Virginia Craft Beer June/July 2018

Jeff Maisey ADVERTISING/MARKETING

Jennifer McDonald

Brian Koski

Brenda Mihalko

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Annie Tobey

Jefferson Evans

Chuck Triplett

David Hunter

Wade Reynolds

Jennifer Waldera

WEBMASTER

Giorgio Valentini

publisher’s NOTE

It’s summer in Virginia and time to hit the beach! In this issue’s cover story, we are Going Coastal and exploring the breweries and must visit spots along the Virginia Beach oceanfront and beyond. Plus, we’ll introduce to you to Chincoteague’s first craft brewery. So, grab your sunscreen and your growler and start making plans for a beer-filled day trip or long weekend!

We are proud to see so many of Virginia’s independent craft breweries shine on a national and regional level winning awards and accolades. In Brew News, David Hunter tells us about three Virginia breweries who made the Brewer’s Association’s 2018 Top Fastest Growing Independent Breweries list. Jeff Maisey shares his conversation with O’Connor Brewing Co.’s Kevin O’Connor as they discuss the brewery’s recent awards and recognition. Plus, we’ll have the results from the World Beer Cup.

If you are putting together your summer reading list, be sure to read Jeff’s preview of Dick Cantwell’s new book, Brewing Eclectic IPA: Pushing the Boundaries of India Pale Ale. And, new VCB writer, Jennifer Waldera tells us about book clubs at several Virginia breweries.

Everyone has their favorite beer bar(s) or restaurant(s), right? Beer selection, staff, ambiance, food, and even special events all play a part in making a bar and restaurant stand out. Jeff Evans and Chuck Triplet provide us with their Top 5 list of Northern Virginia bars and restaurants.

Brewery profiles include both old favorites and new breweries to explore. Annie Tobey tells us about Richmond’s Garden Grove Brewery’s addition of homegrown cider to their mix; Wade Reynolds takes us inside Canon & Draw Brewing Company; Rocket Frog Brewery leaps into the Northern Virginia beer scene; and Jeff celebrates St. George Brewing Company’s 20th anniversary! Additionally, Jeff talks to Port City Brewing Company’s president Bill Butcher about their flagship beer Optimal Wit and what makes it so popular and successful.

Be sure to check out our Events Calendar filled with beer festivals, pint nights, brewery events and more! We hope to see you out and about this summer!

Cheers!

Jennifer McDonald Jennifer.McDonald@hotmail.com

“

Thoughts on Bubbles, Old & New

By Drew Stephenson

With the precipitous fall of Green Flash Brewing has come a new round of discussion about the end of the craft beer bubble. In my opinion, it’s a mistake to conflate that collapse with the fate of the industry as a whole. They were in financial trouble before the local plant even opened. With that said, however, there are both celebrations and challenges that we are all experiencing and I thought it might be useful to air some of them out a bit.

Certainly there are trouble signs to be heeded. The production growth rate has slowed significantly, down from double digits to five percent in 2017. Many regional players and even some giants are struggling. (For just two examples, Smuttynose was recently sold at auction and Sam Adams has seen its craft beer in decline for years.) The competition for shelf and tap territory is fierce. In addition, it is notable that the bubble of the 1990s exploded at least in part because latecomers entered the game with their eyes on profits rather than the quality of their liquid and the happiness of their customers.

Perhaps the biggest issue with current doom saying, however, is that it’s hard to see the sector as overvalued. While production numbers may be slowing, craft beer earned some $26B in 2017. We also support almost half a million jobs and reported more than $73M in charity money raised. Moreover, the hallmark of craft beer is providing fun experiences, and in that regard the field remains at least as rich as ever. Just a quick glance at last weekends’ events at area breweries, for instance, shows over thirty different options ranging from fundraisers to food to beer releases to music. Brewers are experimenting with new flavors and inventing new styles to please your palate. That seems a vital scene for something about to burst.

Indeed, the brightest aspects of craft beer these days seem to be on a hyper-local level. Yes, there are a LOT of new breweries in Virginia, a situation unusual to almost any living memory, so it’s understandable that many think the growth unsustainable. Yet overall the number of breweries per capita in the US today (1 per 51K) is only slightly denser than it was in 1900 (1 per 61K) and significantly less than in the 1870s (1 per 10K). And there are still any number of communities that are not served by a local brewery. For those upcoming craft producers who plan to serve the majority of their high quality beer across their bars, there is still room to join the game.

To close the circle on this topic, I would like to express our condolences to the many fine folks—many of them locals—who lost their jobs at Green Flash with little warning. We should also acknowledge the loss of a great craft beer spot, for the outdoor space and schedule of events kept the place packed. On a positive note, many of those who lost their jobs have, being strong in skill and personality, landed firmly on their feet in other parts of the industry. It also looks like Atlanta-based New Realm Brewing, headed by former AB and Stone Brewing executive Mitch Steele, will have great beer and food in that space in the not-too-distant future. Maybe it’s the warm weather (finally!) talking, but I think there is still plenty of reason to be optimistic about this rapidly evolving industry that we all love… so get out and enjoy something new.

Drew Stephenson is owner/head brewer of Pleasure House Brewing in Virginia Beach.

brewNEWS / WORLD BEER CUP

COTU and Port City Score World Beer Cup Medals

By Jeff Maisey

Nashville might be known as Music City, but in May it became Medal City for two independent Virginia craft breweries and one nonindependent from Nelson County.

Ashland-headquartered Center of the Universe Brewing Company won a Gold medal for its Bad Irishman in the Irishstyle Red Ale category and its Session Pale Ale scored a Silver medal in the Session Beer category.

Alexandria-based Port City Brewing Company earned a Silver medal in the Robust Porter category for its Porter.

For both independent craft breweries, it was their first-ever medal in the World Beer Cup.

“We have entered the competition since we opened,” said Port City owner Bill Butcher. “It is only held every two years, so we have competed in four: 2012, 2014, 2016 and this year. I could not be more proud of our team, and we are all super excited to win this award. For me personally, the best part was having 11 of us from the brewery there to share the moment. It really is a special recognition to be considered among the finest in the world.”

Bragging rights certainly are also in order for Center of the Universe; their Irish red ale was deemed the best on earth for 2017.

“Phil and I were thrilled as we heard our brewery’s name called out via the live stream on Thursday night,” said co-owner Chris Ray. The COTU team was not in Nashville to accept the awards. “But really, these awards are for our staff. They are for the guys in the back who work tirelessly in extreme conditions while maintaining a high level of precision. It is for our sales staff that are out on the streets everyday pushing products they believe in. It is also for our front of the house managers and servers that enthusiastically greet our fans on a daily basis with such pride in the brewery they represent. It was just really exciting to be recognized on the world stage and have those rewards reflect the hard work of everyone who makes Center of the Universe what it is.”

So what makes the Bald Irishman the best of its style in the world?

“It is truly delicious,” a confident Chris Ray said. “Phil changed

this recipe up for the 2017 brew to round out the flavors a little more and we just hit the nail on the head. It doesn’t hurt to have a little karma on your side for what this beer represents. We brew this beer annually and donate the proceeds to the Balderinos, our Satellite club’s group of fundraisers, to benefit the St. Baldric’s Foundation. This year, the group raised over $35,000. Perhaps the judges could taste their passion for improving our community.”

Center of the Universe is well situated to experiment with recipes since opening its satellite location known as Origin Beer Lab in downtown Ashland. Its impact is credited with the brewery’s new successes.

“Origin has had a monumental impact on Center of the Universe,” Ray said. “From new techniques, to new ingredients, to complete recipe formulation, Origin Beer Lab does it all. We decided to get a “mini-me” style system, one not seen very often in breweries that small, in order to allow our team to scale-up new recipes and practice on a system that mimics our main facility. Origin’s brew system isn’t a playground, it’s a vessel that makes extremely good beer on its own.”

The non-independent brewery winner from Virginia was Devils Backbone Brewing Company for its Danzig (Bronze, Baltic-style Porter) and Alt Bier (German-style Altbier).

Books & Brews

By Jennifer Waldera

L ibraries and libations may not, at first glance, seem to be a likely match. However, a few Virginia breweries have partnered up with some local librarians to show how books and brews can be a perfect pair with their brewery-hosted book clubs.

Near the crossroads of 81 and 64 in Historic Downtown Staunton, Redbeard Brewing Company has partnered up with Kayla Payne of the Staunton Public Library and Ali McCue of the Augusta County Library to create and run the fairly new, laid-back book club that has met monthly in

the brewery’s taproom since March. Payne and McCue use the group’s chosen monthly theme to inform their choice of five relevant books. Members then choose at least one to read and the subsequent meeting revolves around discussion of the books’ themes and commonalities.

Amanda Clark, Redbeard’s Taproom Manager stated, “Even though we’re all often reading different books, it’s so interesting to find the common themes. When we were reading sci-fi, we found that all the books had this similar message that human interaction and relationships

will always be more meaningful than technological advancement.”

Travel a bit north to Harrisonburg, and find Restless Moons Brewery who has also partnered with their regional public library in Massanutten to host a monthly book club. Similar to Redbeard, Restless Moons’ club members, along with the representatives from Massanutten Regional Library, choose a theme. However, members then choose any book to read that fits within the theme.

On the decision to start a book club, owner Jeffrey Moon shared, “We like doing the book club to reach out to a different demographic than we typically attract. It’s a family friendly event and it fosters conversations, which is a goal of our taproom.” An added bonus for Moon? “My wife loves to read, so it gets her to spend more time at the brewery with me.”

Fortunately, this is not a (t)ale of only two cities. In Woodbridge, Brew Republic Bierwerks is hosting monthly book club meetings as well, with some help from Julia Rader at the Potomac Branch of the Prince William Library System. For this club, a specific book is chosen each month and readers can borrow a free loaner copy by stopping by the taproom. On the second Monday of each month, group members gather for a casual conversation over brews and bites.

Finally, WMRA has partnered with Pro Re Nata Brewery in Crozet and Pale Fire Brewing Company in Harrisonburg to create Books & Brews, an event that not only intertwines book discussion and beer drinking, but also incorporates the author who joins for the meeting. While the spring season has just ended, information is posted on the WMRA website when it becomes available.

To see what books are coming up next for any of the brewery-based clubs, see their sites and Facebook pages.

Redbeard Reader’s Book Club

Redbeard Brewing Company

Meets the third Sunday of every month from 3 pm - 4 pm

Membership Details: Anyone is welcome to join that is 21 and older; Follow updates on the event that are posted on the Redbeard Facebook page or ask to join the group on Goodreads

B.Y.O.B (Bring Your Own Book) Club Restless Moons Brewing

Meets the last Tuesday of every month at 7 pm. For May, the meeting will be on June 5 to avoid the Memorial Day holiday.

Membership Details: Just read a book within the theme and show up!

Books on Tap Brew Republic Bierwerks

Meets the second Monday of each month at 7 pm.

Membership Details: Stop by the taproom to pick up a free loaner copy of the book, then join for the discussion on the second Monday of each month.

Books & Brews

Pro Re Nata Brewery and Pale Fire Brewing Company

Meets at Pale Fire Brewing Company the second Tuesday of every month and at Pro Re Nata Farm Brewery the following Wednesday.

Membership Details: Events are free to all. Present your WMRA MemberCard and receive a certificate for a complimentary beer.

2017 Brewers Association Report Card

With over 6,300 breweries operating during the year, small and independent craft brewers represent 12.7 percent market share by volume of the overall beer industry.

In 2017, craft brewers produced 25.4 million barrels, and saw a 5 percent rise in volume on a comparable base and an 8 percent increase in retail dollar value. Retail dollar value was estimated at 26.0 billion, representing 23.4 percent market share. Microbreweries and brewpubs delivered 76 percent of the craft brewer growth. Craft brewing’s growth occurred in the context of a total beer market which dropped 1 percent by volume in 2017.

Additionally, in 2017, the number of operating breweries in the U.S. grew 16 percent, totaling 6,372 breweries, broken down as follows: 3,812 microbreweries, 2,252 brewpubs, 202 regional craft breweries and 106 large or otherwise non-craft brewers. Small and independent breweries account for 98 percent of the breweries in operation. Throughout the year, there were 997 new brewery openings and only 165 closings.

New Realm

Replaces Green Flash

Atlanta-based New Realm Brewing Company announced it will operate in the former Green Flash facility in Virginia Beach. This comes after New Realm purchased all of the equipment auctioned after Green Flash Brewing Company abruptly closed its recently completed East Coast hub.

New Realm opened in Atlanta in 2016 and operated a 25 hectoliter brewhouse and 3,000 square-foot restaurant. It was co-founded by former Stone brewmaster Mitch Steele, Bob Powers and Carey Falcone.

Speaking of

Atlanta

With its Westcreek brewing facility up and running, Hardywood Park has begun shipping beer south — to Atlanta. The Richmondbased brewery partnered with Atlanta Beverage Company. Hardywood plans to spend the next few years distributing its beers in all key markets between Atlanta and RVA.

Remember when Richmond was home to the Atlanta Braves’ farm team? Hmmm.

Movin’ on Up

Three Virginia Breweries make the Brewers Associations’ Top 50 Fastest Growing US Breweries in 2017

By David Hunter

I

n April, The Brewers Association released its inaugural list of the 50 fastest growing small and independent craft brewing companies of 2017 and three breweries on that list are from right here in Virginia: Vanish Farmwoods Brewery from Leesburg, VA coming in at #25; Big Lick Brewing Company from Roanoke, VA at #45; and Fair Winds Brewing Company from Lorton, VA at #47. To be considered, breweries must have had data from the last three years and opened by 12/31/2015 or earlier.

I reached out to Jonathan Staples (owner) with Vanish, Bryan Summerson (owner) from Big Lick and Casey Jones (owner) from Fair Winds and asked them to reflect on their growth over the last few years, and this is what they had to say…

Jonathan Stapes

Vanish Farmwoods Brewery #25

“Our first goal was to make the best beer we could, showcasing the work of our brewer, Larry Pomerantz, and his team. Our location, on a 61-acre farm, has four bars spread among three tasting rooms, two stages, and over three acres of outdoor picnic

brewNEWS / BUSINESS

areas. Vanish is a place for families, we have massive playgrounds, arcade games, space to run, and as many food options as we can manage (last weekend, we had pizza, BBQ, hamburgers, and a Mexican food truck.). Of course, none of this would matter if we were not creating beer that our guests liked as much as we do.”

“Our growth will always be limited by the fact that we purposely have very little distribution, over 90% of what we produce is consumed on-site. We don’t want to be in gas stations or in bars that we wouldn’t go to ourselves, so a lot of the conventional measures of a brewery’s growth doesn’t matter to us. A metric we do care about is that we now have 62 employees at the farm, and as we grow, that number will increase.”

“Having 18 different beers on tap, constantly pushing and experimenting so that it is never boring, our beer list is different every week. Creating a place where the entire family has something to do and having so many different places onsite that you can choose your experience, ranging from a packed stage area to a quiet space under a tree.”

“For beer, we’re adding an aging facility at the farm that will focus on sours, and we’ll be expanding our to-go options by adding the capacity to do more canning runs. On the facility, we are expanding the playground, adding another outdoor bar, and opening our new winery/cidery in May.”

Bryan Summerson

Big Lick Brewing Company #45

“We started out as a 2-bbl nano brewery. We had real jobs, myself teaching. We were open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for a total of 17 hours/week. The whole space totaled 1,500 sq. ft., with a capacity of 45 people. We’ve never distributed. We were extremely busy/well received from day 1. Had a three-year plan to see how it went, and at the end, we’d either expand or go back to our day jobs. Well, it went really well. We were approached about the space we’re in now and immediately took it.”

“The new space is over 11,000 sq. ft., with 6,000 of it being an outdoor beer garden. We moved up to a 15-bbl brewhouse from Deutsche Beverage. We are now open every day except Monday and Tuesday. See our website for pictures, as it is quite something. I now have a dozen taproom staff, a taproom manager and two brewing assistants. At the original space, it was pretty much two partners and our wives doing everything.”

“In 2015 & 2016, we brewed around 112 bbls each year. In 2017, after being open in the new space for only three months, it rose to close to 500 bbls. We are on pace to do 1,000 this year. At this

point, we still only serve out of our taproom but are getting ready to start distributing to tap accounts by the end of May.”

“I attribute our growth to the fact that we create a very good product. We also started out brewing different beers, rarely the same one twice. Four years ago, when we opened, all of the breweries in our area had four or five core beers with a rotating seasonal. People love our variety. We also are located in downtown Roanoke, which has become a bustling/thriving area with lots of young professionals. We try to get involved in the community as much as possible too.”

Casey Jones

Fair Winds Brewing Company #47

“We built Fair Winds Brewing Company to provide fresh, local, flavorful craft beers to our neighbors and friends in Fairfax County and throughout the Commonwealth and the District of Columbia. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all; instead we believe that craft beer, like food, should complement the moment and add to the overall experience.”

“Our fastest growth in 2017 was in barrel-age produced (which is what the BA used to calculate the top 50 fastest growing breweries). We produce beer to meet demand in the market, so our growth in production was motivated by a growth in sales. While we saw growth in both taproom and distribution sales, our greatest growth in 2017 came from distribution sales. We have been slow to hire to ensure that the new positions we create are supported by sales and that we can ensure that once we create them they will stay. We are up to 16 employees (vs. the 5 when we started in 2015).”

“Our growth has been motivated by three key factors; Partners, People and Process. Our greatest sales growth in 2017 came through distribution sales. Our distribution and retail partners were key for helping us deliver our draft and packaged beers to consumers in both on premise (restaurants and bars) and offpremise locations.”

“We were rated one of the 50 fastest growing breweries in beer volume 2017-2018. This was enabled by people. Our dedicated and hard-working Brew Crew met the massive increase in production while only adding one PT member to the team. Also, our Brand Ambassadors managed to significantly increase the number of retail partners that carried our beers in the market. Finally, our service-oriented Thirstmates worked to engage more customers in our taproom and educate them on the Fair Winds beers.”

“In order to achieve high amounts of growth without a significant increase in the size of the team, you need to have strong processes in place. For Fair Winds these processes include a very strong focus on QA/QC to ensure we provide shelf stable beers to our distribution and retail partners.”

