(Peake Lager remains a big favorite amongst Big Ugly Brewery fans)

By Jeff Maisey

Chesapeake’s first craft brewery will mark its first decade in business with an event being dubbed as Big Ugly Brewing: 10 Year Anniversary Tiki Party.

The weather might be chilly outside, but Big Ugly’s throwing an tropical island party featuring the reggae vibes of Sammy Lee on Friday, January 31) and Jesse Chong, aka Ganjacat (6:30 PM), on Saturday, February 1. Also performing February 1 is The Tiki Bar Band at 1:30 PM. 

Over Big Ugly’s first decade, the brewery has won statewide awards as well as taking home Veer Magazine’s Golden Tap Award three times.

Aaron Childers, the brewery’s co-founder and co-owner, took a moment to discuss Big Ugly’s early stages to its current success. 

VEER: Can you briefly remind readers on how Big Ugly Brewing got its start and in that first location?

Aaron Childers:  A typical day of work in corporate America sales took a turn when Shaun (Childers) met a representative from a partner company for lunch at Mekong Restaurant (pre The Answer Brewery) in Richmond. Over some amazing Vietnamese food and some always entertaining banter with owner An Bui and the late and very missed Quy Pham, Todd suggested to Shaun that opening a brewery was his calling based off his love for beer and experience homebrewing with his former partner Jim Lantry. This conversation was about a year and half after Senate Bill 604 was passed and thus earned consideration. Todd slid a personal check under Shaun’s pint glass and said, “While this is not enough to open a brewery, it is enough to light a fire under you to get off your rear and do something amazing.” Todd was our first investor, and we were open about 16 months later.

 

 

VEER: Did Chesapeake residents in nearby neighborhoods rise to the challenge in supporting a brewery?

Aaron Childers:  We have always had amazing support from the Chesapeake community; they were definitely ready to have a neighborhood brewery to spend their time in.  I remember on opening day, my son ran in and screamed that there were people lined up to the end of the building.  We had hoped for that excitement, but, of course, you worry until opening day if you will see it.  I have a picture from that first line and several of the people in it are still regulars.

 

 

VEER: Do you get business from people headed to the Outer Banks?

Aaron Childers:   We definitely do. Our first paid advertising was purchasing space on the highway signs at the Hanbury exit on Highway 168 that funnels visitors from as far away as the Midwest, eastern Canada and New England past our location. We have customers who make us a stop in their travels back and forth each summer.

 

 

VEER: When and why did you select the new/current location?

Aaron Childers:  Our goal when we opened our first location was to be expanding in three years.  We held our grand opening at our current location three and a half years later.  When we walked this property, we knew it was where we were supposed to be. We felt that the new location had to remain close to our original location to keep all of our loyal regulars happy and to have space for all of the activities and events we wanted to hold.

 

VEER: How has it become a game changer?

Aaron Childers:  Having a larger brewhouse and production area allowed us to brew more beer.  We have 20-plus beers on tap daily.  It enabled us to increase barrel-aging and be able to package/can many of our fan favorite beers.  The outdoor space is home to vendor markets, Trunk or Treat, YMCA Adult soccer, Club Waka Cornhole and so many more events and fundraisers.  Inside, we have been able to partner with Taxus Street Coffee to have an in-house coffee shop.  We have nightly entertainment, food trucks and space for private events and larger crowds.

 

 

VEER: How is your new head brewer doing both in maintaining your flagship as well as creating new brews?

Aaron Childers:   Jack has filled the Ugly brewing boots very well.  It has been fun to let him pursue his own projects, such as harvesting a wild yeast strain from around our property and from the Big Ugly Chevy truck, while still maintaining the crowd favorites like Chesapeake’s very own Peake Lager, Rockers, IPA Sunbeam Blonde and 22 Porter.  We have plenty of new styles and several collaboration brews planned for this year that we are all excited about.

 

 

VEER: Food trucks seem to bring excitement as well. Which are the most popular?

Aaron Childers:  Partnering with food trucks is such a complement to what we can offer to our customers.  They each are experts in their specific style of food and we can offer a new menu each night.  Some staff favorites are The Silver Fox and OG’s like Prime 757 and Fortune Flavors.

 

 

VEER: What is the ratio to on-site beer sales compared to draft/packaged beers distributed to restaurants and also grocery stores?

Aaron Childers:   We are about 20% going into distribution to local restaurants and grocery.

 

 

VEER: What are Big Ugly’s overall Top 10 selling beers (since it’s your 10th anniversary)?

Aaron Childers: Rockers IPA, Peake Lager, Sunbeam Blonde, Maybe Today Satan Hazy IPA, Road Worthy Pilsner, Ape Hanger Stout, 22 Porter, Hot Pursuit Pineapple Habanero Blonde, Morning Commute Golden Stout and Steady as She Gose.

 

 

VEER: What does the next 3 to 5 years look like for the brewery?

Aaron Childers:  Our closest project is a patio expansion for the spring.  We have a beautiful space out front and we are excited to add new unique features to expand and upgrade it for our customers.  We will have an opportunity for commemorative plaques to be purchased for permanent display on this addition so stay tuned!  Ten years is a huge accomplishment and we couldn’t have achieved this without our dedicated staff and loyal customers.