Center of the Universe Archives

RVA ON TAP: Ugly Sweaters & Gingerbread Holiday Brews

Caley Sturgill | December 4, 2019

Topics: ardent, bars in richmond va, beer, beer column, Center of the Universe, craft beer richmond va, events in richmond va, events near me this weekend, events richmond va, Final Gravity, garden grove, happy hour richmond va, Hardywood, Intermission Beer Company, Lickinghole Creek, richmond events, richmond va, RVA, RVA On Tap, Strangeways Brewing, The Answer, The Veil, things to do in richmond va, things to do richmond va, Väsen

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’re honoring the life of Garden Grove Brewing & Urban Winery’s Co-Owner, Michael Brandt, and sending our love to their team from all of our Richmond beer family.

We’re also diving into the beginning of holiday events this week, with beer releases from The Answer Brewpub, Hardywood, Center of the Universe, and more, in addition to Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery’s ugly sweater party. The winter beers are in full swing with favorites like Ardent Craft Ales, Väsen Brewing Company, Final Gravity Brewing Co., The Veil Brewing Co., and Intermission Beer Company — plus an 80s throwback party with Strangeways Brewing.

The next Booze Clues live podcast is going down this coming Sunday as well, investigating the how and why of the world’s most “spirited” headlines over at The Hof at 5pm. If you want to make it out for the live recording, this podcast is a blast to listen to — and this is an extra-special Xmas Edition. You can check out their last podcast here, and we’ll see you Sunday for the show!

*PHOTO: Garden Grove Brewing & Urban Winery*

Before we jump in for the week, we want to take a moment to honor the life of Garden Grove Brewing & Urban Winery’s Co-Owner, Brewer, and Winemaker, Michael Brandt, who passed suddenly last week. The folks at Garden Grove are a wonderful group of people, and we’re devastated for their loss and the loss of this great brewer who was so dear to our craft beer community. They’ve asked for privacy during this time, and we’re sending all our love to their team as they take their next steps forward. We love you, Garden Grove, and we are so heartbroken for your loss. We wish you all sincerely the best from your beer family here at the magazine.

*PHOTO: Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery*

In holiday event news, it’s time for an ugly sweater party on the farm at Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery. Over the years, ugly Christmas sweater parties have really taken off. I’d speculate it’s from my grandparents’ generation of boomers happily doting themselves in bells, battery-powered lights, cotton balls, and the like, but this weird tradition probably goes back a lot further than my 25-year-old mind would know. Either way, it’s here to stay — so why not celebrate it?

My family all got together for a home-staged photoshoot in our (poorly) handmade sweaters back in high school, set appropriately in the “formal living room” of my grandmother’s house, where no one is allowed to carry a cup of water over the plush, white-carpeted floors. Wine might get you disowned entirely. The entire house is still perfectly intact from when it was built and decorated in 1972, complete with velvet jungle-themed wallpaper, a life-sized painting of a lion in the den, and wood paneled walls to compliment an oversized Christmas tree.

The tree room overlooks the mountains from the top of the hill in my quaint Roanoke town, in a house that looks like a 70s mountain cabin dream where my cousins and I were raised for many, many years with the love of our sweet grandmother. Holiday sweaters will forever take me back to that day, and to the endless days spent on that hillside that I’d give anything to see every day again. There’s no place like home, y’all. So, in the spirit of the holidays, it’s time to get your family traditions out now, too.

The fine folks at Lickinghole Creek have invited us to join their farm’s family this Saturday for their tacky sweater party, with a contest to bring it all together at 5pm. My sweater is long buried (and probably donated to Goodwill by now), but if you’ve got yours packed away, bring them out for the occasion and enjoy Twelfth Night three-pack deals on brews, and live music with Tribus through the evening.

While we were gone for the holiday break, tons of great events and beers came along that we previewed in our Thanksgiving Holiday edition of RVA On Tap. A few more gems were released as well, like The Answer Brewpub’s sixtel of Incognito Browser, pictured above. This one brings in all the deep, rich tastes of classic winter brews with flavors like Creme Brulee coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, and my personal favorite, maple. This one’s a limited edition, so make sure to grab a glass while the pours still last — it won’t be back after it’s gone!

The Answer also dropped two more beers on Black Friday, starting with Hairy Coconuts (what a fantastic name). This 10.5% ABV Imperial Stout is dessert in a can, with Oreo cookies and toasted coconut flavors to bring the chocolate in even after the Thanksgiving sweets leftovers are all gone. Black Doom closed out their releases last week, in a perfect combination of activated charcoal and bright citrus to make this DIPA pour completely black. It’s deceivingly light, according to its brewers, and you can catch these tropical tastes at the brewery this week.

Every year, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery drops some special new variations of their famous Gingerbread Stout, and this year’s no different. If you’re looking for a taste of something new with that classic beloved taste, head over to the brewery this Saturday for the release of their new Triple Barrel GBS and Gingerbread Porter.

The Triple Barrel GBS is not for the faint of heart, as this 13.5% ABV brew comes to us from 11 months in brandy barrels, plus four additional months split between Caribbean rum barrels and A. Smith Bowman bourbon barrels. All together, that means it’s a hard hitter, and you’ll likely only need one (and on a holiday budget, that’s music to our ears!) to get that warm, fuzzy GBS feeling inside.

Gingerbread Porter, on the other hand, brings out a whole new recipe, as a 9.2% ABV Imperial Porter that was brewed with local white ginger and wildflower honey. As a bonus, it’s lactose-free, so it’s an easy drinker for those with a restricted diet.

