Zillicoah rises from the post-Helene rubble

On Aug. 24, craft beverage aficionados gathered on the banks of the French Broad River for Zillicoah Beer Co.’s annual Session Fest. Though the weather was on the warm side, there was plentiful shade for visitors as they sampled beers under 5% ABV from 20 local and regional breweries.

Just over a month later, those grounds were underwater — one of the many riverside victims of Tropical Storm Helene. But true to the scrappy resilience that’s defined the brewery since its October 2017 opening and helped it weather the COVID-19 pandemic, the Zillicoah team is scarred but not defeated by this latest setback.

“We determined really quickly that this couldn’t be the end of Zillicoah,” says co-owner Jeremy Chassner. “We will be back.”

The damage

The timetable for Zillicoah’s return, however, is understandably tough to pin down for Chassner, his brother, Jonathan Chassner, and their business partner, John Parks.

As the pre-Helene rains fell on Sept. 25, brewery staff moved tables up from the pad that sits down by the river, then transferred pumps and other movable equipment to pallets and forklifted them onto racks inside the brewhouse. But Jeremy says he and his colleagues never thought water would enter the building. The brewery sits about 100 feet from the river, and a berm runs along the south half of the property for flood mitigation, with the building seated about 10 feet above that on a hill.

“The water made it there and then some,” Chassner says. “The waterline inside our building is at 6 feet. The way it rushed in from the south ended up shearing the locking mechanisms off and lifting all five of our garage doors to that level. As all our belongings, tables and fermenters were crashing around like a giant washing machine, they ended up slamming and busting the doors out.”

As the water receded, seven of the brewery’s fermenters along with its tables, point-of-sale stations, safe, spare parts, tools, bottling line, keg washer, barstools and merchandise were carried out the sides. Furthermore, its cold box, which held all of Zillicoah’s beer inventory plus some raw materials, broke apart; the horizontal lagering tanks were thrown on their sides, and every piece of equipment was left with 6 inches of mud underneath.

Chassner describes the brewery’s fenced-in storage area as resembling an earthquake scene from a movie, complete with “giant wooden shelving racks thrown on top of each other like toys,” the brewery’s enormous air compressor turned upside down and blocking the door, and everything likewise caked in mud.

Then there were some truly unexpected discoveries.

“We had all kinds of property and debris — including two shipping containers that don’t belong to us — on our property. [And on-site restaurant partner] Master BBQ’s food trailer was pinned up against a power pole,” Chassner says.

Despite everything, Chassner says he’s grateful the structure itself is still standing and sound and that some equipment survived, including the brewhouse and main fermenters. While he believes the stainless portions of all this equipment should be fine, all electrical/mechanical items will likely require replacing.

Decisions, decisions

Like many local business owners affected by Helene, the Zillicoah team couldn’t reach the property until days after the damage occurred.

Chassner says they “started to have a sinking feeling” late in the morning on Sept. 27, shortly after cellphone service in the region went down. His brother, Jonathan, soon managed to find enough open roads to reach Riverside Drive. But once there, the closest he could get to the property was the Grainger Industrial Supply building two lots away.

“At that time, our entire field was under moving water, but the brewery itself was still dry by several feet,” Jeremy says. “Seeing what was going on just south of us, we were hoping that we would stay lucky. Obviously, that didn’t happen.”

The following day, taproom supervisor Alan King worked his way to the Zillocoah entrance and sent the ownership team pictures of the brewery underwater with walls missing, cold box gone and doors twisted and blown out.

“I didn’t really know what to do or feel,” Chassner says. “My jaw just about hit the floor. It was truly, immediately one of the greatest heartbreaks of my life, and I think it was the same for both Jon and Parks.”

Once the owners made it inside the brewery on Sept. 29, there was still moving water receding from the parking lot. In addition, the gate was mangled and stuck shut, prompting the team to jump the barbed-wire fence and trudge in.

After taking in the destruction, Chassner’s mind pivoted to the safety of his staff and his ability to provide for his family, and he contemplated if a life change and/or move was in order.

“It’s hard to quiet your mind under these circumstances, and you can’t avoid asking yourself the questions you really don’t want to ask,” he says. “We were going through every emotion from fear to anger to depression to, ultimately, gratitude that we had our lives. As time went on, we discovered that this was far from a guarantee.”

Chassner compares taking in the property’s destruction to “seeing a sick family member — we couldn’t just leave it to die.” In turn, acknowledging that Zillicoah’s normally serene property is as big of a draw as its beer, the team decided to stay at 870 Riverside Drive. Discussions with the landlord confirmed that both sides’ goals aligned.

“We realize the risk of rebuilding at our current site, but it’s something we need to do,” Chassner says. “There’s always the possibility of moving the brewing equipment off-site in the future and keeping our current location as a taproom. We’ll see.”

Not just ‘our brewery’

Starting the rebuild has included sifting through debris, including parts of other businesses from miles upriver, plus shoveling mud, ripping out drywall, pressure washing, squeegeeing and plentiful disassembling and reassembling.

“We’re trying to view this as an opportunity to do it better this time,” Chassner says.

But as the cleanup began, the Zillicoah ownership team spent the better part of a month putting the business on hold. That involved everything from canceling internet and phone accounts and returning leased equipment to managing auto-pays, service-level agreements and recurring deliveries.

“You start by poring through all your accounting records and banking statements to identify every cost associated with keeping your business afloat. Start big and move down the list,” Chassner says. “When the money stops coming in, you need to make sure the money stops going out if you want any shot at making it.”

According to Chassner, Zillicoah’s insurance company denied its claim entirely, refusing to even provide business interruption coverage due to utilities being knocked out. However, financial aid has poured in through the brewery’s GoFundMe campaign, which as of press time has raised nearly 80% of its $150,000 goal.

In addition, Zillicoah has received grants through Mountain BizWorks and the N.C. Craft Guild, and numerous industry colleagues have held fundraisers in support of the business. But it’s the hundreds of messages from friends, regulars and complete strangers from halfway across the country that have proved just as meaningful.

“This support is really what helped us cope and persevere,” Chassner says. “We always knew that the beer community loved and supported Zillicoah, but it wasn’t until Helene that we really got the full scope of just what the brewery means to people. For the first time, we realized that it’s not just our brewery, and we’ve been using that sentiment to drive our recovery. We want it back for everyone.”

To those ends, Chassner & Co. have gratefully accepted help from a few regulars who work in the trades. (“More than a few beers will be bought for them when the time comes,” he says.) The brewery also received its emergency repair permit from Buncombe County and has subcontractors working on specific pieces. Electrical work is underway, gas lines have been pressure-tested and passed inspection, and some basic plumbing work is slated to be completed before the end of January.

“All mud is finally out, and we’re organizing the space. The building is almost feeling habitable again, and for the first time in a long time, we’re feeling encouraged and positive,” Chassner says. “All this to say, we’re still many, many months away from reopening.”

As the work continues, Chassner and his co-owners also turn to each other for support. The childhood friends have long played music as a form of therapy and are thankful to have such loving families in this time of crisis.

“Jon, Parks and I are all equally stubborn and driven. On day one, this felt impossible, insurmountable. The option to walk away from it all was very much there and would have been the simpler route,” he says. “That’s not who we’ve ever been, and it’s certainly not who we are now. While these times are tough, there’s no two people I’d rather have in my corner to turn this mountain into a molehill.”

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