canon and draw brewing company

RVA ON TAP: The Return of Pumpkin (Finally)

Caley Sturgill | August 28, 2019

Topics: Ardent craft ales, beer, beer column, canon and draw brewing company, double ipa, Fine Creek Brewing Company, Hardywood, Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery, pumpkin, RVA On Tap, Steam Bell Beer Works, Stone Brewing-Richmond, three notchd, Triple Crossing Beer, vasen brewing

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 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 some great new releases from the brewers across Richmond, and HUGE big exciting news that I’ve been waiting a long time for. If you read this somewhat regularly, you’ll probably know (and be tired of) my summer woes and the desperate wait for fall… so you’ll know why I’m so pumped this week for:

The moooooost wonderful tiiiiiiiime ooooof the yeeeear!

FINALLY, fall is almost here, and the best tastes of the year are coming back. I’ve been waiting very impatiently since the end of last fall for another one to begin, and this beautiful short season better stick around longer this time.

If you’ve been eagerly-awaiting the return of pumpkin to your life, you’re not alone. Catch me in a flannel and dirty old boots eating an entire pie to myself and living my best life, I don’t care. I’m so happy this hell of a summer is almost over.

Our buds at Hardywood have the perfect beer to commemorate the happiest season of all: Farmhouse Pumpkin. It’s making its way back to the taps this Saturday, much to my enjoyment. This classic Richmond favorite is brewed with saison yeast, over 1,000 pounds of Virginia-grown sugar pumpkins from Grandma’s Pumpkins RVA, three pounds of whole nutmeg, clove and allspice, and over four pounds of fresh ginger root from the local Casselmonte Farm out in Powhatan. This farmhouse brew is soft on the tongue, with a great amount of rustic fall flavors to ring in the cold nights and changing leaves.

God, I’m so happy. I’ve been waiting to write this blurb for months. Go get a pumpkin beer! Also, in more great news, Hardywood’s dropping Union Break in cans on Friday, a delicious Belgian-style White Ale that took 10-hour days from the packaging team to bring to life — with plenty of stoic dedication, sorcerous endurance, and a steady diet of energy drinks, according to Hardywood. And, obviously, a big dose of 80’s heavy metal. This beauty is coming out for #FreshCanFriday right before the big pumpkin release, so if you ever needed a reason to spend an entire weekend at Hardywood, you’ve definitely got one now.

Out at Ardent Craft Ales, the Leigh Street DIPA can release is going down tomorrow night. This beer made its debut a while back, but it’s returning to us in cans with its big, juicy flavor that was double dry-hopped. In its brewing, Ardent used only Mosaic hops, so it’s packed with the tropical, fruity flavors and aromas its hops are known for.

This is actually my current favorite beer-type, because it’s up there in alcohol at 8% ABV, but still soft to the taste. You’ll catch a low bitterness with this one, but still the classic bold flavors you expect from a brew that’s been through a double dry-hopped process. This is one I definitely don’t want to miss a taste of, so if you’ve got similar taste, swing by for a set while you can.

Falcon Day! Triple Crossing Beer’s got something awesome brewing, with a giant four-part release coming up this Friday. You’ll have to bounce back and forth between their downtown and Fulton locations if you want to try all four, but my bets are on that you won’t need so many. Triple Crossing’s Fulton spot is one of my favorite in town, and not too far from Stone Brewing Richmond if you’re looking to make a brewery-hopping evening out of it.

Beloved favorites are coming out in cans and crowlers to bring the full series out at once, with Falcon Smash IPA’s Retro Can Release at both locations, Space Falcon IPA and Falcon Heavy DIPA at just Fulton on Friday, and finally, Baby Falcon Session IPA in crowlers only at both locations.

Also on Friday, make a pit stop in the East End at Stone Brewing Richmond for the release of their Mango Maya Milkshake IPA in collaboration with Rusty Burrell.

To bring this beer to life, Stone partnered up with the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) to host a people’s choice-style homebrew competition in Richmond. The winner, Robert “Rusty” Burrell, was chosen to brew in collaboration with Stone — and perhaps a reason for him to feel extra-lucky, his beer will also be entered into the annual Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am coming up later this year.

