Lost Barrel Has Found Its Perfect Place

Lost Barrel Has Found Its Perfect Place

By M.J. McAteer

Lost Barrel events manager Natalie Femia and co-owner and chief brewer Patrick Steffens.

Photo by M.J. McAteer

Opening a brewery in the dead of winter during a pandemic doesn’t sound like a smart business plan, but Lost Barrel Brewing has made it work.

This stylish addition to the Middleburg scene opened last December, smack in the middle of a season more associated with hot toddies than cold brews. Back then, unless visitors snagged one of the three fire pits that punctuate the brewery’s lawn or a seat by a heater on its covered porch, al fresco drinking was limited to the hardy.

Indoors, in its spacious taproom, seating also was limited by the need for social distancing. When the weather finally warmed up enough for beer aficionados to enjoy the brewery’s bucolic setting, the cicadas arrived.

“We faced hurdles, but not roadblocks,” said Patrick Steffens, one of Lost Barrel’s owners as well as its general manager and chief brewer. “Starting any business is difficult, but this has been a labor of love.”

Still, he admitted, “I’m excited about the prospect of being back to normal.”

Lost Barrel is located just west of the village off Route 50. The 70-acre property once belonged to local horseman George Wiltshire, and one of the families that owns Lost Barrel still maintains an equestrian facility on the west side of the old Mosby Springs farm. Brewery patrons also are treated to a view of horses grazing in nearby fields as they quaff craft beers and hard seltzers that are the venue’s speciality.

Smooth and malty, citrusy and hoppy, sour

Photo by M.J. McAteer Lost Barrel events manager Natalie Femia and co-owner and chief brewer Patrick Steffens.

or light, Steffens said Lost Barrel brews it--in 450-gallon batches two or three times a week. “It’s the easiest 700-step process you’ll ever hear about,” said the former hobby brewer. The brewery’s Farm Ale recently won a gold medal at the Virginia Beer Cup competition, a coup for the start-up.

Lost Barrel’s made-on-site hard seltzers are another point of pride. They come in cherry, lemonlime, orange and raspberry and are all naturally flavored without added sugar. The brewery offers wine and nonalcoholic drinks, as well.

Lost Barrel has a two-pronged approach to survival. Visitors to the brewery can buy beer by the glass, the pitcher, the keg or the sixtel (a sixth of a keg). Or, they can get growlers or cans to go.

Lost Barrel has a limited distribution area, but some of its beers are on tap at nearby establishments such as the Salamander Resort and the West End restaurant in Purcellville. Its canning machine, which shares space in the brew house with towering silver vats, processes 800 cans an hour.

The brewery is also serious about its food choices. said marketing and events manager Natalie Femia. Teaming with chef José Marty of LoCo Kitchen, they’ve crafted a menu that includes intriguing, finger-friendly dishes such as Peruvian-style chicken skewers, bacon pops and hot flatbreads.

Lost Barrel has made it a point to be in harmony with its rural setting. It was built out of reclaimed wood, and with its clerestory windows and silo-like tower, it resembles a rustic barn. Just as important to its owners is that the brewery be part of the community.

It’s been a regular at the National Sporting Library and Museum’s open-late concert series. On “Sunday Fund Days,” it plays host to local charities, such as the Middleburg Humane Society, donating 10 percent of that day’s sales.

And why Lost Barrel?

Steffens said it came out of his vision of the brewery as a hidden treasure, just waiting to be discovered.

“I wanted it to be that good,” he said.

Lost Barrel Brewery, 36138 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg. Open Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday, 11a.m. to 8 p.m.