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Petersburg’s Trapezium Brewing Co. to craft own luck, and lots of beer

Posted at 2:17 PM, Jun 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-18 07:08:50-04

PETERSBURG, Va. – The owner of Trapezium Brewing Company, which opens Saturday, June 18, believes the Tri-Cities are an underserved market; so much so that he’s gone all in with a 1,000-gallon production brewery,

Dave McCormack moved from Richmond to Petersburg at the turn of the century. Since then he’s been buying land, opening businesses and helping foster community – or as he jokes, “somewhat selfishly” creating the things he would like to see in the city.

There are over 72,000 people in the Tri-Cities – Hopewell, Colonial Heights and Petersburg – and tens of thousands more who live in the adjoining counties of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, and Prince George. Also nearby are unincorporated communities that include Ettrick, Fort Lee, and City Point.

Yet, there wasn’t a single brewery.

Meanwhile in Richmond, with a population now at 220,000, there are over 20 breweries in the city proper –- not to mention ones in surrounding counties.

tpzm brewery

“There are tens of thousands who call it home and want businesses,” McCormack said of the Tri-Cities.

McCormack describes how the area around his brewery has been transforming from a “barbed-wire wasteland” into a community.

Like Richmond, Petersburg’s history stretches far back.

“People are seeking out authenticity and this is where that is at,” McCormack said of urban developments, “we are tapping into that.”

Both cities have their share of folklore as well.

CRAFT YOUR OWN LUCK 

The brewery is situated on 18,000 square-feet at 420 Third Street, home to the former City Ice and Coal factory built in the 1870s. A shiny, stout grain bin that formerly held around 60,000 pounds of barley, emblazoned with a red TPZM, marks the spot.

tpzm outside

Just about nine blocks away, past the coffee shop and on through the red-bricked district of Old Towne Petersburg sits a piece of history that McCormack calls quirky.

The Trapezium House, built in the early 1800s, was created without right angles. Charles O'Hara didn’t build a square house like all his other neighbors. Folklore has it that he built a home with parallel walls because his West Indian servant said that evil spirits lurk in right angles.

Historic Trapezium House

Historic Trapezium House

“A lot of things that are happening in Petersburg, a few years ago no one really saw all this happening or thought this was possible,” McCormack said. “So for us, the Trapezium House represents the quirkiness of this place, it represents oddball things happening in oddball places and we just wanted to have fun with that name.”

“It worked out well for them,” said James Frazer, Trapezium’s head brewer. “The house is still standing.”

“We want to set trends, not follow them,” Frazer added. “We want to do things differently, but still pay homage.”

McCormack said they’ve taken from this iconic structure the idea that one crafts their own luck.

But first, they had to put the $600,000 from the Virginia Industrial Revitalization Fund into the old building, which McCormack said was “chopped up and frankly, really abused” over the 100-year span.

“We’ve had to correct a lot of those things,” he said.

loft area

An addition was built, a lot of rooms opened up and the structure stabilized.

Now the renovated space hosts a 30-barrel brew system, a taproom and a small kitchen.

BREWERY, TAPROOM AND RESTAURANT

Trapezium plans to focus on brick oven pizza, made with dough from the neighboring Buttermilk Bakery. They will soon expand the menu and offer sandwiches.

The beer menu is already quite developed, thanks to Frazer – who McCormack called “very inventive.”

TPZM

Frazier, 35, was recruited due to his home brewing success, having won numerous awards in multiple states. As an amateur, he won a trip to Colorado to brew at the professional level at the Great American Beer Fest (GABF), in 2013.

Travis, James, and Seth. PHOTO: Trapezium

Travis, James, and Seth. PHOTO: Trapezium

He also comes across as very detail and goal-oriented.

Back when he was just starting as a homebrewer, using a five-gallon Igloo mash tun and 7.5 gallon boil pot, he set a goal to compete in the GABF. He checked that off his list and set a goal to open a brewery.

“It’s going to be a beer factory,” Frazer laughed.

On his production team are brewers Seth Johnson, who brewed at Sunken City; Travis Spain, who worked on an artisan mushroom farm in Prince George; and an unnamed hire from Flying Dog Brewery who is slated to start in July.

They will brew in two shifts.

FOUR FLAGSHIPS, MANY TAPS, BOTTLE DISTRIBUTION

There are four flagship beers that will always be on tap, and which will be sold in stores by the bottle. The branding develops the idea of "craft your own luck" and beers will be named for their style, with a lucky number assigned to each beer. Random numbers were assigned to each beer, versus using a traditional number like "7."

Hence, the white ale is Lucky 47.

Lucky 47

The white ale is a traditional Belgian white, brewed with chamomile and rose hips. It is 5.2 ABV and has a very floral yeast and very floral hops.

“We want to create a bouquet for your nose,” Frazer said and called it “complex and refreshing. “

The IPA offering is 7% ABV, but it’s not a palate wrecker.  Frazer said it is traditional and it has a very simple grain bill to showcase the hops, and a very simple malt sweetness.

He uses a “proprietary bunny-hopping technique” to blend the hops, of which there are six total in the brew.

The session IPA is 5% ABV and is an approachable, balanced beer. The bite is the hop but the flavor is big, tropical and juicy.

The fourth offering is a lemon honey ginger, hopped like a pale ale. At 7.6 ABV, it is the one flagship that will be sold in four-packs, not sixers. Honey was used when cooking, and in the fermenter.

The nose is lemon and honey and the flavor is ginger up front, then honey in the back with a dry finish, Frazer said.

The other taps pouring on opening weekend will be a Brown Ale, Peach Wheat, Imperial Black IPA, and Czech Pilsner.

There is a Strawberry Blonde in the works as well as a 10.5 ABV Imperial stout, some of it aged in Four  Roses barrels.

tpzm 1

GET TO OLD TOWNE, BUT IF YOU CAN'T....

Trapezium is distributed in Richmond by Loveland and in Petersburg by Chess Bay.

All flagships will be bottled for sale, and available in mid-July. Every other week a limited edition 22 oz. will be bottled for sale at the brewery only. A 9.1% ABV Double IPA will be released June 22, on draft and in bottle.

Every other month a special 22 oz. will be released for distribution.

tpzm 2

The brewery is about a 30-minute straight shot down I-95 from Richmond, and actually just takes four more minutes than the trip over to Steam Bell Beer Works in Chesterfield. There are no tolls.

Frazer, who settled down in Mechanicsville with his family, said he loves Old Towne Petersburg.

"I get here early and I leave late," he said, "I love walking around."

He hopes this brewery helps "to bring a lot of people to Old Towne."

"If we do, the roads will get better, the schools will get better, it will all get better," he said.

Cheers to crafting your own luck -- and fortune.

Trapezium Brewing, the full keg:

Location: 420 Third Street
Hours: Saturday and Sunday, noon to midnight and Wednesday – Friday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Facebook: Trapezium Brewing CompanyBeer: Four flagships, multiple varieties available at brewery, limited bottle distribution in mid-July
Menu: Pizza and sandwiches
Vibe: Family-friendly