Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Norfolk Hipsters & Lefties Try to Block a Military-Themed Brewery

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by

Bob Rayner
in , , , , ,

by Kerry Dougherty

Now is the time. If you believe that cities ought to be open for business, regardless of the viewpoints of the business owners, if you support the military and don’t consider flag-waving a provocative act, you might want to let Norfolk’s City Council hear from you.

On December 12th it is scheduled to vote on the application of Armed Forces Brewery to open its doors on the same premises that housed O’Connor Brewing in the so-called Railroad District of Norfolk.

The business was lured to Virginia by Gov. Glenn Yougnkin who helped the founders secure tax incentives to open their craft brewery in Norfolk rather than in Florida. The owners have pledged that 70% of their employees will be veterans.

Normally, that would be seen as good news in this military town.

While Norfolk City staff recommended approval of a conditional use permit for the enterprise, the Planning Commission last month voted 4-2 against Armed Forces Brewing Company after about 800 opponents wrote letters to the commission, according to a story in The Virginia Mercury.

At this November’s Planning Commission meeting, opponents like Jeff Ryder, head of Hampton Roads Pride, told the commissioners the brewery’s values as expressed by O’Neill didn’t fit the neighborhood.

“We have been challenged and dismayed to see Armed Forces Brewery coming into Norfolk and don’t feel that they are a business that will support our community or be a safe place for queer folks in Norfolk,” he said, noting that “there is rising hate and unfortunately, again, an increase in violence against queer people.”

Equating a patriotic, pro-military brewery with increased violence against gays stereotypes the clientele that would be expected to frequent such a watering hole.

Excluding a business due to the viewpoint of its owners or representatives may be unconstitutional. If it’s not, it ought to be.

It will certainly spark a lawsuit or two if Norfolk City Council bends to the wishes of self-pitying, anti-military fear mongers.

Here’s something you can do: Let Norfolk City Council know that there are plenty of folks who enjoy craft beer and also support the military and the right of everyone to have opinions.

Not just the leftists.

Republished with permission from Kerry: Unemployed and Unedited.

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28 responses to “Norfolk Hipsters & Lefties Try to Block a Military-Themed Brewery”

  1. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    If the applicant has met the conditions typically required for approval of the type of Conditional Use Permit for which he has applied, then the Norfolk city council should ignore the planning commission’s recommendation and approve the application.

    It has been my experience that judges in Virginia typically do not like arbitrary and capricious actions on the part of local governments.

  2. kls Avatar
    kls

    Didn’t AFB fire O’Neill — thus it’s a non issue except for people who hate veteran-centric businesses and economic growth.

  3. James Kiser Avatar
    James Kiser

    Good thing it is not a Jewish brewery all the lefty nazis and hamas supporters would be out in full force.

  4. DJRippert Avatar
    DJRippert

    Maybe the US Navy should relocate its operations from Tidewater to Jacksonville – where the residents aren’t anti-military jack-asses.

    I wonder how that would impact the economy of Tidewater.

    For those who are not anti-military buffoons …

    Looking for a gift for the holidays?

    Order a couple of bottles of American Revolution vodka.

    Veteran owned, the company uses some of its profits to invest in other veteran owned businesses.

    I had the privilege of meeting some of the employees of the company. Retired Seal Team 6 members. Great guys.

    Beyond the veteran – owned status, they make literally the best vodka on the planet (and I know vodka).

    Can you buy this vodka in Va ABC Stores?

    Of course not. The socialist clowns who think retail liquor sales should be run by the government say AmRev lacks the volume to justify its inclusion on ABC shelves.

    Good news – you can order it over the internet.

    Great holiday gifts!

    https://www.revvodka.com/home

    1. Nathan Avatar
      Nathan

      Good suggestion but I’m not a fan of vodka.

      1. John Harvie Avatar
        John Harvie

        Try a martini with 1/3 of a good vodka like Grey Goose, 1/3 Bombay or equal gin, and 1/3 Noilly Pratt vermouth.

