Third Street Brewing Co., located at 312 W. Third St. in downtown Farmville and slated to open its doors to the public in August, received more than a dozen pieces of brewery equipment, including the tanks that will house eight signature beers, which will be brewed on site.

The shipments came Friday morning on two large long tractor-trailers. The equipment that arrived Friday included eight individual 7- and 14-barrel brite tanks, or containers where beer is stored, four fermentation vessels and one brew “deck,” or platform, where the brewmaster stands in order to reach the brite tanks to add ingredients to the beer.

To view more photos of the shipments, click here.

The equipment was ordered from Deutsche Beverage in North Carolina. It was assembled in China and shipped to Norfolk on June 8, Brewmaster David Steeves said.

“They’re really good to work with,” Steeves said.

Steeves, who has worked in brewing for eight years, said he is excited to have such a large role in the operations of the new brewery.

“I’ve been doing this for about eight years now, and this is the first time I’ve really had a chance to be a part of every single aspect of setting up a brewery,” Steeves said, who added that the process has felt at times surreal.

“When the tanks start arriving, this is when things start to get real. It will be a lot of work from here on out,” he said. 

Among the signature beers Third Street is set to brew will be a German Helles lager, Baltic porter, amber ale, lemongrass blondes and an India Pale Ale, or IPA. Three additional beers will be on rotation, making eight choices available to the public upon the brewery opening.

While an estimated cost of the equipment was not available at the time of the interview, Mark Kernohan, a partner with Third Street Brewing Co., said he believes with the equipment and the cost of restoration to the building, that close to $1 million has been spent on the brewery.

The brewery will open on the bottom floor of the High Bridge Lofts, where 18 one, two and three-bedroom apartments are currently under construction.

The brewery will include a bar where, on the other side of the room, guests can view the fermentation tanks and brewing kettles.

In a separate room, there will be picnic tables where guests can share a beer and bring a meal with them.

While there will not be a restaurant inside the brewery, food trucks could assemble in the garden area in the back of the property. There are also plans to host live music and install a sound system.

The brewery’s location, which will be across the street from the proposed Longwood University baseball stadium in the footprint of the former Buffalo Shook building, and adjacent to the High Bridge Trail State Park, will be ideal for people who, after a game or a bike ride or walking through the town, want to stop in and share time together, Kernohan said.

“We really see this as not just a brewery, but really another major meeting place for people in this town,” Kernohan said.

He said the community has provided assistance for the brewery, and that the brewery is still accepting community investors. 

“People on an individual level are putting money forward so we can make sure this project is a success,” Kernohan said.

Construction and plans for the brewery began last August, when business partners signed a lease with Matt King, the owner of Walk2Campus.

To learn more about Third Street Brewing Co., visit thirdstbrewing.com.