Arlington County’s first brewery in almost 100 years will come with many nods to its past: New District Brewing Co.’s logo depicts the Key Bridge, which sits near the site of the county’s last working brewery, and its name references the fact that until the mid-19th century, Arlington was part of the District of Columbia.
But one piece of founders Michael and Stephen Katrivanos’ personal history is not part of the brewery expected to open early next year. Originally named Metropole Brewing Co. after their grandfather’s longtime Alexandria restaurant, the brothers ultimately had to change the name due to a ruling from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
An inspector at PTO thought there was too much confusion between Metropole and Chicago’s Metropolitan Brewing Co., according to Michael Katrivanos. It was one of many hurdles in the process of turning a former moving and storage warehouse in Shirlington into a working brewery over the past 12 months, the pair said during a recent tour of their facility.
The project required them to clean out the decades-old warehouse at 2709 S. Oakland Street, just across from the Shirlington Dog Park. They also brought in a gas line, upgraded the electric wiring and installed heat. The Katrivanos brothers had to work with Arlington County’s Planning Department on the zoning, given that there hasn’t been a production brewery in the county in recent history.
Three brewpubs — longtime chains Capitol City Brewing Co. and Rock Bottom Brewing Co. and the recently opened Sehkraft Brewing — operate in Arlington, but their brewing operations are considered accessories to the restaurant businesses attached to them. New District will be a production facility that primarily distributes its beer to other restaurants and bars.
New District plans to launch sometime in January with a 15-barrel brewing system, much of which Michael Katrivanos, an electrical engineer by day, built himself, helping them save tens of thousands of dollars. They did purchase the fermentation tanks, which run about $12,000 apiece, from a manufacturer in North Carolina.
All in all, the Katrivanos brothers expect to bootstrap the operation on about $350,000 in startup costs. They installed the tap system themselves, bought a discount refrigeration unit at a deep discount from an old sugar cone factory in Virginia, and have been trading with friends for IT and and marketing work.
The reasoning behind that approach? The brothers were hoping to build a following for their beer before going out and looking for big investors. That’s where Stephen Katrivanos, whose day job is as a business manager for a tech firm, comes in. He’s been directing marketing and social media efforts during the 12-month ramp up, and will be the one whose job it is to go out and find those investors when the time is right.
New District has 14 tap lines, a few of which will be devoted to some staples — a saison called 1821, for example, that references Greece’s independence and incorporates a rare Greek herb in honor of the brothers’ heritage. The others will be devoted to rotating seasonal recipes dreamed up by Michael Katrivanos, who has been brewing at his home in Springfield for much of the past decade.
The Katrivanos have room to grow in Shirlington. They’re only utilizing about half of their 11,000-square-foot warehouse space right now; they’re able to grow up and over, and possibly even create a mezzanine that will expand the tasting area.
And although they’re sandwiched into between auto body shops and a U-Haul rental facility, the brothers say the challenge of getting into Arlington was worth it, both from a business perspective and an emotional one.
“Arlington has the largest group of millennials per capita — if you look at Clarendon, those are the same working professionals largely responsible for the craft brewing movement,” Michael Katrivanos said. “And also, this is home. My grandmother’s house was less than five miles from here. We grew up here, and we thought it was a shame that people couldn’t choose craft beer from here.”
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