INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Josh Lurie: What are some of your most satisfying moments of working with craft beer?

An Bui: Hanging out with the passionate beer lovers. Just having a conversation, sharing a beer with them, it’s always a moment for me.

JL: Where do you see the Richmond beer scene in 5 years?

AB: Well you know, we’ve just cracked the door right now. I can see it being almost like Asheville, or Grand Rapids. Right now, we have a passionate group, and it’s expanding so fast, we could have 10-15 breweries in 5 or 6 years. It’s going to be a small, lovely beer community.

JL: Just because they’re local, does that mean they’re going to end up on your taps?

AB: Not every local beer or brewery is going to be on our taps. Here, we deal mostly in relationships, and we taste beer that’s good and respectable to be on our taps. If you are some guy that opened up a brewery that doesn’t know anything about brewing, and the beer doesn’t taste good, we’re not going to put it on. It has to be a good, passionate brewer who’s making great beer. That’s who we’re putting on tap.

JL: Is there an aspect of craft beer culture that you’ve seen in another city or country that you’d like to see more of in Richmond?

AB: Yeah, probably Grand Rapids and Asheville. They are very passionate. Everyone in that community supports themselves and helps themselves build up the city. I’d like to see somebody down the road, everyone in Richmond, behind craft beers, good beers, and trying to push it up to make more and better beers.

JL: Is there a brewery or beer that doesn’t have distribution in Richmond that you would like to get?

AB: Yes! It’s always Russian River. They’re making incredible beers, great IPA, great sour beer, and it’s in California. I know Vinnie [Cilurzo] a little bit, and he likes to have his beer served fresh, and the smaller the radius the better for him, so Richmond and California are too far, so I don’t think he’s going to bring it over, but you know, you can always wish.

JL: Who are some of the other people in the craft beer world that you look to for advice or guidance or inspiration?

AB: Well, you know I have so many. I always look at Charlie Papazian, the co-founder of American Homebrewers Association. He’s a big guy, he’s always humble, I always look to him. And I always look at brewmasters, like Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head, Vinnie from Russian River, Rob Tod from Allagash, those are humble people, they’re a passionate group. Great beer, so I just want to follow their line, stay humble, and try to preach the gospel of great craft beer, and enjoy beer with passionate people.