Hey RVA and all you craft beer lovers out there! It’s time for your next installment of “Tapped,” RVA Mag’s weekly beer column.
Hey RVA and all you craft beer lovers out there! It’s time for your next installment of “Tapped,” RVA Mag’s weekly beer column. This whole month is going to be extra special because August is….VIRGINIA CRAFT BEER MONTH!
This week we’ve brewed up quite a strong roundup for you, but first check out a few photos from what you missed last week: (Check out last week’s full roundup here.
So as I mentioned up top and if you’ve been living under a rock then let me inform you Aug. 1 kicked off Virginia Craft Beer Month. If you missed our post announcing it check that out here. Since there is so much going on we couldn’t fit it all into one post so RVA Mag decided to dedicate each week of “Tapped” to Virginia Craft Beer Month.
Each week, your cup will overflow with craft beer events, festivals, tap takeovers, beer releases, or whatever happens to be going on. And not just in Richmond either, all around the state! I’ll do my best to collect it all, but let me know if there’s something you’d like to see in here.
With that, let’s tap this thing.
As always, before we get into new booze news, let’s recap what you missed last week.
The 4th Annual Brew BQ Festival kicked off at the 17th Street Farmers Market on Sunday, Aug. 16. Attendees had the chance to taste brews from 17 Virginia breweries and an array of central Virginia’s most loved barbeque producers.
BadWolf Brewing Company opened its second location Big BadWolf in Manassas last Friday! Four beers were on tap and they have a ribbon cutting coming up so check that out!
Triple Crossing released Clever Girl, a dry American IPA this Friday in (500 ML) bottles. It looks dangerously delicious!
Now for what’s going on this week and the the weekend! I think the biggest news this week is the culmination of all things for Virginia Craft Beer Month: The 4th Annual Virginia Craft Brewers Festival at Devil’s Backbone this Saturday Aug 22 and The Fourth Annual Virginia Craft Brewers Cup awards which will also take place at the brewery.
The Roseland Brewpub will host over 61 craft breweries there ready to serve up samples of their best brews. According to the site, seven Richmond breweries will be represented at the festival including Strangeways, Isley, Hardywood, Triple Crossing, Ardent Craft Ales, The Answer Brewpub and Legend. Check out the full list here. http://vacraftbrewersfest.com/breweries/ Tickets range from $35-$65.
There will also be food vendors, live music, cornhole, foosball, and an arcade tent. New this year will be Friday night camping, a friday Night Fest Preview Party and other festivities.
The Brewers Cup Awards will begin at 5:00 p.m. Brewers from across the commonwealth submitted 306 beers for judging in 24 different categories and awards in gold, silver, and bronze will be given out to the winners. Check out our story on it and be on the lookout for post-festival coverage!
While were on that brewery, they also have some other exciting news. Devil’s Backbone has recently extended their distribution around the Triad region in North Carolina. Restaurants and bars in that area, which include Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point, will now carry Devil’s Backbone beers. The brewery signed on with R.H. Barringer Distributing Co. and Craft Central, both based in Greensboro to get their beers into the Triad and Charlotte markets. Check out more on the story here.
As I mentioned in earlier posts, many bars are doing all VA beers on tap for the whole month of August. Brown Distributing has a pretty good list of them which you can check out here.
Hardywood is celebrating VA Craft Beer month with specials on all of their inventory of their Reserve Series and Barrel Series bottles to go.
Hardywood is also hosting its third annual Richmond Bluegrass festival this Sat. Aug 22. There will be live music from Ragged Mountain String Band, East Of Afton, River City Band, Whiskey Rebellion, food trucks and of course, craft beer.
The brewery also released a Watermelon Gose at the beginning of the month, which uses local Castlemont Farms Rattlesnake and McCall watermelons. Their Gose is “tart with added salt which accentuates the watermelon flavor and aroma.”
This Sat., Isley Brewing is hosting a fundraiser for the daughter of Josh Stamps, one of their head brew masters. From Noon – 5pm we will have activities for kids and adults of all ages, including juggling, a magician and live music and food. A portion of all sales this day will be donated directly to his daughter Charlie, and help pay for her Cochlear Implants.
Garden Grove Brewing Company on West Cary Street is celebrating BIG for Virginia Craft Beer Month with a rotating line up of special releases. The brewery has a Watermelon Sarkler, from its wine-like Sparkler series. It’s formulated with Virginia grown sweet watermelons and wonderfully balanced with acidity reminiscent of a white wine. They also just released Trifecta, a Belgian Blonde which is brewed with Sumac Berries, Sorachi Ace hops, and fermented in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels.
Garden Grove also just created Lemon Grove Belgian Blonde, a special brew with a percentage of sales benefiting the Children’s Hospital Foundation. It is crafted with lemon zest and locally grown Lemongrass. They plan to hold an event for the release August 28-30 so be on the lookout for an update on that. They have more on the way so kee an eye out for some delicious brews!
Lost Rhino Brewing Co. in Ashburn is releasing RhinO’fest, an amber beer tonight. The former GABF champ is back and better than ever in all it’s amber glory!
Every Thursday Three Notch’d Brewing Company in Charlottesville introduces a new beer for VA Craft Beer Month. Yes! This week’s is “There Will Be” Braggot”, a collaboration with Black Heath Meadery which is right here in Richmond whatttt?!
Star Hill recently collaborated with Hardywood for Sunnidalia using a traditional Hefeweisen malt bill and Weihenstephaner yeast. The breweries created a hoppy version of the traditional wheat beer by using “copious amounts of Hull Melon hops and a touch of wildflower honey.” 6.2%. Check it out.
Wild Wolf Brewing just released “Howling Pumpkin”, a pumpkin ale brewed with molasses and spices. Looks like you can get it in cans. Yum! They have some exciting news as well so be on the lookout for an article about them on RVA Mag!
“Tapped” runs every Wednesday and will be filled with news about your local craft breweries, event, festivals, new beer releases and everything we think you need to know about the craft beer scene before you head into your weekend!
Stay tuned next week for another round of Tapped. For any tips or submissions for the column please send to amy@rvamag.com. Cheers!
