The long-anticipated opening of Three Notch’d Brewing’s Richmond location finally arrived on Monday. The brewery, which has locations in Harrisonburg and Charlottesville, held a soft opening on Monday of its RVA Collab House in Scott’s Addition. They will hold their grand opening this Monday.
The long-anticipated opening of Three Notch’d Brewing’s Richmond location finally arrived on Monday. The brewery, which has locations in Harrisonburg and Charlottesville, held a soft opening on Monday of its RVA Collab House in Scott’s Addition. They will hold their grand opening this Monday.
RVA Mag, along with some neighbors and close friends and Gov. Terry McAuliffe, were invited for a sneak peek inside the brewery on West Broad Street before they open to the public on Saturday, Oct 1, to taste some beers and meet the owners.
So a little back story before we hop into Monday’s festivities.
RVA Mag reported last year the brewery had leased a 4,000 square foot space in Scott’s Addition. The RVA Collab House is still brewery and taproom, but 75 percent of the beer will be brewed in collaboration which with restaurants, bottle shops, and community organizations.
This will be the Three Notch’d Brewing’s third location. They opened in Charlottesville in 2012 and opened their Harrisonburg location in 2014. Head Brewer Dave Warwick, George Kastendike, CEO & Founder, Scott Roth, President & Founder, and Derek Naughton, Director Of Sales & Founder make up the Three Notch’d team and you can read a more detailed interview with Warwick from RVA Mag’s 25th issue here on expansion plans.
Now on to the RVA Collab House. It’s a 3.5 barrel brewhouse and the space is a very cool location with a dome ceiling and natural sky light sneaking in throughout the building. The guys behind Three Notch’d have done a great job making this space a perfect spot to come have a beer, enjoy the game or see some music. It’s very simple and rustic, with wood pallets making up the bar and displaying their beer menu.
But lets talk beer! As some of you may know, their name harks back to the famed Three Notch’d Road that ran through the central part of the state. If you have checked out their beer offerings, you will see they are very steeped in Virginia History (40 Mile IPA, The Ghost of 43rd).
Coming to Richmond to join the rich cultural history as well as the growing beer industry in RVA seems like a natural fit for this crew. The idea for this location was to make a collaboration house where they can develop unique collaborations with craft beer lovers in the community. They have selected Stephan McFayden to be their local brewer to craft brews within the RVA community.
RVA Magazine has some special plans coming up with Three Notch’d, Lucas Fritz, owner of The Broadberry, and No BS Brass Band, but we will just have to save that announcement for another time!
Check out RVA Mag President John Reinhold’s thoughts on Three Notch’d Brewing’s RVA Collab House brews below:
Hops Addition IPA – RVA Brew
This is the local IPA for Scott’s Addition that I image will become a flagship available at the location. Definitely a favorite of mine that night. Good malt and hop character make a fine drinking IPA that even a IPA lover can put at the top of his must try list. Comes in at 6% – so its something you can have a few times.
25 Gose Byquick – RVA Brew
Something unique here, a little taste of perhaps some of the interesting brews they are looking to make here in the future. This is a classic Gose with Basil and Blood Orange. This was pretty good, could use a bit more tart for my taste. But I think this is just something that could use more time in future to get it to that perfect point. Very drinkable for sure – would like more of the blood orange in it.
Fernet Saison – RVA Brew
Another unique one here was a Saison brewed with anise, orange, coriander, mint and chamomile. Great base with the saison for sure, the anise for me is always a hard one to take. This is based off of the drink of choice at Rogue Gentlemen in RVA. This is very herbal and carries those qualities very lightly with this Saison. I know quite a few people who really loved this and it was their favorite of the night.
Other Brews from Charlottesville location:
No Veto English Brown
Classic and well made brown that is a standard – very malty and delicious.
Hansel & Kettle Imperial Oktoberfest
So this is the winner! I loved this one, so good. Deep amber with tons of Munich character, but turned up to 11. It’s so spicy and tasty. Craft beer lovers must get this one if you go in, trust me.
Pumperkin Pupkin IPA
If you know me, then you know I don’t get down on the pumpkin beers. But I’m going to hand it to them, I enjoyed this one. It was a change of pace to have it with an IPA. Nice flavors, not too much pumpkin spice taste. So this one gets a reprieve from the “pumpkin” label from me.
Oat’s McGoats Oatmeal Stout
I picked this one to have with my meal. I wanted a dry stout that was easy to drink and rich. I also knew it was the base of their Espresso Stout – which I am a fan of. The stout clocks in at 5.5% with semi sweet chocolate malt flavors, pure dark dank drink that paired very well with some spicy wings.
Three Notch’d Brewing RVA Collab House will have their grand opening this Sat. Oct. 1 from noon to 10 pm at 2930 W. Broad St. in Scott’s Addition. There will be 12 beers on tap including flagships produced by Brewmaster DaveWarwick alongside inventive recipes produced by Richmond Brewer, Stefan McFayden. McFayden’s beersinclude ‘Hops Addition’ IPA; ‘25 Gose By Quick’ in collaboration with Sergio’s, ‘Fernet Saison’ in collaboration with Rogue Gentleman and a few surprise brews.
There will also be a limited re-release of ‘Bourbon Barrel Biggie S’mores,’ a creamy, marshmallowey, boozy Imperial Stout. Tin Can Fish Band, a local Americana band will take the stage from 12:30 – 3 pm. Food will also be available from Return of the Mac and Divide Ride Taco Truck.
