A small-batch brinery gathers people with a passion for probiotic-packed pickles
There are two kinds of people in the world: pickle people, and the people giving their pickles to someone else at lunch. The guy reaching over the french fries for the dill spear? That’s Daniel Walker—founder and brine master at Blue Ridge Brinery—and a fermentation guru who turned his belief in better tasting, more benefit-packed pickles into a thriving Upstate business.
“I started this business in 2014. I noticed that the sauerkraut in Whole Foods was coming from California, and my own homemade ‘kraut was even higher quality. I thought this could be a good opportunity to promote gut health, the microbiome, and benefits of fermented foods,” says Walker, “while also using as much local ingredients as possible and supporting local farmers.”
“I started really small, making three-gallon batches and selling it at the Travelers Rest Farmers Market,” reflects Walker. “It would always sell out, so I started scaling up from there—now we have 25-gallon wine fermentation tanks.” A line of artisanal pickled goods followed: spicy fermented pickles, beet kvass, boldly flavored sauerkraut, and even kombucha. From the beginning, Walker has remained strictly small batch in his process and philosophy—even as demand for his Carolina Kimchi quadrupled.
Introducing a new Superfood
“We bonded over pickles,” admits David Thornton, brine ambassador, who recently came on board to help grow the brinery from the business and regional retail distribution side. Thornton gets the love of good funk; he’s also the co-founder of the Carolina Bauernhaus breweries. Together, the two entrepreneurs have palpable alchemy and are brewing up big ideas for growth, events, recipes, and new opportunities, including pickle charcuterie boards and brining workshops at the Bauernhaus. Thornton’s family farm, the Reid Homestead in Walhalla, even grows some of the produce Walker uses in his recipes, along with other local farms like Mill Village Farms, True Freedom Farm, and Parisi Farms.
Today, you can find Blue Ridge Brinery products at Upstate farmers markets and local grocers like the Swamp Rabbit Cafe, and on menus at restaurants like SummaJoe’s and Figs Cafe & Farmacy in Anderson. Walker’s advice: go pickle crazy. The calories don’t count—and they’re a superfood. “Eighty percent of our immune system is housed in our gut, and [it is] directly regulated by probiotic bacteria. That probiotic environment informs hormone production, boosts the endocrine system, affects the nervous system, and [contributes to] brain health. Our product is a super unique source of those essential probiotics because it’s made from locally sourced ingredients, uses mineral-rich Himalayan pink salt, and our process is completely raw. We don’t pasteurize, which can kill the good bacteria,” insists Walker. “You won’t find ‘kraut or kimchi with this level of flavor and nutrition at the grocery store.”
For more information, visit blueridgebrinery.com
Photography by Tara Ashton.