        Gradually increase vodka while decreasing gin. Adjust vermouth for dryness.

        Voila!

        1. Eric the half a troll Avatar
          Eric the half a troll

          “Gradually increase vodka while decreasing gin”

          Egad! Why would you want to do this? For that matter, why would you want to despoil a perfectly good martini with vodka at all…? 😉. Love the Noilly, btw. Plymouth Gin is my one and only.

          1. John Harvie Avatar
            John Harvie

            You got me there…

    2. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      And they can legally deliver to a Virginia address?

      I mean, I don’t mind being arrested for bootlegging if the Vodka is good enough, but I’d prefer to avoid it if possible…

  5. walter smith Avatar
    walter smith

    Bake that cake bigot!
    So if the Council mans up and acts like Americans, the Gaystapo will come in and demand that they brew a gay beer.
    Who are the intolerant? The authoritarians?

    1. kls Avatar
      kls

      Gaystapo – i like that…….. love their support for the PA/Hamas sexual atrocitists!

  6. Irene Leech Avatar
    Irene Leech

    I think there’s some information missing here. The owner has made very strong statements – enough to alarm the Association of Local Brewers or whatever that local group is named. Be careful of too quickly assuming all are flaming “lefties.” Get all the information.

    1. walter smith Avatar
      walter smith

      Because all the business associations are terrified. Nobody wants to man up. It used to be a free country. People had the ability to speak what they thought. So what are the “very strong statements?” This censorship by Leftists, and yes, it is Leftists, has to stop.

    2. Nathan Avatar
      Nathan

      “The owner has made very strong statements…”

      Like what?

      If there are mitigating facts, it would be helpful to know what they are.

      Progressives make strong statements too, but we don’t deny them a license to operate on that basis.

    3. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      You told us to “get all the information”. That is a good idea. Will you please help us do so by quoting some of the “very strong statements” made by Mr. Beal?

      And by the way, I do not assume all the opponents of this brew pub are “flaming lefties”. I assume 98% of them are “flaming lefties”. The remaining 2% I assume are owners of other brew pubs who want to stifle competition.

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        His remarks, if not lost to the rabbit hole, involved the diminishing of the military with allowing LBGTQetc serve.

        Of course, unless you’re a Bible salesman or a Denny’s manager, ripping on roughly 10% of your customer base (closer to 25% in Ghent) with another 20% sympathetic souls in the area cannot be a smart business strategy.

        There’s a point where cutting losses becomes the best alternative. If they are threatening to sue (and they are) then they’re just guaranteed a failure.

        1. WayneS Avatar
          WayneS

          Perhaps, but don’t they have the right to fail on their own terms?

          1. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Perhaps they just did.

          2. WayneS Avatar
            WayneS

            I was thinking more along the lines of failing (or perhaps even succeeding) on their own terms without interference from the government.

  7. Stephen Haner Avatar
    Stephen Haner

    https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/williams-a-beer-brouhaha-in-norfolk-typifies-our-national-divide/article_32cf2fc0-938f-11ee-8174-972e3ddf2e48.html

    Gee, the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s liberal columnist, who provides balance to its other even more liberal columnist, thinks it’s not much different that the brew-haha over Bud Light.

    Don’t know the area, but it sounds like the Railyard District in Santa Fe we visited recently, in which case anybody unhappy with Brewery A can find Brewery B or Taphouse C or Wine Bar D all within a block…the more the merrier.

    1. Nathan Avatar
      Nathan

      “…thinks it’s not much different that the brew-haha over Bud Light.”

      I’m not aware of any conservatives who would deny Bud a license to operate.

      (I wasn’t able to read the article as it is behind a paywall)

      1. WayneS Avatar
        WayneS

        I’m not aware of any conservatives who would deny Bud a license to operate.

        Exactly right.

