USA, NC: Trailside Brewing looking to open in Hendersonville in the last week of May

David Schnitzer, the general manager of Trailside Brewing located just off the future Ecusta Trail at 873 Lennox Park Drive at Lennox Station, said he's asked all the time when his newest business venture will be open to the public.

He now has a pretty good idea, he told the Times-News on May 1.

"We are looking to open in the last week of May," the 45-year-old said. "We wanted to be open four months ago... but when you do something custom and do something right, it takes a long time."

Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Schnitzer, who spent most of his life in North Georgia, moved to the Hendersonville area 12 years ago. He was the director at Camp Kanuga for nine years and opened Appalachian Coffee Company during that time.

"My wife went to work at First United Methodist Church when we first moved here. We flew right into really being a part of this community. We fell in love with Hendersonville, and I fell in love with creating spaces to make Hendersonville even better," he said. "The businesses that we started are ones that bring people in the community together ... coffee does that; beer does that, and this trail is certainly going to do that."

Schnitzer's Appalachian Coffee Company, which was located at Fifth Avenue in Laurel Park, closed its doors in February after its lease was up. But it didn't dampen his spirits. Instead, it allowed him to shift all his focus to Trailside Brewing, which will be one of the largest brewery spaces in Western North Carolina once it's open. Its tasting room alone is 6,000 square feet.

Schnitzer said he hopes to announce "exciting news on the future of Appalachian Coffee Company soon."

"We have an event space that's 3,500 square feet. It's going to be really, really cool. It's going to open for dining and extra brewery seating. If anyone wanted to have a rehearsal dinner or anyone wanted to rent it out, they can. We also have a 5,800-square-foot beer garden, so we are going to be able to sit 400 people," Schnitzer said.

He said the brewery will have at least 150 parking spaces.

"We've got tons of parking, and it's free. So, we are definitely excited about that," he said.

Schnitzer and his partners have plenty of brewing experience. Trailside Brewing will be brewing its own beer and also offering products from its sister breweries, he said.

"We have three breweries in Georgia, and our team of brewers are bringing all that experience here. All the Trailside beer is made here," Schnitzer said. "We have an in-house brewer that lives here in Hendersonville that we recruited from Colorado, and he's got a bunch of experience. We also have recipes we've been using for eight or nine years."

The first five beers Trailside Brewing will offer are a pilsner, a West Coast IPA, a hazy IPA, a stout and a sour.

"We have 16 taps in total and look forward to getting them all filled," he said. "We will always have a guest tap of our sister breweries. Once we have enough stock in house, we'll have 14 beers of our own here and then two beers of our other breweries on tap based out of Lawrenceville, Winder and Stone Mountain, Georgia."

Schnitzer said Trailside will also be offering a wine selection as well.

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