“Our focus for 2018 is around adding new SKUs of packaged beers. The first was released this spring, Hells Navigator a VA Beer Cup Gold and Silver medal winning Maibock. We plan to release three more in 2018.”

David Hunter is founder of Fans of Virginia Craft Breweries. Find him on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/FansofVACB/, Twiter: FansofVACB and Instagram: fansofvacb

brewNEWS / NATO

Must-Read Book Explores IPAs

By Jeff Maisey

I

f you’ve ever heard Dick Cantwell speak on the topic of beer you know he’s both incredibly knowledgeable on the subject and an engaging storyteller — both qualities that make for an excellent book.

That said, it’s perhaps no wonder the Brewers Association’s publishing division is behind Cantwell’s new book, Brewing Eclectic IPA: Pushing the Boundaries of India Pale Ale (Available June 4, $19.95).

Cantwell co-founded Elysian Brewing Company in 1996. Elysian was crowned Large Brewpub of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival in 1999, 2003 and 2004, before being sold to AB in 2015.

According to the Brewers Association statistics department, IPAs are today the third most popular style of beer in the country, trailing American lagers and light lagers. While IPAs account for 3.1 percent of total beer by volume, in the craft beer category, the style is attributed to between 24-33 percent of sales. Nearly one in three craft beers sold in America are IPAs.

So why are IPAs so popular with American consumers?

“It’s an interesting stretch of history in craft brewing, “explained Cantwell. “IPAs were one of the styles that were rediscovered by American craft brewers. It practically died-out in its country of origin — the UK — where they were making pretty insipid versions. IPAs for craft brewers were a real way to showoff. They were a way to show that you knew how to make a real tasty beer that was also really strong and hoppy.”

taste. People taste hoppy beers at first and they might be a little off-putting, but you just keep going back to them. IPAs are a statement on how much a consumer can take. There’s a little bit of that endurance aspect to them. It’s the combination of excess, both in terms of conception and in terms of consumption that keeps it such a popular style.”

IPA for the end of a session.

“If you keep hammering on those (IPAs) there is some palate fatigue,” he said. “One way that I will pick the sequence of beers that I’ll have at the end of the day is that I’m very conscious of what order I drink them in. If I drink something hoppy and then go back to something less hoppy, it’s not going to show that beer off to its advantage because your palate is already kind of ranched by that intense bitterness. In fact, it can sometimes display aspects somewhat artificially because of that experience you’ve just been through.”

Cantwell also credits the emergence of fruity hops entering the craft marketplace for more floral and citrusy notes. He believes consumers have shown their overwhelming desire for the style.

“The way bitter beers and hops react on the palate, it is naturally an acquired

Cantwell was one of the judges for the recent World Beer Cup competition. Whether he’s judging a beer competition or consuming several for enjoyment with friends or at home in San Francisco, Cantwell schedules and delays having an

Cantwell said cloudy, fruitforward New England-style IPAs have become almost as popular on the West Coast as in the East.

“I like them,” admitted Cantwell. “Like any other style there are good and bad examples of them, but I find them really interesting. They present a really interesting sequence and technique of hopping that really hasn’t been completely explored before. I find it kind of curious how divisive it has become.”

In Nashville, at the Brewers Association conference, Cantwell heard speakers rant against cloudy IPAs.

“I just don’t see what the big deal is,” he said. “It’s a new sub-style. Will it last? Who knows. The consumer will speak loudest about that.

“Several years ago we had Black IPAs, and now there aren’t many of those around anymore.”

Throughout Brewing Eclectic IPA, Cantwell delves into the evolution of the IPA, provides guidance for designing unique beers, and shares 25 original IPA recipes. The book is a must-read for commercial craft brewers, home brewers, and consumers wanting to know more about their favorite style — the IPA.

O’Connor Racks Up Accolades and Sales

By Jeff Maisey

The year isn’t quite halfway through and yet Norfolk-based O’Connor Brewing Company has racked up accolades far and wide to make any craft brewery envious.

In March, O’Connor Brewing Co. claimed a gold medal, three silver medals and four bronze medals in the 2018 Dublin Craft Beer Cup, a global competition which allows craft brewers to showcase their brews to have them rated, tasted and analyzed by an expert, international panel of judges.

In April, O’Connor Brewing Company was awarded two gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal in the Tastings. com World Beer Championships. The same month, O’Connor was named Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Norfolk Small Business of the Year.

Perhaps the biggest announcement in April was the Virginia Chamber of Commerce naming O’Connor Brewing Company as the 2018 Vanguard Winner in the field of manufacturing in its Fantastic 50 list of fastest growing companies in Virginia.

I recently talked with founder and president Kevin O’Connor by phone when he was taking a break at the Brewers Association national conference and World Beer Cup competition in Nashville. Here’s our conversation.

What topics are all abuzz this year at the Brewers Association conference?

The increased number of breweries and the way the market is heading. The overall swelling of beer as a whole, and as more and more entrants come in, what are things going to look like in the next three to five years.

There’s been a lot of innovation up until now. There’s been a lot of talk about everybody’s now just chasing what the other person is doing. It’s just kind of like copycat. That’s been the talk, from New England IPAs and what’s next. Is it just going to be IPAs or are people going to come back out of the box and make good Belgians again and other inspiring beers?

That’s really been the talk of the upper echelon and the speakers.

Overall, it’s been fun. It’s been great to see new faces and old friends. It seems like everyone’s still having fun. It’s always inspiring to come to these things.

Are you making any business adjustments based on what you’re hearing at the conference or is it just confirming what you’re already doing?

I think it’s really just confirming.

We’ve always tried to grow organically, more than forcefully. In listening to some of my comrades from some of the larger breweries, they are up against the same stuff that everybody is. So how do we tackle that?

The regional and national brewers are looking at different ways to come into markets. And now uber local is doing really well. It’s the best time that beer has ever been, but I’ll be honest with you, I think I’ve made enough tweaks to my forecasts and budgets and plans that I feel comfortable with where we’re going. We don’t want to over-shoot ourselves.

In terms of where you’re going, where do you see O’Connor Brewing Company in the next three to five years down the road?

The industry is so changing right now. I can’t really say five years from now, but over the next year to two years we already have plans in motion to open up the rest of North Carolina, the rest of Maryland, and we’ve been in talks with a few other island markets — cities we feel our brand might do well — up and down the (east) coast.

Right now, there just aren’t as many wholesalers as there are suppliers. That’s going to be the challenge.

Where can we go?

Will we fit in their portfolio?

Are we going to grow with them?

That’s why I’m looking at this sort of year by year. Even the wholesalers can’t get the forecast right anymore. We try to tweak as we go. We’re just fine where we’re at and are going to hold-on and see what happens.

I understand El Guapo Agave IPA is the number one best selling independent craft brand in Virginia. Can you confirm this?

According to the data collection for all the grocery store chains, it is the number one selling Virginia independent craft six-pack right now.

What are the closest competitors you’re facing in the grocery stores for sales?

They put everybody together and the nationals. Overall, I think we’re number six. There’s Devils Backbone Vienna Lager, Sam Adams, Blue Moon.

If you look at just craft, us being the number one independent Virginia craft brand puts us on the same level as Sierra Nevada. That’s always good — to be able to sell that much.

Why do you think El Guapo Agave IPA is performing so well?

You know that’s the anomaly. I really don’t know.

We made it as a test batch. We liked it, but some of our wholesalers didn’t think it had a wow factor.

Lo and behold, other people seemed to like it and sales just keep growing and growing. We got more placements in the grocery stores. It kept moving.

I think the IPA category is huge. I think the agave lends that sweetness to it that kind of muscles-out the bitterness a little bit. It’s more approachable to a wider demographic than hops in-yourface. It’s a more balanced beer.

I also think the artwork — people get a kick out of it.

It’s one of those beers, even though it’s a higher alcohol beer, I think people still look at it as an everyday beer.

What are some of the new limited release beers you feel could graduate to the next level of production?

We’ve been putting together a few new lagers that I think are going to be good. Bob and his team have been doing a lot of sours, goses, Berliner Weisses, and things like that on our pilot system, really just for the fun of it.

I’m very impressed with what these guys are putting together and I do feel like they have a lot of legs.

One of the fastest growing styles right now are the more approachable beers — the golden ales, kolsches and lagers.

It goes back to what I said a long time ago: People just want a good damn beer. I think the lagers, the goses and Berliner Weisses are something we could put in a package in the next two quarters if we can develop it into a real strong standing brand.

Can you reflect on some of the accolades you’ve received this year thus far?

It’s always humbling to get these awards. You never set out to win an award. Your nose is always to the ground and you’re just running, and then all of a sudden someone shoots you an email saying, “Hey, you won the Small Business of the Year.”

One of the awards we won is the Fantastic 50 from the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. We’ve been voted in the Top 50 Fastest Growing Independent Companies in Virginia three years in a row. This year, we were in the fastest growing manufacturer, and that is wild.

When you’re sitting there with 49 other people and most of them are technology firms — there’s this little brewery from Norfolk that’s getting statewide attention for the growth of what we’re doing. That’s fun.

The team here at O’Connor is making really great beer. Every time we get a medal or an award it’s really a hats-off to them. I can’t do it without them, and I think that’s what’s showing in the small business award, the Fantastic 50 award. And, obviously in winning medals for the beers.

brewNEWS / TASTES

A Knight’s Take on Virginia Beer

By Jeff Maisey

By now, every American citizen has likely heard of craft beer, if not tasted one. From sprawling metropolitan hubs to small towns like Bedford, Virginia, rural counties such as Nelson County to tourism magnets, including Colonial Williamsburg and the Virginia Beach resort strip, independent craft beer is taking root and expanding in popularity.

The revolution that is craft beer has spread from “sea to shining sea,” and it hasn’t gone unnoticed in the eyes of visitors from overseas.

“Most bits of the US have gone from a beer desert to a beer lover’s paradise in a few short years,” said Air Marshal Sir Graham Stacey of the United Kingdom.

Sir Graham Stacey is currently serving his last two months as Chief of Staff at NATO’s Allied Command Transformation headquarters in Norfolk. It’s NATO’s only headquarters in North America.

Stacey’s go-to beer style is India Pale Ale, more commonly called IPA.

“I’ve always enjoyed hoppy beers,” he said. “I moved on from English-style bitters and ales to American-style IPAs.”

His taste in beer has certainly changed over time. He recalled having a can of Watneys Red Barrel at age 16 when one of his classmates snuck a 4-pack into the dorm at boarding school.

“I thought it was disgusting and vowed I’d never drink beer again, and I’ve spend my whole life completely ignoring my own advice,” he admitted.

Graham Stacey, like most who serve in the armed forces, has been deployed to the far ends of the world, from Indonesia, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Belize, and Kuwait to the Falkland Islands, Kosovo, Iraq and Tampa.

Air Marshal Stacey has both visited and worked in the United States for many years. He often found it a challenge to locate quality beer.

“As we jokingly used to say, ‘The good thing about Bud and Miller is you’d drown before you got drunk,’” he said with amusement. “I think for me the revolution — if that’s the right word — was the first time I stumbled across Sam Adams. That appeared to be a beer that had the taste and flavor I really wanted. Now, I say to people, if you want an adventure in beer then come to the States.

“I was an early member of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) in the UK when I was at university. That was in the late 1970s. So I’ve always been an advocate for real ale.

“I think the US has now overtaken many parts of the world. What’s great is that you’ve embraced craft brewing, but you’re also prepared to use innovation and imagination — different flavors, different hops, different mixtures, different styles.”

Since serving at NATO headquarters in Norfolk for the past three years, Stacey has tried a wide array of American-made IPAs and visited local breweries O’Connor, Smartmouth, and The Bold Mariner. Last year, he participated in a collaboration with Bold Mariner brewers Mike Stacks and John O’Reilly on a beer called Cross the Pond IPA.

“I actually studied chemistry at university, so I understand the science of brewing quite well,” he said. “The thing I probably enjoyed most about that adventure was the people and just dealing with people who’ve got a genuine passion, a genuine commitment, and a genuine love for beer and what they do. And it is that image of the people I take away from Bold Mariner, and the other places I’ve been to in the States.”

MUG SHOTS

MUG SHOTS

Coasting

Wearable Art

Repurposed from empty bo�les, these unique earrings are perfect for the stylish, beer loving girl. The glass is transformed into various shaped beads. Each piece is one-of-kind and eco-friendly too! $17 each.

Twist of Nature, Roanoke etsy.com/shop/twistofnaturejewelry

These colorful coasters are made from broken skateboards. Each deck is un-gripped and cut into thin strips. The strips are sanded, glued, and placed in a press. A clear coat is applied to the final product and the bo�om is covered with cork. It’s a pre�y rad place to put your drink! $45 for set of four.

Scene 3 Designs, Lynchburg etsy.com/shop/scene3designs

These talented Virginians are getting their craft on in celebration of the beer lover in all of us!

Getting Cozy

Keep your beverage cold and your hands dry with this handmade wooden mug, which is actually a koozie for your can or bo�le. The peace sign is burned on to both sides of the mug. Other styles available. $16 each.

Nelsons Creative Wood, Leesburg etsy.com/shop/nelsonscrea�vewood

Michael Benefield Line Operator Parkway Brewing

Blanco delivers... New ideas

“Our new pressure sensitive labels are easier to use and look better. They’re cleaner--no glue application--and it’s faster.” Michael Benefield, Line Operator at Parkway Brewing.

Every week Blanco meets its commitments of millions of labels to manufacturers depending on them. Because at Blanco we believe service is as important as quality.

We select our customers so that we can be a perfect fit. We are small enough for their business to matter and large enough to make sure their job gets done.

Each summer, millions of people flock to the coast like seagulls hovering over a fish fry.

In Coastal Virginia, there are some two hundred miles of varied communities ranging from the small fishing town of Chincoteague near the Maryland border on the Eastern Shore all the way down to the resort strip in Virginia Beach, and then over to the Chesapeake Bay where Shore Drive and Chicks Beach thrive.

These areas on the coast offer a sea swell of outdoor activities that include everything from deep sea fishing excursions, para-sailing, sea kayaking and surfing like a champ at the 1st Street jetty to hiking in the Spanish moss covered swampiness of First Landing State Park, riding beach cruisers up-and-down the boardwalk, enjoying free outdoor concerts at 24th and 31st Street parks and watching wild ponies in marshy wetlands.

And, talk about fresh seafood and outdoor patios with clear views of coastal marinas, the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay — there are many attractive options to choose from for lunch, dinner and after hours.

The one thing this region has lacked within walking distance to the sandy coast is a craft brewery. That’s all changed within the last two years, and now there are multiple options for weeklong vacationers, weekend tourists, day-tripping Virginians, and locals who pedal a few blocks from home for growler refills.

Virginia Beach attracts an estimated 15.2 million visitors each year. There’s a lot of beer sales and branding opportunity for sure.

Following is a brief summary of Coastal Virginia’s independent craft breweries grouped geographically. Most will offer extended hours during the summer.

going coastal

Virginia Beach Oceanfront

Home Republic Brewpub

You can read the positive reviews online stating “here on a Wednesday, great atmosphere, food, beer and staff” and “great selection of beers and simple brewpub entrees” to get a feel for what others think of Home Republic. We totally agree.

Home Republic is a much needed brewpub positioned just a block away from the Neptune/31st Street Park on the Virginia Beach oceanfront.

The super friendly staff and brew crew operate a tiny, nano scale brewery with all of the R2D2-sized shiny equipment in clear view.

The interior is dark and cozy, offering a nice break from the bright sun and heat of summer. The brewpub also has an attractive outdoor patio that’s totally covered. It’s ideal seating for people watching while offering protection from a sudden rain shower.

Smartmouth Brewing Pilot House

The Pilot House is the recently opened satellite location of Norfolk’s award-winning Smartmouth Brewing Company. It’s just a 2-block stroll from the Boardwalk.

While the craft brewery is often known for its big IPAs like Notch 9 and Rule G, its perfectly brewed pilsner called Safety Dance was deemed the best in state and won the Virginia Beer Cup in 2017.

Visitors will find all of Smartmouth’s widely distributed flagship brands like Alter Ego (a saison) and Murphy’s Law (amber red ale) as well as tasty seasonals like Sommer Fling (Bavarian-inspired hefeweizen).

The primary mission, however, of The Pilot House is test batching experimental recipes brewed onsite, and that’s a real plus for vacationing beer enthusiasts.

As you might expect, Home Republic serves both a cast of year-round flagships and some one-off seasonals. We recommend anything unique, of course, but also try the Gladiator Session IPA, Galaxy Pale Ale, King Kolsch, Salted Caramel Ale and for dessert enjoy a Cup of Joe Coffee Brown Ale.

As for eats, you’ll find plenty to satisfy during the heat of summer. Try the Fried Goat Cheese Salad, Cuban Panini, crab cakes, shrimp tacos or build your own burger.

Home Republic Brewpub, 328 Laskin RD, Virginia Beach, homerepublicvabeach.com

Smartmouth’s Pilot House sports a clean, modern decor with views of the brewing equipment and both indoor and outdoor seating.

Trivia nights will be held every Thursday night. On June 23, they’ll present the Lupulin Effect IPA Festival at the brewery.

Smartmouth Brewing Pilot House, 313 32nd Street, Virginia Beach, smartmouthbrewing.com/vb

Back Bay Brewing Company

One of the more interesting tasting room experiences you’ll find is at Back Bay Brewing Company. It’s a few blocks from the main resort area in a cluster of locally-owned businesses that includes an artists’ gallery, coffee shop, and an excellent fish taco joint — all within a few yards of each other. This is where the locals hang to get away from the tourists. So, keep it quiet.

The tasting room at Back Bay shows off its nano brewery setup, but the true uniqueness is the aesthetics: the bar has a secondary, beach cottage-like storefront, the walls are old vintage outbuilding inspired tin with mallard and goose decoys nicely mounted. There’s also a small room to relax in on the second floor with open interior windows for looking down upon the brewing equipment.

