Vasen Brewing Co. to bring farmhouse, sour ales to Scott’s Addition this fall

The brewery will occupy approximately 17,000 square feet of the HandCraft Building in the burgeoning neighborhood.

May 4, 2016; 9:57 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

Vasen Brewing Co., the latest brewery operation looking to get in on the increasingly crowded Scott’s Addition booze scene, released more information about their forthcoming brewery to be located in the HandCraft building on Roseneath Road.

The brewery will occupy 17,000 square feet of the 87,000-square-foot building, as Richmond BizSense reported in a real estate feature on the building back in January. Today, the brewery shed a little more light on its operation and, most importantly, its beers.

The venture is headed up by co-founder Joey Darragh, a native Virginian who fell in love with the farmhouse and sour beers of the West Coast over the past decade and decided to come home and brew beers of the same style and variety in Richmond. Vasen’s second co-founder and brewmaster Tony Giordano developed several beers for Boulder Brewing Company before moving to the area to bring his skills to the operation in Scott’s Addition.

A little more on the brewery’s namesake and beers, straight from the horse’s mouth:

The Swedish word “väsen” honors our Scandinavian heritage and translates as one’s inner essence or way of being. At Väsen Brewing Company, brewing is about creating and appreciating something greater than yourself. Our beer is a medium through which we express ourselves and our appreciation for our environment. We brew to inspire others to chase the things they love.

Väsen beers combine the experimental spirit that defines American craft beer with the rustic and funky flavors of Belgian farmhouse and sour ales. We’ve developed a distinctive brewing process that produces balanced, sessionable beers that are perfect for long days outside. While our barrel-aging program will let us flood Richmond with the funkiest of farmhouse ales, they’ll be complemented by a variety of saisons, wheat beers, and pale ales.

Vasen’s brewing space is currently under construction and should be completed this summer; the operation is expected to open sometime this fall if all goes as planned.

Several other tenants will share the building with Vasen, as can be seen in the below preliminary layout of the space.