In more news at Hardywood, the brewery recently started a new video series called Dads on Beer. Their latest video features Hardywood’s Hank and Skip breaking down the Kentucky Christmas Morning GBS beer, which, if you remember from a couple weeks back, is a variation of their Christmas-spiced recipe with Kentucky’s own Heaven Hills Bourbon. It’s a really fun series, so keep your eyes peeled for more on the horizon.

It’s back! The Jesus Mexican Hot Chocolate Imperial Stout has returned to Center of the Universe Brewing in Ashland, and this is one you surely won’t want to miss. The crowd favorite marries the sweet to the spicy, with cayenne peppers, cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla bringing this Mexican Hot Chocolate to life in a brew.

The divine libation is perfect for “polishing balls and talking smack before the semis,” according to Center of the Universe, and they say this is a “no bush league, psych-out brew, because nobody………. with The Jesus!”

The 11.4% ABV stout is in a good middle range of alcohol content for stouts, and it’s packed with chocolate, ganache, and holiday spices to complement its Belgian Dark Candi syrup, cinnamon, and habanero pepper. It’s meant to warm its drinkers with the heat from its peppers, and glide over the tongue “like silk” in its deliciously spicy finish. You can grab a glass of your own at Center of the Universe this Saturday at its release party, with the Freekin’ Rican Puerto Rican food truck and live music to accompany it.

Black Friday Maple Dark Rye is fresh at Ardent Craft Ales, and this series of brews is full of great variations. Maple is the latest flavor in their releases, as a new recipe derived from their Dark Rye Imperial Stout. You’ll catch flavors of barrel-aged maple syrup along with vanilla and toffee in this one, and the 11.8% ABV brew comes from their year-long maple syrup barrel-aged classic with a roasted rye base.

Next up at Ardent is their Winter American Sour Ale, which you can catch a taste of tomorrow night at the brewery. This brew features a blend of wine barrel flavors in a “funky, farmhouse saison” that was aged for nine months in both red and white wine barrels (so if you love both tastes, you won’t have to pick). According to its brewers, Winter American Sour Ale is a complex beer with restrained acidity, and it hits in at 7% ABV with 36 IBU.

Väsen Brewing Company brought out a couple new releases recently, starting with Norse Double IPA. It’s my favorite type of beer (as you all probably know by now), and this double-dry-hopped DIPA came together with Citra, Mosaic, and Amarillo hops. These are great drinkers for any season of the year, but on these colder nights, this specific beer’s fruit flavors of grapefruit, tangerine, and pine are a refreshing blend of summer and winter.

Apricot Sour also made its debut over the weekend, with hundreds of pounds of apricot to ensure it doesn’t miss an inch of flavor. The Black Friday brew helped us hide away from the craziness of post-Thanksgiving shopping, and it’s here still to get you through the rest of the holiday season. According to its brewers, Apricot Sour is a bright, funky sour, and it’s packed with strawberry, tangerine, and subtle floral notes along with its brown sugar additions.

Another delicious DIPA is here with Final Gravity Brewing Co.’s My Shangri-La, the product of dry-hopped Citra and Cashmere hops. This Hazy DIPA is definitely on my list this week, and along with it, Final Gravity also has more new flavors on tap. Ancient Mariner Gose is out in Pomegranate and Pineapple Passionfruit, which means our brewery friends are missing the flavors of summer a bit like we are. It may be the best time of year for food, but while we’re not short on great beer releases lately, it’s refreshing to see these evergreen flavors still coming out fresh.

Last week, Stone Brewing Richmond celebrated the nice November weather with their Stone Winter Harvest Triple. In addition to having their collab Stone Saison Du Buff with Dogfish Head and Victory Brewing Company out for tastes, they tapped this keg to bring out the wine-infused recipe. Winter Harvest Triple was barrel-aged in white wine barrels after being brewed with red wine grapes from South Coast Winery, plus four strains of Brettanomyces yeast. It’s “dangerously drinkable,” according to its brewers, at 10.7% ABV — so make sure to sip slowly on this one when you swing by the brewery for a glass of your own.

Canon & Draw Brewing Company brought out the Thanksgiving goodness with their Stroopwafels over the weekend. This Just A Small Piece Sweet Potato Pie Milk Stout, a classic holiday-flavored brew, was infused into waffles with the folks at Campus Waffle RVA.

The finished product is a delicious combination of cakey desserts and stout beer, all wrapped up into pumpkin spice Stroopwafels to bring the local drinkers and foodies together in the perfect mix.

Out at The Veil Brewing Co., another great multi-release came out last night. They’ve got five brews ready to go this time around, starting with Never Never Again Again (pictured above). This recipe is a double-fruited raspberry Gose, bright as can be in color and just as rich in flavor. At 5.1% ABV, it keeps it simple and makes for a very easy drinker.

Master Shredder, a Mosaic-forward IPA, was up next. It’s another lower-ABV beer at 5.5%, and it’s also a classic from the brewery, according to The Veil. Master Shredder is out right now for the last time in printed cans, so if you’re looking to grab a piece of history from your favorite brewery, now’s your chance.

?? followed, and as my favorite in the list, it’s a double dry-hopped Triple IPA. It was originally brewed with all Citra hops, then dry-hopped with Galaxy, Enigma, BRU-1, Motueka, and Citra again in its dry-hop process — a perfect Citra-forward TIPA for those of us who lean more towards an 11% ABV brew like this one.

