This feature is only the second in a new series of brewery tours: Hop & Wine, Out on the Town. In January, we visited Ashburn, Virginia’s own Lost Rhino Brewing Company for a tour and a taste. In the months to come, Hop & Wine columnists will venture to Victory Brewing Company, Dogfish Head, Highland Brewing Company, and many others!

The story of Lost Rhino Brewing Company begins elsewhere… at another, dearly departed brewery that shan’t be named. It was at this other, mysterious brewery that Lost Rhino’s founders, Matt Hagerman and Favio Garcia, met, and it was upon the occasion of its departure from Ashburn, Virginia that Hagerman and Garcia had what they’d soon realize was a brilliant idea.

“Hey Matt, I’ve got a great idea,” Favio said.

Or maybe it happened the other way around.

“Hey Favio, I’ve got a great idea,” Matt said.

“Let’s buy mysterious brewery’s equipment, and make our own beer!”

And so the tradition of craft beer in Ashburn continued…

The partners worked long into the night, through the weekend, and over years to turn their dream into reality. The road was long, and the process capital-intensive, but boy has it paid off. Favio and Hagerman brewed their first batch of craft beer in 2011, and they’ve never looked back.

With the support of a thirsty community, a dedication to “the road less traveled by,” and a commitment to quality of life for all (two-legged, and four-), Lost Rhino Brewing Company boasts a 25-barrel brewhouse with the capacity to produce up to 6200 barrels of craft beer [on the wall?] annually — that’s 12,400 kegs, but who’s counting?