Oasis of beer: Blue Mountain Brewery expands

In the late-1990s Taylor Smack worked for the local dot-bomb era company Value America as a product description and advertising writer. He was 22-years old and it was his first job out of college. With a BA from Hampden-Sydney College Smack figured he'd enter the business world and work his way up the corporate ladder. Value America's epic collapse cured him of that. One Christmas during that time he was given a small beer brewing kit. After making those first few batches he turned his back on those white collar ambitions and decided he wanted to get his hands dirty making beer.

The rest is local beer making history.

Smack went off and earned a Certificate of Brewing Technology from Chicago's Siebel Institute, the country's oldest school for the craft of brewing. He then became the head brewer at Goose Island brewpubs in Chicago, and later spent six years as the brewer for Charlottesville's South Street Brewery. In 2007, together with his wife, Mandi, and his friend (and fellow ex-Value America employee), Matt Nucci, the trio opened Blue Mountain in 2007.

Last year, Blue Mountain won a silver medal at the World Beer Cup, the Olympics of beer brewing competitions, in the American Wheat beer style category for its Rockfish Wheat.

Blue Mountain opened its new facility to some guests on September 14, 2011. And the Hook got a tour. The grand opening was held on September 21.

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