CULINARY TEAM NAMED FOR NEW THOMPSON ISLAND BREWING CO.

Thompson Island Brewing Company, which will open this fall, will feature foods that pair well with beer, such as pasta with clams and sausage.

Scott Kammerer, president of SoDel Concepts, recently announced the names of the culinary team for Thompson Island Brewing Company. The hospitality group’s 12th restaurant is next to Bluecoast Seafood Grill + Raw Bar, another SoDel Concepts eatery, in Rehoboth Beach.

Chef Doug Ruley, vice president of culinary operations, will lead the team. Lou Ortiz is the executive chef. Sous chefs include Efrain Martinez, Brenton Lyman and Joe Charles. Pastry Chef Dru Tevis will supervise the dessert menu. “With Jimmy Valm heading up our brewing operations – and assistance from Tröegs Independent Brewing – we will make world-class beer," Kammerer said. “The food is equally important, and Doug, Lou and their team have created a spectacular menu that will pair perfectly with our beer.”

Ruley, who joined SoDel Concepts in 2006, is an award-winning chef who’s been invited to cook at the internationally renowned James Beard House in New York a record-breaking five times. Thompson Island Brewing Company will be the seventh restaurant he’s helped open for SoDel Concepts. Born in New Castle County, Ortiz is a U.S. Marines veteran and graduate of the University of Delaware’s hotel, restaurant and institutional management program. Ortiz has worked in restaurants and brewpubs in Delaware and Denver.

“I love the brewery vibe and eating pub-style food,” said Ortiz, who lives in Millsboro with his wife and two children. “No matter the cuisine, a beautifully prepared meal can turn the day around for someone, which inspires me to do better every day.”

The sous chefs have all worked at other SoDel Concepts restaurants. Martinez comes to Thompson Island Brewing Company from Papa Grande’s Coastal Taqueria in Fenwick Island, where’s he’s been executive chef. Brenton Lyman moves to the new brewpub from Matt’s Fish Camp in Bethany Beach, where he’s been executive chef and general manager. Joe Charles was previously at Bluecoast Seafood Grill + Raw Bar in Rehoboth Beach.

Tevis, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York (now the International Culinary Center), is the corporate pastry chef for SoDel Concepts.

“As with all of our restaurants, the menu will focus on beautiful, simple food,” Ruley said. “We look for fresh ingredients and then highlight their flavors with interesting combinations.”

Consider Sloppy Joe egg rolls with beer cheese and buttermilk ranch dipping sauce. Other dishes include fried chicken; tater tots topped with bulgogi short rib, kimchi and beer cheese; house-made Cracker Jack-style caramel corn; roasted mussels; Thai-and-peanut-smoked yard bird; pork shoulder meatloaf; and house-made beer bratwurst. The brewpub will also offer wood-fired steaks and chops, lobster and rockfish.

Desserts will include birthday cake, a classic vanilla cake with rainbow sprinkles and vanilla cream frosting, served with ruby chocolate ganache. The custard in the Cold Brew Cream Pie, a version of chess pie, incorporates Thompson Island Brewing Company’s stout and cold-brew coffee. It’s topped with whipped cream and served with malted milk ice cream, which will also contain some of the brewpub’s beer.

Thompson Island Brewing Company is scheduled to open in October. For more information about SoDel Concepts, go to www.sodelconcepts.com.

SODEL CONCEPTS’ PATTON AND VALM RESEARCH GERMAN BREWING

Touring the German company BrauKon, which made the equipment for Thompson Island Brewing Company in Rehoboth Beach are Matt Patton, left, and Jimmy Valm. SUBMITTED PHOTOS

With a fall opening planned for Thompson Island Brewing Company in Rehoboth Beach, brewmaster Jimmy Valm and Matt Patton, director of operations, recently spent time in Germany researching equipment and brewing techniques.

“When it comes to beer, the German craftsmen are world-renowned,” said Patton, a certified cicerone. (A cicerone is to beer what a sommelier is to wine.) “From the equipment to the techniques to the way that they enjoy their beer, the Germans deserve their stellar reputation.”

The duo first visited the small village of Truchtlaching, the home of BrauKon, which makes equipment for brewhouses. The men explored the facilities, including the onsite brewhouse.

They then headed to Camba, a brewery that BrauKon built as a pilot plant. “Their brew system is very similar to the one we will have at Thompson Island,” Patton said. “Jimmy got to sit in with the Camba team while they were brewing a special smoked wheat beer.”

They also visited a hop grower in the Hallertau region of Bavaria, just north of Munich. It is best known for Noble hop varieties, including Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, Tettnang, Saaz and Hersbrucker.

On their last night, Patton and Valm celebrated the successful trip at a Volkfest beer event.

Thompson Island will be a 250-seat brewpub next to Bluecoast Seafood Grill + Raw Bar, another SoDel Concepts restaurant in the Rehoboth Gateway shopping center.

The ambiance will salute longtime area attractions and activities such as kayaking, paddleboarding, fishing, and relaxing on the sand or sitting around a bonfire. In addition to the bays and beaches, local farms will play a prominent part in the theme.

