Hannah Carroll

hcarroll2@dmg.gannett.com

For Revelation Craft Brewing Company, getting the Belltown Church brewpub approved was reason enough to celebrate.

But victories keep coming as Revelation anticipates opening its microbrewery next month.

"It's all very exciting," brewmaster Patrick Staggs said, with a smile.

The microbrewery, located on Central Street in West Rehoboth, will act as a tasting room and "test pilot facility", where winning beer batches will graduate to the brewpub (which will open summer 2017).

"Basically, the sky is the limit here," he said. "We purposely bought a smaller system for the microbrewery to take some risks and experiment with recipes."

The Revelation microbrewery will operate on a three-and a half barrel system, he said, producing 500 barrels a year.

Staggs hopes to open in April with a solid, six-beer lineup, including Oh Yes, an orange honey Hefeweizen made with local honey from Stag Run Farm in Georgetown. Stouts, IPAs, blondes and sour beers will also be offered.

"I've been playing around with a few old recipes up my sleeve," he said.

Staggs has been home brewing for 15 years, and has also worked for big names in the industry. He was operations manager at Dr. Pepper and Snapple for five years, before joining Dogfish Head's team as the director of operations.

"Patrick is the perfect guy for the job," said Harry Metcalfe, who co-owns Revelation Brewing Company with Bryan Keith, chef/co-owner of Mio Fratello restaurant in Fenwick Island, and others.

"Patrick has a real passion for the industry and a vision that is right on the mark for what we're trying to do."

One part of this vision, he said, is education.

Everyone on the Revelation team, including servers, hostesses and bartenders, will be required to brew with Staggs as part of their training.

Additionally, brewery tours for those visiting the microbrewery will be highly encouraged. Guests will even be able to brush up on some local beer history thanks to its one-of-a-kind bar, which is covered in pages from the book, "Brewing in Delaware."

"We are really pleased with how it turned out," Metcalfe said. "It just makes the space even more unique and special."

Although the microbrewery is small — 1,500-square-feet — Metcalfe and Staggs hope Revelation will give locals, and tourists alike, a new reason to visit West Rehoboth.

"A few people have questioned why we chose to build here," Staggs said. "But this area has immense potential. I mean, just in the last month, we've seen three new business pop up."

Central Street is right off of Route 1 ext. and is surrounded by the Junction and Breakwater bike trail, he said. The trail alone attracts nearly 100,000 bicyclists annually.

"We certainly want to cater to them," he said. "We're going to offer a place to sit down and relax, before getting back out there."

In addition to a cold pint of beer, the Revelation microbrewery will offer 32 ounce "bullet" growlers, designed to fit inside the water bottle holder on a bicycle.

"We've got a lot more ideas that we are really excited for," he said. "We just need to get up and running."

The Revelation Craft Brewing Company microbrewery has passed through planning and zone and is currently awaiting the county council vote.

For more information, visit Revelation Craft Brewing Company's Facebook page or call 302-212-5674.

On Twitter @hcarroll_1 and Facebook at Facebook.com/byhannahcarroll

On Instagram @thesassy_banana

302-537-1881, ext. 209