Staff report
The story of Braxton Brewing Company is the story of the American Dream and there isn’t a single successful American Dream that doesn’t endure uneasy circumstances. But Jake Rouse, co-founder and owner of Braxton, says this week has been the most difficult ever for the company.
“Five years ago my brother and I decided to take this leap of faith — like many entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, and bar owners we took a chance,” Rouse said. “The timing was right, not just for breweries to become the cornerstones of redevelopment in thousands of communities across the country, but for restaurants and bars to become the wind beneath the sails that accelerated the redevelopment. And right now, that very progress is in critical condition. No one knows how long the effects of the coronavirus will last.”
The most important thing that every start-up story has is the people who write the chapters alongside the owners, Rouse said.
Braxton has grown its team to over 80 people.
That made Thursday the “hands-down” hardest day of his life, he said — when he had to let a significant portion of them go due to the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s when Braxton’s leadership team decided to “do something” — and that something is an online sale of the “singlemost special beer” Braxton has made and use the proceeds to benefit those furloughed workers.
So a special “Open Our Cellar” promotion is underway on Saturday. Braxton is releasing some of the Dark Charge they have been saving over the years for a special occasion and will take $5 per bottle sold to create a fund specifically for our “affected family members” — their workers — during this time of need.
Even better, several members of the extended family will be matching the monies raised.
Using their existing online ordering platform, at 9 a.m. Saturday Braxton will send a link of all available inventories and prices. Orders will be fulfilled just like their online curbside-to-go platform – and buyers can pick up their bottles starting at 11 a..m.
This “Dark Charge Cellar Day” won’t be as fun as the usual Dark Charge Days as Braxton will abide by all governmental suggestions and CDC recommendations — social distancing, no beer on-premise, and no lines outside. But this “Dark Charge Cellar Day” will be meaningful to the furloughed workers — and is another story in the growing legend of Braxton.