The new brewpub will have a beer garden, seating about 100. In the garden, guests can play ping-pong and bocce ball. Classic car buffs will appreciate the 1956 Apache truck outfitted with beer taps.

JIMMY VALM NAMED OPENING BREWMASTER AT THOMPSON ISLAND BREWING COMPANY

SoDel Concepts hired experienced brewer Jimmy Valm to be the opening brewmaster at Thompson Island Brewing Co., the hospitality groups 12th restaurant.

Scott Kammerer, president of SoDel Concepts, announced that Jimmy Valm will be the opening brewmaster at Thompson Island Brewing Co., the hospitality group’s 12th restaurant, currently under construction in Rehoboth Beach.

Valm, who grew up just outside of Seattle, received a degree in brewing and distilling from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. He’s worked at Heineken UK in Manchester, England, and at Brooklyn Brewery’s Williamsburg facility. He most recently worked at Cape May Brewing Co. during a period of unprecedented growth for the New Jersey brewery, which expanded from 6,000 barrels of beer in 2016 to more than 18,000 in 2018.

Valm has handled production management and scheduling and has been responsible for standardizing procedures and building data-capture systems.

“At Thompson Island Brewing Co., I’m looking forward to getting back on the brewhouse floor as well as handling my administrative responsibilities,” said Valm. “I’m excited about building a brewing program from the ground up, from developing the philosophy to designing recipes.”

Valm will collaborate with John Troegner of Tröegs Independent Brewing, a longtime client of SoDel Concepts’ management consulting division.

Thompson Island Brewing Co., which is currently under construction in Rehoboth Beach, will feature the talent brewmaster Jimmy Valm, who will work in collaboration with consultant John Troegner of Troegs Independent Brewing.

Thompson Island will be a 250-seat brewpub next to Bluecoast Seafood Grill + Raw Bar, another SoDel Concepts restaurant in the Rehoboth Gateway shopping center. Decor will salute longtime area attractions and activities, such as kayaking, paddle-boarding, fishing or relaxing on the sand or sitting around a bonfire. In addition to bays and beaches, local farms will play a prominent part in the theme. A beer garden will seat about 100 guests, who can play table tennis and bocce ball in the garden and check out the 1956 Apache truck outfitted with beer taps.

For more, visit sodelconcepts.com.

SoDel Concepts to open Thompson Island Brewing Co. in Rehoboth

SoDel Concepts’ Thompson Island Brewing Company brewpub will open next to Bluecoast Seafood Grill + Raw Bar in Rehoboth Gateway.

March 30, 2019

Bluecoast Seafood Grill + Raw Bar is about to get a new neighbor. Owner SoDel Concepts plans to build Thompson Island Brewing Company, a 250-seat brewpub, on the pad site to the south of Bluecoast, which opened in 2017 in the Rehoboth Gateway shopping center.

“We’ve experienced phenomenal success in this location,” said Scott Kammerer, SoDel Concepts president. “Our guests appreciate the easy access, the parking, and our dedication to service and beautiful, simple food. It made sense to bring another concept to the same site.”

The number of acclaimed breweries in the area has made the Delaware beaches a destination for those who love microbrews, said Kammerer. But people also visit to spend time on the beach. Thompson Island Brewing Company is named for a nearby island known for its coastal beauty.

The brewpub’s ambiance will pay homage to longtime area attractions and activities, such as bonfires, kayaking, paddleboarding, fishing or just relaxing on the sand. In addition to the bays and beaches, local farms will play a prominent part of the theme.

“We will craft a menu using local ingredients when possible that will pair perfectly with beer and the beer culture,” said Doug Ruley, who oversees culinary operations for the hospitality group. Items will include wood-grilled steaks, chops and rotisserie chicken.

As befits the laid-back, social vibe that surrounds craft beer lovers’ lifestyles, Thompson Island will have a beer garden seating about 100. Guests can play ping-pong and bocce ball in the garden. Classic car buffs will appreciate the 1956 Apache truck that’s outfitted with beer taps.

John Trogner of Tröegs Independent Brewing will be the consultant on the brewing side of the new restaurant. Trogner and brother Chris founded Tröegs in Harrisburg, Pa., in 1996. The brewery is now in Hershey, Pa. John Trogner spent time in Colorado working in a brewery before he and his brother started their own company. They will be assisting with the build out of the brewery itself, consulting on recipe development and brewery staff training.

John Trogner said, “SoDel was a huge help to us when we were developing our Snack Bar. They helped us build the foundation and we ran with it. Now, we’re helping them design their brewery, and helped them find an exceptional brewer.”

Fisher Architecture in Salisbury, Md., and Rehoboth Beach-based Broadpoint Construction are working on the project. Construction started March 25. “Coastal Delaware is a destination for beer lovers,” Kammerer said. “We’re giving them another good reason to visit the Culinary Coast.”

For more information, go to www.sodelconcepts.com.