Don’t Move is a fresh addition to The Veil’s ever-growing list, and it’s a nicely orange-colored DIPA that comes to us from Galaxy, Mosaic, Idaho 7, and Nelson hops. It hits in at 8% ABV, and it’s available in 4-packs as well.

They is fifth on the bill from the night. Outside the IPA family, this lager recipe was step-mashed with raw wheat before being hopped with its Perle and El Dorado hops. It’s another lower-ABV beer on the list at 5%, making it a great pour for any day of the week.

Over at Intermission Beer Company, Winter Warmer is here to cozy up these chilly days. The recipe this year just dropped over the weekend, and it was inspired by a friend of the brewery. Kate’s Ginger Molasses Cookie brought the flavors of this beer to life — full of vanilla, clove, and ginger — to have a 9.3% ABV in a nicely-balanced holiday brew.

Strangeways Brewing has a great event for us this week with their 80s Flashback Dance Party coming up this Friday. I recently spent a great evening in Carytown at a spot playing almost exclusively 80s music, and this next one will be a blast as well. Strangeways is inviting us all to bring out our 80s attire and “take the party back to the greatest decade,” with dances and clothing from The Moonwalk and The Sprinkler to big hair, headbands, leotards and ripped jeans. If you’re ready to relive the glory days, Strangeways is looking for you.

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: Thanksgiving Holiday Edition

Caley Sturgill | November 20, 2019

Topics: beer, beer column, booze news, Canon And Draw, Center of the Universe, craft beer, dark daze, final gravity brewing co, gbs, gingerbread stout, Hardywood, holiday, holiday beer, holidays, Isley Brewing Company, Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery, local beer, RVA On Tap, Starr Hill, Steam Bell Beer Works, Stone Brewing-Richmond, Thanksgiving, thanksgiving eve party, the answer brewpub, The Veil, Three Notch’d RVA Collab House, Triple Crossing Beer, winter

This week, we’re gearing up for Thanksgiving and diving into events and beer releases from today through the holiday (so get your beer plans early, and make sure a few of these special brews make it on your calendar!) — plus plenty of celebrations and new beers all around town.

In our Booze News Holiday Edition, The Answer Brewpub kicks off Black Friday with re-releases of old favorites, plus Dark Daze beer releases with The Veil Brewing Co. and Center of the Universe’s SHUT UP beer for your holiday family woes. Hardywood drops their spicy-GBS Christmas Morning next week, and Steam Bell Beer Works has a Raspberry Tiramisu Stout up their sleeves. Don’t miss Rudolph The Red Ale Reinbeer from Isley Brewing Company, Thanksgiving Eve at Canon & Draw, Triple Crossing Beer’s Christmas market, and more with Stone Brewing Richmond, Lickinghole Creek, Final Gravity, and Three Notch’d RVA Collab House.

Kicking off our holiday events is the upcoming Black Friday at The Answer Brewpub. I don’t know about you, but Black Friday in my household is a time of avoiding the outdoors, staying in with the people I love, and waiting for Cyber Monday. But this year is different, because The Answer gave us something to have the best of both worlds.

Head over to the brewery next Friday (Nov 29) to kick it with your Answer family, enjoying all the excitement of Black Friday without all the stress. The Answer will have celebratory releases throughout the day, like bringing back some of their favorite stout recipes from their library and hosting two new glass releases. You’ll be able to grab the glass in the photo above, along with another special glass and a special beer release that you’ll find at the event.

Some of our favorite recipes will be back out for the event, with taps from The Answer like Bill Better Have My Money, Diablo Forever, At The Beginning Of The Day, Shrinkage, Jinxy Cat, and Fam Gotta Eat. See you there!

On the eve of Thanksgiving, something most delicious is returning to Steam Bell Beer Works: a Raspberry Tiramisu Stout. As far as raspberries and Thanksgiving go, I will never not associate this holiday with the fruit, thanks to years of my beautiful mother making her raspberry crumble each November.

The darker-tasting fruit is perfect for this time of year, with tangy, bold flavors that complement all the tastes of Thanksgiving. After all my dessert ramblings, if you think my dessert-crazed family should consult our dentists about our sweet tooth issues, you’re probably right. But if you want all the goodness of those treats without all the sugar, this brew is for you: Raspberry Tiramisu Stout brings the best of the chocolatey, raspberry-packed flavors together with beer. Grab your glass at the brewery on Thanksgiving Eve (Nov 27) and don’t miss music from the Pat Russell Band and eats with the Firesides Food Truck.

This week at Hardywood (Nov 23), the brewery is “recreating the best morning of the year” with Christmas Morning, a variation of their Gingerbread Stout with locally-roasted Mexican Chiapas Coffee. This brew, along with its many siblings, has been awarded time and time again for its exceptional tastes and named one of the Top 25 Milk Stouts in the world (BeerAdvocate).

All that’s to say: you need a taste of this beer. Christmas Morning is probably my favorite recipe along with Christmas Pancakes, and both of them bring out the best for sweet and spicy lovers. The same day, they’re hosting their GBS Fest (Nov 23) with all-things holiday and tastes from all their variations (tickets are here for the beer tasting panel). They’ll also have Christmas events like holiday carolers, Santa pictures, Santa’s Village activities (with gingerbread house decorating!) and many more — so if you’ve been looking for a place to get your holiday on while avoiding the mall, Hardywood’s got you covered.

