Opening Alert: Introducing Caboose, a Vienna Brewery with Rabbit Pot Pie

Matt and Jeanine Greer and Tim and Jennifer McLaughlin have transitioned from friends to co-business owners with tonight's grand opening of Caboose Brewing Company, a new addition to Vienna.

The brewery just got its certificate of occupancy to serve food starting this evening (growler hours began over the weekend). Located in an industrial park adjacent to the W&OD trail in Vienna, Caboose is combining several varieties of beer with a farm-to-table food menu from chef Brandon McDermott, a veteran of Lincoln in D.C.

Caboose has seven beers on its opening menu, ranging from its Caboose Brown Ale and its Citra Wheat to a Casey Jones Rye Pale Ale and its Sidetrack Saison. The brewery's 15-barrel system has the capacity to brew eight styles of beer at once. The beers come courtesy of brewer Chris Mallon, a veteran of Baltimore's Heavy Seas. The location offers tasting flights, as well as a limited wine selection for those who avoid hops.

McDermott's menu actually incorporates the beers into several dishes, whether it be a chocolate stout glaze for doughnuts, an IPA barbecue sauce for its wings or ale mustard for its frites. "It's rustic and approachable," he said. The menu straddles a line between ambitious and familiar with dishes like Maryland crab and foraged ramp hushpuppies, a Pennsylvania rabbit pot pie and a Hog Island clam chowder with cod and pork belly. The brewery is highlighting the producers its working with, which range from Ayrshire Farms to Tuscarora Farms. The chef collaborated with Jennifer McLaughlin, a nutritionist, on the menu.

There are 55 seats at the brewery right now. Graffiti artists designed murals on the bathroom walls and will eventually add more details to the tasting room. Construction is wrapping up on an outdoor patio as well. An upstairs space will be available for private events. Still to come for the brewery: beer tasting dinners, brunch and a menu that changes seasonally — expect an update in about six weeks or so.

Caboose Brewing Company, 520 Mill St. NE, Vienna, Va.; website.