DoubleD Taphouse pours it on with Delaware-made beers, wines and meads

By Mike Finney
Posted 5/24/21

DOVER — Gina Havens and Donna Dambrosio have visited several breweries throughout Delaware along with their husbands and seem to always leave with the same feeling — there is an amazingly …

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DoubleD Taphouse pours it on with Delaware-made beers, wines and meads

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DOVER — Gina Havens and Donna Dambrosio have visited several breweries throughout Delaware along with their husbands and seem to always leave with the same feeling — there is an amazingly tasty array of craft beverages available throughout the First State.

So, they thought, why not bring some of these Delaware delights together under one roof?

It took a lot of work, and construction delays during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the DoubleD Taphouse finally opened its doors — and taps — last week at 137 Jerome Drive (Suite 130) in the shopping center adjacent to the Walmart, just south of Cheswold.

“My husband Dwayne had the idea of visiting one place to have all the taps,” said Mrs. Havens, who co-owns the DoubleD Taphouse with Mrs. Dambrosio. “We love going to different breweries, and so do (the Dambrosios) and he just thought, ‘Hey, this would just be a really great idea to just open up our own.’

“There’s nothing from up north to south like this. We’ve been planning this since October 2018, so it’s taken a while.”

The unique thing about DoubleD Taphouse, the owners say, is that they are not locked into just one particular Delaware craft beer brand, distillery or meadery. They can bring several different tastes together.

“Right now, it’s just pour local, promote local — so it is all Delaware craft brews, Delaware wines and Delaware distilleries,” Mrs. Havens said. “We also have meads because there’s two meaderies in Delaware.

“We have moonshine from Feeb’s (Distillery in Milford) and she was so kind to give me her recipe so I could duplicate it here. We have peach and blueberry moonshine slushies.”

They already have a catchy slogan — “DD Taphouse, helping you make pour choices.”

This is quite an endeavor for Mrs. Havens and Mrs. Dambrosio, who were longtime employees of the Capital One credit card company. They are first-time business owners and are learning something new every day.

“I think the best part of owning your own business is just because it’s yours. You get to report to yourself,” said Mrs. Dambrosio, who worked for Capital One for 29 years. “Yes, it’s a lot of work, and it’s more work, but it’s just something that we enjoy.

“When it was announced to my team (at Capital One) that I was leaving I was like, ‘Yep, finally hanging up the headset after 29 years.’”

Mrs. Havens, who worked with Mrs. Dambrosio at the credit card company for 19 years, said, “We gave our two weeks’ notice and here we are.”

Still, there’s something to be said about being a first-time business owner.

“I was very nervous (at Thursday’s grand opening),” Mrs. Dambrosio said. “It was a whole different type of review, as we all called it, and actually it worked out really good. We work very well together.”

Everything hasn’t always gone quite as smoothly as the DD Taphouse’s grand opening did.

“It was January 9, 2019, when we started rolling and getting the process done,” Mrs. Havens said about preliminary plans for the taphouse. “Then we had a hiccup with one location and then we moved on to this one and then COVID hit — and we just got delayed construction — which was fine. We’re here now.”

DD Taphouse’s initial offerings include craft beers from Revelation Craft Brewing Co. (Rehoboth Beach), Dogfish Head Brewery (Rehoboth Beach), Crooked Hammock (Middletown), Big Oyster (Lewes), Mispillion River Brewing (Milford) and Brimming Horn Meadery (Milton).

Judging from comments on the businesses’ Facebook page, the moonshine slushies have become an instant hit.

There is no food available at the DoubleD Taphouse but Mrs. Dambrosio said customers are welcome to bring their own food inside. The owners said they might try to get some food trucks to come in the future.

James Nolan, of Magnolia, was fine without food when he visited the establishment for the first time Friday.

“I’m here to try the craft beer,” Mr. Nolan said. “It’s a new place in town and I wanted to come check it out and see what they’ve got on tap and see what they’ve got going on over here. I found out about it on Facebook

“I’m actually in the sales industry, too, so I just wanted to come down and check it out and see what they’ve got going on. It’s a neat place and it’s exactly a great location right off the highway. Great spot.”

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