Edible Blue Ridge Fall 2022

LIQUID ASSETS

BREWERY & BEER CENTRIC B&B

Jesse Feldberg

WORDS & PHOTOS

For this fall’s iteration of Liquid Assets, we sat down with Dan and Terri Tatarka, owners of WildManDan Brewery and Beer Centric B&B. After four years of the couple operating the bed-and-breakfast side of the business, (WildMan)Dan retired from his day job, and in 2019, the Nelson County brewery was officially born. ese days, you can find Dan brewing 10-gallon batches of beer in his barn — Vir ginia’s smallest production brewery! While Dan brings the beer, Terri brings 40 years from the food and beverage and hospitality industries, as well as an infectious energy that can outmatch the Energizer bunny. She prepares all of the à la carte menu items for guests at the B&B, ranging from croissants to barbecue packs to shakshuka to ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls. Local ingredients (including Terri’s whole-hog chorizo — yes, she makes it!) abound on both the food and beer menus. In 2014, the Tatarkas purchased the property and began their over haul. ey started with the 1800s farmhouse — which is rich in Nel son County history. “ ey know me in the records room. I’ve traced the [ownership of ] the house back to 1872. e deeds are hand-writ ten,” says Terri. e first census that’s been located is from 1890, and lists 17 people in the house, including 9 children who lived in the attic. Be sure to ask Terri for a ghost story or two … She tells me that the house operated as the town’s post office, as well as its beauty parlor, into the 1940s. e red barn, now the brewery, was the local feed & seed store, and the green cottage that Dan and Terri now live in was once the Esso gas station, with its pumps front-facing towards the road. In the 1920s, Coca-Cola painted the barn, along with thousands of others across the country, its iconic red color. e only change made to the exterior was the addition of the brewery’s Kokopelli logo, topped with a fresh coat of acrylic. Preserving both the aesthetics and the history of the property has clearly been an important cornerstone for Dan and Terri. It would have been easy to build a new brewhouse, but instead they used the COVID years to refinish the existing barn, making it their unique tasting room. Original doors and hand-hewn beams grab the atten tion of anyone who walks inside. Guests of the B&B can rent the tasting room and upstairs game room (an absolute must-see) outside of normal hours as a special perk. While sipping their pints, guests can expect Terri to get to know them and help fine-tune their ideal weekend trip. “I’m a mini chamber of commerce,” she says.

We’ve asked the above-mentioned mini chamber of commerce, and her brewer-extraordinaire husband, some questions, and would like to thank them for their time and hospitality. If there’s anything else you need to know, you’ll simply have to stop in and pay them a visit. Just don’t be surprised if you have a hard time leaving! Edible Blue Ridge: How did this business plan come about? WildManDan &Terri: We were hiking the Inca Trail. At that altitude, Dan had an epiphany that he wanted to retire and brew beer — so we started looking for properties. While we were in Germany, we met a couple in Dusseldorf that had a small brew system; they had 8 seats and lived upstairs. And that’s when we thought of a bed-and-breakfast with a brewery. e plan was always for the B&B to help fund the brewery side. EBR: What made you choose this location? WMD&T: is property has two wells onsite, so Dan made me show up with water sample bottles. I didn’t even look at the property! We needed to test the water; if it wasn’t great for brewing beer, this wasn’t the place. e water percolates through the back end of the mountain. It’s fantastic water. Chemistry in water is everything [for brewing]. EBR: How about the name? WMD&T: e name was easy; I’ve been calling him that for thirty years! EBR: Dan is clearly invested in teaching guests about beer and the brewing process. Can you tell us a little about that?

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