Rusty himself will be hanging out at the brewery on Friday evening, so stop by our favorite East End spot for a taste of your own and give him a cheers for his success.

*PHOTO: Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery*

A lot has been brewing at Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery lately, in these brand-new collaboration beers with Three Notch’d RVA Collab House.

Starting off, The Source Blueberry Milkshake IPA looks like it’s absolutely to-die for. They’ve also got Juicy #14, which if you remember from last week, sounded amazing. The two brewers together also released The Source IPA, brewed with lactose for the perfect texture.

Lickinghole and Three Notch’d are two of my favorites in this huge sea of breweries that we call Richmond, because there’s nothing quite like an evening on the farm with Lickinghole (especially when the sunflowers are out for picking), and because I’ve spent many an evening with Three Notch’d down at their spot in my hometown, Roanoke. They were a welcome addition to Roanoke’s downtown, which is slowly growing with a number of breweries of its own, and they’re doing some awesome things up here in Richmond at their RVA Collab House.

Over the weekend at Väsen Brewing Company, Azanian Passion came out in all its hazy, New England-style Double IPA glory. Another Double IPA right up my alley (and hopefully up yours, too), Azanian Passion has some intense hop aromas “leaping” from each glass, which are brought to you by its perfectly-balanced combination of Azacca, Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, and Southern Passion hops. It’s also packed with tropical flavors like pineapple and passionfruit, which are complemented by its different piney and floral notes. According to the brewers, it’s moderately bitter and intensely hoppy, so you’ll find yourself somewhere in the middle of the traditional IPA flavors.

Out at Fine Creek Brewing, a Friday Beer Feature dropped over the weekend that sounds like earthy dessert in a glass. Hudson Henry Granola Stout hits in at 7% ABV, and this traditional oatmeal-stout inspired brew was made in collaboration with the Hudson Henry Baking Co.

Rather than the oats of a traditional recipe, Fine Creek swapped for original granola to bring out some *delicious* maple, pecan, and coconut flavors. You’ll taste mild roasted grain flavors in this one, and even more with maple syrup, roasted malt, cafe con leche, and subtle toasted coconut… plus highlights of chocolate, vanilla, and dark roast coffee. Does it get any better than that? I’ll be damned, I don’t think it does.

Tonight at Canon & Draw Brewing Company, head over for a tasty (and hilarious) release. Canon & Draw has been running a series lately that they call the “Tim & Matt Awesome Beer Great Job!” IPA Series, which has featured great flavors like tropical fruits and floral aromas, with orange and grapefruit juice, plus hints of pine.

Next up in the series is Season 2, which you can taste anytime after 2pm today at the West Main Street brewery — so if you’re reading this in the morning and already craving a new beer, they’ve got you covered for day drinking after lunch.

A new American Barleywine is on its way to Steam Bell Beer Works this Friday, and if you’ve never tasted a Barleywine, get prepared. These thick, dark beer-wine mashups are heavy on the throat, but lord, they taste good.

If you’re not big on stouts and porters, this one might not be for you — but if you got as excited as I did for Fine Creek’s granola stout, this might just be up your alley. Hitting in at 10.6% ABV, you’ll want to go easy on the drinking, and you can grab it on draft or take it to-go if you think you’re better off not having to call that Uber afterward. Either way, a good Barleywine can be really hard to find in the city, so Steam Bell’s latest release is one you’ll want to get a taste of one way or another while you can!

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 [email protected], and if you’re a beer enthusiast, drop me a line anytime to talk booze. Catch y’all next week!

RVA ON TAP: Syrup, Honey, & The Sweet Brews of Summer

Caley Sturgill | July 17, 2019

Topics: beer, beer column, Black Heath Meadery, canon and draw brewing company, craft beer, final gravity brewing co, Fine Creek Brewing Company, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Isley Brewing Company, RVA On Tap, Steam Bell Beer Works, Strangeways Brewing, Three Notch’d RVA Collab House

This week, we’re diving into the hottest temperatures of the summer so far with lots of fresh brews to keep you cool (and one special beer to help poor warm-blooded folks like myself reminisce on colder, happier times).

