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!
Fine Creek Brewing Co. will host a Happy Hour this Thursday and Friday from 3:00-5:00 with 25% off all food. Also on Thursday, the Powhatan brewery will host a Benefit for the Powhatan Volunteer Fire Dept. On Friday, its Game Swap Night from 5:00-8:00, donate a gently used game and get 50% a food item.
Strangeways will have a Mutt Strutt Launch Party tonight from 5 to 8 pm in partnership with Fetch A Cure featuring an evening of brews, snacks and pups, and you and your four-legged best friends are invited! The event will kick-off festivities for the October 22nd Mutt Strutt Pet Cancer Awareness Walk. At the Mutt Strutt Launch Party and Yappy Hour, you’ll have a chance to register individually or create your own unstoppable team to help raise funds for families whose pets need life-saving cancer treatment. In exchange for your generosity, Strangeways drink tokens will be given to registrants. Plus, 10% of all beer sales will go straight to FETCH!
Strangeways is also celebrating Oktoberfest in a major way. Kicking off this Sat., Sept. 15, -Oct. 31, sit outside in their biergarten and drink from steins, just like they do in the Old Country. One liter steins full of select flagship beers and their special Oktoberfest brew, FEST will be available starting Sept. 15 at 4pm through October for just $13. $20 gets you the liter of beer and you get to keep your commemorative Strangeways Brewing stein. Each Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Oktoberfest, the brewery spontaneously challenge our biergarten patrons to Stein holding contests for awesome Strangeways merchandise.
Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the main event, the annual Oktoberfest at St. Benedict’s Church at North Sheppard Street. German beer including 50 beers on tap, food, stein holding contests, music and more will go down all weekend. Hours: Friday 4 – 11pm, Saturday 11am – 11pm, and Sunday 12 – 6pm. FREE. Prost!
Also this weekend, Hardywood will tap their Benny & The Fest at the Oktoberfest event this weekend and again at their brewery on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Benny & the Fest is our take on a traditional marzen lager.
On Friday, Hardywood will also release its Tropic Like Its Hot, their 2017 VA Pride beer collaboration t Ardent Craft Ales & Center of the Universe Brewing .TROPIC LIKE IT’S HOT is a hefeweizen brewed with passion fruit, pineapple and lime.
Hardywood will also host their fifth annual Richmond Bluegrass Festival on Saturday. An all day celebration of music with mobile gourmet food vendors and unique beers on draft, the festival is FREE. The taps will begin flowing at 1PM. Live music begins at 2pm heres the lineup: Dragon Run, The Hot Seats. Slack Family Bluegrass Band, River City Band, Sweet Yonder.
On Friday, Triple Crossing will release its Division Order DIPA in cans. The Double IPA featrues notes of peach, pineapple, mango and white wine and was brewed with hops are Galaxy, Amarillo, El Dorado and Simcoe.
On Friday, Three Notch’d Brewing Company RVA Collab House returns with their weekly collab, this time its “Century” a BLonde Ale brewed with the Richmond Area Bicycle Association. The release is timed around their “Heart of Virginia” cycling event which includes a century ride (100 miles) and several shorter rides. Heart of Virginia benefits two charitable organizations, the RABA Foundation and its singular charitable effort “Bikes for Kids” and the Brain Injury Association of Virginia. The brew taps at 5pm (pint specials on the 1st keg or until 9pm) followed by Brewer’s Toast at 6pm.
Midnight Brewery is also getting into the Oktoberfest festivities this Saturday. Join 2-11 for the kick-off of Oktoberfest. There will be beer, songs, and surprises.
Ardent Craft Ales will release its Sweet Potato & Sage farmhouse-style saison this Thursday. They’ll have plenty on draft, as well as 4-packs of 12 oz. bottles to take home with you.
Final Gravity is celebrating its 2nd Anniversary on Saturday and they’re expanding into the back parking lot for the festivities. Here’s the rundown: GUEST TAPS:
The Veil Brewing Co.: Jimothy DIPA 8% ABV & Step Step Dad Dad Double Dry Hopped Mosaic DIPA 8.5% ABV
Oxbow Brewing Company: Grizacca American Grisette, 5% ABV
Ardent Craft Ales: Imperial Milk Stout with Coffee, 10% ABV
Triple Crossing Brewing: Clever Girl IPA, 6% ABV & Falcon Smash IPA, 7% ABV
Ocelot Brewing Company: Checkers and Chess IPA, 6.9%ABV
Kent Falls Brewing: Waymaker Brett IPA, 5.6% ABV
The Answer Brewpub: Extra Credit DIPA, 8% ABV
Prairie Artisan Ales: Birthday Bomb Imperial Stout, 13% ABV
**SPECIAL LIMITED FINAL GRAVITY RELEASES**
Foggy Notion DIPA, 8.2% ABV
Gold Foil DIPA, 8% ABV
Dark Matter BBA Stout, 11% ABV
Berliner (with rotating flavors), 5% ABV
LIMITED FIRST TIME BOTTLE RELEASE Transparent Radiation Brett Wheat Ale Barrel Aged in Red Wine Barrels for 8 Months. Only 200 bottles available. 2 BOTTLE LIMIT. 00 LIMITED RELEASE** Boombox Spaceman 16oz glasses for sale (one per person). Food trucks: Go Go Vegan Go and Slideways.
Blue Bee Cider will have an Oktoberfest-inspired menu featuring food from Pamela’s Party Pantry. – Mini potato pancakes with roasted applesauce, Bratwurst bites with whole grain mustard, Bialy bites with pimento cheese, Applecake bites with cinnamon whipped cream are on the menu. Pamela is also cooking up specific “Flight Bites” to be paired with their year-round ciders.
Twisted Ales will have its first can release with Industrial Rev, a New England style IPA juice bomb boasting Citra, Amarillo, Simcoe, & Lemondrop hops. Industrial Rev will be packaged in 4-pack 16oz. cans. Only 48 packs will be sold, limit one pack per person. Draft and growler fills (BYO growler) to go will also be available.
Steam Bell Beer Works will bring back the Hoppy Boy Farm Ale this Saturday. , a 7.6% Farmhouse Ale brewed with Byrd Mill Company‘s grits and fermented with locally foraged yeast strains. This beer was brewed especially for the 2016 RVA Fire, Flour & Fork Festival.
Any submissions or ideas for Tapped can be sent to Amy at amy@rvamag.com. Cheers!
