Ardent Craft Ales resides in a garage off Jefferson Street in Union Hill. On my Sunday visit, the doors are wide open, as a few snow flurries fall, heralding this winter’s big snow. It’s a great time to be a beer geek in RVA.

Inside, longtime homebrewers Thomas Sullivan, Paul Karns, and Kevin O’Leary, are making the last steps to bring their sophisticated homebrew recipes to the professional side. From my early morning tasting of Saison and sour ale with Karns and Sullivan, my palate tells me the team is cranking out ales with moxie on their 15-gallon system.

For a town who eagerly embraces creativity and entrepreneurialism, new businesses like Ardent Craft Ales are delivering on every front. And, from what I see brewing on this cold Sunday morning in Churchill, there’s much more to come.

While a traditional homebrewer utilizes a five-gallon system, Ardent has already graduated to a 15-gallon system (half barrel) – the size of many nanobreweries. The larger size presents a new set of challenges. Sullivan informs me, “There have been a lot of smart people who have taken on this hobby – engineers, chemists, and tinkerers – guys who have figured out the problems of homebrewing and shared those solutions. At the seven- or 11-gallon level, there isn’t such a well-beaten path of solutions, and as a consequence you have to know a lot more about the brewing process to troubleshoot when problems arise, even more so then in professional brewing.”

Sunday brew days are for making these adjustments and brewing more samples, as the business plans are finalized. The next step for Ardent will be funding, but today all hands are busy cleaning kegs, heating kettles, transferring wort and so on – the makings of a Russian Imperial Stout.

My tour of the garage brewery and brief lesson in home brewing is interrupted by curious neighbors. And that’s exactly what Ardent was hoping would happen since its open house at last fall’s Richmond Beer Week. More importantly, the brewers’ accessible and educational approach exemplifies why the vibrant craft beer scene in Richmond is strong and getting stronger.

Ardent couldn’t have picked a better time to make its move. SB 604 in the Virginia State legislature has received early support and looks likely to pass. As Mike Killelea, chariman of Virginia Craft Brewers (and Legend brewer) explains, “In layman’s terms, production breweries would be allowed to sell pints to customers. If passed, you could tour a Virginia brewery and enjoy a pint afterwards, much like how you can enjoy a glass of wine at a Virginia winery. More importantly, this would put us on even footing with some of our neighboring states.”
Richmonders are clearly ready for more. Later this spring, Ardent Craft Ales will be teaming up with Secco’s Tim Bereika for a rye beer and charcuterie pairing to bring its business plan to the public. Those with a taste for investment, along with ales, would do well to dig up an invitation.