Episode 047 - Our Merger Made Great Business Sense

Episode 047: Our Merger Made Great Business Sense

When 2 complimentary breweries combine forces, the strength each possesses increases the combined exponentially.

While each company enjoyed linear growth separately, together they see the potential each brings to the relationship to help grow their combined efforts exponentially.

Due to brewing laws in Virginia when they opened, Old Ox Brewery understands production and distribution. While Silver Branch Brewing brings the hospitality side of the business to the relationship.

CHRISTIAN LAYKE

Co-founder and Head Brewer

Silver Branch Brewing

Christian started brewing as a college student and kept it up throughout his career at an environmental think tank. After his wife and baby boy were kind enough to accompany him to Belgium for a short-term professional brewing internship, Christian knew he had to follow his dream of founding his own brewery.

He started out as a “Beltway Brewer” for Gordon Biersch and was eventually promoted to head brewer of the Rockville location. After 6 years as head brewer there, he resigned to work full time toward opening Silver Branch. The rest, as they say, is history.

BRETT ROBISON

Co-founder and General Manager

Silver Branch Brewing

It was a revelation when Brett realized beer wasn’t just a flavorless yellow beverage. He told his friends he’d open his own brewery someday. Ten years later the dream is about the become a reality.

Brett has toured Europe drinking beer, quit his job in finance and did a brief stint as an assistant brewer. He followed that with managing multiple restaurants and most recently was General Manager of Republic in Takoma Park.

CHRIS BURNS

President and Co-Owner

Old Ox Brewery

Chris and his family launched Old Ox Brewery in June 2014, founding the brewery in order to connect people together through the magic of beer.

A former homebrewer, Chris uses his small business startup and operations experience every day to lead Old Ox. Old Ox strives to make meaningful connections with customers, other local businesses, and worthwhile causes within the community.

In addition to his work at Old Ox, Chris serves on the boards of various local organizations including Visit Loudoun, Virginia Craft Brewers Guild, and the Middleburg Cultural & Events Committee.

Old Ox Brewery

Old Ox is a family owned and operated commercial brewery. Our family works together. Plays together. Celebrates together. Faces life’s obstacles together. We’ve founded our brewery on hard work and a commitment to the community. We are looking for ways to partner with the artists, farmers, restaurants, retailers, and other businesses that make Loudoun County a special place to live.

We chose Old Ox Road as the inspiration for our brewery. Old Ox is one of the oldest roads in Loudoun County and was originally built to connect the agricultural producers of Loudoun County to the markets in Fairfax County and beyond. It is this same sense of connection that we want to provide for our customers…whether they are here in our tasting room or enjoying a pint in their favorite restaurant or tavern.

Silver Branch Brewing

Silver Branch was founded by Christian Layke and Brett A. Robison in January 2017. As long-time beer lovers with an appreciation for the four major brewing cultures, they will brew and serve excellent beer inspired by European and American beer traditions. Silver Branch’s beers will be multi-dimensional so that the last sip of your last beer is as pleasing as the first sip of your first beer.

GEMÜTLICHKEIT /gǝ’ mōōtlik,kīt/

No, it isn’t a misspelling of Gesundheit.

It’s German for that nebulous sense of camaraderie, coziness, and a sense of belonging one gets when enjoying time with good friends. For us, drinking beer is a time to commune with friends. Creating a space where folks want to catch up while enjoying a pint of beer, a glass of wine, or a soda is the reason we decided to open a brewery in the first place. We look forward to hosting you and your buddies! Pretty soon you too will feel comfortable describing Silver Branch using that term gemütlich.

Notable Quote from the Interview

“We are in the process of merging with a Northern Virginia Brewery (Old Ox Brewing in Ashburn, VA)…It’s a strategic merger for a whole variety of reasons, but one of them is that we anticipate they’ll help us expand out North Virginia sales and distribution footprint as part of our growth ambitions.”

Christian Layke