Also coming up at Hardywood, Saturday (Nov 30) is the release of Kentucky Christmas Morning, a Mexican Chiapas Coffee-spiced GBS brew with an extra kick from Kentucky’s own Heaven Hills bourbon barrels (and it hits in at 11.5% ABV).

We’ve been waiting all year for it, and it’s finally here! Starr Hill has finally set an opening date (Dec 7) for their Scott’s Addition Rooftop location.

It’s still a ways away, but soon enough that you can start planning to include it on your calendar. December 7 is the official opening day, and for the occasion, they’ll have plenty of their best brews along with music from the NO BS! Brass Band, Erin Lunsford, The Northerners Duo, and Addison Liming Music. You’ll also get to catch great food from Taqueria Panchito (a bigtime local favorite this year) and Curry in a Hurry.

Jumping back to Black Friday, Center of the Universe Brewing has a beer release and party you won’t want to miss. The Shut Up Imperial Stout, aged in bourbon barrels, debuts on November 29 to put all those Thanksgiving family arguments to rest.

“It’s that time of year again,” Center of the Universe says. “The family is in town… Awkward conversations… Random tiffs… and lots, and lots of noise. Time to take a minute for yourself, and take down a tall glass of SHUT UP!”

If it ain’t true. As much as we all enjoy seeing our loved ones each holiday season, *good lord* it can be stressful. Nothing like a little reunion in your hometown to remind you why you moved away, right? But fortunately for me, the good usually outweighs the bad. Whether you enjoy spending time with your relatives or you want to whip out the roll of duct tape when they start preaching about Trump, the 11.5% ABV content of this brew is probably enough to ease your mind. Godspeed, y’all.

Rudolph The Red Ale Reinbeer is heading to Isley Brewing Company this Saturday (Nov 23) in all its Christmas-themed glory.

The 5% ABV brew is nice and low, so it’s drinkable throughout the day (what else are holidays for?) and it’s packed with some great flavors. The cranberry-cinnamon Irish Red Ale brings the traditional Red Ale in, then balances it perfectly with warm cinnamon, fresh cranberry puree, and winter spices along with caramel. It sits right in the middle between sweet and hoppy, and with its deep, red copper color, it’s “the perfect treat for your winter woes!” according to Isley.

You’ll be able to grab this beer on draft at Isley this month, but if you want to take a pack home with you for the family gatherings, they’ve got to-go bottles available as well.

The Veil Brewing Co. has a long-awaited special event coming back for the holiday week. Dark Daze hits The Veil on (Nov 29) with more than 15 beer releases to get you through the holiday without getting stuck in any of the crowds.

First up on my list is Rye Whangdoodle (pictured above), an Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout that was aged in Buffalo Trace Rye Barrels for more than a year. Along with plenty of others, you’ll catch Rye Whangdoodle at the event in all its toffee, root beer float, chocolate-covered waffles, and sundae chocolate syrup glory… and you’ll probably only need one, because this guy hits in at 11.5% ABV. Around the holidays, it’s a good problem to have when you only need one craft beer — we’re all going easy on our wallets this month, anyway.

Other delicious brews releasing this Dark Daze include Bourbon Misery Wizard (an 18th Street Brewery Imperial Porter collab), Apple Brandy Stout (with vanilla, maple syrup, and cinnamon in Laird’s Apple Brandy Barrels), Ded Mon³ (the Citra triple-dry hopped 11% ABV Triple IPA), Bourbon Sleeping Forever (the 13% ABV Anniversary Imperial Stout), Bourbon White Russian Horns (a coffee and vanilla Bourbon Chocolate Milk Stout), Maple Apple Brandy Whangdoodle (the Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout with two rounds of Michigan maple syrup), and plenty more to fill all your holiday taste desires.

It’s Thanksgiving Eve at Canon & Draw Brewing Company! These guys have been consistently releasing some of the most delicious-sounding beers each week the past few months, and I’m more than impressed with them. In that spirit, I know their Thanksgiving bash will be one worth attending.

The event is going down next Wednesday (Nov 27) and they’ll have one of my personal local favorites out for music: Justin Golden. If you haven’t listened to his stuff, I can tell you that it’s extra-good in person. He played the first-ever River City Revue a few weeks back, and I saw him again opening for Tim Barry over last weekend (always a great time). Along with great tunes, Canon & Draw will be bringing back their original-recipe Milk Stout from their Just A Small Piece series, the Sweet Potato Pie recipe.

Out at Stone Brewing Richmond, Enjoy By 01.01.20 Unfiltered IPA is debuting this Friday (Nov 22) to pack in all the end-of-year tastes you’ll need this season with the most extreme freshness.

Unlike most beers, Stone’s Enjoy By series are unfiltered, meaning they have to be opened by a certain date to boost their freshness and bursting hop flavors. I’ve tried a similar brew at The Answer before, and it came with a warning from the waitstaff not to let it get too shaken up or too hot in my car on the way home (if that doesn’t say fresh, I don’t know what is).

Stone’s brew comes to us as a “golden beauty,” according to its brewers, with the intense Double IPA coming from more than 10 different hops. They’ve got the ultimate level of freshness nailed down, and this beer is packed with peach and tropical fruit flavors to make one of the best brews of the season… just make sure you drink it before it ends.

Winter is Coming: and that means awesome holiday festivities out at the farm at Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery. If you’re in the market for seeing Santa without going to the mall, this might just be perfect for you. The event is happening next Saturday (Nov 30), with Christmas tree vendors and awesome stout beers to keep you warm all winter.

