ackalope Brewing Company was founded by Bailey Spaulding and Robyn Virball. Bailey and Robyn became friends in September 2002 in the tiny Scottish village of St. Andrews, where Bailey was doing a semester abroad and Robyn was completing her undergraduate degree. During the next eight years, they both graduated, Bailey went off to Vanderbilt Law School, and Robyn entered the working world, but both thought they were looking for much bigger and more intoxicating things. Bailey's passion for homebrewing led to the Jackalope dream, and the ladies dove into planning the brewery. They were joined by their friend Steve Wright at end of 2010. He started out as Jackalope's biggest fan, parlayed that into being the very first Jackalope intern, and is now a full on partner in Jackalope.
Everyone agreed that they wanted to start a craft brewery that was an active member of the community and put out delicious, creative beers. We opened our doors on May 21st, 2011, and our growing team has been working nonstop to accomplish those goals. Jackalope gets its name for a couple of reasons, but it mostly comes down to Bailey's fascination with this creature which she used to believe actually existed. She was given a tee-shirt once with a picture of a Jackalope that said "Believe in Yourself". Cheesy? Yes. But also our unofficial motto. Believe in yourself. Believe in great beer.
