Cooperative Living June 2015 - 34

Dave Lott (above) is vice president of
operations at Legend. At left is some
of the brewing equipment.
Legend is also the oldest, still operating
microbrewery in the state of Virginia.
How has this seemingly off-the-beatenpath
brewery survived when so many other
microbreweries have come and gone? Vice
President of Operations Dave Lott says it's
pretty simple: " We produce beers people
want to drink. "
And to prove his point, he offers me a
sampling of nearly a dozen Legend brews at
the bar, describing each in detail as I sip
(wondering all the while how I landed such
a great writing gig!). I find myself favoring
the rather light and citrusy Golden IPA,
though Lott tells me Legend's Brown Ale is
their number-one seller.
" The explosion of people trying craft
beer - if you had told me it was going to
go wild like this, I never would have
believed it, " he says, having been in the
craft beer business since long before it was
popular. But with popularity comes challenge.
" Being the oldest guy on the block
makes it hard to remain relevant. "
Lott admits Legend brews, which can be
found on tap in restaurants all over
Richmond, have lost market share with the
increasing number of craft breweries popping
up around the state; but he feels having
a restaurant keeps the company ahead
of the curve. " People still want to eat when
they go out for a drink, " he says, " so having
a pub has been a real advantage for us. "
While Lott says Legend sees plenty of
local regulars, tourists play a big role in the
brewery's business as well. " We get tourists
from around the world, " he says. " There
was a time when you couldn't get beer like
what's in Europe in the U.S., so Europeans
gravitated toward us. "
Legend owner Tom Martin is a secondgeneration
brewer whose father worked for
Anheuser-Busch. " Tom wanted an alternative
to the American light-yellow beer, "
Lott explains. " Prohibition had killed so
32
many of the small breweries in the U.S. "
As I sip my Golden IPA, Lott tells me a
story about this brew, which came into
existence because of the British Army's
beer rations. " Beer spoils, so when Britain
colonized India and they were shipping
beer on boats across several months, it
would be ruined by the time it reached the
soldiers, " he explains. To solve this problem,
British brewers made a beer designed
to survive the trip. It was made bitter with
hops and contained a higher alcohol content
so neither length of storage nor heat
would impact its taste. The result was IPA.
Lott chuckles, " Or perhaps because of the
higher alcohol content, the soldiers didn't
care what it tasted like! "
After I've had my fill of ale, along with
a pub burger piled high with bacon and
bleu cheese, I head down Route 360 a little
further to Artworks, a local gallery featuring
the works of 75 different artists, many
with studios on site. Owned by artists
Paula Demmert and Glenda Kotchis, the
gallery has occupied its current space for
over a decade.
Demmert, a photographer and sculptor,
came to Richmond from New Jersey and
originally had a studio in Richmond's
IF YOU GO...
Get your bearings at Richmond's
main visitor center at the Greater
Richmond Convention Center
(405 North 3rd St., 804-783-7300,
www.richmondcenter.com, open
daily 9-5). This year marks the 70th
anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz-Birkenau, which makes a
visit to the Virginia Holocaust
Museum (2000 E. Cary St., 804257-5400,
www.vaholocaust.org)
particularly apropos. Admission is
free, and the museum contains the
only full-size replica of the Nuremberg
courtroom in the world.
Across the river, explore the works
of 75 different artists at Artworks
(320 Hull Street, 804-291-1400,
www.artworksrichmond.com), and
then grab lunch at Plant Zero
Café (3 East 3rd St., 804-231-6500,
plantzerocafe.com). Or nab craft beer
and a burger at Legend Brewing
Company (321 West 7th St.,
804-232-8871, www.legend
brewing.com). 
Cooperative Living/June 2015
Shockoe Bottom before deciding to purchase
this current space to house artists
around the city looking for studio space.
" There's every style of art in every price
range here, " Demmert says. That's helped
by the gallery's minimal commission charge.
The gallery has over 25,000 square feet
of exhibit and studio space and includes
everything from oil-painted landscapes to
fine-art photography. Wandering down
narrow hallways and into boxy studio
rooms, I browse for well over an hour,
marveling at how such a gem exists in this
once-overlooked neighborhood on
Richmond's south bank.
Demmert, who has been doing photography
on the side for 20 years, says she
and Kotchis couldn't have grabbed up the
gallery space at a better time. " Since we
bought it, the building has doubled in
value, " she remarks. These days, she doesn't
have quite so much time for photography,
though you can see some of her work
at Artworks as well. " This places takes up
my energy now. " 
Paula Demmert
(right) co-owns
Artworks with
Glenda Kotchis.
Artworks features
the works of 75
artists, many
of whom have
studios on site at
the gallery.
http://www.richmondcenter.com http://www.artworksrichmond.com http://www.plantzerocafe.com http://www.vaholocaust.org http://www.legend http://www.brewing.com
Cooperative Living June 2015

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