Before you get in the Christmas spirit too much, though, don’t forget Brews-Giving. Lickinghole Creek is hosting it this Saturday (Nov 23), as a day to give thanks — especially to local first responders and charities. They’ll have plenty of good eats, plus a toy and clothing drive to help local organizations.

In the spirit of Christmas, if I could have anything I asked for, I think Final Gravity Brewing Co.’s ‘69 Plymouth Superbird could definitely make the list [even though the Superbird didn’t actually come out til 1970 -car nerd ed]. But for those of us who have antique muscle car dreams on a 2001 Ford budget, the brewery’s beer commemorating this vintage beauty will certainly do.

‘69 Superbird debuts at Final Gravity this Friday (Nov 22), and it came together with Azacca, El Dorado, and Citra hops to make the 8% ABV brew. You’ll taste tropical flavors with citrus and stone fruit in this one, and this hazy Double IPA is right up my alley with all the flavor of the hops, higher alcohol content, and minimal bitterness.

It’s (unfortunately) time to start shopping for the holiday season, which means busy malls and long lines for many of us. I’m hard-avoiding all that, as I do every year, but for those of you who can’t — here’s an idea you might like.

Get your shopping in with a beer at Triple Crossing next Saturday (Nov 30), and visit their Fulton Christmas Market. They’ll have tons of great local vendors out for the occasion, and everyone will be set up in a one-stop shop fashion in Triple Crossing’s indoor event space. They’ll be announcing their full list of vendors soon, so make sure to check back at their event page in a week or so and see who’s going to be in attendance.

Thanksgiving season also means football season, and Three Notch’d RVA Collab House is here for it! For all of the football fans out there, we know that the beer budget this time of year often grows exponentially for all those Sunday get-togethers among friends. If you’re looking for a place where you can enjoy a good beer and ditch the Miller Lite during the game without breaking the bank, head over to Three Notch’d for discounted brews. They’ve got deals running on all their drafts to celebrate America’s favorite sport, so drink happy (and we hope your team wins).

RVA On Tap: Bourbon Barrel GBS & Mint Chocolate Chip Beer

Caley Sturgill | November 6, 2019

Topics: Ardent craft ales, beer, beer column, Castleburg Brewery, Center of the Universe, craft beer, Hardywood, RVA On Tap, Steam Bell Beer Works, Strangeways Brewing, The Veil Brewing Co., thrashgiving, Triple Crossing Beer, Väsen

This week, Strangeways Brewing hosts Thrashgiving, a benefit show that brings the best beer together with local metal music. We’ve also (finally!) got the return of Hardywood Park Craft Brewery’s Bourbon Barrel Gingerbread Stout, and Väsen Brewing Company makes the perfection of mint chocolate chip ice cream into a beer. Don’t miss Center of the Universe’s Pickled and Fermented Festival in Ashland and Triple Crossing Beer’s Covenant Beer Fest, plus new releases with Ardent Craft Ales, Steam Bell Beer Works, Castleburg Brewery, and The Veil Brewing Co.

Not only does the start of the holiday season mean more good food, it always means lots of awesome shows and events in Richmond. That’s especially true this year, as we kick off November with Thrashgiving at Strangeways Brewing: the 4th annual metal show hosted to benefit military families, wounded veterans, and our local food bank.

Thrashgiving gears up this Saturday evening at the Scott’s Addition spot, with tons of great bands on the lineup. You’ll get to catch Vulcanite, Genosha, The New Mutiny, LAIR, Murdersome, Alluvion, Site of Suffering, Cut The Architect’s Hand, Sentius, and more — and all alongside great craft beer to drink for a cause.

The organization behind the show is Operation Finally Home, which you can donate to here if you’re unable to make it out. The organization helps families with mortgage-free homes for wounded veterans and service members, and the event is also hosting a food drive, suggesting folks bring canned goods along with them. There’s a full list of acceptable donations on the event page, so if you make it out, try to bring along some contributions if you can (bonus: you’ll get half-off ticket prices if you do).

Times like these are when Richmond’s foodie culture really shines. Center of the Universe Brewing is hosting their 4th annual Pickled & Fermented Festival this Saturday, and it’s packed with a lot more pickling than you’d expect.

From fruit to veggies, hot sauce to kimchi, and beer to kombucha, the hands behind these dishes and drinks aren’t afraid to try something new… and as COTU says, the festival is a Pretty Big Dill (nice). They’ll have specialty vinegars, sauerkraut, sweet pickles, savory pickles, Dill Pickles, bread and butter pickles, kimchi, kombucha, shrubs, kefir, sourdough bread, and relishes like Chow-Chow, Pickle Relish, Chutney, and Piccadilly. If all that’s not enough of a mouthful for you, you’ll also be able to try COTU’s pickles, made in-house with their very own beer.

They’ll also have live music from Buckville Hootenanny on deck (with an original Pickle Opera, Dr. Pickeloptepus), food trucks, craft vendors, face painting and more — plus the most important part, the beer! COTU is bringing back their Pickled Gose Ale for the festival, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Check out their event page for a full list of vendors, and we’ve got a special S/O to Richmond’s beloved artist RVA Coffee Stain for drawing up these awesome posters.

Of all the Gingerbread Stout variations in all the taps around the land, I think it’s safe to say Hardywood’s Bourbon Barrel GBS is one of the most favorite brews out there.

