If you love beer and live in or near Ivy City, you’ll be happy to hear that Atlas Brew Works received its permit last week to build its brewery at 2052 West Virginia Avenue NE.
“We’re excited to be part of the Ivy City neighborhood,” says Will Durgin, co-founder of the brewery. “We’re hoping to be good neighbors to everyone here and have a positive impact on the community.”
Durgin, who was at
Pyramid Breweries in Portland, Ore. before arriving in D.C. in October, and his business partner Justin Cox received their construction permit on Wednesday and began building immediately.
“We came in hitting it full force Thursday morning, right after the permit was issued,” says Cox.
In the back of this 7,300-square-foot space will be their beer tanks and barrels and three loading bays for deliveries and shipments. The office and bar area will be in the front where they will do tastings and sell their fresh American-style craft ales and lagers in 64-ounce growlers, 22-ounce bottles, and in kegs, but Atlas Brew Works will not operate like a bar.
Durgin and Cox, former Vanderbilt classmates, will also provide tours on the weekends.
The beer warehouse has some interesting architectural features like flared mushroom columns, popular from 1900 to 1950, which the co-founders hope to “deck out” with some paintings. Eighteen-foot-high bay doors in the space also create a good amount of light and make the place feel more open.
With a 25-foot sidewalk out front, the co-founders are looking into what kind of outdoor space they can provide for their customers and taste-testers. A decent view of the Mt. Olivet cemetery across the street might draw some added desire to sit outdoors from their customers.
Construction will be complete by late summer—three months from now.
The brewery is accessible via a number of buses, including the D4 and D3, and is about a mile from the NoMa Galludet Metro stop.