Revelation brewery set to open spot in West Rehoboth

The Sussex County Council approved the opening of Revelation Brewing's test brewery in West Rehoboth, in a vote of 4-1. According to Revelation's Harry Metcalfe, this was an arduous step into getting that first keg tapped.

"There's no reason the process should have taken 10 and a half months," Metcalfe said. "If we would've gotten the approval when we initially proposed the idea, we could've had our doors open by the beginning of January."

Previously, head brewer Patrick Staggs planned on having doors open sometime in May. This followed by a month long delay in the process that Metcalfe can not account for.

"I have no idea why this last one-month delay happened," Metcalfe said. "I think the county council, quite frankly, made a mistake."

READ MORE: Brewer set to open in West Rehoboth

Metcalfe explains that, in the process, the county council failed to follow the proper procedure in dealing with the proposed brewery. In that process, the brewery first receives council approval, and then goes through the process of zoning and getting permits. For Revelation, this was not the case.

"I was shocked that this happened," Metcalfe said. "There was someone on the council who seemed to not understand the policies. And that person has been on the council since 1986, how he could not know how this works doesn't make any sense to me."

Metcalfe further blamed the slow crawl of legislation to adapt to craft breweries, an industry in Delaware which has seen a nearly 200 percent growth between 2011 and 2015, and in 2014 accounted for a $264 million economic impact, according to the American Brewer's Association.

"What I think part of the problem is is that, even though craft breweries and brew pubs took off in the mid-90s," Metcalfe said, "the legislation hasn't caught up, and with the explosion of breweries that's happened in the last five or so years, the councils and laws haven't been able to keep up."

Despite the setbacks, Revelation, which is also currently in the process of beginning renovations of the Belltown United Methodist Church for a separate brewery, says the West Rehoboth location is set to open in time for the Fourth of July weekend. Metcalfe explained what the 1,500 square foot location, situated at the intersection of Central Ave. and Johnston Road, will offer.

READ MORE: Brewery may be Belltown church's saving grace

"We're going to be at 40 barrels a month," Metcalfe said. "It's not a large system, it's a test system. We'll be brewing a lot of different types of beer and getting a lot of feedback, that's mostly the plan for that location."

Metcalfe stated Revelation will have seven beers on tap when they launch, including a nitro ale and a cask-conditioned ale.

As for the long arbitration process in getting approval for the brewery, Metcalfe is relieved to finally taking the steps towards pouring the first pint.

"It's unfortunate that it happened, but I'm just glad we're past that," Metcalfe said. "We're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We're not there yet, but we're getting there."