It’s making its return to Hardywood this Sunday, and it’s cause for celebration. The 11.5% ABV stout is full, rich, and packed with all the tastes of the season, with an extra punch from its time in bourbon barrels. This recipe came together by taking the original GBS batch and aging it in a combination of both A. Smith Bowman (Virginia’s oldest distillery) and Heaven Hills Bourbon barrels. If you haven’t been able to tell from the buzz around town and excited gasps from your friends at bars (“What?! Bourbon GBS is back!”) every November when it returns, this beer is well-loved in the River City.

It’s also got a 2017 Gold Medal and title as one of the Top 20 Milk Stouts in the World to its name, so you’ll want to head out this weekend and grab a taste before the city drinks it all away.

The Covenant returns to Triple Crossing Beer this Saturday. The Fulton brewery is bringing back its Covenant Beer Fest, and with it are world-class brewers making their way to Richmond.

The event goes through the day from 11am-5pm, with options for VIP session tickets and glassware available as well. Get these here ahead of time, because they’re not selling VIP the day of the event! They’ll have all the best Triple Crossing brews out for pours, plus beers from other great breweries we don’t see too often. Five tickets gets you a custom Gold Foiled Covenant Glass, and if you end up with too many tickets for the festival, you can always redeem them for pours of Triple Crossing beers on regular draft that day.

Participating breweries include: Angry Chair Brewing, Bellwoods Brewery, Brasserie Dunham, Brew Gentlemen, Burial Beer Co., Casita, Charles Towne Fermentory, Creature Comforts, Dancing Gnome Beer, Equilibrium Brewery, Foam Brewers, Great Notion Brewing, Grimm Artisanal Ales, Horus Aged Ales, Resident Culture Brewing Company, and Schilling Beer Co.

Get ready to head over to Ardent Craft Ales for their Helles Lager release tomorrow night. Ardent’s keeping the German beer theme going well into the fall season, introducing more brews like the Oktoberfest recipes we saw all through last month and even in late September.

Helles Lager is a Munich-style beer brewed with all German malt and hops before being lagered for more than a month. This 4.5% ABV beer is the full-bodied, pale-lager result of the process. It comes together with a mild, malty sweetness and a balanced hop taste to complement its golden straw pour color with a full head.

Here’s one for our dessert lovers (myself included): our friends at Väsen Brewing Company figured out how to make the perfection of mint chocolate chip ice cream into a beer. Velvet Walrus on Vanilla and Mint debuted in the tasting room earlier this week to truly make my dreams come true.

With a deep chocolate and mint flavor, this smooth, dark ale is balanced by the “unmistakable” aroma of fresh Madagascar vanilla beans, according to its brewers — and I can’t wait to get a glass of it for myself.

This Friday, Steam Bell Beer Works has a double release planned for the taps. In true white-girl-in-the-fall spirit, they’ve created a masterpiece that marries all the best parts of Pumpkin Spice Lattes with beer.

I hope by now everyone has learned that people can enjoy things without being made fun of for it, and that anyone (not just white girls) can get behind the awesome flavors of fall spices. Steam Bell’s latest P.S.L. brings it to a new audience of drinkers, and this Amber Ale was conditioned on all the spices of autumn.

Extra Plenty Autumn Gose is also debuting, and it’s the next variation in their Extra Plenty series. This recipe was brewed and conditioned with orange peel and cinnamon for the perfect rounded out fall flavor — so, as Steam Bell says, “Strap on your fur-lined boots and throw on the fleece, you aren’t going to miss this release!”

Last night, The Veil Brewing Co. did what they do best every week: release a plethora of beers all in one day that sound delicious.

Never Never Catch Me Catch Me debuted for the first time last night, and this brand-new Gose was brewed with double watermelon and double lime to come together in a perfectly-low 5.1% ABV for an easy drinker. whitemiata, a crowd favorite, returned in all its Galaxy and Citra glory — and the luxuriously-hopped 6% ABV beer is a dream of an IPA.

Heavier debuted for the first time as well, with oats and raw wheat in addition to its Galaxy, Citra, El Dorado, Simcoe, BRU-1, and Mosaic hop combinations. It’s higher than the others so far at 10% ABV, and the Triple IPA sounds like all my favorite things in a beer wrapped up in one glass.

The Veil hosted two more brand new beers, starting with Burn, its Notch Brewing collab made during the brewery’s visit a while back to The Veil’s Forever Summer Festival that ended the season with a bang. Burn was made with floor-malted wheat, a traditional decoction mash process, smoked wheat, and fresh Saaz with aged whole-leaf hops. After cold-conditioning it for two months, Burn finally got ready for its release this week at 5% ABV.

Sincere finished up the releases, and the farmhouse-inspired beer brings out some great earthy flavors with its oak-fermented process. The IPA was dry-hopped with Citra and Mosaic hops to come in at a nice 6% ABV.

Over the weekend, Castleburg Brewery and Taproom made a great tribute to the season: Symphony of the Knight Stout. This brand-new stout is packed with dark, bitter chocolate and roasted coffee flavors, and with a full body, it’s nice to see that it comes in low at 4.9% ABV so it’s acceptable to drink a few. Usually these stouts hit high, and one of them is enough for anyone, but finally we’ve got an opportunity to have a couple (remind me of this on Thanksgiving, for real).

As Castleburg says, “You’ve been hard at work slaying vampires with nothing but your whip and some holy water that you got from that weird priest. It’s time to kick back and relax with a delicious beer.” Ain’t it always?

