Sunflower Cottage Herb Farm and Backroom Brewery receive $250,000 USDA grant for expansion of brewing operations

“It is with extreme gratitude and excitement that I am announcing Backroom Brewery has been selected to receive the USDA’s Value Added Producer Grant”, owner Billie Clifton said in a late Tuesday afternoon, October 6 press release.

The $250,000 award is the highest dollar amount allowable under this grant which also awards smaller amounts. The grant at its highest level is extremely competitive and awarded to very few across the country. To our knowledge, the grant has never been awarded at any level to any recipient in Warren County, Clarke County or Frederick County.

The funds will be used to hire new employees and fill positions within the expanded operations such as, brewers, assistant brewers, marketing reps, brand managers, administrative staff, event planners and more. It will also help with the other costs of increasing production and distribution of Backroom Brewery’s farm grown herbal beers such as their award winning Lemon Basil Wheat Beer, Cilantro Lime Wheat Beer, Rosemary Orange Amber Ale, Farmwork (rosemary rye saison), Bay Nut Brown Ale, Helltown Red IPA (made with red basil) and Chili Pepper Red Ale.

Mrs. Clifton wishes to recognize each person who wrote a letter of support for the project and the grant. She will honor these individuals on October 10th with a celebration that is also open to the public. The celebration will begin at 2 p.m. and will feature live music. Additionally, the public will have the chance to tour the original brewery, the new brewery building and take a look at plans for new brewing equipment. The letter writers will be present along with their framed letters on display. Of course, many of the delicious herbal beers will be on tap along with 12+ other BRB craft brews.

Backroom Brewery is Virginia’s first farm brewery, licensed in 2013 long before Virginia’s farm brewery bill mandated that breweries be allowed in all agricultural jurisdictions. It sits on 40 acres of farmland along a Virginia Designated Scenic Highway. This is especially significant right now when outdoor seating is extremely important. Because attendance at this event may be higher than usual, guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and socially distance outside.

Face masks are required inside all buildings. The new brewery building/event barn has been equipped with COVID filters on the HVAC systems, a wall mounted thermometer at the entrance and staff routinely sanitizes public contact surfaces.

Bring your own family’s picnic or purchase pub fare from our brew pub. As always, OUTSIDE ALCOHOL IS NOT ALLOWED.