Love is alive in Virginia! More local spots are carrying on the 50 Years of Love Campaign celebrations this week, with a Weizenbock release from Fine Creek Brewing Company. This special-edition beer was brewed to bring out all the best qualities Virginia Maple Syrup has to offer, brewed with 50 pounds of it right here from the Old Dominion. Back Creek Farm provided the delicious, syrupy goodness to make this recipe a success, and it’s got a story with its own history of love to complement its role in this heavy wheat beer’s taste.

According to Fine Creek, Back Creek Farm has been around for generations making batches of syrup on their land. The area used to be home to many different farms with sugar houses, but Back Creek is the last left remaining after the years. Their syrup has a rich, smoky flavor from its cooking process over wood fires, with the same process their current owner used when he was 8 years old and working with his father.

You’ll get a taste of the past in this brew, as Back Creek is still using the buckets and original open pan that were passed down by their great-grandmother on the farm. If the 50 Years of Love Campaign is all about sharing what you love, this farm has decades of stories and full hearts to share theirs. I’m excited to see Fine Creek pairing up with them to make this Weizenbock, on one hand because I’m something of a syrup enthusiast, and on another because I know as a rural girl in my own heart that the best stuff doesn’t come from a store. That’s love, y’all.

I doubt many of y’all will remember me from back then, but a few years ago when I first joined the magazine as an intern back in college, I wrote a feature on Minor Poet’s “River Days” when it came out. That song was an excellent ode to summertime in Richmond, and the endless-feeling days that come along with it.

Hearing about Hardywood’s new River Daze release brought back some great memories of that summer, and like every summer in the River City, it looked a lot like this one — days spent by the James with good friends and good beers. River Daze is a great way to jump-start your weekend (especially looking at that 100° Saturday forecast) with a lighter 6.0% ABV New England-Style IPA. This warm-weather beer was brewed with Nelson, Cascade, and Eureka hops to crush the heat and keep your summer days rolling on — and don’t forget to put on some Minor Poet while you’re at it.

Not all who wander are lost, right? Right… at least for Final Gravity Brewing Co., because this beer is anything but lost. Wandering Star was brewed with many flavors and hops in mind, and beloved by drinkers at the brewery, it’s right on point. It returns to the brewery this Friday, and the 8.0% ABV Double IPA was cooked up with a whirlpool of Citra hops and dry-hopped with Mosaic to bring out its tropical fruit flavors, like orange, lime, and grapefruit.

Two of my faves came together this week to bring out a sweet honey brew. Three Notch’d RVA Collab House partnered up with Black Heath Meadery to drop A Little Dab of Honey over the weekend — a Honey Wheat Ale made especially for the season. If you’re looking for a taste of nature in your glass, this is your guy. You’ll find flavors of wildflower honey in this light, 6.3% ABV beer, and a great collab between two beloved Virginia brew teams.

This one will go fast, according to Three Notch’d, and they want to make sure you remember to swing by Black Heath Meadery if you’re in the neighborhood as well. If you remember from earlier this month, Black Heath just released their Aw, Shmucks strawberry mead to give us the best fruity flavors in a very appropriately-colored beer — it looks just as it tastes, like strawberry jam and alcohol came together in your mug for a great summer infusion. Peanut butter not required.

Here’s something I haven’t seen before in Richmond! Isley Brewing Company is dropping their Pistachio Pilsner infusion this Friday, and they’re the first I’ve heard to use this awesome nut flavor in a beer since I’ve been your columnist. Back in the day, I remember pistachios being a huge thing almost out-of-the-blue when pistachio ice cream first became popular, and since then, I’ve seen it all around in various foods — but never drinks! I can sit down and slam a pound of these bad boys in a sitting on any given day, so I’m all open to trying them in beer. This is definitely one we’ll be looking forward to, so make your way over to Scott’s Addition to give it a taste and let us know how you liked it.