Among the Back Bay beers to try this summer are the Mango Hefeweizen, POG IPA (passion fruit and Guava), Lotta Colada Belgian Tripel Ale, Leishman Lager, and the newly packaged Scotchy Scotch Ale (aged four months in highly peated Scotch barrels).

Back Bay Brewing Company, 614 Norfolk Ave., Virginia Beach, backbaybrewingco.com

laboratory for unique beers. The Bunker will also allow the brewery to have entertainment and lots of live music, something forbidden in its manufacturing home-base due to US Navy zoning (it’s near an air base).

Also coming to the Virginia Beach oceanfront this summer is Richmond-based Isley Brewing Company. We broke that announcement back in February, and the expectation is for Isley to open to the public in July. Isley’s location (315 Virginia Beach Blvd) is in the newly trendy Vibe District — just 3 to 4 blocks from the boardwalk — where outstanding restaurant/ beer bar Esoteric operates.

Owner Mike Isley said, “Fifty percent of the beers will be the same (as in RVA),” but noted “we may do more genuine sours. We’re really loving out kettle sours and goses.”

Get ready to pucker-up to Isley come July in Virginia Beach.

Coming Soon: Young Veterans Brewing Company will open its satellite location dubbed The Bunker mid-summer, with a grand opening likely in July. The Bunker will feature all the exceptional flagship brands the brewery is known for such as Pineapple Grenade Hefeweizen, GI Pilsner, Jet Noise Double IPA and Night Vision American Stout, but its primary mission, like most satellite ventures, is to operate as an experimental

Near the Oceanfront Strip

Wasserhund Brewing Company

A German admiral serving at NATO headquarters in nearby Norfolk stated the hefeweizen brewed by Wasserhund was as good as any from Bavaria. What more do you need to know before making this place a must visit?

Wasserhund specializes in German-style beers, but also delves into many interesting brewing excursions. In addition to the Shepeweizen, be sure to enjoy the Berhund Lager and Purebread Pilsner on a hot summer’s night. Also recommended are Summer Fetch Citrus Honey Wheat, Kettle Sour Gose and Sunny Dog IPA.

Wasserhund doubles as a brewpub and features top notched gourmet pizzas and salads.

Wasserhund Brewing Company, 1805 Laskin RD, Virginia Beach, wasserhundbrewing.com

Reaver Beach Brewing Company

Quietly, Reaver Beach has been producing some of Coastal Virginia’s finest hoppy beers for eight years, and has recently greatly enhanced its sour program. In fact, Reaver has a real cool ship — just like Belgian brewers use in Lambicland.

For hop lovers, try Hoptopus Double IPA. Sour lovers will be in heaven this side of Brussels when enjoying seemingly endless sours re-fermented with everything from apricots, black currents, blueberries and even watermelon.

Reaver Beach Brewing Company, 1505 Taylor Farms RD, Virginia Beach, reaverbeach.com

Young Veterans Brewing Company

In addition to the flagship beers previously mentioned, Young Vets vintage military-themed tasting room is a nice showplace for its arsenal of sour beers like Private Plum Sour Ale, The Objector (sour IPA with hibiscus) and MOPP 4 Sour IPA.

You’ll need a vehicle to drive to this industrial zone craft brewery, but it’s a must for all veterans and active duty personnel.

Young Veterans Brewing Company, 2505 Horse Pasture RD, Virginia Beach, yvbc.com

Coming Soon: When Green Flash Brewing exited its Virginia Beach facility in January, it left behind a fully functional, large scale brewing operation. Atlanta-based New Realm Brewing Company acquired the equipment at auction and struck a deal with the city and property owner to operate this turnkey business, with the addition of a full-service kitchen. New Realm expects to open at 1209 Craft Lane later this summer.

Shore Drive

Chicks Beach

Chesapeake Bay Virginia Beach

Commonwealth Brewing Company

In the Chicks Beach neighborhood in close proximity to the mighty Chesapeake Bay, Commonwealth Brewing Co is housed in a former fire station. The “garage” was converted into a tasting room with the large rolling doors opened to let the bay-breeze filter in on cool summer nights.

The tasting room decor smacks of coastal vibes and is most relaxing. An outdoor patio uses barrels for barriers and lightbulbs dangle overhead for evening atmosphere.

Pleasure House Brewing

These folks know their beer and have fun developing the recipes their local clientele prefers. There’s a constant rotation of new beers that keep things as fresh as they are interesting. For example, Shark Tears is a fruity gose made from chopped rhubarb and salt extracted from gallons of sea water brought to the brewery from a local fisherman who frequents the brewery. The brewers have also used rainwater collected from the nearby Brock Environmental Center to create a fine pils.

It’s a fun place just to select something described with the most unusual ingredients. We also encourage visitors to try the Ambie-Dextrous Doppelbock, Shrove Tuesday English Bitter, Light Tower Wine Barrel Aged Saison, and Glo.

Pleasure House Brewing, 3025 Shore Dr., Virginia Beach, pleasurehousebrewing.com

Deadline Brewing Project

The brewery does an exceptional job with barrel-aged beers and sours. The core lineup and hazy IPAs are equally on-par. You really can’t go wrong with any selection, but we certainly recommend whatever limited release featured the day you visit as well as There Gose Gravity (IPA), Tina Rosa (gose), Bodhisattva (tropical gose), Dysphotic (black saison), Cheval de Trait (Belgian quad), and Cheval au Soleil (Belgian wit).

Commonwealth Brewing Company, 2444 Pleasure House RD, Virginia Beach, commonwealthbrewingcompany.com

The trio of owners hail from local media outlets and brand these qualities with craft beer for a fun experience. Their beers include Airline Cookie Amber, Pacer Blonde, Chocolate Porter, IPA and Pale Ale.

Deadline Brewing Project, 2272 W. Great Neck RD, Virginia Beach, deadlinebrewing.com

Ocean View

Chesapeake Bay

Coming Soon: Norfolk’s

The Bold Mariner Brewing Company will open a satellite location in the Ocean View section of the city, just 2 blocks from the sandy shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Surprisingly, it’s this community’s first craft brewery.

The satellite brewery will be known as The Reserve (1901 East Ocean View Avenue) and located in an attractive two-story beach houselike structure with outdoor porches.

The brewery will serve Bold Mariner mainstays such as Frogman Lager, but the showcase will be on premium craft ales, sours, and barrelaged beers.

Opens in the Fall of 2018.

Virginia’s Eastern Shore

Black Narrows Brewing Company

The first brewery to open on the Eastern Shore calls the storied fishing village of Chincoteague home. Tourists come to see the wild ponies, natural wildlife refuge and pristine beaches of Assateague Island (a US National Park) during the day, and then spend the night in the town. Black Narrows is an ideal addition to a community lacking in craft beer. It’s also a lot of fun, especially with beers like Cockle Creek (Scottish ale), Plum Wild (fruited barrelaged wild), Salts (tart oyster wheat) and How Bout It (heirloom corn lager with grits, pear). The beers are on rotation so what you see is what you get. If you’re lucky, they may have Chicken City Pale Lager on tap when you visit.

Black Narrows Brewing Company, 4522 Chick City Road, Chincoteague, VA, blacknarrowsbrewing.com

Top five

Northern VA Restaurant Beer Selections

By Jefferson Evans & Chuck Triplett

The explosion of breweries all across the great state of Virginia and the associated expansion of the food truck business to provide food to patrons of brewery taprooms have arguably contributed to the economic challenges that some more traditional establishments have faced in the business environment that has evolved since Virginia law was changed to allow breweries to sell beer by the glass onsite. And as someone like Mad Fox’s Bill Madden would no doubt tell you, the brewpub model has proven especially challenging in this new world. That said, across Virginia there are a variety of great restaurants doing beer and food, and doing them right. This article focuses on such places that particularly stand out in Northern Virginia and which are not breweries, brewpubs, or tied houses such as the Dogfish Head Alehouses. Each has a unique combination of selection, ambiance, great staff, special events, and quirky twists that set them apart. This article is in the form of a top 5 list. This is our list. Your list will look different, and that’s ok so put aside your righteous anger for a moment and read why you should visit these great places.

#1 Foster’s Grille

Chantilly

5007 Westone Plaza Drive

Chantilly, VA 20151

I know, I know — it is essentially a burger and wings place. It isn’t the prettiest or fanciest. But you know what it is? A place that feels like your whole extended family opened a burger and wings place, did it right, and oh by the way, they all love good beer. Your dad is performing grill wizardry out back; your mom is in the kitchen fryin’ up some chicken proper; your uncle is working the bar and telling stories that have beer coming out of your nose, and the cousins are all smiles, delivering food to the tables and taking care of any needs. That uncle behind the bar, that’s your Uncle Jeremy — Jeremy Topper — and he just poured you something special.

“I was a managing partner with Bonefish Grill in Gainesville, Virginia and it was there I met Shaun Foster of the Foster’s Grille chain,” Topper said. “I really liked the Foster’s Grille location in Haymarket, Virginia and was ready to leave the corporate world.”

Jeremy opened a first Foster’s Grille in Ashburn, VA (now closed) and then in 2007 the present location in Chantilly. Foster’s Grille definitely had a tradition tied to the big three (Budweiser, Miller, Coors) when he opened in Ashburn, and then Chantilly, but Jeremy recognized early on the potential for craft beer and in those early days brought in beers like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Dominion Oak Barrel Stout.

When local breweries like Lost Rhino opened up, Jeremy hounded founder Favio Garcia and got one of the first accounts for New River Pale Ale. Rotating taps became a bigger and bigger thing and eventually Jeremy pushed out the big three all together. Beer sales doubled and Jeremy notes with pride that the people in corporate took notice and started to institute changes along

the lines of what he had done. Jeremy’s approach to beer: simply put, all well-made beers in a variety of styles, combined with a steady diet of special events, from the 1st Thursday Brewery Spotlight where 4 or 5 tap lines are dedicated to a specific brewery, to Kill the Keg events where the winning brewery gets to decide what charity gets 15% of the proceeds from the night, to the 3rd Thursday Themed tap takeover that might be 6 to 8 tap lines dedicated to barrelaged beers, all Loudoun County beers, or beers that associate with a holiday like Valentine’s Day.

Check out Foster’s Grill Chantilly on Facebook. Your Uncle Jeremy has some really cool beer shenanigans in the works and you really don’t want to miss them. These include quarterly bottle shares. That’s right, a burger and wing place doing amazing bottle shares. Yeah, we know we just blew your mind. You’re welcome.

#2 Spacebar

This place is just cool. Yes, the parking lot is small (parking on a nearby street isn’t a problem) and yes, the place sometimes feels like it might be a bit too cool for its own good, maybe a little too beer nerdy, maybe a little too hipsterish. They only serve grilled cheese and tater tots, how clever. But you know what? This isn’t some cheesy, “Oh, what’s the flavor of the moment?” kind of place. What it is, at its core, is an honest to goodness neighborhood joint where anyone is welcome and the vibe is funky and friendly, and “it’s all good.” This is a place with a ton of regulars and where the grilled cheese really is just that awesome. Want yours with grilled Portobello? Check. Smoked salmon? Check. Brie and green apple? Check. And the beer list, as determined by the owners Larry and Erica Hoffman, always provides a wide range of options, from Solace Juicy Lucy DIPA to New Holland’s Dragon Milk Imperial Stout.

As one of those regulars, Jim Zillian, tells me, “At Spacebar, you get very nice and helpful staff, great selection of fresh beer, and no kids.”

That last part being the subject of much discussion in the craft beer community and the adult beverage drinking community in general…but that’s a whole different article, and, yes, Galaxy Hut, the sister restaurant in Arlington, VA could have just as easily been #2 in this list.

#3

Bilbo Baggins Restaurant and Pub

Old Town Alexandria

208 Queen Street Alexandria, VA 22314

Having a lovely side space called The Green Dragon Pub alone would have made this place special, but on top of it, this is an establishment that takes beer seriously, whether in the pub or in the main restaurant, which is charmingly like a comfortable period house with a plurality of small rooms, each welcoming with a different character.

The creation of chef and owner Michael Armellino, the restaurant is his attempt to bring some old world charm, food, and drink back home to the USA. It has been over 30 years now since Michael and his partner came across their present location, a rustic gem in the heart of Old Town Alexandria. To quote the Bilbo Baggins website, “With approval from the Tolkien Foundation and a guarantee to uphold all qualities of hobbit hospitality, Bilbo Baggins Restaurant has remained a staple in Alexandria for over three decades.”

As to beer, Bilbo Baggins definitely focuses on European styles, whether Belgian Tripel, German Pilsner, or Irish Dry Stout. That said, you will also find IPAs and local beers like the Raspberry Baltic Porter from Parkway Brewing out of Salem, VA or Raised By Wolfs Pale Ale from Washington D.C.’s Right Proper Brewing. And as to food, whether you want some Spanish Tapas, German Schnitzel, Italian pizza, or an East Coast salmon and crab cake sandwich, you will find something to be happy about on the menu.

#4

Tuscarora Mill

203 Harrison Street SE

Leesburg, VA 20175

Built in a building that began as a grain mill back in 1899?

Yep.

A place to get Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout on tap?

Yep.

Home to one of the best Sunday brunches this side of…well…heaven?

Yep.

A staff that manages to cultivate an ambiance that is both upscale and chill at the same time?

Yep.

Tuskies, as the place is fondly referred to by some, manages a lovely balancing act by which it manages to be cool yet cozy, rustic but classy, upscale yet accessible, forwardthinking and old school, traditionally oriented yet surprising. It is the rare place where a preppy dude just off the golf course can rub shoulders with a tattooed beer nerd and it’s all good…cause’ they’re at Tuskies and they’re feelin’ pretty good about that.

Besides finding really good beers, including from Virginia breweries like Hardywood and Kindred Spirit, what really sets Tuskies apart is the lineup of beer dinners the place is known for, whether featuring a Bacon and Beer Dinner with Bells out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, a Valentine’s Day dinner featuring Solace Brewing Company of Dulles, VA or a BBQ dinner featuring beers from Cigar City Brewing out of Tampa, Florida.

#5

Rustico

Alexandria

827 Slaters Lane Alexandria, VA 22314

For some of us, this place is where it feels like a lot of the greater D.C. area beer awesomeness began. This is where we got to know Greg Engert who went on to Neighborhood Restaurant Group beer director fame and glory, which culminated in special places such as Churchkey, Bluejacket, and The Sovereign in Washington DC.

In Virginia, the family includes places such as Evening Star Café, Vermilion, Columbia Firehouse, and B-Side.

All have good beer options, but if beer is the game, in Virginia, Rustico is the name. The food, the ambiance, the staff — these are all quite good at Rustico Alexandria (and the sister restaurant in Ballston). What pushes Rustico Alexandria into the #5 position is Novemberfest, simply one of the best beer events in Virginia.

Snallygaster is the Greg Engert organized beer festival that features incredible beers from all over the world. Novemberfest is the much smaller scale event in the parking lot behind Rustico, that nonetheless is like Snallygaster but features only Virginia beers.

Amazing IPA’s from The Veil, Ocelot, and Aslin? Check.

Amazing big stouts from Hardywood, Lickinghole Creek, and Brothers? Check.

Greg Engert and Virginia brewing all-stars in the house and approachable? Damn straight.

Honorable Mention

Siena

5127 Westfields Blvd

Centreville, VA 20120

Those of you who are fans of Mekong in Richmond are well aware that a good Vietnamese restaurant can also be a great place for beer. Owner Thuan Nguyen immigrated when he was 8 years old and has embraced the full American experience, having been raised by a military family and served in the Marines before going on to become an IT professional and opening a Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Aura, which was where David Harris and Thuan crossed paths around 2011. David, a CFO at a local company, became a regular customer at Pho Aura, and after the two became good friends, David suggested Thuan tap into the growing craft beer movement. Thuan was intrigued by the idea, but not really being a beer drinker he asked David if he would be willing to act as an informal beer advisor as to what to have on tap and David agreed.

Turned out Thuan was really intrigued, to the point that when a larger space opened up in the same shopping center, Thuan wanted to open a place called 101 Taps that would literally have 101 taps.

Well, the available cooler space and other considerations ended up forcing Thuan to scale back his ambitions, but he still ended up with a restaurant featuring 60 taps named after one of Thuan’s daughters. David has full autonomy to choose the beers, not withstanding, Thuan occasionally grousing about how much a rare sour or barrel-aged stout cost.

Siena is a cool place with good food, an inspiring back story, and a craft beer fan getting to do what so many of us dream we would love to do (ignoring the challenging realities of actually doing it). Go and see. The tap list speaks for itself, combined with a cool selection of events ranging from tap takeovers to events featuring local breweries with a percentage of proceeds going to charities. Thuan walks the walk when it comes to charities, now being the IT guy for SOME — So Others Might Eat. So go to Siena and celebrate a real American giving back in a real way.

Port City’s Optimal Wit Remains Dominant

By Jeff Maisey

While craft breweries these days often seem to focus on cranking out as many seasonal and limited release experimental beers as tank-space allows to keep locals perpetually engaged and lining up for the new flavor of the week at the taproom, success of the meat-and-potatoes flagship brands packaged and kegged for distribution are what keep the brewery in business.

Often, these flagships were among the first beers developed by the brewery, became popular with customers, and then released to a wider consumer market wanting to enjoy the beer at home or a restaurant.

Some of the most successful flagship beers made by independent Virginia craft breweries are no strangers to anyone who goes grocery shopping or frequents the local watering hole. Things like Legend Brown Ale, Starr Hill’s Northern Lights IPA, Hardywood Park Singel, and O’Connor’s El Guapo Agave IPA.

One of my personal favorite flagships is Optimal Wit from Alexandria’s Port City Brewing Company. I love the style and this one — like Alewerks’ White — is exceptional. I recently caught up with Port City founder and president Bill Butcher to get his take on the continued success of Optimal Wit.

As a flagship in Port City’s portfolio, why has Optimal Wit been so popular with consumers?

I believe that Optimal Wit is popular with beer drinkers for a couple of reasons: First, it’s accessible and easy to drink — it’s not hoppy or rich or strong — so it resonates with people who are just getting into more flavorful beer. Optimal Wit is also very complex, with layers of flavor that evolve in the glass and fan out like a peacock’s tail. This complexity of flavor holds the attention of more sophisticated beer drinkers. We like to say it tastes like Sunshine & Happiness, and I think it has something for everyone.

