Arlington Economic Development Board Engages Metropole
We left off in our April edition where we were knee deep in zoning and regulatory bureaucracy with Arlington County for a brewery space. We are pleased to announce that the Arlington Economic Development board has reached out to Metropole as a part of the Biz Launch program. The program helps small businesses develop and reach their goals in Arlington.
We are also in lease negotiations on a space in South Arlington behind Shirlington. The space is especially exciting for a number of reasons. A 5 minute Walk from Shirlington, we would expect to serve the Shirlington and North Arlington communities. The Location is also across from the Shirlington Dog park which should provide daily foot traffic.
We realize that it might be a bit of a challenge to get folks to walk across the foot bridge as part of their evening and we are trying to come up with creative ways to get that to happen. Feel free to reach out to us with suggestions on marketing. We are also looking for someone with public relations experience who can lend a hand in helping publicize the brewery when we sign a lease.
Fund Raising Efforts Continue
Metropole is currently reaching out to the community for people who are interested in a brewery investment. We have fund raised just under 500k and are seeking investors who have a passion for beer. If you or someone you know may be interested, please reach out and contact us! We are offering a variety of options to accommodate folks.
Brewing with Barrels
Last week was exciting as we received our first barrel! It was formerly a Russian River barrel that was a reserve only for breweries. The content of this barrel was never made available to the public. Thanks to contacts within the brewing community we were able to acquire it and hope to put some beer in it for aging soon.
The barrel smells fantastic. It’s an unbelievably great earthy and rich smell mixed with a tinge of burbon. We are really looking forward to getting this into service as the first cellared beer we will make.
Cellar aging a beer in barrels takes time and patience. Part of the Metropole mission is to bring unique cellar beers to the forefront of the Arlington and NOVA market. Sometimes the best things in life you just have to wait for!
So the next question is, “Why not in Arlington?” We firmly believe this unrecognized market is the next frontier for micro brewed beer. Metropole is committed to making that happen and looks forward to satisfying this market gap.
As usual, thanks for all the support! Cheers!
-Mike Katrivanos