Cheers to our friends at Strangeways for this awesome release over the weekend. Hotel Del Coronado just dropped on Saturday at the brewery, a West Coast Double IPA that hits in at 8.6% ABV (and at 92 IBU, you can expect some nice bitter flavors from this one). Hotel Del Coronado was brewed with Pilsner malt, Honey malt, Brasetto Rye, and Murphy & Rude Belgian Amber Malt to make an “aggressively bitter” — go easy on it, folks — Double IPA with dank and piney tastes.

With its double dry-hopped process, this brew has a complex but clean base after its initial hop additions. Simcoe and Green Bullet hops are prominent, with a great homage paid to San Diego flavors and all of you “hop heads” out there, as Strangeways notes.

Now on to some events: Oyster Feeest! Hope you like slimy sea bugs in your mouth, because Canon & Draw Brewing Company partnered up with White Stone Oyster Company and Texas Beach Bloody Mary Mix to bring you a day packed with the shelled delicacies and all the best drinks you’ll want to go with them.

Oysterfest is going down this Saturday at Canon & Draw, with oysters of all kinds for any variety of tastes. With steamed oysters, Micheladas, oyster shooters, Bloody Marys, and the brewery’s excellent new take on River City Tap Water, there’s something for everyone — so as long as you like seafood, bring your appetite.

On its way to Steam Bell Beer Works is an amazing combination: Ginger Ale and beer! Extra Plenty Ginger Gose Ale is heading out to the brewery soon, and just look at these roots:

As a reminder from Steam Bell, you should never judge a flavor by its color. These pale, white ginger roots pack a ton of flavor in any drink they’re added to, and the upcoming beer release is no exception. I’ve been on a huge ginger ale lemonade kick lately, so this is right up my alley. By the way, if you’re new to that duo, do yourself a favor and go grab a case at Kroger. Trust me.

Steam Bell also wants to remind us that even in the middle of summer, stout season never ends. They’ve got their Tiramisu Stout ready to go this July, and these are two of my most favorite things to come together for a beer. Last winter, you could find me more excited with every passing week for the heavy flavors of the season, and dessert-infused brews that marry the sweet with the bitter. You can look forward to that enthusiasm finding its way back as soon as this hellhole season is over and my perfect cold days return to me. But for now, thank god someone’s offering up a taste of better times in the middle of this muggy summer in the city.

RVA ON TAP: Let’s Get Fruity

Caley Sturgill | March 27, 2019

Topics: Black Heath Meadery, canon and draw brewing company, Champion Brewing Company, Fine Creek Brewing Company, garden grove, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Isley Brewing Company, the answer brewpub, The Veil Brewing Co.

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.

This week, we get to vote on our favorite local breweries (only until tomorrow!) and check out a few new releases coming up. We’re off to a slower week to follow up on the last one, which was totally packed with events, and some awesome tastes this time to keep rolling into the warmer weather.

Before we jump into the goings-on of the week in beer, head over to NBC12 to vote for your favorite local breweries in their Brewery Bracket. This is a really fun way for the drinkers of the city to give their input back and vote for the ones who they keep coming back to — it’s honestly hard to pick between a lot of these choices, but voting ends tomorrow night, so make sure to hop on it while you can!

Happy 4th birthday, Black Heath Meadery!! Come out and celebrate all weekend long, hosted at The Hive in Scott’s Addition. They’ll be featuring special mead releases every day, starting Friday off with a Bourbon Barrel Aged Sour Cherry with Vanilla mead, which just in its own name sounds absolutely mouthwatering. Following up on Saturday, grab a taste of Black Heath’s ZZQ Smoked Pear Cyser, and close out the weekend’s events with their Barrel Aged Ginger Lemongrass Cider on Sunday.

In new brews this week, check out Isley Brewing Company’s Pineapple IPA that’s dropping for their weekly Infusion Friday. It comes along with many in the season of fruity-IPA’s, and we’re stoked to see more of these coming out around town. Isley will be hosting the release at their spot in Scott’s Addition with the Right On Time Mobile Diner, so check it out if you’re feelin’ fruity (aren’t we always?) and taste one for me, too.

