The Charlottesville 29

If there were just 29 restaurants in Charlottesville, what would be the ideal 29?

Tag: Reason Beer

11/16/2021

“Better Together”: Charlottesville’s Champion Brewing Company and Reason Beer to Merge

One makes Five Pillars Ale. The other makes Collaboration 29. Now, two of Charlottesville’s most acclaimed breweries, each loyal supporters of the community, are merging. Champion Brewing Company and Reason Beer.

While both parties expect the merger to bring behind-the-scenes efficiencies, little will change for fans of their beer, they say. Reason’s Jeff Raileanu becomes Champion’s CFO. Champion’s operations will move from Woolen Mills to Reason’s headquarters on Seminole Trail. And, the breweries will enjoy improved buying, production, and marketing power. All the while, each brewery will keep making its same flagship beers, with the same brewers, recipes, and staff as before. Tap room locations also remain unchanged.

Among the ties that bind the two breweries is a love of Charlottesville. Champion’s founder and two Reason co-founders were all born at the old Martha Jefferson hospital in downtown Charlottesville. With Charlottesville in their blood, they are active in local philanthropy and share a drive to preserve locally-owned breweries. “With long-time Charlottesville connections and a real love for this community, the culture fit between Reason and Champion made sense,” said Raileanu. “It’s an exciting opportunity for two like-minded local companies to combine to be better together.”

The best news for local beer fans may be stability, particularly in an industry where over-saturation, consolidation, and COVID-19 have all threatened local breweries’ existence. With Champion launched in 2012 and Reason in 2017, the breweries’ founders hope that joining forces will mean they are here to stay. “It’s a path for long term stability for both local brands,” Champion founder Hunter Smith said. Raileanu agrees. “We’re nearing our five-year anniversary and it’s almost ten years for Champion,” he said. “By combining and streamlining our operations, we’re setting up to make the next five years even better.”

The deal will close in late November.

 

10/26/2021

Collaboration 29 Returns: The Beer Tribute to Charlottesville That Was Named Best Hoppy Beer

At a beer festival in 2018, a little-known limited release IPA from Charlottesville, VA competed against acclaimed industry behemoths like Sierra Nevada, Stone, Bell’s, Ballast Point, Founder’s and more. A panel of experts conducted a blind tasting to evaluate the entrants for Best Hoppy Beer. In an upset that almost no one saw coming, the Charlottesville beer won.

In fact, the winning beer was not just brewed in Charlottesville. It was a tribute to Charlottesville. The three founders of Reason Beer are lifelong friends who grew up in Charlottesville. Not long after they launched their brewery in 2017, they decided to create a beer in tribute to the community they love. For the project, they brought together local collaborators, including Murphy & Rude and this website, The Charlottesville 29. Reason even named the beer for the site: Collaboration 29. The label reads:

There’s a good reason we chose Charlottesville as the home for our brewery. We all grew up around here, and if you ask us, it’s just about the greatest little city in the world. This beer is a juicy, tropical love letter to our home town, brewed in partnership with The Charlottesville 29 and Murphy & Rude Malting Co.

It is a great honor for Reason to have named their Charlottesville beer after this site. Brewery co-founder Jeff Raileanu once explained why:

“There’s so much great stuff happening around Charlottesville that deserves to be celebrated, and that’s the focus . . . We appreciate how The Charlottesville 29 tells a story – not just a ‘best of’ list, it tells stories of the local scene, from farm to table, with fascinating looks into all of the passionate people who make it happen.”

In 2020, COVID-19 prevented Collaboration 29’s annual release. Now, as the Charlottesville food and drink community emerges from the pandemic, Reason thought the timing was right for the return of their beer tribute to the community. So, the collaborators recently reunited to brew a batch for 2021.

Collaboration 29 will be available beginning next Wednesday, November 3, at the Reason taproom and, soon after that, at area bars and restaurants. Thank you, Reason, for including The Charlottesville 29 in this special project, and for celebrating Charlottesville in such a delicious way.

05/06/2019

Collaboration 29 Returns: the Beer Tribute to Charlottesville

Collaboration 29-Can-Print (003)

Last year, Reason Beer brewer Mark Fulton embarked upon an unusual project: brew a tribute to his hometown. Fulton grew up in Charlottesville, and after moving away and brewing at Maine Beer Company, he returned home in 2016 to launch a brewery with two childhood Charlottesville friends. Like many of us, Fulton loves the Charlottesville community, and the skilled brewer wanted to express that love the best way he knows how – with beer.

To emphasize the community nature of the project, Reason included local collaborators, including this website, The Charlottesville 29. In fact, Reason even named the beer for the site: Collaboration 29. Why The Charlottesville 29? Reason co-founder Jeff Raileanu explains the tie:

“First is the positivity and enthusiasm that The Charlottesville 29 brings to the local scene. No need for negative reviews or putting anyone down – there’s so much great stuff happening around Charlottesville that deserves to be celebrated, and that’s the focus. And the local focus is important to us too. All three of the business partners grew up in Charlottesville and it’s always been a special place to us. We couldn’t imagine being located anywhere else, and love being surrounded by some many great local producers. From the sustainably-raised meats and fruits and vegetables at the farmers market to an excellent maltster right here in town (fellow collaborator Murphy & Rude), there’s no need to go any farther afield. We also appreciate how The Charlottesville 29 tells a story. It’s not just a ‘best of’ list, it tells stories of the local scene, from farm to table, with fascinating looks into all of the passionate people who make it happen.”

 Indeed, the label for Collaboration 29 reads:

There’s a good reason we chose Charlottesville as the home for our brewery. We all grew up around here, and if you ask us, it’s just about the greatest little city in the world. This beer is a juicy, tropical love letter to our home town, brewed in partnership with The Charlottesville 29 and Murphy & Rude Malting Co.

Upon its release last May, Collaboration 29 was an instant hit, and not just for sentimentality. Beer drinkers loved it. First, a keg of Collaboration 29 was served at the Governor’s Executive Mansion. Then, it was named Best Hoppy Beer at a beer competition, winning blind tastings against giants like Bell’s, Stone, Ballast Point, Founder’s, and Sierra Nevada.

Now, Collaboration 29 is back (and available in cans!). Wednesday May 15, from 6-8 pm, is the release party at Beer Run, where Collaboration 29 will be on the tasting table, along with Reason’s Hoppy Blonde, Prismism, and Inexorable. All of those plus Reason’s Saison will also be on tap.

Thank you, Reason, for including The Charlottesville 29 in this special project, and for celebrating Charlottesville in such a delicious way.

 

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