Does Optimal Wit still out-sell all other Port City brands?

It is our top seller, and depending on the time of year, it represents up to 40% of our production. In fact, Optimal Wit is now the 10th best-selling witbier in the United States, and we’re only sold in 8 states. I think that shows how well the beer sells in our regional market.

What other flagships do you see performing well in the marketplace in the coming year?

Well it’s no secret that IPA is still the best selling style of craft beer in the United States. We introduced Integral IPA to the market last year as a limited release. Integral IPA is a modern American IPA, with ripe tropical flavors without aggressive hop bitterness. We use Simcoe and Mosaic hops in the boil, and Azacca and Pekko in the dry hop. The beer went over so well last year that we rolled it into our year round flagships.

When some consumers follow the “what’s new” trends, what are the keys to maintaining a strong flagship beer that is widely distributed?

We try to consistently execute our company vision of brewing world class quality beers that are complex and flavorful, yet also in perfect balance and easy to drink. We continue to invest in our lab capabilities so that we can produce consistent quality that people can rely on. I think that in the long run, that’s what people are looking for. True happiness and satisfaction are found with balance and harmony. That’s true in beer and life.

20 Years of St. George BrewinG

By Jeff Maisey

Remember those investment commercials with the slogan, “They make money the old fashioned way — they earn it”?

Well, St. George Brewing Company should probably have a similar theme. Something like, “They make beer the ol’ fashioned way — they stick to tradition.”

Traditional styles that is.

Hampton’s St. George Brewing Company marks its 20th anniversary this spring, and thus reminded everyone they are the longest operating craft brewery in Hampton Roads and one of the oldest in Virginia.

Like Legend Brewing Company of Richmond, St. George has survived the dark ages of craft beer (pre-2012, SB604) and weathered the storm — more like a tidal wave — of new breweries spreading like kudzu, showcasing one extreme concoction after another. St. George has done it by producing consistent quality, tried-and-true British and German style beers.

Their core lineup doesn’t seem to change — ever. And, there’s nothing fancy about the names given to each beer; just plain and simple. Beer names such as Pilsner, Porter, Nut Brown Ale, and Imperial Bock.

The brewery was born on St. George Day and was named in honor of the patron saint of England. Mythology had St. George slaying a fire-breathing dragon after the beast

demanded human sacrifice. The dragon likely represented paganism.

St. George the brewery got its start not in Hampton, but Virginia Beach, when Ron and Karen Walkup operated a Brew On Premise establishment in 1996. Bill Spence joined them the same year and bought stock in the company after retiring from the US Air Force.

By 1998, the three owners decided a Brew On Premise business — essentially a home brew operation — could not be sustained and they converted the 3-barrel system into a commercial brewery, packaging and kegging the beer to be sold locally as St. George Brewing Company.

A decision was soon made to expand as a full-fledged, 15-barrel micro brewery. After a brief exploration of potential sites, they selected a one-time ice-making factory in downtown Hampton off of Kecoughtan Road for the new brewhouse.

In 1999, Andy Rathmann joined the company as head brewer. Rathmann had travelled the world as a brewery consultant, helping people build breweries. He studied the craft of brewing as an apprentice in Germany with Weihenstephan before completing his training at the University of California at Davis in a program affiliated with Institute of Brewing in London.

Rathmann was the perfect fit for St. George Brewing Company

since the focus was on German lagers and British ales.

Tragedy struck St. George on Christmas Eve 2000 when — ironically — a fire broke out and destroyed the building. No dragon or reindeer was spotted in the vicinity.

Virtually left without a home, Rathmann and Spence Sr. did some contract brewing in Baltimore and Raleigh to keep the business going before finding a brewpub on Jefferson Avenue in Newport News. The city required them to sell food so they cooked hot dogs to satisfy the municipality.

St. George’s stay in Newport News was brief. The brewery moved to its current production warehouse location in Hampton in 2001.

The first two beers produced by St. George were the Scotch Ale and the Golden Ale. Today, they operate a 30-hectoliter, or 27-barrel brewhouse.

Over the years, the top best selling St. George beers have been the English IPA, Nut Brown Ale, Pilsner, and Porter. The core seasonals are the Oktoberfest and Spring Ale, which garnered a gold medal and took third best overall in the 2017 Virginia Craft Brewers Cup competition in Richmond.

“It’s nice to be recognized,” said Spence Jr.

St. George has won several awards including a World Beer Cup Award and an English competition. The winning entries were, of course, traditional style beers.

The dedication to traditional styles is a personal preference.

“I always say we brew the beers we like to drink because we’re here everyday drinking them,” said Rathmann, with a near empty glass of Pilsner in his hand. “If other people like them, then all the better.”

“There are a bunch of breweries and niches with big bold IPAs, hop-bombs, juicy-crunky beers, the sours, bourbon barrels,” said Spence Sr. “Everybody’s got their particular goto. I think our style is sessionable and drinkable, and we’ve been that way since Day One.”

Spence Sr. stressed the key to success for St. George — and really, anyone — is to do what they’re good at.

“You can’t be all things to all people,” he continued. “And, you have to take a look at whether your facility can support it.”

Spence Jr attributes much of the brewery’s success to producing beers with a reasonable alcohol level. St. George has a relatively small tasting room compared to many, but its strength and focus is on distributing bottles and draft beer to restaurants throughout the Coastal Virginia region.

“Bars and restaurants get behind us because when they sell one of our products they end up selling one or two more,” he said. “That benefits the servers and the restaurant.”

St. George’s field sales team and distributors — Hoffman Beverage and M. Price — seek out restaurants with fewer than 15 taps at the direction of the brewery.

As trends come and go, St. George sees itself marching forward with the banner of traditional beers, serving a supportive community of increasingly well-educated craft beer consumers, but they’ll also open things up with a cast of new brewers, William Miller and Scott Batten, who’ll be test batching on a one-barrel system.

Rathmann and crew recently unveiled a special 20th anniversary beer at the anniversary party at the brewery. It was an English Best Bitter on white oak.

“It is really, really good,” said Rathmann.

Keep slaying those dragons, St. George Brewing Company.

Canon & Draw: Drawing a New Base and Firing at Will

By Wade Reynolds

To mention that there’s a new brewery down in Richmond’s Fan district does not tell the whole story, but it’s a good place to start.

Canon & Draw, which opened in early March of this year at 1529 W. Main St., bills itself as “the Fan’s first brewery.” General manager Matt Lillard is quick to point out that, although there are other breweries in relatively close proximity, none of them are located within the Fan’s generally accepted boundaries of Boulevard, Belvidere and Broad.

The real story here is Canon & Draw’s connection to brewery trends in Virginia: one followed, one bucked. Similar to other successful craft breweries, Steam Bell Beer Works, which opened two years ago near Midlothian, determined to expand to another location.

with at least one award-winning beer perpetuating a local buzz (Tiramisu Stout) would choose to open a new location without the obvious advantages of name recognition, the answer is obvious, at least to the Coopers and their staff.

According to Lillard, there are different beer drinking demographics in the city as opposed to the county. Citing a trend of more hopheads in the city, Canon & Draw will feature more IPAs and hop-forward beers than Steam Bell. Connie Cooper, mother of Brad and Brittany and office manager, noted that they didn’t want to “just plop Steam Bell into the Fan,” or even its beers.

Canon & Draw was designed for a different area with a different sense of community than Steam Bell. Situated across from the historic Stonewall Building and near VCU, Canon & Draw gets a huge amount of foot traffic, something almost unheard of at the industrial park that houses Steam Bell in Chesterfield County. Lillard also mentioned that, with two completely different breweries, customers would be less inclined to think “I’ve already been to the one, so why should I go to the other?” With each brewery featuring its own brewer and unique line of beers, there is a strong argument for visiting both.

Unlike other breweries, owners Brad and Brittany Cooper decided that, rather than just open a second Steam Bell location, they would open a completely new brewery. The new brewery has its own brewer, general manager, staff, name, and—most importantly—its own individual line up of beers.

If you’re wondering why an already-successful brewery

While recognizing the individuality of each brewery, there are some connections to note. “It’s two separate companies owned by the same family,” Lillard explained. Canon & Draw brewer Matt Shaw was the assistant brewer at Steam Bell previous to taking this job when it became available. He and Tyler Ossowski, Steam Bell’s head brewer, share an assistant who commutes back and forth between the breweries. And, both breweries have names connected to the owning family. A cooper was a barrel maker; a steam bell is a piece of equipment used to steam wooden staves to make them more pliable. And while a canon may refer to a piece of artillery, it is also French for barrel. Draw refers to the draw knife used to shape wood.

If you get close enough to actually see the brewery, expect to see the word “Eclipse” as the featured word on the sign. “Canon & Draw” appears in smaller print below. This is in reference to the name of the historic building which houses Canon & Draw. Occupying a space formerly used as a laundromat, Canon & Draw shares the building with, among other tenants, newly renovated apartments. Lillard, whose background is in the restaurant business, came

aboard last fall when Canon & Draw was originally scheduled to open. Citing concrete removal and paperwork/licensing issues dealing with the historic aspects of the building as the major delays, Canon & Draw still opened a mere five months beyond the original target date. As anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the Virginia beer scene knows, this is well above average and may even be regarded as “early” on a comparative basis.

The first floor space is more than big enough to accommodate two bars, one of which has 16 taps while the other currently houses a two-keg kegerator. Expansion of this is expected in the near future. Canon & Draw has opened using a seven barrel system, slightly smaller than Steam Bell’s ten barrel system. However, Canon & Draw also features 14 seven barrel bright tanks in the back, allowing the brewery to directly pump up to 14 different beers at a time directly to its taps, completely bypassing the keg stage. Canon & Draw opened in March with 8 original offerings, the first of which was a Plum Ginger Gose. Like all new breweries, Canon & Draw continues to experiment and create, abandoning some of its initial beers and replacing them with others.

Among the initial beers still being offered as a regular six weeks after opening was the Tsunami Stout. The name is a throwback to Steam Bell’s Tiramisu Stout which, Lillard admitted, was being mispronounced by customers and staff members alike at the original site. Billed as a tropical stout, it should be noted that the word tropical refers to a specific style and should not influence any taste expectations. Stout lover or not, it’s worth a try on your next visit.

To satisfy the hopheads, beers available in late April included the Glass Case of Emotion APA, and the Accidental Sessions, an interesting lactose session IPA. The lactose is used to give this beer a little more heft and bite while keeping the alcohol content down at 4.6 percent, but it’s still identifiable as a session. If you’re looking for heavier hitters, there were two double IPAs available: Sole Accomplice DIPA at 8 percent alcohol and Monday DIPA at 8.2. Lacking in all of this, of course, was the presence of an actual true IPA, but Lillard assured me this would be a temporary situation. He pointed out that by the end of April, Canon & Draw would have 13 different beers up and running which is not bad for any brewery let alone one that had only been open for six weeks.

With so many options, Canon & Draw is well suited to satisfy a variety of beer palates. Bartender Ryan Mather, who hails originally from Nottingham, England, prefers the Stone the Bloody Crows, an English brown ale. Notwithstanding his possible bias in that he got to help brew it and help name it, he noted that it’s “like a true English brown.” At 4.1 percent alcohol, it seems a good fit for the warmer summer months ahead. Adrienne Roberston, a customer at the bar, sampled the Tsunami Stout and the Sole Accomplice. “They were both good,” she said, “but it’s closer to summer so I took the Sole Accomplice.”

Just as Steam Bell can lay claim to being the first in Chesterfield County, Canon & Draw has become the first in the Fan. With its new demographic, new customer base and new line of beers, Canon & Draw is similarly poised to make new waves in its previously untapped neighborhood. Tapping the Cooper family’s experience in having gone through this process once before, Canon & Draw seems likely to take hold as it offers its new neighbors a new drinking destination. And, that’s a good thing. Again.

Rocket Frog Leaps into Orbit

By Jeff Maisey

Rocket Frog Brewing Company — Loudoun County’s newest brewery — leaped into orbit on May 19, debuting with five beers on tap: Angry Alice IPA, Minotaur American Golden Ale, Wallops Island American Brown Ale, Double IPA and Dry Saison.

The brewery is owned by twin brothers David and Richard Hartogs along with Jennifer ShowellHartogs (David’s wife).

If you think the name Rocket Frog sounds fun, you’ll love the story behind it.

The Hartogs brothers initially sought to open a brewery in Arlington and name it either Great Falls Brewing Company or Arlington Brewing Company. After eight months of prospecting for a building, they changed course all around.

In the meantime, Richard Hartogs saw the 2013 story of rocket frog go viral, sometime after the actual event took place. The story goes like this: A frog was caught by the ignition of a Minotaur V rocket and hurled high in the air in a cloud of smoke as the LADEE spacecraft lifted off the ground during a Wallops Island Spaceport launch on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. A NASA photograph captured the event. The New York Daily News published the amazing photo with the headline, “One Giant Leap for Frogkind.”

— where their father was born. The Belgian connection, however, goes far deeper than a love of Flemish reds and Lambics.

Amused by the event, Richard decided to rename his fantasy football team Rocket Frog as a joke.

“I emailed David and asked, ‘What about Rocket Frog Brewing Company?’”

After a little more research, the Hartogs learned the launch of the rocket occurred on their shared birthday and the spacecraft design was done a mile down the street from their Sterling, Virginia home.

“We sort of backed into this story all because we thought it was a funny name,” said Richard.

Rocket Frog, as you can imagine, has a lot of branding potential. They met the folks at Blind Tiger Designs last year at the Craft Brewers Conference in Washington, DC. They’ve contracted with the company for their logo, can designs and other merchandising and marketing creative work. Each beer brand will have its own story.

The brewery’s mug club for frequent patrons will be called the Launch Pad Society. For a yearly subscription, Society members will get a one-off designed growler. Refills will be discounted by a buck. Other benefits will include the reward of a barrel-aged beer, a glass, and T-shirt.

Rocket Frog’s website states the company’s brewing philosophy will be influenced by the beer cultures of San Diego — where their older brother lives — and Belgium

“Our dad was born in Antwerp in 1938,” explained Richard. “We are a Jewish family. In 1942, his whole family, including himself, was rounded up and taken for deportation. For some reason, he and five other kids were put inside a crib in a building. He never saw his family again. They were taken to Auschwitz.”

The child’s name was Max. He was placed in an orphanage in Belgium until World War II ended and later became adopted by a family in North America and given the name Michael Hartogs.

The Belgian aspect of Rocket Frog will be as much about honoring the heritage of their father as brewing Belgian-style beers. They’ll brew Tripels, sours, saisons, a barrel-aged quad and others.

The Hartogs brothers are big IPA hop-heads and will make the style a highlight of the brewery, but they are keen to insist they want to be a brewery for everyone, and that includes a full spectrum of styles.

Rocket Frog Brewing Company is starting out as a 15 barrel brewhouse. The Hartogs hired Russell Carpenter, PhD (Biochemistry), as their head brewer and given him complete freedom to have at it.

Carpenter was working at a brewpub in Massachusetts

and came across an ad in Brewbound placed by the Hartogs in search of a brewer.

“I guess we had the right situation for him,” explained Richard. “We’re a slightly bigger brewhouse than he was working on. We’re giving him a lot of creative freedom, with some direction. I tell people the back of the house is his.”

Rocket Frog Brewing Company is located in Sterling, Virginia in close proximity to Dulles Airport. There are numerous hotel options nearby for those wishing to make a weekend of brewery hopping. It’d be easy to spend time at Rocket Frog, and also visit these nearby breweries: Twinpanzee, Crooked Run, Beltway, Solace, Ocelot, Lost Rhino, Old Ox and Quattro Goomba’s.

Get hoppin’.

Garden Grove Brewing... and Urban Winery… and cidery, too

By Annie Tobey

Garden Grove Brewing, in Richmond, has colored outside the lines again. Beginning with the distinction of opening as Virginia’s 100th craft brewery, on Valentine’s Day at that, the Richmond craft beverage producer has been a little different from the start. After adding “Urban Winery” to its name in October 2017, Garden Grove has now introduced ciders to its lineup.

The credit for the creative coloring goes primarily to co-owner and head brewer Michael Brandt. He has degrees in fermentation, environmental and agricultural sciences; has worked as a winemaker, viticulturalist and brewer; and has a creative bent as well.

From the beginning, Garden Grove beverages reflected classic styles while pushing the boundaries. The brewery’s 3-barrel system allows Brandt to experiment and explore. He uses unexpected ingredients, including many grown in his own organic garden – think chokeberries, hibiscus, figs, plums, lavender, lemongrass, pineapple sage, lemon-drop basil and oregano – and foraged – such as pawpaws, spice bush and autumn olive berries.

“There are so many fun plants out there that have great flavors,” Brandt says. “Finding your own unique ingredients can set you apart.”

To add wines to the tasting room list and “Urban Winery” to the name, Brandt and co-owner Ryan Mitchell leased a half-acre of land in Fauquier County, Virginia, where they could grow grapes. To add cider to their lineup, they faced no additional legal requirements, only the challenge of acquiring a sufficient quantity of quality apples.

The first apples, Virginia-grown Gold Rush and Winesap, came through Blue Bee Cider. As part of a collaboration, Brandt made a mead that Blue Bee will use to make a cyser (a blend of apples and honey).

“Courtney was willing to help me out, and she obviously knows where to get good apples. It’s a great relationship. She has been very kind to me,” Brandt says of Blue Bee’s owner, Courtney Mailey.

Garden Grove’s first cider, New World Dry Cider, was made with Gold Rush apples and comes in at 8 percent ABV. Tropical

aroma notes of pineapple and kiwi make way for flavor notes of peach, kiwi and, well, apple.

Brandt used a partial malolactic fermentation in creating New World, demonstrating his experience as a winemaker. Commonly used to offset acidity in red wines, the process converts sharp malic acid to the softer and rounder lactic acid, softening the acidity. “I was not intending to use malolactic fermentation on any ciders here,” he says, “but the acid was just too much, in my opinion, because I don’t like sweetness – I like fermenting things dry, and I wasn’t going to balance the really bright acidity with sugar, so I just decided I would inoculate with malolactic.”