        If the situation was really “not much different than the brew-haha over Bud Light”, the pub’s opponents would simply boycott the business once it opens and encourage others to do the same. They would not be trying to use the government to put them out of business.

  8. Nathan Avatar
    Nathan

    I went to the linked article at the Virginia Mercury and found this, which I believe is the heart of the matter:

    Eli Wilson, an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico and the author of “Beer and Society: How We Make Beer and Beer Makes Us,” said he’s not heard of a similar controversy over a brewery, but he is not surprised by the battle in Norfolk.

    “The companies and people drawn to craft beer champion a kind of authenticity,” he said. Often, he noted, they are outspoken about their progressive social values. But that’s not the only way that kind of authenticity — the view “that my company is an expression of who I am, and what I believe” — can be presented.

    “It can certainly manifest on the other side of the political spectrum,” he added.

    Wilson said the controversy raises the thorny issue of people trying to stop a business only because it doesn’t align with their views.

    “To not be hypocritical with how we approach the world, if we’re going to be okay with some folks leading with very strongly progressive values and holding events and supporting certain charities, I think we have to look at a little bit of symmetry and see the ethical value in allowing folks to make equal gestures in the opposite direction, as long as they’re not directly hurting anyone,” he added.

    https://www.virginiamercury.com/2023/12/04/a-military-themed-brewery-sparks-a-fight-in-a-virginia-military-city/

  9. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Schlitz Beer. Those of an age will remember the highly successful advertising campaign dubbed “Drink Schlitz or we’ll kill you”.

    “Schlitz Beer Commercial (1977) Dubbed “Drink Schlitz or I’ll kill you” by the ad industry, this disastrous campaign was pulled after just 10 weeks. This, along with recipe cost-cutting and product recalls, expedited the fall of what was, just one year prior, America’s 2nd most popular brewery.”

    Methinks people want to drink to alleviate hostility. Doesn’t work, but that’s what they want.

    Oh, let’s go to X(Twitter) to discuss it further, eh?

  10. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Schlitz Beer. Those of an age will remember the highly successful advertising campaign dubbed “Drink Schlitz or we’ll kill you”.

    “Schlitz Beer Commercial (1977) Dubbed “Drink Schlitz or I’ll kill you” by the ad industry, this disastrous campaign was pulled after just 10 weeks. This, along with recipe cost-cutting and product recalls, expedited the fall of what was, just one year prior, America’s 2nd most popular brewery.”

    Methinks people want to drink to alleviate hostility. Doesn’t work, but that’s what they want.

    Oh, let’s go to X(Twitter) to discuss it further, eh?

  11. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Schlitz Beer. Those of an age will remember the highly successful advertising campaign dubbed “Drink Schlitz or we’ll kill you”.

    “Schlitz Beer Commercial (1977) Dubbed “Drink Schlitz or I’ll kill you” by the ad industry, this disastrous campaign was pulled after just 10 weeks. This, along with recipe cost-cutting and product recalls, expedited the fall of what was, just one year prior, America’s 2nd most popular brewery.”

    Methinks people want to drink to alleviate hostility. Doesn’t work, but that’s what they want.

    Oh, let’s go to X(Twitter) to discuss it further, eh?

  12. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Schlitz Beer. Those of an age (most of us) will remember the highly successful advertising campaign dubbed “Drink Schlitz or we’ll kill you”.

    “Schlitz Beer Commercial (1977) Dubbed “Drink Schlitz or I’ll kill you” by the ad industry, this disastrous campaign was pulled after just 10 weeks. This, along with recipe cost-cutting and product recalls, expedited the fall of what was, just one year prior, America’s 2nd most popular brewery.”

    Methinks people want to drink to alleviate hostility. Doesn’t work, but that’s what they want.

    Oh, let’s all go to a non-hostile environment, like X(Twitter), to discuss it further, eh?

    1. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      I interpreted the commercial as “let us drink Schlitz or we will ‘kill’ you”.

      They were not trying to force anyone else to drink Schlitz.

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