WASHINGTON — Mustang Sally Brewing Co., Fairfax County, Virginia’s newest craft brewer, held its grand opening Wednesday in Chantilly, fulfilling a dream for its owner that has been more than two decades in the making.
Sean Hunt, a former corporate lawyer, started home brewing about 25 years ago, but put his ambitions on hold for corporate life. Two years ago, Hunt decided it was time to pursue the dream.
Mustang Sally joins an increasingly long list of craft brewers in the D.C. region, but Hunt says he has discovered there is as much camaraderie in the craft beer business here as there is competition.
“We had a lot of help through the design phase of building out the brewery,” Hunt said. “Even last week, we were trying to brew late at night, and we noticed that we had a piece of equipment that was faulty. One of the breweries lent us their equipment overnight so we could get through the brew.”
In fact, owners of just about every Northern Virginia brewery came to Mustang Sally’s grand opening.
A new brewery in the D.C region opens with increasing regularity, so is the local craft brew scene becoming too saturated?
“I hear that a lot, and I kind of think that just might not be the case,” Hunt said. “It’s a crowded field if you just look at the number of brewers opening up, but the amount of beer they’re producing is just not that great. And if you look throughout the U.S., the single-most underrepresented area for craft beer is Fairfax County.”
Mustang Sally, named after a boat of the same name on which Hunt was sailing when just out of college, is producing four beers to start. One is a Kölsch that he describes as crisp but not conservative. Other beers are a West Coast IPA, a porter and an amber lager.
General Manager Dave Hennessey and head brewer Kenny Allen are both former head brewers at Old Dominion Brewing.
If you go …
Where: Mustang Sally Brewing Co. is located at 14140 Parke Long Court in Chantilly, Virginia, just off Route 28 and Route 50.
Hours: The brewery’s 4,000-square-foot tasting room is open 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 3 to 10 p.m. Friday; noon to 10 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