Besides going on tap, New World is aging in Chardonnay barrels – Brandt estimates the cider will need at least six months for the barrels to work their magic. The cider on deck is made with Winesap apples. Future ciders will be accented with fruits and flowers, as well as a few genre-bending selections, made with 100-percent Virginia-grown apples.

Thanks to Brandt’s willingness to color outside of the lines, Garden Grove’s tasting room offers a range of unexpected flavors, like a Belgian wit, pilsner, IPA, Scottish ale, saison, and others, many with spices, fruits and herbs, some fermented in red wine barrels. You could also choose from mead and mead variants, red wine and white wine – and, of course, cider.

“People have very diverse opinions and tastes,” Brandt says. “I want to make sure there’s something that satisfies everyone.”

b

Estimated Eyes

The Virginia Beer Co

Williamsburg

Estimated Eyes is part of The Virginia Beer Co.’s Workshop Series. In this experimental IPA series, they focus on educating palates of the many aromas and flavors of hops. Estimated Eyes was one of the more popular releases and was celebrated with its own can release. This IPA is a little hazy with a mild bitterness and features notes of grapefruit and mango. The result is a crisp and clean finish. Look for new experimental IPA releases monthly.

Paradise Lager

Kindred Spirit Brewing Richmond

Kindred Spirit Brewing debuted its Paradise Lager earlier this year. This easy drinking lager is crisp and light. It is dry hopped with Citra and features notes of orange and tangerines. It’s the perfect companion for your summertime beach adventures!

Heart and Soul IPA

Crooked Run Brewing Leesburg

Crooked Run Brewing strikes a nice balance between east and west IPAs with their Heart and Soul IPA. It pours hazy and has a moderate bitterness. It’s made with Mosaic and Idaho 7 hops. It’s a great IPA for all of you hop heads looking to try something new.

Old Ox Brewery Ashburn

As we noted over a year ago, non-IPA consumers have been on a thirsty quest to find consistent, quality lagers and golden ales. Something to quench the desire for a straightup, no fuss beer not mass produced and traded on the stock market. Virginia breweries responded and this canned Golden Ox delivers in a big way with a crisp and truly refreshing ale that is well-balanced and a pleasure to kickback with on a hot summer afternoon.

abv: 6.5% / 18 IBUs

Rockfish Wheat

Mothership Cream Ale

Tradition Brewing Company Newport News

If it’s summertime in Virginia, it’s time to reach for a flavorful wheat beer capped with a fresh slice of orange or lemon. We like that Blue Mountain sticks with a traditional approach here, an almost tribute to the Old World German/ Bavarian-style Hefeweizen, with its clove and subtle banana flavors, and ultra-low bitterness

We know the folks at Tradition Brewing Company are music fans and therefore are having some fun with the name of this nicely-produced smooth cream ale. The colorful crown of lights in the image are of the nearby Hampton Coliseum. It’s Phish’s favorite indoor concert venue — one they dubbed the Mothership. The beer is true to its Britishroots style and one we feel is the brewery’s greatest hit.

Tarnished Truth

New distillery opens in the “reimagined” Cavalier Hotel

By Jim Roberts

The untarnished truth is that Andrew Yancey and Josh Canada originally wanted to call their business Cavalier Distilling.

It made sense, given that it’s based in the “$80 million, reimagined” Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach, but the name is already trademarked by Heaven Hill, the family-owned company that currently produces and markets more than 50 brands of distilled spirits, including 17 American whiskies.

Yancey and Canada appealed to Heaven Hill and actually got permission to use the name—free of charge, even— but the owners reserved the right to revoke it at any time. To avoid that risk, they settled on “Tarnished Truth”—a play on the mythology surrounding the 90-year-old hotel, which has hosted seven U.S. presidents, dating back to Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s.

“This hotel has so much lore and so much shit that people have said that’s happened that we don’t really know if it’s true or not,” Canada explained during a recent tour of the distillery. “We thought it was a really interesting, cool name. We felt like it fit well. What’s your tarnished truth?”

With a 500-gallon Vendome still, Tarnished Truth already has more capacity than any other regional distillery. “I don’t do anything small,” Yancey said. “You want to do it, you’ve got to do it right.”

Tarnished Truth is producing four spirits: “Ava,” a twice-distilled, corn-

based vodka; a 3-year-old “high rye” blended bourbon; a 9-year-old blended bourbon; and “Old Cavalier,” a 9-year-old cask-strength bourbon. All are sold onsite and will be available in Virginia ABC stores beginning in July.

Here’s the catch: The whiskies for sale now were procured from MGP of Indiana and blended in Virginia. This allows Tarnished Truth to sell bourbon and grow its brand while its own distillations age in a warehouse off Birdneck Road. (In fact, Larry Ebersold, who retired from MGP as a master distiller, consulted on the Tarnished Truth build-out and helped Yancey and Canada perfect their mash bills using all Virginia grains.)

Canada said they’re currently finishing some Tarnished Truth whiskies in port wine casks, and since he also owns Back Bay Brewing Co., they’re planning to finish some in beer barrels. Of course, four years from now—once they’re bottling their own bourbons—they’ll start finishing some Back Bay beers in used Tarnished Truth barrels.

Back Bay Brewing recently packaged its Scotchy in 750 ml bottles. The Scotch ale was aged in single malt Scotch barrels and comes in at 10.6% ABV.

Yancey said opening in the Cavalier aligned perfectly with his business plan. “I knew I wanted to start a distillery,” he said, “and I knew I wanted it somewhere unique that we could keep people’s attention rather than just doing a tasting

and saying, ‘OK, now what?’”

The distillery features a gift shop and a tasting room that will also serve as a private dining room and space for special events, starting with a Jameson dinner in late March. The entire operation is adjacent to the Hunt Room, a tavern that was remodeled along with the rest of the hotel.

Beth Evans left Ultra Craft Cocktails in Virginia Beach to serve as the Hunt Room’s head bartender. She has high praise for the Tarnished Truth whiskies, which she tasted before they were barreled.

“The stuff that we just made here—oh, my God,” Evans said. “The high rye is just so smooth. I can’t imagine what it’s going to taste like after it comes out of the barrel. It is insane. It has notes of dried fruit—like dried apricot and like a raisin in the middle of your palate. You can definitely tell it’s a high rye, but it’s not super hot. It’s so delicious. … The Old Cavalier bourbon—that one has a lot of caramel to it, a lot of toffee. Both of them, though, you can drink them neat or in a cocktail. They’re very approachable.”

For more information, visit www. cavalierhotel.com or Tarnished Truth Distilling Company on Facebook. They’re located at 4200 Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach. Retail hours are 11 am to 7:30 pm. Distillery tours are Wednesday through Saturday 2 pm to 6 pm.

Live Music at Damascus Brewery

Every Saturday, 7-10pm 32173 Government Rd., Damascus

The Howling Craft Beer & Music Festival at Wolf Hills Brewing Fri. – Sun., June 1-3,

Featuring a special kick-off party Friday; The Howling 5k, brewery tour, beer festival, live music, food trucks, outdoor vendors, and live art on Saturday; and s special treat on Sunday. 350 Park Street. Abingdon 276.451.5470 • wolfhillsbrewing.com

Bushels & Barrels: Local Food, Wine & Beer Festival

Fri. & Sat. June 15 & 16

A celebration of all things great and local in Southwest Virginia! Beer, wine, food, local artisans, and music. Reynolds Homestead 436 Homestead Lane, Critz 272.694.7181 reynoldshomestead.vt.edu

Heartwood’s SWVA Mountain Brew Bash

Sat., June 16, 12-7pm

Live bands, fresh food, local beer, and a good time!

One Heartwood Circle, Abingdon 276.492.2400 www.myswva.org/heartwood

Summer Solstice Fest Sat. June 16

A community celebration featuring beer garden, live music, dancing, & fun activities for all ages.

118 S. Main Street, Blacksburg downtownblacksburg.com

Beer Festival at Virginia Tech Sat. June 23, noon-5pm

Enjoy live entertainment and different beers from local, regional, and national breweries.

Holtzman Alumni Center 901 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg 540.231.6285 alumni.vt.edu/beerfestival

Rib Night at Wild Wolf Brewing Co.

Every Monday, 5-10pm ½ rack of ribs served with beer battered fries.

2461 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford wildwolfbeer.com

$2 Tuesdays at South Street Brewery

Every Tuesday until 9pm

$2 draft beers (under 8% ABV)

106 South St., Charlottesville 434.293.6550 • southstreetbrewery.com

Trivia Night at World of Beer

Every Tuesday, 7pm

District Trivia hosts trivia. Prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

852 W. Main St., Charlottesville 434.760.0771

worldofbeer.com/locations/ charlottesville

Oyster Night at Wild Wolf Brewing Co.

Every Wednesday, 5-10pm

Enjoy chef’s weekly creation. 2461 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford wildwolfbeer.com Trivia Night at Garden Grove Brewing

Every Wednesday 3445 West Cary St., Richmond 804.918.6158 • gardengrovebrewing.com

Geeks Who Drink Trivia at Pro Re Nata Brewery

Every Thursday, 7-9pm

Pub Quizzes & Trivia

6135 Rockfish Gap Turnpike, Crozet

Every Thursday

Go With The Flow Beer Fest Sat. June 23, 1-7pm

Corn-hole tournament, food trucks, live music, and beer from local, regional, and national breweries all on the banks of the New River.

Anderson Street, Fries 276.236.2337 gowiththeflowbrewfest.com/ FloydFest 18 Wild Wed.-Sun., July 25-29

Happy Hour at Blue Bee Cider

Featuring new ciders on draft as part of the small batch cider draft program.

212 W. 6th St., Richmond 804.231.0280 • bluebeecider.com

Steal the Pint at Wild Wolf Brewing Co.

Every Thursday, 5-10pm

Receive a pint glass with purchase of house crafted beverage.

2461 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford 434.361.0088 • wildwolfbeer.com

Trivia Night at Coyote Hole Ciderworks

Every Thursday 4-9pm

Featuring trivia by Mixed Entertainment and Catch the Chef food truck.

225 Oak Grove Drive, Mineral 540.894.1053

Trivia Thursday at Castleburg Brewery & Taproom

Every Thursday, 7-9pm

BLUE RIDGE HIGHLANDS

Tacos & Troubadours Night at Wolf Hills Brewing

Every Tuesday, 6-9pm

Featuring delicious tacos by Toni’s Hawaiian Tacos & open mic night hosted by KT Vandyke.

350 Park Street, Abingdon

276.451.5470 • wolfhillsbrewing.com

Trivia Night at Wolf Hills Brewing

Every Wednesday, 6-8pm

350 Park Street. Abingdon

276.451.5470 • wolfhillsbrewing.com

Trivia Night at Creek Bottom Brewing

Every Thursday, 7pm

307 Meadow Street; Galax

276.236.2337 • cbbrews.com

Beer Geek Night at Wolf Hills Brewing

Every Thursday, 5-9pm

New firkin or small batch beer released every Thursday.

350 Park Street. Abingdon

276.451.5470 • wolfhillsbrewing.com

Live Music at Creek Bottom Brewing

Every Friday, 7pm

307 Meadow Street, Galax

276.236.2337 • cbbrews.com

Live Music at Wolf Hills Brewing

Every Friday

350 Park Street. Abingdon

276.451.5470 • wolfhillsbrewing.com

5 days of music, magic, mountains, outdoor adventure, vibrant and varied vendors, quality brews, food, healing arts, workshops, children’s activities, and more. FloydFest

Milepost 170.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway 894 Rock Castle Gorge, Floyd floydfest.com

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

Game Night at Garden Grove Brewing

Every Monday 3445 West Cary St., Richmond 804.918.6158 • gardengrovebrewing.com

Jenga Tournament at Thirsty Joe’s Draft House

Every Monday in June & July, 6:30-9:30pm Prizes and gift cards to the ultimate winners!

3300 West Cary Street, Richmond 804.513.0474

Teams of 1 to 6 compete for league points on a quarterly basis. Prizes are given out each week for 1st & 2nd place and Best Team Name.

1626 Ownby Ln., Richmond castleburgbrewery.com

Wing Night at Wild Wolf Brewing Co.

Every Thursday & Sunday, 5-10pm

Enjoy a pound of wings with your choice of sauce.

2461 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford wildwolfbeer.com

Friday Cheers at Blue Mountain Barrel House

Every Friday, 5-9pm

Enjoy live music from 6-8pm and food trucks 5-9pm

495 Cooperative Way. Arrington 434.263.4002 • bluemountainbrewery.com

Friday Night Music at Legend Brewing Co.

Every Friday, 8:30pm

321 West 7th St., Richmond 804.232.3446

Legendbrewing.com

Full Nelson Fridays at Blue Mountain Brewery

Every Friday, 6-8pm

Enjoy live music!

9519 Critzer Shop Rd., Afton 540.456.8020 • bluemountainbrewery.com

Live Music at Castleburg Brewery & Taproom

Every Friday & Saturday

1626 Ownby Ln., Richmond castleburgbrewery.com

VA Beer & Wine Tasting at Michie Tavern

Every Saturday & Sunday, 1-4pm

Enjoy tastings from VA craft breweries and wineries.

683 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy., Charlottesville 434.977.1234

Beer, Bingo, & Bloodies at Center of the Universe

Every Sunday, 2-6pm

Enjoy a beer bloody and try your luck at hourly bingo for a chance to win COTU swag.

11293 Air Park Rd., Ashland cotubrewing.com

Brunch at Blue Mountain Brewery

Every Sunday, 11am-2pm

Enjoy live music 2:30-5pm

9519 Critzer Shop Rd., Afton 540.456.8020 • bluemountainbrewery.com

Local Bucket Sunday at World of Beer

Every Sunday

Get specials on local beers on the local beer bucket offering.

852 W. Main St., Charlottesville

Trivia Night at Random Row Brewing Co.

Every Sunday, 5-7pm

Hosted by Geeks Who Drink with prizes awarded to the best teams. 608 Preston Ave., Charlottesville randomrow.com

Retro Game Night at Bold Rock Thurs., June 7 & July 5, 6:30-9pm

Featuring all your favorite retro games. Bold Rock Cidery

1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford boldrock.com

IPA JamBeeree at Starr Hill Sat., June 9, 12pm

A unique craft beer experience celebrating Virginia-brewed India Pale Ales. Featuring more than a dozen IPAs brewed by Starr Hill in collaboration with several Virginia breweries. Plus, enjoy live music by Lord Nelson, food trucks, and games. Proceeds benefit a local charity.

Tickets: $15

Starr Hill Brewery & Tap Room 5391 Three Notch’d Road, Crozet starrhill.com

Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival Sat., June 9 12-6 (VIP) or 2-6pm (GA)

60 beers, 40 bourbons, tasty BBQ, and live music.

Richmond Raceway Complex

600 E. Laburnum Avenue, Richmond beerandbourbon.com/Virginia/show-info

Trivia Night at Bold Rock Cider

Tues., June 12 & July 10, 6-9pm

Join us for trivia! Prizes will be awarded for first and second place teams!

1020 Rockfish Valley Highway, Nellysford boldrock.com

Festival Fridays at Bold Rock Fri., June 15 & July 20, 5:30-8:30pm

Music and food festival at Bold Rock Barrel Barn featuring live music, food trucks, and door prizes. $1 from each pint sold will contribute to the Nelson County Chamber of Commerce.

Bold Rock Cidery

1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford boldrock.com

Oyster Stout Can Release at Hardywood West Creek

Fri., June 15, 4-9pm

Brewed with Rappahannock River Oysters to create a mild briny aroma that is followed by tasty chocolate and roasted malts. Available in Richmond, West Creek, and Charlottesville.

Hardywood West Creek

820 Sanctuary Trail Drive, Richmond

Movies & Groovies at Bold Rock Sat., June 16 & July 21, 6-10pm

Local live music, a movie screening in the meadow on a jumbo 30 foot screen, food trucks, movie themed activities, and more!

Bold Rock Cidery

1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford boldrock.com

Fourth Anniversary Block Party at Ardent Sat., June 16, 12-8pm

Massive block party to celebrate four years. 25+ guest breweries, all your favorite Ardent beers, live music, and food trucks!

Ardent Craft Ales

3200 W. Leigh Street, Richmond

4th Annual Dad’s Day Pig Out at COTU Sun., June 17, 12-8pm

Alabama ribs and BBQ, delicious beverages, and live music.

Center of the Universe

11293 Air Park Rd., Ashland cotubrewing.com

Father’s Day Celebration at Blue Mountain Brewery

Sun., June 17

Live music with Paulo Franco and the Freightliners.

9519 Critzer Shop Rd., Afton 540.456.8020 • bluemountainbrewery.com

Plant Nite at Starr Hill Sun., June 17, 1pm

A night of digging, planting, and fun! Plant Nite guides you step-by-step through the featured project. Tickets: $55

Starr Hill Brewery & Tap Room

5391 Three Notch’d Road, Crozet starrhill.com

IPA is king

and there are three festivals taking place in June where you can sample this much loved

Starr Hill Brewing Company presents the IPA Jambeeree in Crozet on Saturday, June 9 and then, Saturday, June 16 in Roanoke. In Virginia Beach, Smartmouth Pilot House will host the Lupulin Effect - IPA Festival on Saturday, June 23.

Love on Tap, 3rd Annual Benefit for Virginia Pride

Sun., June 24, 2-6pm

Celebrate community, equality, and love! Live music, drag performances, local LGBTQ owned and operated businesses and organizations, food trucks, and a special collaboration beer with Ardent Craft Ales and Center of the Universe! A portion of the sales will benefit Virginia Pride.

