What’s happening, craft beer lovers of RVA?! Welcome to this week’s RVA On Tap, RVA Magazine’s weekly column for all your craft beer-related events, releases, festivals, and all the booze news your hearts desire.
If you missed the last column, you can check that out here. Our kegs are overflowing with news this week with beer releases and festivals, events, and other cool happenings around town — so hold on to your mugs!
This week, we’ve got a few awesome events, a few tasty releases, and…….drumroll…….TWO Big Lebowski mentions. One: Because the RVA beer scene reminds me of The Dude after a long history obsessing over him, and Two: Because after pondering about that, I stumbled upon another. Of course I did. Richmond, but I love you. Anyway, onward!
PHOTO: Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery
If you want to get out of town this Saturday, head on over to Mustang Sally Brewing Company in Chantilly for a bigtime brew fest!
Richmond’s very own Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery will be pouring alongside several breweries from around the Commonwealth and up to Maryland, like Dynasty Brewing Co., Union Craft Brewing, Ornery Beer Company, Crooked Run Brewing, and True Respite Brewing Company.
Kegs tap at noon sharp, and live music, delicious foods & desserts, and giveaways will be going on all day long. Bring your pups and kiddos, because everyone’s welcome! I’m stoked on this event for a few reasons: One, we haven’t seen a good beer combo fest in many weeks since the holidays have jammed up everyone’s schedules — and two, I think it’s cool to see a fest with just one of our local breweries at it, and a lot of other names I don’t recognize. I do a lot of traveling, so I’m usually familiar with the out-of-towners, but it’s extra special to learn something new…..or five things new, at that. Excited to get to know them all better!
PHOTO: Center of the Universe Brewing
Ooooooooh, here is something extra-special and neat from Center of the Universe Brewing this week. COTU is offering local homebrewers a share of a batch of the brewery’s wort, so participants can brew their own beer, then have it judged by COTU staff and special guests! How!! Cool!!
Head over to the brewery on Saturday to get your share of the batch, and hopefully you’ll make it to the top: Winner gets their booze produced as a one-off and distributed throughout the greater Richmond area. This is a really awesome opportunity for the little guy to go big, and I’m stoked to see one of my most favorite local spots putting it on. Can’t wait to see who the winner is!
PHOTO: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
In new-brew-news this week, our pals at Hardywood have another badass can release coming out. Autocorrect drops on Friday, and this 7.5% ABV is a solid IPA. It’s brewed with Citra, Mosaic, and Mandarina Bavaria (yum), then dry-hopped with El Dorado hops.
El Dorado hops will always remind me of El Duderino (S/O COTU again), and consequently, this city’s weird love for The Big Lebowski — so it always is a pleasure to see it pop up in other local brews. Hardywood has a reputation around town (and in my heart) for making some of the best versions of every kind of beer, so I’m sure they’ll kill it with this one too.
Autocorrect is “as hazy as our head brewer’s unique approach to spelling,” says Hardywood (lol), and when you need a quick fix, you can always rely on it. Perfectly punny. 10/10, Hardywood!
PHOTO: Black Heath Meadery
Aaaaaaand I wasn’t even planning to have The Dude included in this column when I wrote the above paragraph, then I stumbled on this. Jesus, Richmond. Anywho — I’m still a major Big Lebowski fan, and so is everyone else in this town — so in BL news, Black Heath Meadery has some Dudemas glasses left over! If you want to pick one up on the cheap, run by the meadery and get five bucks off a Dude glass when you buy a bottle of mead. If you haven’t ever tried mead before, now’s your chance at the first time for everything, with a double bonus of a super sick glass!
PHOTO: Stone Brewing Company
Coming up next Tuesday, head on over to Industrial Taphouse for a big tap takeover by Stone Brewing Richmond. All the local breweries are becoming more active again rolling into the new year, and Stone’s got some great brews on deck to try at this one. Swing by to give their Tangerine Express IPA a try, alongside their Tropical Thunder Lager, Scorpion Bowl IPA, and probably one of the most well-known craft beers to drinkers of the norm: Arrogant Bastard Ale.
I remember my mother bringing a case of Arrogant Bastard to a family Christmas years ago, and I think it may have actually been my first experience with craft beer. Look how far we’ve come! Thanks, Stone. Arrogant Bastards Unite!
PHOTO: Strangeways Brewing Company
Yum, there are a couple brand-new things brewing with our friends over at Strangeways! Strangeways is special around here for always promising a few new brews at least every week or two. I love all the options here. Hazlet is first on the list this week, a 9.5% ABV Sweet Rye Triple. This one’s named after the rye it’s brewed with, known for its winter hardiness and high rate of winter survival. Put this one in your hiking pack, friends, it sounds like it’s made for nature. Hazlet starts off with the same base as Brasetto, but gets flavors of ripe melon, bright citrus, and floral tones thanks to its dry hops with Huell Melon, Galena, and Centennial.
After Hazlet comes Gallows Humor, and this one sounds intense! Gallows Humor is a dry-hopped black lager — similar to a traditional German black lager, but with a “distinctly American approach” this time around. It’s filled with Virginia barley and wheat from Epiphany Craft Malt and Murphy & Rude Malting Company, which gives it a toasty, bready, malt taste to complement its fruity aromas from its Strata and Mosaic hops.
PHOTO: Fire & Hops Pizza Co.
Woohoo, more new kids in town! Fire & Hops Pizza Co. is coming soon to the Museum District, in the old Stuzzi building right outside Carytown. It’s on its way at the end of this month, and it looks super tasty. It’s fresh to Richmond thanks to the same hands behind Arianna’s Italian Grill, and Sergio’s Pizza, Pasta & Craft Beer out in Chesterfield. As far as I’m concerned, no city can ever have enough pizza in it, so I can’t wait to give these guys a try!
That’s it for this week’s RVA On Tap! As your weekly columnist, I’m here to take all your beer releases, event info, ideas and questions. If you’re a brewer, send me your release info at caley@rvamag.com, and if you’re a beer enthusiast, drop me a line anytime to talk booze. Catch y’all next week!
