One of Delaware’s signature breweries plans to add to its presence near the Delaware beaches by tapping into a new market.
The brewery has purchased the Vesuvio Motel in downtown Lewes and plans to convert it into the Dogfish Head Inn.
The 16-room inn, which sits almost equidistant between Dogfish Head’s Milton Brewery and The Dogfish Head Brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, set is slated to open in the spring of 2014.
Plans for Dogfish Head Inn are still being developed, but the brewery’s Justin Williams says it will carry over Dogfish Head’s unique “Off-center” mentality.
“The reaction that I’ve seen has come mostly from beer enthusiasts and they are pretty much across the board really psyched," said Williams. "I’ve heard a few local folks say that they are excited about it and excited to have something fun right down there in such a good location. It’ll be fun to have something down there that has a lot of character.”
This move by Dogfish Head comes at a time when growing West Coast craft brewers like Sierra Nevada and New Belgium have chosen to set up east coast production facilities in North Carolina.
Williams says the Delaware brewery is taking different approach, investing in its home base rather than western expansion or paid advertising.
“The way that Dogfish has grown is through word of mouth and this is just kind of the next step in that process for us," said Williams. "We want people to go to the hotel and see what we are all about and experience our pub and experience our brewery and be evangelists for our company.”
Dogfish Head is also in the process of an eight figure brewery expansion. The Milton brewery just completed a new bottling line and is expanding its production capacity from 200,000 barrels to 500,000 barrels. Dogfish Head plans on increasing production 20% per year until they reach their 500,000 barrel maximum capacity.