One of our favorite ways to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon is biking the Junction and Breakwater Trail between Rehoboth and Lewes. We were so excited on our last outing when we discovered that a new craft brewery had popped up just off the trail, Revelation Craft Brewing Company. Everyone at the brewery was incredibly friendly, and the beer made such a great first impression on us, so we sat down with co-owner, Patrick Staggs, to learn how the brewery came to be. Oh, and if you ride your bike to the brewery, they’ll send you home with your very own Browler (bike growler) for free!
With big ambitions, Revelation Craft Brewing Company started out as Beachfire Brewery and, after purchasing the old church in Belltown, they intended to turn the old church into a brew pub with libations and wood fired pizza. After facing many hurdles and numerous delays in the project, they decided to open Revelation Craft Brewing Company in Rehoboth so they could perfect their beer recipes while they waited for the brew pub to become a reality. Additionally, they decided to open DaNizza Woodfired Pizza in Salisbury so they could work on creating the ideal dough recipe.
The brewery opened its doors for business on July 1st and was an immediate success. From 10:30 AM to 8:00 PM on their opening day the brewery was packed. Staggs thought that opening on a busy, summer weekend in the resort town would bring a lot of tourists into the brewery. Staggs was astonished to see how many locals came out to support them just in that first week, stating that they already had a 30% return rate.
The two weeks following their grand opening have been nothing short of outstanding and the brewery has already had to place an order for another new fermenter so they can increase their beer production. The brewery hopes to begin distributing their beers locally by the end of the summer. While the current location of the brewery does allow for some space to expand, they want to keep the brewery small to maintain the cozy and intimate atmosphere. Staggs attributes this initial success to the experience of his staff. Staggs himself has worked as an Operations Manager in the food and beverage industry for the past 16 years, most recently as the Operations Manager for Dogfish Head. Most of the other staff members are also no stranger to the industry as many of them have come from other food and beverage backgrounds.
Currently, Revelation has quite the assortment of beers on tap, they truly have something for everyone: from the Mother-In-Law IPA for the hop-lovers (we’ll let you visit the brewery for the story behind this name) to the Orange Wheat for the light, fruity beer drinkers. While they intend to continually rotate their beer list, they plan to keep the same variety of styles and flavors. The brewery is dedicated to keeping a good mix of beers on tap so someone entering the bar can always find something they enjoy during their visit.
Keep your eyes on the team at Revelation Craft Brewing Company as they have big plans for the future. They intend to brew some special beers for the Great American Beer Festival and start getting involved in all the local craft beer festivals. Additionally, the new brew pub will hopefully be opening in the Fall of 2017. We’re especially intrigued by the new brew pub project as the church dates back to 1853 and the team plans to try to reuse as much of the original structure as possible. You can follow them on Facebook here to stay up to date on new beer releases.
