What’s happening craft beer lovers of RVA?! Welcome to this week’s “Tapped,” RVA Magazine’s go to weekly craft beer column where you can find all your craft beer-related events, releases, festivals and all the booze news your little hearts’ desire.
If you missed last week’s beer news, you can check those out here. Our cup is overflowing with news this week from releases to events, and other cool happenings around town, so hold on to your mugs because we’re getting ready to tap this thing!
Castleburg Brewery will celebrate two years brewing beer in Scott’s Addition this Saturday. The brewery will release two beers, feature live music from Back Seat Drivers and King Easy and guest taps from James River Brewing, Bold Mariner, Twisted Ales, and Coelacanth Brewing will also be flowing. One of the beers is, of course, their anniversary brew, The Queen’s Garde, Bier de’ Garde, and the other release isHis Majesty ‘s New Groove, a double IPA made with local group King Easy. Papa V’s Backyard Grill Catering & Food Truck will be serving up North Carolina BBQ. Get your beer tickets at the door.
This weekend, celebrate Center of the Universe’s two-day Summer Moon Music Festival at their Ashland brewery. Back for its sixth year, the festival features 12 local bands who will be battling it out for their charity of choice. To accompany the bands, there will be several food trucks on site. 3 different draft beer stations will be set up, so you won’t have to worry about lines to get a delicious cold one. Check out the link for the band food lineups.
Strangeways Brewing will release a whopping four brews to help you celebrate Memorial Day weekend. All of them sound and look delicious so without further ado, we’ll roll right into what they’ll be pouring. First up, is The Emperor’s Forbidden Rice Sake Lager. Black rice, known as the “Emperor’s” or “Forbidden” rice, has a rich cultural history dating back to ancient times, although its exact date of origin is shrouded in secrecy. It was originally reserved exclusively for the Emperor in Ancient China and was used as a tribute food, yet more recently it has become prized for its high levels of antioxidants. This Asian-inspired lager packs more than 230 pounds of black rice, and also showcases ginger and Sorachi Ace hops. To take it one step further, it was specially finished with a Sake yeast.
Next up is their Zubizuri Norwegian Farmhouse Ale, brewed with Pilsner and Spelt. Fermented hot with a Norwegian Voss Kveik Yeast and dry hopped with chinook and huell melon.
This next one should get you drooling. Strangeways has brewed up a Midnight S’mores Coconut Sweet Stout which is brewed with oats, lactose, and coconut and is loaded with flavors of coffee, roasted malt, shredded coconut, and chocolate. This version of Midnight in Her Eyes was conditioned on a mixture of toasted marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars. Yum.
And finally, similar to the one above, Strangeways will also be pouring Midnight Cookies and Cream Coconut Sweet Stout. This version of Midnight in Her Eyes was conditioned on gobs of chocolate cookies and vanilla icing. My mouth is watering just thinking of it.
On Thursday, Ardent Craft Ales will release its Bohemian Pilsner, a traditional Czech pilsner with spicy hop notes. Continental Divide Richmond‘s taco truck will be in the beer garden for this release! Available in the taproom and in crowlers to go.
This Friday, Triple Crossing with have Mosaic Triangles at its Fulton location, a bright citrusy IPA with notes of clementines and tangerines that’s sure to chase all your rainy day blues away. $14.50 a 4 pack.
Today, Vasen Brewing releases Justice For Ale. Presented by Commonwealth Law Group this year’s event is not one to be missed with great beer from Väsen Brewing Company food from River City Wood Fire Pizza and Gaucho and music from DJ Elliot Ness. Your $10 ticket gets you a Justice 4 Ale Pint Glass, our custom Koozie, and 1 beverage ticket! Our custom Growlers will be available for $25 (beer not included)
Magic Lantern will be making its return back to the Twisted Ales Brewing’s taproom this Friday, May 25. This dank west coast IPA features Citra hops galore and is bursting with flavor.
Hardywood has got two releases for you this weekend. First up, on Friday, is Mamaw’s Mean Cobbler, a delightful variation of their Peach Tripel with real vanilla (over 1,000 Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans per batch), cinnamon, coconut, and milk sugar additions delivering the classic flavors of a southern-style peach cobbler. Hopefully, they’ll have some actual cobbler to pair it with for those with an ultra sweet tooth like me.
And on Saturday, Hardywood will release its Cuvee Peach, a white wine barrel-aged peach tripel ale. This jucy brew is sure to brighten up your Memorial weekend.
On Friday, Buskey Cider will have a limited can release of their Watermelon Rosemary cider. A balance of savory herbs and sweet fruit, this refreshing cider will keep you cool throughout the summer.
On Sunday, Blue Bee Cider will host a Capitol Waffle Brunch. Downtown’s Capitol Waffle Shop will be there for a build your own waffle bar with a wild array of toppings, paired with their ciders. Gluten-free options available.
Sunspots IPA returns this Friday to Final Gravity Brewing Co. With flavors of pineapple, stone fruit and citrus this brew is sure to carry you away to someplace tropical away from all our rainy days here.
Three Notch’d Brewing RVA Collab House returns this Thursday with their weekly collaboration. This time, its a Mimosa Gose made in partnership with The Brunch Market. Its tart, tangy base pairs with the bright, citrusy flavor of orange juice to give you the perfect beer for your Sunday Funday.
This weekend, Fine Creek Brewing Co. will have Helles Lager and Turf & Twig brown ale back on draught. They will also have some barrel aged beers including Wine Barrel Aged Sour Red, Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout Brewed with Molasses, Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Peated Porter, and Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Thai Tea Milk Stout. The Powhatan brewery will also be tapping a cask of Citra Mosaic Double made with some strawberries grown in their garden. Pair all this with some live music and you have a pretty awesome weekend.
And we missed this last weekend, but Legend Brewing just released a Vanilla Bean Brown Ale, a second installment of their classic Brown Ale variation which features flavors of molasses, caramel, and vanilla.
Submissions or ideas for Tapped can be emailed to Amy at amy@rvamag.com. Cheers!
Top Photo By: Twisted Ales Brewing
