Tap Handle #814: Wild Wolf

January 17, 2024

Tap Handle #814: Wild Wolf - Blonde Hunny

Tap size: 12"

Rarity: less than 50 seen, brewery closed

Mounting: internal 3/8" nut

I remember being thrilled back in 2014 when friend of the Museum Steven P. was able to walk into the Wild Wolf Brewery and obtain this new tap for me at a bargain price. Unfortunately I was never able to obtain a label for it, so I decided to make my own. It's not perfect but looks reasonably close to the original. The tap itself is sculpted to resemble a tall granite outcropping with lots of ridges cut into it. At the top of the tap is a round yellow sign featuring the brewery's logo. Below that is the name of the brewery sculpted in red and yellow raised letters, and under that is the label area. Finally, at the bottom of the tap is a sculpt of a howling wolf. The front and back of the tap are identical, so I have reduced the number of photos taken. While over a dozen of these have appeared on the secondary market over the years, and the price was in a reasonable range of $45-$100, since the brewery closed last year these have become quite scarce, with only one appearing on the secondary market in a year and a half at the time this profile was written, which sold for $160 plus shipping.

Wild Wolf Brewing Company was founded in Nellysford, Virginia in 2011 by Mary Wolf. Graduating with both a BS in Computer Science and an MBA, Mary spent 25 years working for Lexis Nexis and AOL, as well as starting and selling her own Internet commerce company. After serving as VP of New Products, Mary retired from AOL in 2001. She and her husband, Doug, had spent time off in Nellysford for many years until Doug retired from a software business, after which they decided to make Nellysford their home. Their son, Danny, an avid homebrewer, had initially went to school to be a biologist, but decided to pursue brewing instead. He went through the Master Brewers Program at Chicago’s Siebel Institute of Technology in 2008, finishing at the top of his class. When Mary joined Danny for a class about how to run a brewery, she became hooked on craft beer, and was determined to own a brewery. She asked Danny to be her brewmaster, and in 2010 they opened a small nanobrewery and home brewing supply shop in the Valley Green Shopping Center. When sales exploded faster than they could keep up, they decided to pivot away from the previous business model and open a brewpub. They called the brewery Wild Wolf after brainstorming words that included the family name.

Instead of building new, they purchased and renovated a 100-year-old schoolhouse. The 13 acre property, which had most recently been a garden center, featured 60-year-old Siberian Elms, a gazebo, a large Koi pond, and a working water wheel, all of which became part of the dog-friendly Biergarten. The old schoolhouse building housed the restaurant and kitchen. A new building was built to house a sports bar and the brewery, and held a dozen 15-barrel tanks. A covered patio that was heated and enclosed in the winter offered more outdoor seating options, and 5 tobacco barns were transformed into a shopping village, selling everything from homebrewing equipment to jewelry. Doug assisted the business through woodworking projects, and keeping up property landscaping and maintenance.

Demand grew quickly, and by 2012, only 6 months after opening, the brewery started adding 4 30-barrel tanks. They opened with 3 core beers and 5-6 small-batch seasonals. Production was geared towards the brewpub and several local restaurants. Demand continued to grow, so by 2014 the brewery had added 60 and 30-barrel fermenting tanks, giving them a maximum of 5,000 barrel capacity. A Wild Goose canning line was installed, as well as a QC lab and a hop yard of Cascade hops. Food offerings for the restaurant included vegan 3 bean chili, BBQ pulled pork nachos, salads, burgers, sandwiches, fish & chips, house smoked brisket, fish tacos, veggie risotto, jambalaya, and shrimp & grits.

One of the tobacco barns was converted to an events center, which could host up to 125 guests, and featured a cherry wood bar and hardwood floors (all constructed by Doug). It hosted weddings, rehearsal dinners, special parties, and corporate events. The brewery, which was now up to 5 core beers and featured live music 3 nights a week, also helped create the Brew Ridge Trail, Virginia’s first beer trail connecting Wild Wolf to Starr Hill Brewery in Crozet, Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton, and Devils Backbone Brewing Company in Roseland. Danny worked on collaborations with Devils Backbone. Distribution of cans and kegs had expanded throughout Virginia, as well as West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

From 2014 to 2018, Wild Wolf had racked up 9 awards at the US Beer Tasting Championships, 8 awards at the Virginia Brewers Cup, 3 Virginia Green Brewery of the Year awards, a 2018 Virginia Green Business of the Year award, a 2015 silver medal at the Best of Craft Beer Awards for their Blonde Hunny, and a 2017 silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival for their American Stout. In 2018, Danny consulted for Acupema Brewing Company in Lhasa, Tibet to get their new brewery up and running, specifically choosing a site and brewing equipment, sourcing local Tibetan ingedients, and installing a canning line. This included Danny traveling to Tibet for 25 days to help with their grand opening, and hosting Acupema's head brewer Losang Tserin for one month at Wild Wolf Brewery in 2019. While he was doing this, Danny also studied at the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in Butler's Wharf, London, achieving a General Certificate in Brewing with a Craft focus.

In 2019, Wild Wolf opened its second location in Charlottesville, Virginia. The new restaurant was multi-level and offered dining opportunities both indoors and in an outdoor biergarten. In keeping with brewery tradition, the outdoor biergarten was dog-friendly. There was also a space used for special events. The on-site nano brewery housed in the restaurant focused on brewing new and unique beers on a regular basis. There were 10+ beers on tap (the nano brews were supplemented by the main brewery's offerings), and the cuisine featured inspired southern fusion dishes by the brewery's Executive Chef, Chris Jack.

However, in 2020, after just 6 months of operations, the brewery closed its Charlottesville location. While no official reason was given, locals felt it was a combination of saturation (too many breweries in the area), lack of marketing, high rent, management issues (including overcharging sales tax and poor service) and mediocre beer and food. At the same time, the main location in Nellysford was also struggling. Danny left Wild Wolf in August of that year, taking a head brewing job with the Shipwreck Brewpub in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. Wild Wolf limped along without its head brewer for a year and half, including through the pandemic and shutdowns.

In early 2022, Charlottesville-based Three Notch’d Brewing Company announced it had acquired the real estate (13 acres) and brewpub of Wild Wolf in Nellysford. Wild Wolf’s intellectual property was not part of the deal. Three Notch'd planned roughly $1.5 million in renovation work, including making customer spaces more "family friendly" and a connection to public water treatment facilities. In addition to beer, plans for the Nellysford location's future included a line of non-alcoholic beverages, ready-to-drink cocktails, and housing of the Three Notch’d Distilling Company, with a focus on whisky and bourbon.

Blonde Hunny is the brewery's flagship beer. It is an unfiltered Belgian style Blonde Ale with wheat and a lot of local honey in every pour. It also has a special spice blend to give it an added kick. Smooth and refreshing, but be careful – this one’s ABV will sneak up on you. This beer is straw yellow in color with a slight sweetness in the middle and an estery finish characteristic of the best Belgian beers. It’s a gateway beer; men love it, women love it - it's easy to drink, and yet people that are strong beer drinkers love it too. This beer won a 2015 silver medal at the Best of Craft Beer Awards.