Tapped 12/16-12/22: Triple Crossing Star Wars Party, Isley’s Mos Eisley Brown Ale, and COTU releases Pepperhoptas

by | Dec 16, 2015 | EAT DRINK

What’s happening craft beer lovers of RVA?! Welcome to this week’s “Tapped,” RVA Magazine’s go to weekly beer column.


What’s happening craft beer lovers of RVA?! Welcome to this week’s “Tapped,” RVA Magazine’s go to weekly beer column.

We’ve brewed up quite a bit of news so all you beer thirsty folks can be in the know about recent news and actually have something fun to do with your weekend other than sitting on the couch stuffing your face with Doritos and binging on Netflix.

The holidays are almost upon us are many of the local breweries are getting into the spirit with gingerbread, christmas cookie, and other holiday-insipred brews! So whether you’ve been naughty or nice there’s something for everyone in this round on tapped! But first check out what you missed last week:

Charlottesville-based brewery Three Notch’d announced plans to open its third location in Richmond in Scott Addition sometime next year. Check out our story on that here.

Hardywood released its Christmas Morning brew. This imperial milk stout contains locally roasted Brazilian and Sumatran coffee beans from Black Hand Coffee Company and hints of honey and oven baked gingerbread.

Now without further ado, hold out your cups for this week’s booze news:

Hardywood is hitting you with more versions of their Gingerbread Stout. Because they know and you know you just can’t get enough of it! This weekend, on the 18th, the brewery will release Kentucky Christmas Morning and Apple Brandy Bourbon Gingerbread Stout. For the former, Hardywood’s original Gingerbread Stout takes an initial transformation through months of aging in Kentucky bourbon barrels, reaching new levels of maturity with layers of vanilla, coconut, and toasted oak. 10.6 %

The Apple Brandy brew, also involves blending their Gingerbread Stout with the cinnamon kissed oak staves of the apple brandy barrels. This barrel aged imperial milk stout has notes of honey, chocolate and fragrant cinnamon

Garden Grove Brewery in Carytown will release its first collaboration with Blue Bee Cider this Friday Dec. 18. Titled “#1”, the brewery used juice from the Grimes Golden apple. The final result is a “cyser”, a cider/mead hybrid, with just enough grain to stay legit. Along with the release Garden Grove is hosting an AWESOME adoption, Food & Toy drive with FETCH a cure’s Pen Pals program onFriday from 5:30-7:30. Get double Happy Hour by bringing in new dog toy or treats!!

Calling all Star Wars fans! Triple Crossing is hosting a Star Wars Launch Party and Costume Contest on Friday at 5 pm. Best Costume will win a TCB gift certificate so don your best Darth Vader or Stormtrooper getup! The brewery will have Millennium Falcon Smash IPA on draft for one day only. And its early enough that you can stop in, have a beer, show off your awesome costume, than head to see the return of the everyone’s favorite sci-fi flick!

Isley Brewing is getting hyped for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” as well! They will release the first Mos Eisley’ Brown Ale this Sat. December 19. 6%.

Strangeways is bringing you not one, not two, but three beer releases come Saturday. The Triple Threat beer release event will feature “Beyond the Ouija Tripel,the “Virginia Stingo Red Wine Barrel Aged Strong Ale” and “The Snake & The Snowman.”

Beyond the Ouija Tripel is a 7% Belgian Tripel from their Woodsmen Series.It was aged a full year in wild oak barrels. The Virginia Stingo Red Wine Barrel Aged Strong Ale, coming in at a whopping 10%, is an old English ale in their Annihilation Series. The name Stingo, derived from a fashionable slang word in the 1700’s for a strong or old English ale. Last but certainly not least is the The Snake & The Snowman bottle release. This Belgian strong golden Ale if you remember, is a ccllaborative project between Head Brewer Mike Hiller and long-time friend and metal/punk music industry icon, drummer Dave Witte.

Ardent Craft Ales will release its Bourbon Barrel Dark Rye this Sat. Dec. 19. Coffee. Rum. And now Bourbon Barrel Dark Rye. What more do you need to know?

Center of the Universe will release its spicy Pepperhoptas this Sat. Dec. 19 and I can’t wait try this one! They tried many a pepper, and decided on the Trinidad 7 pot. It is one of the world’s hottest peppers. The name was given because one pepper is claimed to be hot enough to flavor seven pots of stew. The pepper adds fruity and nutty tones that balance with the grapefruit citrus and floral aromas. Being a fan of all things spicy myself, Im going to have to give this a taste!

Lickinghole Creek will release its Goochland Quad and Coconut brew this Sat Dec 19. This Belgian-Style Quadrupel Ale clocks in at 11.2% and has tasting notes of raisin, plum, prune & currants.

Please send any submissions or idea for Tapped to amy@rvamag.com. There will be one more Tapped column before the holidays! Cheers everyone!!

Amy David

Amy David

Amy David was the Web Editor for RVAMag.com from May 2015 until September 2018. She covered craft beer, food, music, art and more. She's been a journalist since 2010 and attended Radford University. She enjoys dogs, beer, tacos, and Bob's Burgers references.




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