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Solstice Farm Brewery, owned by couple Anna and Ed Shore, will be open seasonally with hours set to run from April to November. Located at 6565 Blacksburg Road, the brewery is currently open from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursdays to Fridays; 1 to 8 p.m. Saturdays; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Solstice Farm Brewery launched in July with a seven-tap tasting room set on a farm in the Catawba Valley.

Solstice Farm Brewery, owned by couple Anna and Ed Shore, opened in July on a nearly 26-acre farm in the Catawba Valley. The 1,000-square-foot tasting room includes outdoor seating that the Shores hope to build out into a beer garden over time so visitors can enjoy the views.

The newest addition to the valley’s craft beer scene comes with a mountain viewshed and ingredients grown right on its own farm.

Solstice Farm Brewery, a name inspired in part by the setting’s sunsets, opened last month in what was the culmination of two years of work — and more years of dreaming — by owners Anna and Ed Shore.

The couple, both Virginia Tech grads, always hoped to one day return to the countryside they had grown to love during their college years. Life took them to Richmond where Anna worked as a high school science teacher and Ed was a mechanical engineer — skill sets that are serving them well in their new endeavor brewing up unique libations.

The opportunity to buy an almost 26-acre Catawba Valley farm in 2020 allowed them to start putting their dream in motion. Together, the couple, now retired, put in the work to fix up the property’s long-vacant farmhouse and convert a hot rod shop built by a prior owner into a brewery taproom.

“It’s really as much about the space for us as about the beer,” said Anna Shore, adding the tasting room includes outdoor seating that the couple hopes to build out into a beer garden over time so visitors can enjoy the views.

“We wanted to have an open space because that’s really what drew us to the area and what keeps other people living here,” she said. “So we want to make sure everybody has the opportunity to enjoy that.”

The farm is also near the Appalachian Trail, between McAfee Knob and Dragons Tooth, making it an ideal addition to the itineraries of hikers and bikers. “We want to be a destination that fits nicely with that,” Shore said. “So people out enjoying the day through these beautiful valleys can stop in here and have one more thing to enjoy about our region.”

Solstice Farm is a nanobrewery, small by design, with a half-barrel brewing system that can produce about 20 gallons at a time. The owners don’t anticipate growing beyond that or distributing outside the farm. Shore said they wanted to keep the vibe consistent with their rural neighborhood.

The brewery can fill growlers and can beers for those who’d like to take any ales home. It carries popcorn and other light snacks, and hopes to work with food trucks and other partners.

The tasting room has six beers on tap as well as a hard seltzer that can be flavored with one of about 20 different flavor options on hand. Non-alcoholic seltzers are also offered. Live music announcements can be followed on the brewery’s social media.

The 1,000-square-foot tasting room, which offers about 21 indoor seats, will be open seasonally with hours set to run from April to November.

The beers, which carry locally inspired names like Catawba Mountain and Sawtooth Ridge, are brewed in part with ingredients grown on Solstice Farm. That includes hops, berries and a looming fall crop of pumpkins.

The brewery also sources hops from outside the farm, Shore said, both to keep up with its needs and to incorporate different types of hops into its recipes.

The chance to open Solstice Farm and return to Southwest Virginia is the realization of a decades-long dream for the couple, Shore added. “You fall in love with the area, you know,” she said.

Solstice Farm Brewery, located at 6565 Blacksburg Road in Catawba, is open from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursdays to Fridays; 1 to 8 p.m. Saturdays; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

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Alicia Petska covers business and writes the Business Intel column. She can be reached at (540) 981-3319 or alicia.petska@roanoke.com.

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Solstice Farm Brewery, owned by couple Anna and Ed Shore, will be open seasonally with hours set to run from April to November. Located at 6565 Blacksburg Road, the brewery is currently open from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursdays to Fridays; 1 to 8 p.m. Saturdays; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Solstice Farm Brewery launched in July with a seven-tap tasting room set on a farm in the Catawba Valley.

Solstice Farm Brewery, owned by couple Anna and Ed Shore, opened in July on a nearly 26-acre farm in the Catawba Valley. The 1,000-square-foot tasting room includes outdoor seating that the Shores hope to build out into a beer garden over time so visitors can enjoy the views.

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