “It’s a way for us to expand our reach. We love cider, but also we’re going to give the beer lover something amazing.”
Clayton Storm Hall, Bryant’s Dry Cider’s sale’s manager, designed The Lab, a space in Richmond where customers can consume beers and could eventually be allowed to create their own. (Filip De Mott photos)
As it looks to broaden its visibility in Richmond, a hard cider maker from the farm country of Nelson County is pushing further into the beer business.
Bryant’s Dry Cider has added an in-house brewery to its taproom at 2114 E. Main St. in Shockoe Bottom.
The move into beer downtown follows a similar strategy Bryant’s owner and cidermaster Jerry Thornton has deployed at the company’s flagship location in Roseland, known as The Farm, about 100 miles west of Richmond.
Bryant’s beers will begin flowing out of the Main Street storefront on June 18, with a Kolsch, ale and IPA on draft. Those three main beers along with the company’s ciders will be produced at The Farm, while the new Shockoe Bottom setup will function as a mini brew house — and specifically as a sour house, centered around more experimental beer creations.
“It really is my place to play,” Thornton said. “It’s really my place to get weird and make stuff.”
The Lab includes vintage furniture, including a cabinet from the 1800s.
The Richmond beer launch also will serve as the opening opportunity to preview an expansion of the Shockoe Bottom space. Guests will now have access to “The Lab,” a back portion of the location that was inaccessible before.
Since launching Bryant’s on his family farm and orchard in Roseland in 2018, Thornton said he always held on to the idea of joining the beer-producing market. He explained his desire to work with beer by comparing it to cooking.
“You have a whole lot more ability to flex the actual outcome of a beer than you do of a cider,” the 41-year-old entrepreneur said. “It’s just more fun having the freedom to play with it.”
Despite beer’s creative potential, Thornton said the process to make it can be much more costly than cider. While hard cider only necessitates pressed juice and a fermentation vessel, beer demands labored effort around the handling and milling of grain.
Beer also requires additional equipment, which in turn required expansions and renovations at Bryant’s rural and urban locations.
Bryant’s Dry Cider has tried to invoke a Victorian mood at its Richmond tasting room as a loose tribute to the building’s original era.
Built upon a storage space that was cleared during the pandemic, The Farm’s brew house cost about $30,000, Thornton estimates. Meanwhile, the city’s Main Street tasting room also got an enhancement. Thornton invested $20,000 into its refurbishment and gave his sales manager, Clayton Storm Hall, the reins to design The Lab.
The space balances the aesthetic of a chemist’s laboratory and a cozy, Victorian-themed den. Guests are seated around barrels lit by strung light bulbs and metallic appliances toward the back.
To furnish the room, Storm Hall inquired across the state for vintage furniture, including a bar from the 1920s and a cabinet from the 1800s.
Other future plans for The Lab include potentially allowing customers to create their own beers, playing around with mixtures and personal flavor ideas.
“Usually with any local breweries, you get the finished product,” Storm Hall said. “We really want to get you feeling that you’re your own mad scientist.”
Storm Hall noted plans to provide outdoor seating behind the building sometime next month, as well as intentions to upgrade the bar’s storefront.
Meanwhile, to elevate its brand, Bryant’s Dry Cider is a few weeks away from releasing a line of new merchandise, which can be bought at both the Richmond hub and The Farm.
“2022 is looking up,” Storm Hall said.
A student of a Cornell-affiliated cider school, as well as the beer program at the University of Richmond, Thornton chose to start with a cidery due to the many apple trees growing on The Farm. Soon after, Bryant’s Dry Cider opened in Jackson Ward, moving to its current Shockoe Bottom location in 2020.
After prepping the new space, Thornton remembers aiming to open in March of that year, the same month that COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. The cidery spent that summer centering its business model around delivery and to-go orders.
During that time Thornton’s goal was to keep his staff employed, which he managed using Paycheck Protection Program loans from the SBA.
The Lab’s space is divided between a seating area and a brewery.
Coming out of lockdown, he described a slow and difficult process of building a customer base while balancing COVID safety.
Still, the pandemic’s timing provided an opportunity to add to the business with the expansion toward beer.
While the company has gained a reputation for its sugar-free cider, Thornton finds that not everyone is immediately willing to try it, presuming that it’s a sweet beverage. Jokingly calling the new beers a “gateway drug,” he sees the breweries as a way to bring in a fresh set of clients, potentially introducing them to Bryant’s ciders along the way.
Storm Hall concurred, adding: “It’s a way for us to expand our reach. We love cider, but also we’re going to give the beer lover something amazing.”