Yesterday, The Veil Brewing Co. dropped Never Never Rest Rest, a new Gose brew in their series of “Never” beers that keeps going strong. With a history of beers like Never Never Forever Forever, Never Again, Never Never Again Again, Never Never Gonnagetit Gonnagetit, Never Never Aloha Aloha, and still so many more that are certainly going to twist my tongue if I keep going — Never Never Rest Rest is still a special one of the bunch. This Gose is packed with double guava and double raspberry to bring in the fruits again, and at 5.1%, it’s a solid day-drinker for the flavor outdoors.

Head over to Richmond’s sweethearts on Saturday for the release of Bourbon Cru. Hardywood is dropping this bad boy with its rich mahogany color this weekend, and it’s brewed to mimic the fashion of the revered monastic breweries of Belgium. After months of barrel-aging, according to Hardywood, the “maturity and melding of flavors” that’s brought on by the freshly-drained bourbon whiskey barrels “lends an extraordinary sense of harmony” to this special beer.

For flavor, you’ll get a lot of tastes of almond, toffee, and oaky vanilla with hints of dark cherries and raisins, with caramel overtones to top it off — and as usual, me drooling at my keyboard while I write about it. Holy yum, y’all.

If you’re looking for fun on a weeknight, head over to Champion Brewing Company tomorrow for the Untz Festival Richmond Pre-Party featuring Secret Recipe Music. You’ll also catch the Wormhole Music Group and Mister Jennings, Richmond’s “sherpa of swing” according to Champion. They say you should come prepared to get absolutely-down from the moment the doors open, so make sure to pregame and get the fun rolling on before you walk in for an instant party. The whole show’s put together by Ebisu Sound and Home Bass, and it’ll be an awesome spot in a series of events at Champion over the season. Get your jam on, Richmond!

Over the weekend, Garden Grove had several releases that you’re definitely gonna want to try. Fruit Bomb IPA is first up, and this blend of Citra, BRU-1, and New Zealand Rakau hops is packed with spring fruitiness and wild yeast. To offset the warm weather brews, Garden Grove also dropped a Chocolate Imperial Stout to bring in a rich flavor with its real-chocolate flavors and Sumac Berries. It’s full of complex tastes that bring out a long, chocolatey finish, so if you’re hanging on to winter this one’s for you!

Earlier last week, The Answer Brewpub dropped One Beer, a collaboration brew with Black Ninja Design and 8Bit Adam Kaufman. This one was brewed up with hops like Motueka, Falconer’s Flight, and El Dorado — and like always at The Answer, it comes in a badass glass. Also like always: the good ones go fast! So make sure to swing by and grab a taste of this One while you can.

Also over the weekend, Fine Creek Brewing Company had a special release for their Friday Beer Feature. This New Zealand Saison comes in at 6%, and it’s dry-hopped and made with a house Saison yeast as its base to bring out its lemon-lime, zesty smells with its fruity ingredients. It’s also boosted with pear flavors from the yeast with layers of tropical fruit, and it’s available out at the brewery on tap, in Growlers and in Crowlers.

Happy 1st birthday, Canon and Draw Brewing Company!! Two birthdays in one week — how lucky is that? For their birthday, Canon and Draw just dropped their *first ever* bottle release, so it’s definitely a special occasion! But first, story time.

Last year, “with nothing but good spirits and an old van,” the folks behind Canon and Draw made a personal pilgrimage to ol’ Frankfort, Kentucky to retrieve some gold: retired barrels from the Buffalo Trace Distillery’s finest reserves, from a special friend of the owners. From those barrels was born Le Confort Du Vide, C&D’s American Barleywine that was made in just one barrel of the adventure’s haul — and it’s been sitting quietly for over a year waiting to be freed. They made it special for their first anniversary, and its tastes sound like a dream. Brown sugar, vanilla, and bourbon blend with layers of caramel in this birthday brew that even out each taste to complement the gentle bitterness of its American hops. With a “pleasant warmth,” this one-time-recipe celebrates the warmth of the season alongside the warmth of celebrating your first trip around the sun. Congrats, Canon and Draw!