South street Brewery

Long before today’s craft beer craze, brewmasters were making delicious suds at South Street Brewery, the longest running brewery in Central Virginia, since 1998. South Street’s first brewmaster, Jacques Landry, sold to former protégées Mandi and Taylor Smack, themselves owners of Blue Mountain Brewery, in 2014. Alexander Nicholson worked with Charlottesville’s Wolf Ackerman Architects, on a renovation to lighten and brighten this C-ville institution, once an old grain warehouse just south of the historic downtown mall. Full windows now occupy the front wall, connecting the life inside the pub to that outside on the street. The pub is now open, airy with a new layout. Walls have been removed, floors have been raised and lowered and furniture has been pared down. A row of sharp-lined booths take their place under a gunmetal paint job and exposed beams. New lighting enhances the space. One thing that didn’t change was the signature two-sided fireplace, a great place to meet friends for a frothy brew.