By Jefferson Evans and Chuck Triplett
April 2025
Nini Johnson knows what it’s like being around kids.
Having the atmosphere at Chubby Squirrel Brewing Company evolve into a very family friendly
space is something that clearly makes her happy.
“It is something I tried to forge, being from a preschool background,” she tells me, mentioning
details like wall sections the kids can draw on and little toys she keeps on hand that kids can take
home.
Saturdays have become kids days, but also there is the number of times Chubby Squirrel hosts
mom groups, book clubs, and more.
Nini mentions how great it is that the brewery has such a strong community of regulars from a
wide range of backgrounds. Her affiliation with the brewery springs from a time when she ran a
preschool housed in a church where Boyd Harrison, future owner of Chubby Squirrel, was a
church administrator.
Boyd tells me, “I’ve always enjoyed craft beer —-I celebrated graduating from Virginia Tech
with a huge bottle of Stone Double Bastard shared with friends.”
Those same friends bought him his first homebrew kit. Being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in
2010 did not stop his craft beer journey, but he adapted by learning to brew gluten reduced beers.
Around 2015, while working towards his Masters at GWU, Boyd was aware of how Fairfax City
was in a brewery-free doughnut hole and began drawing up a business plan.
“After I had already designed the business and run several plans, I wound up working with my
neighbor Josh after inviting him over to homebrew with me. He was completely onboard with
learning the trade.”
Josh’s educational background included chemistry, which certainly didn’t hurt. Add several
Craft Brewers Conference visits and his confidence in brewing, recipe development, trends, and
technology was enhanced.
A dozen locations were looked at before Boyd settled on the present location in the Courthouse
Plaza shopping center in downtown Fairfax City, a short walk from the Old Town Square. The
grand opening was July 2018 with the square-footage being increased substantially after a couple
of years when a barbershop left an adjacent space. Chubby Squirrel took it over.
Brewing is done on a 3-BBL electric system from Stout Tanks & Kettles out of Ypsilanti,
Michigan. Back when Boyd and Nini were running into each other in that church, Nini learned
about the brewery plans and said it sounded like fun, and she would be happy to work weekends.
After the preschool fell victim to COVID, she came on board full-time, essentially working as
the operational manager.
More recently Josh decided to become a firefighter. For now, Boyd has returned to the task of
head brewer with other employees helping out as needed.
As to the beer, Nini tells me she has found the clientele leans towards IPAs, hazy or West Coast.
Recent offerings include a Festbier, Czech Pilsner, Coffee Stout, and English ESB.
Chubby Squirrel also sets itself a part by having a guest beer on tap, such as Jackie O’s Mystic
Momma West Coast IPA. The food offerings have gone through some different changes, but the
constants have included wings and their well-regarded burger. Three different grilled cheeses
have joined the menu and are very popular. Other items include pierogis, Bavarian pretzels,
crispy tots, poutine, and boom boom shrimp. Seasonal items like crab cakes and lobster rolls do
find their way onto the menu at times. Just recently a new employee was brought on with the
goal of doing some “gastropub” type things with the menu.
Visit Chubby Squirrel for tasty beer and food, a friendly casual atmosphere, and easy parking.
Their 4.7 rating on Google speaks for itself. Oh, and the name? Rumor has it that Second Life
Brewing was to be the name, but it had already been claimed. So, one day Boyd was drinking
beer in his backyard with close friend Adam Smith when a super fat squirrel with its belly
dragging the ground ran across the yard and then struggled to climb a fence. Boyd began riffing
on how chubby the squirrel was, and a brewery name was born.