Low Country Boil at Blue Mountain Barrel House

Wed., July 4, 11am-8pm

Celebrate Independence Day with a Low Country Boil. Plus, there will be burgers, hot dogs, other options available in the food truck, local wine from First Colony Winery, local cider from Blue Toad Hard Cider, and live music starting at noon. 495 Cooperative Way. Arrington 434.263.4002 • bluemountainbrewery.com

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery 2408-2410 Ownby Lane, Richmond

Pride Day 2018 at Castleburg Brewery & Taproom

Sun., June 24, 12-7:30pm

A celebration of love! Live music and food truck. Wear your rainbow attire and bring cash to make a donation to Friends of Side by Side and we will match your donation up to $400. Plus, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery and Cirrus Vodka will be raising money for LGBTQ organizations too!

1626 Ownby Ln., Richmond castleburgbrewery.com

1st Annual Taste of Nelson – Celebrating our Local Food & Drink

Sat., June 30, 12-5pm

Celebrating all that Nelson County has to offer – craft beer & cider, wine, locally sourced food, games, music, crafts, and more!

Blue Toad Hard Cider 462 Winery Lane, Roseland castleburgbrewery.com

Fried Food Fest at COTU Sat., July 7, 12-7pm

Featuring a Mr. America contest, 0.0K Race, and fried food galore provided by seven incredible food vendors. Plus, live music and special beer releases. Proceeds benefit Richmond Raceway Cares.

Center of the Universe 11293 Air Park Rd., Ashland cotubrewing.com

Wine & Design at Bold Rock Wed., July 18, 6:30-9:30pm Channel the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains into your own original piece of artwork!

Bold Rock Cidery 1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford boldrock.com

Cheers for Charity Thurs., Aug. 2, 4pm

Join Crozet Roanoke Outside as we kick-off our Cheers for Charity for the month of August. Raise a pint to support an organization making outdoor activity and environmental stewardship a core component of our community’s lifestyle. During the month of August, $1 from every pint of The Love Wheat Beer sold supports Roanoke Outside.

Starr Hill Pilot Brewery & Side Stage 6 Old Whitmore Ave., Roanoke starrhill.com

Be Bold Trail 5K at Bold Rock Sat., Aug. 4, 9am-12pm

Run the scenic 5K race on flat grass trails along the Rockfish River and enjoy a post-race party with live music, cider samplings, food for purchase. Participants also receive a performance shirt. 1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford boldrock.com

COASTAL VIRGINIA

Trivia Night at Wasserhund Brewing Co.

Every Monday, 7-9pm 1805 Laskin Rd., Virginia Beach 757.351.1326 • wasserhundbrewing.com

Trivia Night at Home Republic

Every Tuesday, 7pm

Featuring Smartmouth Live Trivia. 328 Laskin Rd., Virginia Beach 757.226.9593 • homerepublicvabeach. com

Who’s on First, I Don’t Knows at ExceptionALE first and third Tuesday of each month

Join us the for our tasting series; each will feature a different brewery or style of beer.

2200 Colonial Ave., Norfolk 757.233.3900 exgrowlers.com

Big Ugly Running Posse

Every Wednesday

Join Big Ugly Running Posse for a 1, 3, or 5 mile run starting at Big Ugly. Then, reward yourself with a beer!

Big Ugly Brewing Company 1296 Battlefield Blvd., Chesapeake biguglybrewing.com

Trivia Night

Every Wednesday, 6:30-8:30pm

Tap It Local - Chesapeake 648 Grassfield Parkway, Chesapeake

School’s out

and Coelacanth Brewing Company wants to celebrate all the awesome teachers out there by giving them 20% off on both Friday, June 15 & Saturday, June 16.

Trivia Night at Alewerks Taproom

Every Wednesday, 7pm 189-B Ewell Rd., Williamsburg alewerks.com

Team Trivia at Pleasure House Brewing

Every Wednesday, 7pm

3025 Shore Dr., Virginia Beach pleasurehousebrewing.com

Team Trivia at Tradition Brewing Co.

Every Wednesday, 7pm

700 Thimble Shoals Blvd., Newport News 757.303.3415 • traditionbrewing.com

Weekly Tasting at bottleBOX

Every Wednesday 5:30-8pm

Join your favorite brewery’s representative as they walk you through a free sampling of new and exciting beers. 325b W. 21st St., Norfolk 757.918.9932 • bottlebox.beer

Expedition Beer Release at Bold Mariner Brewing Co.

Every Thursday

Featuring a new expedition beer each week. Plus, join us for Trivia Night! 2409 Bowdens Ferry Rd., Norfolk boldmariner.com

Trivia Night at Brass Cannon

Every Thursday, 6:30pm 5476 Mooretown Road, Williamsburg brasscannonbrewing.com

Virginia Craft Beer Thursday

Every Thursday

Enjoy local VA brewed beers for $3 a pint.

Tapped Gastropub 1550 Laskin Rd., Virginia Beach 757.965.5585 • tappedgastropub.com

Trivia Night at Big Ugly

First Thursday Every Month, 6:30-8:30pm

Come play, think, laugh, & drink! 1296 Battlefield Blvd., Chesapeake biguglybrewing.com

Trivia Night at Benchtop Brewing

Second Thursday Every Month, 6:30-8:30pm 1129 Boissevain Ave., Norfolk benchtopbrewing.com

Trivia Night at MoMac Brewing Co.

Third Thursday Every Month, 6:30-8:30pm 3228 Academy Avenue, Portsmouth

Trivia Night at Deadline Brewing Project

Fourth Thursday Every Month, 6:30-8:30pm 2272 W. Great Neck Road, Virginia Beach

Firkin Friday at Cogans North Every Friday

A new firkin is tapped each week. 4311 Colley Ave., Norfolk 757.627.6428 • coganspizza.com

Live Music at Alewerks Taproom Every Sunday, 2pm 189-B Ewell Rd., Williamsburg alewerks.com

Poses and Pints at O’Connor Brewing Co.

Every second and fourth Sunday; 10:30-11:45am

Alicia Morris will be leading a class followed by the opportunity to have a couple of post-yoga beers at a great discount. Class is donation-based with a portion going to charity. Please arrive 15 minutes early as space is limited.

211 W. 24th St., Norfolk oconnorbrewing.com

O’Connoroo Sat., June 2, 12-10pm

5th Annual O’Connoroo summer beer festival with the release of Tart Tropicale, live music, food pop-ups, games, and more!

211 W. 24th St., Norfolk oconnorbrewing.com

Annual Norfolk Harborfest Fri.-Sun., June 8-10

The historic waterfront festival features the Parade of Sails, artisan food and beverages, work boat races, unique performances, one of the largest fireworks shows on the East Coast, family games and activities, national and regional entertainment, and much more. Town Point Park Waterside Drive, Norfolk 757.441.2345 festevents.org

School’s Out Teacher Appreciation at Coelacanth

Fri. & Sat., June 15 & 16

Teachers celebrate the last day of school with 20% off!

760-A W. 22nd St., Norfolk coelacanth.com

Pints for Pups at Smartmouth Sat., June 16, 12-3pm

Celebrate your love of beer and animals! Featuring a mini dog show and the Norfolk SPCA Magic Mutt models will wash your dogs for a donation. Proceeds benefit Norfolk SPCA.

Smartmouth Brewing Co.

1309 Raleigh Avenue, Norfolk smartmouthbrewing.com

Summer Fest Welcomes the Williamsburg Tasting Trail Sat., June 16, 1-5pm

Enjoy tastings from The Virginia Beer Company, Silver Hand Meadery, Alewerks, Williamsburg Winery, Billsburg Brewery, and Copper Fox Distillery plus food and live music.

4301 New Town Ave., Williamsburg ironboundgym.com

Paint & Pint Night at Alewerks Taproom Thurs., June 21, 6:30-9:30pm $25 includes your canvas, art supplies, and two hour step-by-step painting session.

189-B Ewell Rd., Williamsburg alewerks.com

Summer Solstice Party at Smartmouth Thurs., June 21, 6-9pm

Featuring music by The Blend. $35 per person. Proceeds benefit Lee’s Friends –Helping People Living with Cancer. Smartmouth Brewing Co.

1309 Raleigh Avenue, Norfolk smartmouthbrewing.com

Bayou Boogaloo & Cajun Food Festival

Fri., June 22, 2-10pm; Sat., June 23, 12-10pm; Sun., June 24, 12-6pm

Experience the heart and soul of Louisiana with Cajun food, beer, live music, and Arts Market of New Orleans. Town Point Park Waterside Drive, Norfolk 757.441.2345 festevents.org

Lost Rhino Brewing Company hosts vinyl night

every Tuesday from 5-9pm. Bring your love for music and a vinyl collection you are willing to share with everyone. There’s a different theme each week and a gift card give away for one lucky winner!

The Lupulin Effect – IPA Festival at Smartmouth

Sat., June 23, 1-5pm

A celebration of lupulin, the active ingredient in hops, the driving ingredient in IPAs! Featuring 11 different IPAs from Smartmouth and several Virginia breweries. Tickets: $35. Smartmouth Pilot House 313 32nd Street, Virginia Beach smartmouthbrewing.com

One Year Anniversary Party at MoMac Sat., July 7

Celebrate one year with live music and special firkins from guest breweries. MoMac Brewing Company 3228 Academy Avenue, Portsmouth Red, White, & Brew Lagerfest Sat., July 7, 4-8pm

Featuring 25 epic ice-cold lagers and live music. Plus, the best brewery (voted by the people) will get $500 donated to a charity. Tickets: $30 advance; $40 day of. Back Bay Brewing 614 Norfolk Avenue, Virginia Beach

Beer Release at O’Connor Brewing Co. Fri., July 13, 3-10pm

Enoshima Beach Tea Saison – part of the Endless Saison Series

211 W. 24th St., Norfolk oconnorbrewing.com

Ocean View Brews on the Bay Fri., July 13, 6-9:30pm

Sample a wide variety of summer beers from a selection of local, regional, national, and international breweries and enjoy live music by The Fuzz Band.

Ocean View Beach Park, Norfolk 757.441.2345 festevents.org

Raise the Roof Craft Beer Fest Sat., July 14, 1-6pm

Enjoy 12 craft beers, delicious BBQ, homemade ice cream, and live music by Good Shot Judy and Bobby “Blackhat” Walters.

Historic Christ Church 420 Christ Church Road, Weems 804.438.6855 christchurch1735.org

Brian Grilli Album Release Party Fri., July 20, 6:30-9:30pm

Grab your album when it’s released on July 20 – vinyl and CD!

Big Ugly Brewing Company 1296 Battlefield Blvd., Chesapeake biguglybrewing.com

Charitywerks Supports Avalon Center at Alewerks Fri., July 27, 5-9pm

A portion of all pints sold from 5pm to close will be donated to Avalon Center: working to end domestic and sexual violence. 189-B Ewell Rd., Williamsburg alewerks.com

Whistle Belly Pub Craft Beer Festival Sat., Aug. 4, 6-11pm

Featuring 35+ breweries, 8 non-alcoholic vendors, multiple food stations, and live music. Tickets are inclusive of food and beverages. Proceeds benefit Junior Women’s Club of Williamsburg. Merchants Square, Williamsburg 757.293.6478 dogstreetpub.com

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Citizen’s Choice Randall Beer Infusion Night

Every Monday, 3-7pm Brew Republic Bierwerks 15201 Potomac Town Place, Woodbridge

Guerilla Series Release Night at Brew Republic Bierworks

Every Monday 12-10pm

The Guerrilla Series is Brew Republic’s pilot/experimental program — with a new release every Monday in the tap room. These beers are brewed in extremely small batches, so no growler fills, no keg sales, and no distribution. 15201 Potomac Town Place, Woodbridge

Team Trivia at Ornery Beer Co.

Every Monday, 7:30pm

Happy Hour extended to 9pm. Weekly prizes!

14389 Potomac Mills Road, Woodbridge

Beer Yoga at Port City Brewing Co.

Every Tuesday, 7-9pm

$20 includes the class and post-yoga pint. 3950 Wheeler Ave., Alexandria portcitybrewing.com

Local Heroes Night at Adventure Brewing

Every Tuesday, 3:30-9pm

20% off all beer, merchandise, snacks, and goods to military, police, fire, emergency, and teachers.

Adventure Brewing Company

33 Perchwood Dr., Unit 101, Stafford 540.242.8876 facebook.com/adventurebrewing/

Trivia Night at Wort Hog Brewing Company

Every Tuesday, 6-8pm

41 Beckham Street, Warrenton

Vinyl Night at Lost Rhino Brewing Co.

Every Tuesday, 6-9pm

Bring your own vinyl!

21730 Red Rum Drive, #142, Ashburn

Bingo Night at Crooked Run Brewing Co.

Every Wednesday, 7-9pm

22455 Davis Drive, Sterling crookedrunbrewing.com

Flight Night at Bad Wolf Brewing Co.

Every Wednesday

Happy Hour pricing on flights. 8420 Kao Circle, Manassas

Trivia Night at Old Bust Head Brewing Co.

Every Wednesday

7134 Lineweaver Rd., Warrenton 540.347.4777 • oldbusthead.com

Happy Hour & Growler Night at New District Brewing Co.

Every Thursday, 3:30-7:30pm

Happy Hour specials and 64oz growler fills are $2 off.

2709 S. Oakland Street, Arlington 703.888.5820

Indoor Putting League (Disc Golf)

Every Thursday, 6-9pm

Meet interesting people, throw frisbees, and drink beer with them! $5 entry with teams drawn at random.

Vanish Farmwoods Brewery 42245 Black Hops Lane, Leesburg vanishbeer.com

Open Mic at Bad Wolf

Every Thursday

Bad Wolf Brewing Company 8420 Kao Circle, Manassas

Thirsty Thursday at Fair Winds Brewing Co.

Every Thursday

$4 pints, trivia at 6:30pm, and food from Savory Delicatessen 7000 Newington Road, Lorton 703.372.2001 • fairwindsbrewing.com

Trivia Night at Belly Love Brewing

Every Thursday

725 E. Main Street, Purcellville bellylovebrewing.com

Firkin Friday at Fair Winds Brewing Co.

Every Friday

A new firkin is released every Friday. Food from Savory Delicatessen 7000 Newington Road, Lorton 703.372.2001 • fairwindsbrewing.com

Justin’s Flavor Infusion Night

Every Friday, 3:30-10pm

We combine off the wall ingredients with one of our beers to create a one-of-akind beer.

Adventure Brewing Company

33 Perchwood Dr., Unit 101, Stafford 540.242.8876 facebook.com/adventurebrewing

Live Music at Adventure Brewing Co.

Every Friday 8-10pm

33 Perchwood Dr., Unit 101, Stafford 540.242.8876 facebook.com/adventurebrewing

Live Music at Lost Rhino Retreat

Every Friday, 7-10pm 22885 Brambleton Plaza, Ashburn lostrhino.com

Food Truck Saturdays at Solace Brewing Company

Every Saturday, 12-10pm 42615 Trade West Drive, Suite 100, Sterling

Open Mic Night at Brew Republic Bierwerks

Every Saturday, 7:30-10:30pm 15201 Potomac Town Place, Ste. 120, Woodbridge 703.594.7950

Hangover Brunch at Lost Rhino Retreat

Every Sunday, 11am-2pm 22885 Brambleton Plaza, Ashburn lostrhino.com

Solace and Food on Sundays at Solace Brewing Company

Every Sunday, 12-8pm 42615 Trade West Drive, Suite 100, Sterling

Sunday Funday at Brew Republic

Live Music at Lost Rhino Brewing Co.

Every Saturday, 7-10pm 21730 Red Rum Drive, #142, Ashburn

Art Opening at Adventure Brewing North

First Sunday each month; 12-3pm The 1st Sunday of each month, Adventure Brewing North will feature a new local artist.

33 Perchwood Dr., Unit 101, Fredericksburg adventurebrewing.com

Every Sunday 12-10pm

Join us every Sunday for football, board games, hot and BBQ chicken wings, $5 mimosas, and of course, beer! 15201 Potomac Town Place, Ste. 120, Woodbridge 703.594.7950

Yoga at Wort Hog Brewery

Every other Sunday; 11:30am-1pm 41 Beckham Street, Warrenton 540.300.2739

Crawfish Boil

returns to Fairwinds Brewing Company on Saturday, June 9. A $40 ticket includes all you can eat crawfish, sausage, potatoes and corn (beer sold separately). Proceeds benefit The Arc of Northern Virginia, a nonprofit that represents and serves over 34,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Author Mark Elliot Benbow discusses his book

The Nation’s Capital Brewmaster: Christian Heurich and His

Brewery,

1842-1956,

at The Manassas Museum’s Free Book Talk on Sunday, June 17 at 1:30pm.

Savor

Fri. & Sat., June 1 & 2, 7:30-11pm Craft beer and small-plate pairings, collaboration beer, specialty food stations.

National Building Museum

401 F Street NW, Washington, D.C. savorcraftbeer.com

Rock the River FXBG Sat., June 2, 7am-8pm

Combining the adventurous side of multi-sport river and foot races as well as the enjoyment of great beer, tasty food, kid-friendly activities, local art, and live music.er, specialty food stations.

Old Mill Park, Fredericksburg 540.455.5605

rocktheriverfxbg.com

Free Book Talk: Capital Beer Sun., June 3, 1:30-2:30pm

A history of brewing in Washington D.C.

The Manassas Museum 9101 Prince William Street, Manassas 703.257.8457

Crawfish Boil Returns at Fairwinds Sat., June 9, 1-4pm

A $40 ticket includes All You Can Eat crawfish, potatoes, and corn. Beer sold separately.

7000 Newington Road, Suites K&L, Lorton Paint Nite at Mad Fox Brewing Sun., June 10, 1-3pm

Follow along as you are guided stepby-step through the featured painting –“Paradise Cave.”

444 West Broad Street, Suite I, Falls Church madfoxbrewing.com

Lost Rhino at All Star Comic Con Fri. – Sun., June 15-17

Lost Rhino has made an exclusive beer for All Star Comic Con: “VERSUS” Mosaic Pale Ale and custom logo glassware only available at the concession stations during the event.

Sheraton Tysons Hotel Tyson’s Corner theallstarcomiccon.com

Book Talk: The Nation’s Capital Brewmaster Sun., June 17, 1:30-2:30pm

Discover Washington D.C.’s most successful and oldest brewer, Christian Heurich.

