Bear Chase Brewing Company’s Chief Operating Officer Stephen Macoff and General Manager Chris Suarez recently had the pleasure of touring Northern Virginia’s beautiful and thriving Fabbioli Cellars owned by Doug Fabbioli and Colleen Berg. Fabbioli Cellars is in the southern Lucketts area, just north of Leesburg in Loudoun County. In addition to creating a wide variety of quality wines, Fabbioli Cellars has been growing hops for the brewery industry over the last eight years.
While at Fabbioli Cellars, Chris and Stephen purchased whole cone Chinook Hops to use in the next batch of their Meet Virginia series of beer, which is made up entirely of Virginia grown ingredients. “It is our goal to showcase Virginia-based agricultural products, and we are thrilled to feature a Loudoun County grower for our next Meet Virginia varietal,” Stephen said.
Fabbioli’s time-honored traditions of constant care, evaluation of quality, and modern scientific techniques to grow grapes and make wine all align with the mission of Bear Chase Brewing Company, added Chris. “We are proud to partner with Fabbioli Cellars, and by doing so to be able to support the local agricultural community. While showcasing their ability to support the craft beverage industry and the growing Virginia agricultural needs,” he said.
“We want to continue to increase our farm at Bear Chase, and what we do as a limited brewery on our agricultural land,” Chris explained. “We recently purchased 28 Cascade hops plants from Fabbioli to add to our field of Centennial and Nugget hops.” In addition to the Meet Virginia Series, BCBC has produced batches of beer using lemon sage, basil, and watermelons all from their garden.
Chris and Stephen wanted to visit Doug in person to thank him for the plants. While they were there, they not only enjoyed a tour of the Fabbioli vineyards, but they also received a crash course of what to look for as the Cascade hops plants travel up the ropes, as well as a tutorial on how to maintain the plants year after year so that they continue to produce hops properly.
