Barking Rose

Our story begins in 2012. That’s when Forge Brew Works was formed, the first production brewery ever in Fairfax County, Virginia. In our Lorton location, we grew from our initial 1 bbl brewhouse (which still acts as our pilot system!) to a 5 bbl brewhouse, to eventually our 10 bbl brewhouse that we use now.
As we grew and changed as a business, so too did our personal life. Matt met Ashley, we got hitched, and together they moved out to Warrenton, Virginia. When the lease at the Lorton location was nearing the end, we made the decision that the next step in growth was to buy our own space and take up farming, so that’s what we did.
We purchased 11 acres in Warrenton, and we’ve named our new farm (but same brewery!) Barking Rose, after Ashley’s maiden name Barker and our family name Rose.
With our space growing, so did our family, as we’ve added Charlie and Sawyer to Matt, Ashley, Lance, (Alastair, Viktor, Kelsey, and Arabella, we can’t forget our dogs and cat), and our family farm and brewery took shape.
We brew the same styles we always have, Belgian Ales and German Lagers, because mostly that’s what Matt likes and since he’s the brewer, that’s what we get. We would love for you to come out and try them, along with all the new beers we get to brew with our farm grown ingredients.

Author: Dirk Jahn