The Manassas Museum 9101 Prince William Street, Manassas 703.257.8457

Beer 101 Brewery Tour & Tasting at Mad Fox Brewing Sat., June 23, 2-3:30pm and 4-5:30pm

Learn about your favorite craft beers from production to taste characteristics at the Beer 101 class led by CEO and Executive Brewer, Bill Madden. $15 includes tour with Q & A, a beer sampler, discussion, and bar snack.

444 West Broad Street, Suite I, Falls Church madfoxbrewing.com

Plant Nite at Mad Fox Brewing Sun., June 24, 1-3pm

An event of digging, planting, and fun! Follow along while you are guided step-by-step through the featured project – ‘Sloped Glass Bowl with Stand Succulent Terrarium with Sand, Clams, and Seashells.

444 West Broad Street, Suite I, Falls Church madfoxbrewing.com

5 Year Anniversary Party at Crooked Run Sat. & Sun., July 14-15, 11:30am-midnight

Celebrate at both locations. Live music and cask tent in Sterling. Special sour taplist in Leesburg. Double can release and special bottle release at both locations.

205 Harrison Street, SE, Leesburg 22455 Davis Drive, #120, Sterling crookedrunbrewing.com

Tales & Ales at Old Ox Fri., July 27, 7p

Created to foster community through storytelling – the funny, the sad, the inspiring, the mind-changing. Submit your story along with a one-sentence bio to locotalesandales@gmail.com by June 24. 44652 Guilford Drive, Unit 114, Ashburn

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Team Trivia at Winchester Brew Works Every Monday, 6:30pm Teams of 6 compete for gift certificates and prizes!

320 N. Cameron St., Winchester winchesterbrewworks.com

Virginia Craft on Draft

Every Monday, 3-6pm

Enjoy all Virginia pints for $4 and all Virginia Belgians for $5. Brew Ridge Taps

11 E. Nelson St., Lexington 540.461.8012 • brewridgetaps.com

Randall Night at Wolfe Street Brewing Every Tuesday

Enjoy a specialty beer we infuse using our randall!

120 W. Wolfe St., Harrisonburg wolfestreetbrewing.com

Backs to Basic Yoga Night at Basic City Beer Co. Every Tuesday, 6-7pm

$10 includes yoga and a pint. 1010 E. Main St., Waynesboro basiccitybeer.com

Bingo Night at Wolfe Street Brewing Every Wednesday

Winners of each bingo round receive $15 gift cards to the tasting room.

120 W. Wolfe St., Harrisonburg wolfestreetbrewing.com

Open Mic Night at Queen City Brewing Every Wednesday 834 Spring Hill Rd., Staunton qcbrewing.com

Live Music at Woodstock Brewhouse Every Thursday, 6pm

123 E. Court St., Woodstock

OM Brew at Seven Arrows Brewing Co.

Every Saturday, 10:30-11:30am

$10 includes yoga and a beer after class. 2508 Jefferson Hwy., Waynesboro sevenarrowsbrewing.com

Bike or Run, Sweat & Beers at Brothers Craft Brewing

Fri., June 22 & July 27, 5:30-8:30pm 1, 3, & 5 mile running options. Brought to you by VA Momentum. And, Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition will lead a bike portion in honor of Bike Month. Discounted brews in the tasting room! 800 N. Main Street, Harrisonburg

Steal the Glass at Stable Craft Brewing

Wed., June 6, 4-9:30pm

The June Steal the Glass is the Nucleated Revival Glass with a humorous twist.

375 Madrid Rd., Waynesboro stablecraftbrewing.com

Hop Blossom Craft Beer Festival Sat., June 9, noon-6pm

Featuring 40+ breweries, live entertainment, 6th annual homebrew competition and more. Proceeds benefit gooddogz.org for pet rescue and Winchester SPCA.

Old Town Winchester N. Loudon Street & West Boscawen Street, Winchester hopblossom.com

Triple Crown: Belmont Stakes at Stable Craft Brewing Sat., June 9, 6-7pm

Watch the third and final race of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, at Stable Craft!

375 Madrid Rd., Waynesboro stablecraftbrewing.com

Fun Art Night: Rainbow Path in Waynesboro at Basic City Beer Co. Wed., June 13, 6-9pm

Get your ticket now and reserve your spot to paint with a fun-artist who will show you stroke by stroke the process of creating an awesome painting.

1010 E. Main St., Waynesboro basiccitybeer.com

Shenandoah Valley Blues & Brews Festival Sat., June 16, 2-8:30pm

Enjoy award-winning blues music, craft beer, food, and crafts.

The Club at Ironwood 62 Country Club Circle, Staunton 540.324.3215 shenandoahconcerts.com

Pints & Ponies Night at Stable Craft Brewing Wed., June 27 & July 25, 6-8pm

Grab a pint and a bite to eat and meet the horses of the farm, up close and personal.

375 Madrid Rd., Waynesboro stablecraftbrewing.com

Quarterly Metal at Brothers Craft Brewing Wed., June 27, 8-11pm

In partnership with Anvil Records and featuring the best local and regional metal.

800 N. Main Street, Harrisonburg

Summer Jam at Massanutten Tues., July 3, 5-10pm Music, beer, wine, food, and fireworks! Massanutten Ski Area

4616 Massanutten Drive, McGaheysville 540.432.8922 massresort.com

Beers N’ Cheers at Valley Fourth Wed., July 4, 5-9pm

A celebration of craft brews, local wines, and great music in the parking lot next to Turner Pavilion.

212 South Main Street, Harrisonburg 540.432.8922 downtownharrisonburg.org/valleyfourth Dig,

at Mad Fox Brewing’s Plant Nite on Sunday, June 24, 1-3pm. Follow along while you are guided step-by-step through the featured project.

Valley Pike Farm Market will host a Virginia Cider Festival featuring 17 Virginia craft cideries with more than 50 individual ciders on Saturday, July 21, 11am-5pm, at Valley Pike Farm Market in Weyers Cave to benefit Mercy House, a local nonprofit that fights to reduce poverty and homelessness in the Shenandoah Valley while working to provide services, education, and assistance to prevent future homelessness for families within the area.

Shenandoah Seasonings Craft Beer Dinner

Thurs., July 5 & Aug. 2, 6pm A grand evening of fine food paired with exceptional craft beer!

Big Meadows Lodge Mile 51 on Skyline Drive, Luray 877.847.1919 goshenandoah.com

Virginia Cider Festival

Sat., July 21, 11am-5pm

Enjoy more than 15 Virginia cideries with more than 40 different hard ciders for tasting and purchase and live music. Proceeds benefit Mercy House Valley Pike Market 3494 Lee Highway, Weyers Cave starrhill.com

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA

Open Mic Night at Ballard Brewing

Every Monday, 6-9pm Musicians, poets, comedians and more are welcome!

600 Craghead St., Danville balladbrewing.com

Yoga, Beer and Pizza at Ballard Brewing

Every Wednesday, 5-6pm

600 Craghead St., Danville balladbrewing.com

One Year of Ballard Brewing Fri., June 1, 4-10pm

Celebrate Ballad Brewing’s one year anniversary with live music by Jason Springs. 600 Craghead St., Danville balladbrewing.com

Craft X Craft

Sun., June 3, 2:30-5:30pm

Enjoy craft beer and get crafty with free, hands-on garden rock painting and kick back to live music by Donnie Fitzgerald. Mountain Valley Brewing

4220 Mountain Valley Road, Axton

276.632.3221

Sip & Spatter at 2 Witches Winery & Brewing Co.

Sun., June 10, 1-3pm Celebrate summer and paint a beautiful “poppies” painting. 209 Trade Street, Danville 434.549.2739

VIRGINIA MOUNTAINS

Body by Parkway Runner’s Club

Every Thurs., 6pm

Parkway Brewing 739 Kessler Mill Road, Salem 540.483.9293 parkwaybrewing.com

Adult Spelling Bee Fundraiser at Big Lick

Wed., June 6, 6-9pm Registration and silent auction starts at 6pm and the spelling bee starts at 6:30pm. $10 suggested donation. Money raised will go toward funding a local girl’s mission trip to Guatemala.

Big Lick Brewing Company 409 Salem Avenue, SW, Roanoke

Shine Runners Club

Thurs., June 7, 6pm 3 miles, 5 miles, or just walk and then socialize at the brewery.

Chaos Mountain Brewing 3135 Dillons Mill Rd., Callaway 540.334.1600 chaosmountainbrewing.com

Low Country Boil at Parkway Sat., June 9

Parkway Brewing

739 Kessler Mill Road, Salem 540.483.9293 parkwaybrewing.com

STEM Tavern at Soaring Ridge Craft Brewery

Wed., June 13 & July 11, 5:30-7pm

Monthly STEM Tavern featuring a fascinating science presentation plus good beer! 523 Shenandoah Ave., Roanoke smwv.org

Big Lick Burger Bash

Sat., June 16, 12-6pm 700 S. Jefferson Street, Roanoke 540.580.2481 biglickentertainment.com

First Annual Crafted Horsepower Car Show

Sat., June 16, 1-5:30pm Car show followed by a band at the brewery.

Chaos Mountain Brewing 3135 Dillons Mill Rd., Callaway 540.334.1600 chaosmountainbrewing.com

Independence Day at Big Lick Wed., July 4, 12-6pm

Celebrate Independence Day with beer, BBQ, & bluegrass! Big Lick Brewing Company 409 Salem Avenue, SW, Roanoke

West Station Block Party Sat., July 7, 12-10pm

Tuco’s Taqueria Garaje, Beamer’s 25, and Big Lick collaborate for a street-wide celebration to support Angels of Assisi. The block party will feature street vendors, a children’s play area, a silent auction, live music, and more! Tuco’s Taqueria Garaje 416 Salem Avenue, SW, Roanoke

Roll Over Cancer Chaos Mountain Brewing Ride

Sat., July 21, 8am-5pm

9am – 50 mile ride start; 10am –25 mile ride start. All donations benefit Stand Up To Cancer. Chaos Mountain Brewing 3135 Dillons Mill Rd., Callaway 540.334.1600 chaosmountainbrewing.com

Microfestivus

Sat., Aug., 11, 12-6pm

Featuring over 70 breweries and 180 beers, food, and live music. West Side of Downtown Roanoke 540.224.1217

microfestivus.squaresociety.org

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

Ardent

Beale’s

510 Grove Street

Bedford 540.583.5113

bealesbeer.com

Black Narrows Brewing Company

4522 Chicken City Road

Chincoteague blacknarrowsbrewing.com

Blue Mountain Brewery 9519 Critzer Shop Rd. Afton

540.456.8020

bluemountainbrewery.com

Blue Mountain Barrel House 495 Cooperative Way Arrington 434.263.4002

bluemountainbarrel.com

Canon & Draw Brewing Company

1529 West Main Street Richmond canonanddraw.beer

Castleburg Brewery & Taproom 1626 Owenby Lane

Richmond 23220

804.353.1256

castleburgbrewery.com

Center of the Universe Brewing Company

11293 Air Park Rd. Ashland

804.368.0299

cotubrewing.com

Champion Brewing Co.

324 6th Street

Charlottesville

434.295.2739

championbrewingcompany.com

Champion Brewing Company

401 Grace Street

Richmond

804.344.5108

championbrewingcompany.com

Colonial Beach Brewing

215C Washington Avenue

Colonial Beach

540.226.2114

colonialbeachbrewing.com

Devils Backbone Brewing Company - Basecamp

200 Mosbys Run Roseland

434.361.1001

dbbrewingcompany.com

Extra Billy’s 1110 Alverser Dr. Midlothian

804.379.8727

extrabillys.com/ ExtraBillysBarBQ2.htm

Final Gravity Brewing Company

6118 Lakeside Ave.

Richmond

804.264.4808

Fine Creek Brewing Company

2425 Robert E. Lee Road

Powhatan

804.372.9786

Finecreekbrewing.com

Garden Grove Brewing

3445 West Cary Street

Richmond 804-918-6158 gardengrovebrewing.com

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

2408 Ownby Ln.

Richmond 804.420.2420 hardywood.com

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

West Creek 820 Sanctuary Trail Drive

Richmond hardywood.com

Hardywood Pilot Brewery & Taproom

1000 W. Main Street Charlottesville

Intermission Beer Co. 10089 Brook Road Glen Allen 804.585.0405 intermission.com

Isley Brewing Company 1715 Summit Avenue Richmond 804.499.0721 isleybrewingcompany.com

James River Brewery 561 Valley St. Scottsville 434.286.7837 jrbrewery.com

Kindred Spirits Brewing Company 12830 W. Creek Parkway Goochland 804.708.0309 kindredspiritsbrewing.com

Legend Brewing Company 321 W. Seventh St. Richmond 804.232.3446 legendbrewing.com

Lickinghole Creek Farm Brewery 4100 Knolls Point Dr. Goochland 804.314.4380 lickingholecreek.com

Lickinghole Goodwater 1717 East Franklin Street Richmond lickingholecreek.com

Loose Shoe Brewing Company 198 Ambriar Plaza Amherst 434-941-7345 looseshoebrewing.com

Midnight Brewery 2410 Granite Ridge Rd. Rockville 804.356.9379 midnight-brewery.com

Origin Beer Lab 106 S. Railroad Avenue Ashland 804.368.0299 facebook.com/originbeerlab

Pro Re Nata Farm Brewery 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke. Crozet 434.823.4878 prnbrewery.com

Random Row Brewing Company 608 Preston Avenue Charlottesville 434.284.8466 randomrow.com

Reason Beer Co.

1180 Seminole Trail, #290 Charlottesville reasonbeer.com

Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

11800 W. Broad Street Richmond 23233 804-237-1684 rockbottom.com

South Street Brewery 106 South Street Charlottesville 434.293.6550 southstreetbrewery.com

Starr Hill Brewery 5391 Three Notch’d Rd. Crozet 434.823.5671 starrhill.com

Steam Bell Beer Works 1717 E. Oak Lake Blvd. Midlothian 804.728.1876 steambell.beer

Stone Brewing Company 4300 Williamsburg Avenue Richmond 23231 760.294.7899 facebook.com/ stonebrewingrichmond.

Strangeways Brewing 2277 Dabney Rd. Richmond 804.303.4336 strangewaysbrewing.com

The Answer Brewpub 6008 West Broad St. Richmond facebook.com theanswerbrewpub.com

The Veil Brewing Company 1301 Roseneath Road Richmond 804.355.58515 theveilbrewing.com

Third Street Brewing 312 W. Third Street Farmville 434.315.0471 thirdstreetbrewing.com

Three Notch’d Brewing Company 946 Grady Ave Charlottesville 434.293.0610 threenotchdbrewing.com

Three Notch’d Brewing Company

RVA Colab House 2930 W. Broad St. Richmond threenotchdbrewing.com

Three Notch’d @ IX Park 522 2nd Street, SE Charlottesville threenotchdbrewing.com

Trapezium Brewing Company 423 Third Street Petersburg 23803 571.758.2738 trapeziumbrewing.com

Triple Crossing Brewing Company 113 S. Foushee Street Richmond 804.308.0475

Triple Crossing Brewing Company 5203 Hatcher Street

Richmond 804.496.1955 triplecrossingbeer.com

Twisted Ales Craft Brewing 212 W. 6th Street Richmond twistedlaes.com.

Vasen Brewing Company 3331 Moore Street, Richmond 804.588.5678 vasenbrewing.com

White Rock Brewing Company 2117 Bruno Drive Goodview 24905 540.890.3359 whiterockwines.com.

Wild Wolf Brewing Company 2461 Rockfish Valley Highway Nellysford 434.361.0088 wildwolfbeer.com

Willow Sprung Brewery in The Light Well Restaurant 110 E Main Street Orange 540.661.0004 thelightwell.com

Wood Ridge Farm Brewery 165 Old Ridge Road Lovingston 434.422.6225

COASTAL VIRGINIA

Alewerks 189-B Ewell Rd. Williamsburg 757.220.3670 williamsburgalewerks.com

Alewerks Satellite Brewery Williamsburg Premium Outlets 5715 Richmond Road Williamsburg alewerks.com

Back Bay Brewing Company 614 Norfolk Ave. Virginia Beach 757.531.7750 backbaybrewco.com

Bearded Bird Brewing Co. 727 Granby Street Norfolk beardedbirdbrewing.com

Benchtop Brewing Company 1129 Boissevain Avenue Norfolk 757.321.9482 benchtopbrewing.com

Big Ugly Brewing Company 1296 Battlefield Blvd. South Chesapeake 757-609-2739 biguglybrewing.com

Billsburg Brewery 2054 Jamestown Road Williamsburg billsburg.com

Black Narrows Brewing Company 4522 Chicken City Road Chincoteague blacknarrowsbrewing.com

Bold Mariner 2409 Bowdens Ferry Road Norfolk boldmariner.com

Brass Cannon Brewing Company

5476 Mooretown Road

Williamsburg 757.566.0001

brasscannonbrewing.com

Brick & Mortar Brewing Co.

