This story is part of WTOP’s Small Business September series, sponsored by Eagle Bank.
People who make their own beer can use all kids of different ingredients and flavors to make their product taste unique, but one farm brewery in Montgomery County, Maryland, is taking it a step further — using little helpers with wings to add something special.
Waredaca Brewing Company, located on a sprawling 235-acre farm in Laytonsville has its own bees that provide honey for beer.
“I love our beehives,” said Jessica Snyder, whose family has owned the farm for three generations. “The honey from the bees gets used in three different beers that we have right now.”
Having a place for bees to create fresh ingredients gives the business a unique relationship with both agriculture and brewing. It enhances the quality of the beer and the sustainability of the company’s overall operations.
Craft beer fans often love the idea of local ingredients, so it can be a big draw for customers looking for something special.
“We managed to get a really nice amount of honey that we’ll be able to use in those beers for year-round production,” Snyder said.
And they make a lot of beer.
Everything that is on tap at the business comes straight from the brewery, and they grow a lot of their own ingredients on site.
“We brew 300 gallons at a time on a 10-barrel system,” said Snyder. “I would say we do just a little bit over 1,000 barrels a year, and most of that is consumed on-site, though we do have limited wholesale.”
The farm has five beehives, with each one housing roughly 50,000 bees.
When harvesting the honey, the beekeeper has to go to the hives, remove frames from them and scrape the honey off.
“It’s a hot, sticky mess,” said Chris Turett, the brewery’s beekeeper.
The farm was able to pull about 150 pounds of honey from the hives this year.
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