RVA On Tap: Belgian Beer Festivals & Gingerbread Stouts

Caley Sturgill | October 30, 2019

Topics: ardent, beer, beer column, Center of the Universe, Champion Brewing, courthouse creek cider, craft beer, crooked run brewing, elation brewing, Final Gravity, Fine Creek Brewing Company, full steam brewery, Hardywood, Intermission Beer Company, O'Connor Brewing, reason beer, RVA On Tap, smartmouth beer, Stone Brewing-Richmond, strangeways, tabol brewing, The Veil, vasen brewing

Fall is in full swing with Fine Creek’s Belgian Beer Festival, and Halloween events with Stone Brewing Richmond and Intermission Beer Company. We’ve also got the return of the Gingerbread Stout to Hardywood this week, plus more great releases like Center of the Universe’s The Donny, Final Gravity’s Splashdown, Vasen Brewing Company’s Smoked Candy Cap Walrus, and more with The Veil Brewing Co.

Kicking off the week, Fine Creek Brewing Company is hosting their giant Belgian Beer Festival this Saturday with tons of our favorite brewers from all around the Richmond area, and plenty more from around the state.

You’ll catch live music from Darcy Down, a local Virginia country artist, along with a large array of guest beers from spots you already love and new favorites to try. Here’s a list of the participating breweries coming out for the first annual event at the beautiful Powhatan spot:

Ardent Craft Ales, Bingo Beer Co., Champion Brewing Company, Courthouse Creek Cider, Crooked Run Brewing (Sterling, VA), Elation Brewing (Norfolk, VA), Fullsteam Brewery (Durham, NC), Hardywood, O’Connor Brewing Co. (Norfolk, VA), Reason Beer (Charlottesville, VA), Smartmouth Beer (the Norfolk, VA creators of the famous Lucky Charms brew last year!), Strangeways Brewing, Tabol Brewing, and our pals at Väsen Brewing Company.

It’s that time we’ve all been waiting for: GBS releases at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery!

Hardywood’s Gingerbread Stout is the beer loved ‘round the city each year, and it also signals the start of colder days and the early times of the holiday season. We’re not quite to Halloween yet, and while I’m increasingly more annoyed with pre-Halloween Christmas shenanigans every year, Hardywood’s GBS coming at the top of November is a holiday treat I’ll welcome like no other.

This Saturday, get your first glass of the season along with the release of Christmas Pancakes (which, honestly, is probably going to top my list even above the classic GBS as a bigtime pancake enthusiast). GBS hits in at 9.2% ABV, and this award-winning brew isn’t one to sleep on: it’s been given a 100 Rating from BeerAdvocate, a Bronze Medal at the World Beer Cup, and named one of the top 25 Milk Stouts in the world from BeerAdvocate as well. With Virginia-grown Hawaiian white ginger and local wildflower honey, it’s almost impossible for it to disappoint.

Christmas Pancakes, on the other hand, is all your favorite GBS flavors wrapped up in one keg with maple syrup (!!) and it’s already been praised highly, too. If you’re a holiday-lover, it’s the perfect way to get into the spirit… and if you’re a holiday-hater, this sweet brew will take some of the edge off from all those uncomfortable family encounters and mobs of shoppers packing the city.

We’re getting excited for the new location of The Veil Brewing Co. as plans gear up for their 2020 opening. They released a few images of the building’s renderings, so there’s plenty of cause for celebration when this one is ready for the public.

In addition to plans for their new spot, The Veil dropped several new beers this week in an awesome Halloween theme.

Dull Fangs kicked off the spooky releases, an All Hallow’s Galaxy and Nelson IPA that The Veil made a bit softer with additions of grapefruit purée. This particularly special recipe is near and dear to its brewers, they say, as it was one of their very first beers in their 2016 grand opening mixed 4-pack. According to The Veil, it’s “something juicy to sink your teeth into while you’re out causing mischief this Halloween” — and if we’ve learned anything from Richmond’s questionable treatment of something as simple as electric scooters, causing mischief is in this city’s blood. That’s definitely fang-worthy.

CREEP followed up with an All Hallow’s Pumpkin Pie Double IPA (holy yum!) with even more pumpkin pies than last year. This brew came together with the harvest of the season along with “piles” of oats, and big hop flavors from Citra and Enigma additions. It’s got all the pumpkin and buttery crust flavors you could want, rounding out at a solid 8% ABV.

Never Never Dead Dead closed out last night’s releases, an All Hallow’s Gose that was brewed with double Sour Gummy Worms and double Sour Patch Kids. It’s a brand-new recipe of the beloved original sour, made for the first time with double the ingredients to make sure this Halloween brings the most sugary blessings you’ve ever had.

If you didn’t get enough Halloween excitement in over the weekend, never fear — there are plenty of holiday events still going throughout the week, like Halloween with Stone going down at Stone Brewing Richmond tomorrow night.

As Stone says, “The gargoyle will be in full effect this Halloween at Jacktown,” and their stoic mascot is the perfect one to kick off the best night of the year. They’ll be hosting a tap takeover with all of their best devilish brews, and the ghouls at Stone invite you to come in costume and celebrate along with them.

Local coffee meets local beer. Center of the Universe is releasing The Donny on Saturday, and this Southern English-style Brown Ale is combined perfectly with Lamplighter’s cold brew coffee — a reference to the coffee can where Donny’s ashes ended up at the end of The Big Lebowski (spoiler alert).