212 E. Washington Street

Suffolk 757.533.1173 brickandmortarbrews.com

Bull Island Brewing Company 758 Settlers Landing Road Hampton 757.788.9489

bullislandbrewing.com

Capstan Bar Brewing Company 2036 Exploration Way Hampton 757.788.7276 capstanbarbrewing.com

Coelacanth Brewing 760 W. 22nd Street Norfolk 757.59.UGLY.1 coelacanth.com

Commonwealth Brewing Company 2444 Pleasure House Rd. Virginia Beach 757.305.9652

Deadline Brewing Project 2272 W. Great Neck Road, Suite 2268 Virginia Beach 757.502.4980 deadlinebrewing.com

Gordon Biersch 4561 Virginia Beach Blvd. Virginia Beach 757.490.2739

Green Flash Brewing 1209 Craft Lane Virginia Beach greenflashbrew.com

Home Republic Brew Pub 328 Laskin Road Virginia Beach 757.226.9593

MoMac Brewing Company 3228 Academy Avenue Portsmouth 757.383.9572 momacbrewing.com

Montross Brewery 15381 Kings Highway Montross 804.452.7394 montrossbrewery.com

O’Connor Brewing Company 211 W. 24th Street Norfolk 757.623.2337 oconnorbrewing.com

Oozelfinch Craft Brewery 81 Patch Road Fort Monroe 757.224.7042 oozelfinchbeers.com

Pleasure House Brewing 3025 Shore Dr. Virginia Beach, VA 23451 757.647.8597 pleasurehousebrewing.com

Precarious Beer Project 521 Prince George Street, Suite 101 Williamsburg 757.790.2299

Reaver Beach Brewing Company

1505 Taylor Farm Road

Virginia Beach

757.563.2337

beachbrewingcompany.com

Rip Rap Brewing Company 116 E 25th Street

Norfolk riprapbrewing.com

Smartmouth Brewing Company

1309 Raleigh Ave., #300

Norfolk 757.624.3939

smartmouthbrewing.com

St. George Brewing Company

204 Challenger Way

Hampton 757.865.7781

stgeorgebrewingco.com

The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery

504 N. King Street

Hampton 757.224.1807

thevanguard757.com

The Virginia Beer Company

401 Second Street Williamsburg

757.378.2903

virginiabeerco.com

Tradition Brewing Company

700 Thimble Shoals Blvd.

Newport News

757.303.3415

traditionbrewing.com

Wasserhund Brewing Company

805 Laskin Rd. #102

Virginia Beach

757.618.6051

Wharf Hill Brewing Co.

25 Main Street

Smithfield

757-357-7100

Wharfhillbrewing.com

Young Veterans Brewing Company

2505 Horse Pasture Road,Ste. 104 Virginia Beach

757.689.4021

yvbc.com

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

2 Silos Brewing Co. 9925 Discovery Blvd. Manassas

703.420.2264

2silosbrewing.com

6 Bears & A Goat Brewing Company

11440 International Drive Fredericksburg

540.356.9056

6bgbrewing.com

1781 Brewing Company 11109 Plank Rd. Spotsylvania

804.842.0199

Adroit Theory Brewing Company

404 Browing Ct., Unit C Purcellville 703.722.3144

adroit-theory.com

Adventure Brewing North

33 Perchwood Drive Fredericksburg

540.242.8876

adventurebrewing.com

Adventure Brewing South 3300 Dill Smith Drive

Fredericksburg aventurebrewing.com

Aslin Beer Company 257 Sunset Park Drive Herndon, VA 20170 703.787.5766

aslinbeer.com

B Chord Brewing 34266 Williams Gap Road Round Hill bchordbrewing.com

BadWolf (Big) Brewing Company 8420 Kao Circle Manassas, 20110 badwolfbrewingcompany.com

BadWolf (Little) Brewing Company 9776 Center St. Manassas 571.208.1064 badwolfbrewingcompany.com

Barnhouse Brewery 43271 Spinks Ferry Road Leesburg 703.675.8408 barnhousebrewery.com

Barrel Oak Farm Taphouse 3623 Grove Lane Delaplane 540.364.6402 barreloak.com

Battlefield Brewing Company 4187 Plank Rd Fredericksburg 540.785.2164 chancellorpub@msn.com

Bear Chase Brewing Company 18294 Blue Ridge Mountain Road Bluemont

Beer Hound Brewery 201 Waters Place Culpeper 22701 540-317-5327 beerhoundbrewery.com

Belly Love Brewing Company 725 E Main Street Purcellville, VA 20132 540.441.3159 bellylovebrewing.com

Beltway Brewing Company 22620 Davis Dr. #110 Sterling 571.989.2739 beltwaybrewco.com

Bike TrALE Brewing Company 101 Loudon St. SW Leesburg 571.293.0050 biketralebrewing.com

Black Hoof Brewing Company 11 S. King Street Leesburg 571.707.8014 blackhoofbrewing.com

Black Walnut Brewing Company 210 S King Street Leesburg facebook.com/ blackwalnutbrewery Brew Republic Bierwerks 15201 Potomac Town Place Woodbridge 703.594.7950 brewrepublic.beer

Caboose Brewing Company

520 Mill Street NE Vienna 703-865-8580 caboosebrewing.com

Capitol City Brewing Company 4001 Campbell Ave. Arlington 703.578.3888 capcitybrew.com

Corcoran Brewing Company

205 E. Hirst Road, Suite 105 Purcellville 540.441.3102 corcoranbrewing.com

Crooked Run Brewing Company 22455 Davis Drive Sterling cookedrunbrewing.com

Crooked Run Brewing Company 205 Harrison Street SE Leesburg 571.978.4446

Ono Brewing Company 4520 Daly Drive Chantilly 571.409.6662 onobrewco.com

Dirt Farm Brewing Co.

18701 Foggy Bottom Rd. Bluemont 540.554.2337 dirtfarmbrewing.com

Dog Money Brewery 50 Catoctin Circle Leesburg 703.687.3852

Dragon Hops Brewing 130 E. Main Street Purcellville 540.441.3660 dragonhopsbrewing.com

Fair Winds Brewing Company

7000 Newington Road, Suites K&L Lorton 703-372-2001 fairwindsbrewing.com

Far Gohn Brewing Co.

301 S Main Street Culpeper

The Farm Brewery at Broad Run 16015 John Marshall Hwy. Broad Run 703.753.3548 thefarmatbroadrun.com

Forge Brew Works 8532 Terminal Rd., Ste. L Lorton 703.372.2979 forgebrewworks.com

Gordon Biersch Tyson’s Corner Mall McLean 703.388.5454 gordonbiersch.com

Growling Bear Brewing Company 14051 Crown Court Woodbridge, 22193 571.535.1965 growlingbearbrewing.com

Harpers Ferry Brewing 37410 Adventure Center Lane Purcellville

Heritage Brewing Co. 9436 Center Point Lane Manassas 800.432.1792 heritagebrewing.com

Heroic Aleworks 14910 Persistence Drive Woodbridge 571.398.6113 heroicaleworks.com

Highmark Brewery 390 Kings Hwy. Fredericksburg 540.207.1725 highmarkbrewery.com

Hopkins Ordinary Ale Works 47 Main Street Sperryville 540.987.3383 hopkinsordinary.com

Jack’s Run Brewing Company 108 N. 21st Street Purcellville 540.441.3382 jacksrunbrewing.com

Lake Anne Brew House 11424 Washington Plaza West Reston 571.758.2739 lakeannebrewhouse.com

Lost Rhino Brewing Company 21730 Red Rum Dr., Ste. 142 Ashburn 571.291.2083 lostrhino.com

Lost Rhino Retreat 22885 Brambleton Plaza Brambleton 703.327.0311

Loudoun Brewing Company 310 E Market St. Leesburg 703.350.8553 loudounbrewing.com

Mad Fox Brewing Company 444 West Broad St., Ste. I Falls Church 703.942.6840 madfoxbrewing.com

Maltese Brewing Company 11047 B Pierson Drive Fredericksburg maltesebrewing.com

Market Common Brewpub & Roastery 2900 Wilson Blvd., #104 Arlington 571.208.1355 hbcmarketcommon.com

Mustang Sally Brewing Company 14140 Parke Long Court Chantilly 703.378.7450 msbrewing.com

New District Brewing Company 2709 S Oakland Street Arlington 22206 703.888.5820

Ocelot Brewing Company

23600 Overland Drive, Ste. 180

Sterling 703-665-2146

ocelotbrewing.com

Old Bust Head Brewing Company

7134 Lineweaver Rd. Warrenton 540.347.4777

oldbusthead.com

Old 690 Brewing Company 15670 Ashbury Church Road Purcellville old690.com

Old Ox Brewery 44652 Guilford Dr Unit 114

Ashburn

703.729.8375

oldoxbrewery.com

Old Trade Brewery 13270 Alanthus Road Brandy Station 774.218.8645

oldtradebrewery.com

Pen Druid Brewing

7 River Lane

Sperryville, 22740 540.987.8800 pendruid.com

Phase 2 Brewing

19382 Diamond Lake Drive Leesburg 540.987.0219

Port City Brewing Company 3950 Wheeler Ave.

Alexandria 703.797.2739

portcitybrewing.com

Portner’s Brewhouse 5772 Dow Avenue

Alexandria 703.646.0466

portnerbrewhouse.com

Powers Farm & Brewery

9269 Redemption Way Midland 540.272.5060 powersfarmbrewery.com

Quattro Goombas Brewing Company 22860 James Monroe Highway Aldie 703-327-6052

goombabrewery.com

Red Dragon Brewery 1419 Princess Anne Street

Fredericksburg 22401

540.382.4342

reddragonbrewery.com

Rocket Frog Brewing Company 22560 Glenn Drive, Suite #103

Sterling 571.375.7920 rocketfrogbeer.com

Sinistral Brewing Company 9419 Main Street Manassas sinistralbbrewingcompany.com

Solace Brewing Company

42615 Trade West Drive, #100 Dulles solacebrewing.com

Spencer Devon Brewing Company 106 George Street

Fredericksburg 540-999-6253 spencerdevonbrewing.com

Strangeways Brewing 350 Landsdowne Road

Fredericksburg 540.371.1776 strangewaysbrewing.com

Sweetwater Tavern 14250 Sweetwater Ln. Centreville 703.449.1100 greatamericanrestaurants.com

Sweetwater Tavern 3066 Gate House Plaza Falls Church 703.645.8100 greatamericanrestaurants.com

Sweetwater Tavern 45980 Waterview Plaza

Sterling 571.434.6500 greatamericanrestaurants.com

The Craft of Brewing 21140 Ashburn Crossing Drive, Suite 170 Ashburn 703.687.3932 thecraftob.com

Tin Cannon Brewing Co 7679 Limestone Dr. #130 Gainesville 571-248-0489 tincannonbrewing.com

Twinpanzee Brewing Company 101-D Executive Drive

Sterling 703.791.9363

Vanish Brewing 44624 Leelyn Farm Lane Leesburg 20176 vanishbeer.com

Water’s End Brewery 12425 Dillingham Square Lake Ridge 571.285.1997 watersendbrewery.com

Wild Run Brewing Company 3071 Jefferson Davis Hwy Stafford 540.659.3447 wildrunbrewing.com

Wort Hog Brewing Company 41 Beckham Street Warrenton 540.300.2739 worthogbreweryllc.com

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Alesatian Brewing Company 23 N. Loudoun Street Winchester 540.667.2743 alesatianbrewing.com

Backroom Brewery 150 Ridgemont Rd. Middletown 540.869.8482 facebook.com/BackroomBrewery

Basic City Beer Co. 1010 E. Main Street

Waynesboro 540.265.8062 basiccitybeer.com

Bedlam Brewing Company

2303 North Augusta Street Staunton 540.416.4634

Blue Lab Brewing Company

123 S. Randolph St. Lexington 540.458.0146 bluelabbrewing.com

Brothers Craft Brewing

800 N Main Street

Harrisonburg 540.432.8940 threebrosbrew.com

Devils Backbone Brewing Company - Outpost

50 Northwind Lane

Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com

Escutcheon Brewing Company

150 W. Commercial Street Winchester 540.391.8713 escutcheonbrewing.com

Great Valley Farm Brewery

60 Great Valley Lane

Natural Bridge 540.521.6163 greatvalleyfarmbrewery.com

Hawksbill Brewing Company 22 Zerkel Street Luray 540.860.5608 hawkbillbrewing.wordpress.com

Pale Fire Brewing Company 217 S. Liberty Street Harrisonburg 540-217-5452 palefirebrewing.com

Queen City Brewing 834 Springhill Road Staunton 540.213.8014 qcbrewing.com

Redbeard Brewing 120 South Lewis St. Staunton 804.641.9340 redbeardbrews.com

Ridge Runner Farm & Brewery 6895 Back Road Maurertown 571.201.2963 virginiafarmbrew.com

Restless Moons Brewing Company address is the same 540.217.2726 restlessmoons.com

Seven Arrows Brewing Company

2508 Jefferson Hwy. Ste 1 Waynesboro 540-221-6968 sevenarrowsbrewing.com

Shenandoah Valley Brewing Company

103 W. Beverly Street Staunton 540.887.2337 shenvalbrew.com

Stable Craft Brewing at Hermitage Hill

375 Madrid Road Waynesboro 540.490.2609 stablecraftbrewing.com

Swover Creek Farm Brewery 4176 Swover Creek Rd. Edinburg 540.984.8973 swovercreekfarms.com

Three Notch’d Brewing Co. Harrisonburg Taproom 241 E. Market Street Harrisonburg 540.217.5939

Winchester Brew Works 320 N Cameron St. Winchester 540.692.9242 winchesterbrewworks.com

Woodstock Brewhouse 123 E Court Street Woodstock 22664 woodstockbrewhouse.com 540-459-2739

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA

2 Witches Winery & Brewing Company 209 Trade St. Danville 434-549-BREW (2739

Ballad Brewing Company 600 Craighead Street Danville balladbrewing.com

Buggs Island Brewing Company 110 College Street Clarkesville

Mountain Valley Brewing Company 4220 Mountain Valley Road Axton

276.833.2171 mountainvalleybrewing.com

Staunton River Brewing Co. 1571 Mt. Calvary Road Brookneal stauntonriverbrewing.com

VIRGINIA MOUNTAINS

Bick Lick Brewing Co. 409 Salem Avenue SW Roanoke

Chaos Mountain Brewing Company

3135 Dillons Mill Rd. Callaway 540.334.1600 chaosmountainbrewing.com

Flying Mouse Brewery 221 Precast Way Troutville 540.992.1288 flyingmousebrewery.com

Hammer & Forge Brewing Company

70 Main Street Boones Mill 540.909.3200 hammerandforgebrewing.com

Parkway Brewing 739 Kessler Mill Rd. Salem parkwaybrewing.com

Soaring Ridge Craft Brewers 523 Shenandoah Avenue Roanoke 540.529.2140 soaringridge.com

Starr Hill Pilot Brewery 6 Old Whitmore Road Roanoke 434.823.5671 starrhill.com/roanoke

Sunken City Brewery 40 Brewery Dr., Hardy 540.420.0476 sunkencitybeer.com

The Friendly Fermenter 20 South Mason Street, Suite B10 Harrisonburg friendlyfermenter.com

The Hive

1116 A Main Street SW Roanoke 540.597.8739 blacksnakemead.com

Twin Creeks Brewing Co. 111 Pollard Street, Vinton 540.265.8062 twincreeksbrewing.com

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

Albemarle CiderWorks

2545 Rural Ridge Ln. North Garden

434.297.2326

albemarleciderworks.com

Blue Bee Cider

1320 Summit Avenue Richmond 804.231.0280

bluebeecider.com

Blue Toad Hard Cider Pub

9278 Rockfish Valley Hwy. Afton

434.996.6992

bluetoadhardcider.com

Bold Rock Hard Cider 1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy. Nellysford

434.361.1030

boldrock.com

Buskey Cider

2910 W. Leigh Street Richmond buskeycider.com

Castle Hill Cider 6065 Turkey Sag Rd. Keswick

434.296.0047

castlehillcider.com

Courthouse Creek Cider 1581 Maidens Road Goochland courthousecreek.com

Courthouse Creek Cider 3300 W. Broad Street Richmond courthousecreek.com

Enjoy the peace and tranquility as you sip your cider at Albemarle Ciderwork in North Garden.

Hole Ciderworks 225 Oak Grove Drive Mineral 540.894.1053 coyotehole.com

Potter’s Craft Cider Charlottesville potterscraftcider.com

COASTAL VIRGINIA

Sly Clyde Ciderworks 207 E. Mellen Street Hampton slyclyde.com

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Cobbler Mountain Cellars 5909 Long Fall Lane Delaplane 540.364.2802 cobblercellars.com

Corcoran Vineyards Hard Cider 14635 Corky’s Farm Lane Waterford 540.882.9073 corcoranvineyards.com

Hinson Ford Cider & Mead 379 Hinson Ford Road Amissville 540.219.8397

Mount Defiance Cidery & Distillery 207 W. Washington St., Middleburg 540.687.8100 mtdefiance.com

Wild Hare Cider 106A South Street, SE Leesburg 833.675.WILD

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Old Hill Cider 17768 Honeyville Rd. Timberville 540.896.7582 oldhillcider.com

The Winery at Kindred Pointe 3575 Conicville Rd Mt Jackson, Shenandoah County 22842 540.477.3570 kindredpointe.com

Winchester Ciderworks 2502 N. Frederick Pike Winchester 540.550.3800 WinchesterCiderworks.com

BLUE RIDGE HIGHLANDS

BLACKSNAKE MEADERY 605 Buffalo Road Dugspur, VA 24325 540.834.6172 blacksnakemead.com

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

BLACK HEATH MEADERY 1313 Altamont Ave Richmond, VA 23230 703.582.0856 blackheathmeadery.com

Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery 2800 Berry Hill Rd Nellysford, VA 22958 434.361.1266 hilltopberrywine.com

Honey Grail 525 E. Market Street, #135 Leesburg 202.455.5520 honeygrail.com

SAGA MEADERY Madison Heights, VA 339.221.3115 sagameadery.com

The Thistle and Stag Meadery 2053 E. River Road Fork Union 434.842.2200 thethistleandstag.com

Skjald Meadworks 621C Broad Street Altavista, VA 434.515.2482 skjaldmeadworks.com

COASTAL VIRGINIA

Melo Lion Meadery Yorktown, VA 757.713.4885 melolion.com

SILVER HAND MEADERY 224 Monitcello Ave, Suite C Williamsburg, VA 23185 757.378.2225 silverhandmeadery.com

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

STONE HOUSE MEADERY

36580 Shoemaker School Rd Purcellville, VA 20132 571.512.0763 stonehousemeadery.com

Maidstone Meadery 9364 Justice Lane Delaplane, VA 20144 703.303.2090 maidstonemeadery.com

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

MISTY MOUNTAIN MEAD WORKS 1531 Pack Horse Road Winchester, VA 22603 540.888.4420 mistymountainmead.com

MASTER BREWER

Stony Point Design/Build is seeking a creative, motivated, and experienced Master Brewer to assist with the concepting and startup of a NEW BREWPUB IN GORDONSVILLE , VA. The new establishment will be located in the historic town hall on charming main street, and will serve as an anchor destination to the burgeoning redevelopment of the historic downtown.