Craft brewery opens in Falls Church

Audacious Aleworks is a popular gathering spot in Falls Church.

Five years ago, Annandale resident Brian Reinoehl walked into the Bad Wolf Brewery in Manassas and had a thought, “I want to do this.”

Reinoehl and his business partner Mike Frizzell opened their own brewery, Audacious Aleworks at 110 E. Fairfax St., Falls Church, in May.

During the past five years, they learned all they could about beer making, bought a stove-top brewing kit, set up a $20,000 brewing system to make one-barrel batches on Reinoehl’s back porch, and sold their IT business to concentrate on Audacious Aleworks.

“We originally wanted to open in Fairfax County in the Mosiac District but the county made it very difficult,” Reinoehl says. “The City of Falls Church has welcomed us with open arms. The Falls Church government and chamber of commerce have been wonderful.”

Audacious Aleworks offers a variety of beers, ales, stouts, and porters, with new varieties continually introduced. Currently, the biggest sellers are Lord Thirsty Work, a New England IPA with a citrus flavor, and Lord Humungus, a double West Coast IPA.

Upcoming plans include board games, live music, and food from local restaurants, says Reinoehl, who also owns Luna Flynn Moon Bounce, a company that provides bounce house and water slide rentals for parties. He also wants to start offering food from local restaurants. Audacious Aleworks doesn’t have a kitchen, but there is free popcorn.