Well, we have another VA causality, this time it’s just a brewery closing one location instead of closing entirely.
April 18, 2018
We post this message to inform everyone that we have made the incredibly tough decision to downsize and therefore our last day operating at 8420 Kao Circle Manassas, VA will be Sunday, April 29, 2018. We want to focus on our family, quality of life and go back to our roots with BadWolf. It has been challenging, rewarding and we have learned so much. Our old space may be someone else’s opportunity.
We will continue to operate 9776 Center St. Manassas, VA where you can visit us and enjoy our fine craft beers on tap. Jeremy will be there busy brewing up old recipes as well as new ones.
I was there at their grand opening party about 5 years ago. As one of the “older” breweries in the recent NOVA craft beer boom that started when when Port City/DC Brau opened, I was glad to see these guys finally expand out of their small pizza shop/nail salon sized location.
I never quite was onboard with their original vision. I think originally they said they were trying to never brew the same recipe twice, then got a kind notice from the Feds because they weren’t getting the correct label approvals for each new beer (or was that another local brewery?).
I don’t exactly remember their capacity, but they were basically brewing what amounted to a few kegs per batch. If they tapped something, it probably wouldn’t be there a day and a half later, simply because the supply was so small. That model may be sustainable to keep them at the status quo, but once they opened up their second location, they actually seemed like a real brewery, really dialing in a few of their beers.
Ticking is fun, but sometimes getting to know a new brewery through one or two mainstays can really help spread the word… and they never really had that. I mean, even with increased production barely anyone had heard of them. I only went out there as often as I did because early on they were one of the few breweries in town, had a lot of ticks, and as close to one of my friends.
With this move, it feels like they’re going from brewery to being a homebrewery.
Wow, the original location is tiny and not very hospitable. Not a good sign for them. I won’t really miss them, but then again I kinda liked there being two locations to hit when in the area.
Another week, another story from Chris about a VA brewery closing. Yeah, we definitely aren’t nearing the bubble burst.
And New District is still open… no accounting for taste
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So I stopped on in at BadWolf to grab a few things there yesterday (A bottle of Radegast for my bottle wall since I recycled the first one), and man, it was kind of strange. They’re not going out of business, but this is definitely a huge blow to those guys and it was thick in the atmosphere.
They’ve said multiple times on social media that because their original location is already at max capacity space-wise, that they will have to “dump everything” they don’t sell at Kao Circle.
Assuming that this is true, they don’t seem very concerned because their prices haven’t been reduced, despite having hundreds of cans and bottles still awaiting sale, and what looked like dozens of beers. I am no expert on Virginia ABC, but I would think that they’d want to push out all the product they possibly could. $14.99 growler fills isn’t going to drain their kegs any faster.
EDIT: That’s not to say I was itching for a keg or two from these guys, just an observation that if they want to get through their literal overstock or it’s trash, they’d probably want to consider discounting their product. Maybe it’s an ABC thing. 
Good location, good vibe. If the beer was as good …
New District had four beers flowing on draft yesterday at the VA distilleries mini-fest across the street from my apartment. Fuckers are stalking me.
