FAINTING GOAT BREWING

Fainting Goat

By Jenny White

ews Alert: Tere are no goats present at Fainting Goat Brewing Company and Taproom in Fuquay Varina’s downtown historic district.

Tere could be some fainting.

Te brewery gets its name from owner Tim Reichert. In addition to being a veteran, master brewer and having a great sense of humor, Reichert suffers from something called Laughter Induced Syncope, which — you guessed it — causes one to faint when laughing.

“My friends nicknamed me ‘the fainting goat’ and it just stuck,” Reichert said.

Reichert and his business partner, MaryAnn Durborrow, opened the Fuquay-Varina brewery in 2015, and it’s been going strong ever since.

In fact, Fainting Goat Brewing Company is expanding. Te company recently announced it has purchased an 8,000-square-foot building in downtown Benson and will relocate and expand its brewing space to the Benson location and open a second taproom. Te Fuquay-Varina space will remain open as a taproom.

NTe expansion comes as high demand for its flagship beers — Der Hoof Hefeweizen, Brewquay DIPA and Butthead Brown Ale — has caused the Fainting Goat Brewing Company to outgrow its current 2,500-squarefoot brewery and taproom. Reichert says the company experienced rapid growth and success since opening in 2015, and the Fuquay location has reached its brewing capacity of 300 barrels per year. Te new brewery location will output about 1,000 barrels per year. Te newest Fainting Goat brewery

34 | Carolina Brew Scene | Fall 2018

Carolina Brew Scene Military Issue

property will be located at the corner of West Parrish Drive and South Railroad Street in the former Crossroads Church in Benson. It will feature a tap room, patio and a two-vessel, 10-barrel brewhouse. Te company’s current two-barrel brewing system will be moved to Benson to serve as a pilot system and used to produce limited release, small-batch beers.

Reichert says the company will continue its green operations.

“All our spent grain is picked up by a local cattle farmer to be used as feed, and we have a 100-gallon cold liquor tank housed in our walk-in cooler. Tis tank cut our chilling water usage by two-thirds, and we recycle hot water generated by chilling wort to clean equipment and fermenters,” he said.

Construction on the first phase of the new location began in September, with brewing operations expected to begin near the end of 2018.

Reichert says both taprooms will have about 8-10 varieties on tap on a daily basis.

“Tough the brewery is moving, we really wanted to continue being part of the Fuquay-Varina community. We’ve got a core group of customers and friends that is steadily growing as more people check us out. We don’t offer Wi-Fi in our taproom and really concentrate on building relationships, getting to know one another and promoting interacting with each other, rather than via a phone,” Reichert said.

“We’re a gathering place — with really good beer,” he added.

Te Fuquay-Varina location is open Wednesday through Sunday. Check their website at faintinggoatbeer.com for times, what’s on tap and upcoming events.

Fall 2018 | Carolina Brew Scene | 35