Take a 4000 square foot space, fill it with more than 1200 brands or types of beer – and almost as many wine choices – and you have Barrel Chest Wine & Beer, which opened several months ago at 4305 Electric Road, close to the Starkey Road intersection in Southwest Roanoke County. Then add a space where people can come in, unwind and buy beer or wine by the glass.
Owner Martin Keck said that second portion of the business has become a larger facet than he thought it would after opening Barrel Chest about three months ago – and it does get people in the door. As for the name: Keck said it sort of invokes “a cellar full of barrels – I also come from a long line of burly German men,” he joked. Keck has been in the liquor business in one way or another since 2008 – at wineries, working for importer-exporters, in Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey and in New York City.
His inspiration came mainly from experiences in North Carolina: “Pretty much every beer store has beer on tap and wine by the glass. It wasn’t easy but we got it done [here].” The shelves at Barrel Chest are stocked with a dizzying array of beer and wine. “We have a lot of different options,” said Keck. An experienced staff is ready to walk people through the latest trends and styles of beer or wines. Sour beers are a recent new trend, Keck noted.
At any one time there may be 15 different beers on tap at the barroom located in the back – and a dozen different wines to be poured. There’s also table seating for groups of people that want to get together and unwind. “It’s brought a lot of people into the store. Having a drink in a retail store is really unique.” There are already regulars who stop by to check out the latest brews on tap or wines being featured. “I never would have expected it to be such a big part of the store,” said Keck. “I thought it would just be an added bonus. It’s become a hangout stop, which is great.”
The recent boom in microbreweries in Roanoke and the surrounding area is good for his business said Keck, since it gets people more attuned to trying different styles of beer: “When I moved here three years ago there wasn’t a whole lot when it came to micro-craft beer. Three years ago I never would have thought about opening a place like this. But now that there’s so many local breweries around it really gave me the courage to open this. I know there’s enough interest now.”
Social media and word of mouth have helped spread the word. “We just keep getting more and more [customers] every day,” Keck noted. (See BarrelChestwineandbeer.com or the Facebook page.) That allows patrons to keep up on the latest beers and wines Keck’s staff has on tap at any one time. There’s also a limited array of snacks and food available from the kitchen located at the bar area.
– Gene Marrano
