About

The Charlottesville Ale Trail is a volunteer-led 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization.

Mission

The primary objective of the Charlottesville Ale Trail is to promote our member breweries, cideries, and distilleries in and around Charlottesville, Virginia.

History

Even though there has always been great interest from our local breweries to create a beer trail in Charlottesville, the effort to form one had stalled in the past because there wasn’t an independent third-party to operate it. In the spring of 2018, a website promoting all of the events at breweries in Charlottesville and surrounding counties caught the attention of the Economic Development Office of Charlottesville. The website, named appropriately charlottesville.beer, was created by a local digital agency, Storyware.

During the summer of 2018, the Economic Development Office of Charlottesville brought all of the parties together to finally form the Charlottesville Ale Trail. The founding breweries consisted of Brasserie Saison, Champion Brewing Company, Hardywood Pilot Brewery & Taproom, Random Row Brewing Co., South Street Brewery and Three Notch'd Craft Brewery and Kitchen. Storyware’s partners, Todd Wickersty and Page Wood, volunteered as the co-directors and a representative from the Economic Development Office of Charlottesville filled out the initial board of directors.

In September of 2018, the Charlottesville Ale Trail held it's first official event to celebrate the launch of the trail and in the winter of 2019, the Charlottesville Ale Trail officially became a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization.

During the summer of 2022, the Charlottesville Ale Trail expanded beyond beer and the city limits of Charlottesville by launching a new passport with its newest members: Mount Ida Reserve, Potter's Craft Cider, Reason Beer, Ragged Branch Distillery, Selvedge Brewing, Starr Hill Crozet, and Vitae Spirits. The two passports merged into one at the start of 2023.

Team

Board of Directors
Courtney Davis, Random Row Brewing Co.
Jace Gonnerman, Starr Hill Brewery
Lauren Guerra, Potter's Craft Cider
Ashley Perry Hernandorena, Albemarle County Economic Development Office
Jacque Landry, Tasting Room + Taphouse at Mount Ida Reserve
Peter McMindes, Rockfish Brewing Company
Sara Morrill, Three Notch'd Craft Kitchen & Brewery
Allison Rowell, South Street Brewery
George Sandridge, City of Charlottesville Office of Economic Development
Todd Wickersty, LoyalBrew

2023 Board Officers
President – Todd Wickersty
Vice President – Peter McMindes
Secretary – Sara Morrill
Treasurer – Jacque Landry

Founders
Jason Ness
Todd Wickersty
Page Wood