The smooth, velvety flavors with notes of caramelized sugars and strong coffee were created by COTU “to bring to mind carefree coffee dates with your closest nihilist buddies.” Who in Richmond doesn’t have a few of those? I think, in spirit, we’re probably all that nihilist buddy to someone. You’ll also taste caramel and toffee to add in more dessert, all coming together from Maris Otter, Crystal 120, Crystal 77, and Perle hops in addition to Flaked Barley and Flaked Oats.

In more Halloween events, head over to Intermission Beer Company tomorrow night for a spooky round of Tim Burton movie trivia. It’s likely to fill up, so make sure to get your tickets here today while you still can!

Intermission will have their Pumpkin Spiced All Hallows Ale and Jack O’ Lantern Hard Seltzer Floats on deck, and they’ll even have non-alcohol versions of the seltzer floats for your DD! This week, the DD is probably going to be me, because pre-Halloween weekend already did your girl in. Trivia starts at 7, and you’ll want to make sure you’ve registered for your trivia seat ticket before it starts and get there early to grab a table. Tim Burton movies are a binge-worthy Halloween favorite, so it’s the perfect time to bring your knowledge to the table (literally) and see what you’ve got!

Splashdown Double IPA is making its way back to the taps this Friday at Final Gravity Brewing Co., and this juicy 8% ABV New England-style brew is packed with flavor.

With grapefruit and citrus, Splashdown’s tastes were created with Citra and Apollo hops. It drinks smooth, according to the brewers, with “billowing waves of melon and lime.” In events, you’ll also want to catch up with Final Gravity this week for their taco party hosting the Taqueria Panchito food truck, and their Bluegrass Jam on Tuesday. The Bluegrass Jam even invites guests to bring their own acoustic instruments to join in on the jam — plus, you’ll get 20 percent off beer all night if you play with the group!

On Sunday, Väsen Brewing Company released their Smoked Candy Cap Walrus, which is made for sitting out on fall nights.

From the sweet to the smokey, this brew was made with German Applewood and Cherrywood smoked malts, and has flavors of dried candy cap mushrooms to complement its earthy maple tastes. Coming up this Saturday, Väsen is hosting the Kathmandu Momo & Spice food truck to pair their beers with authentic Nepali and Indian food. They’ll be there throughout the afternoon and evening, so head over to their tasting room for the occasion.

RVA ON TAP: Jägerbeers & Big Lebowski Brews

Caley Sturgill | October 9, 2019

Topics: beer, beer column, Center of the Universe, craft beer, final gravity brewing co, Hardywood, RVA On Tap, Stone Brewing-Richmond, strangeways, The Veil Brewing Co., Triple Crossing Beer, Vasen Brewing Company

This week, we’re celebrating the 8th birthday of Hardywood along with some very special releases in town — like Stone Brewing Richmond’s “JägerBastard” and The Big Lebowski-insired El Duderino at Center of the Universe.

Happy Birthday, Hardywood! Our long-time Richmond loves are celebrating their 8th anniversary this Saturday, and the Totally Boss Anniversary Bash is bringing the 80s back to the River City with their all-day party for the occasion.

For celebratory beer, they’ll be releasing their 8th Anniversary Blend as an eight-barrel mash-up, which brings together a “totally tubular” combination of flavors like sweet cherries, dates, candied apples, and a subtle oak aura. In its finish, the new brew has notes of caramel, leather, and chocolate, leaving a lingering silky-smooth taste. Another special thing to note: in its combination of eight barrels, this beer was aged for a total of 58 months, so it’s bringing out flavors originally from 2015. Can you remember what your favorite things were in 2015? I can, and I can tell you that caramel and apples were definitely on that list.

In entertainment, Hardywood’s hosting DawnStar Games for retro video games, 80s-themed photo booths for the stylin’ and the profilin’, guest taps from breweries all around town, costume contest prizes, retro board games, Virtual Reality experiences with Richmond VR, and of course, live music! The Vertigos, Gambles Hill Gang, and 64 Crayons Band are all coming out to play through the day. So if you’re looking for a new (old) brew or just a reason to get dressed up, Hardywood’s got you covered.

Can we say yum? Or, maybe — for those of you who have had a little too much Jägermeister fun in the past — you’d rather say “no, thanks.” But in this beer column we love licorice, and we’re stoked for the new Stone Brewing release.

The classic Arrogant Bastard Ale is here in a new Jägermeister variation, and like Stone says, these two names both elicit adoration “by a worthy few.” These unapologetic drinks are either a hard yes or a hard no for most of us, and I’m glad to say I’m on the yes side of that equation.

Before what I’m now referring to as JägerBastard, the closest thing we could find in Richmond to a Jäger-infused drink that didn’t feel so liquor-ey is what I call YerbaJäger at Cobra Cabana. Liquor is, across the board, one of my least favorite things, but I can’t deny my love for that dark licorice taste. YerbaJäger is one of my fav drinks at CC, where they take their authentic imported Yerba Mate and mix it with Jäger (and it’s *surprisingly* good).

Now that the JägerBastard is here, I’ve got something new to try. This recipe from Stone Brewing was brewed and imported from their Berlin location, and according to the brewers, it’s perfect for sipping on fall evenings and pairing with a fine meal — or giving as a gift to any “true appreciator of liquid arrogance and independence.”

It definitely takes some arrogance to get this one down the hatch. Godspeed, y’all.

It’s that glorious time of year again when The Big Lebowski somehow makes its way into every facet of Richmond culture, and I’m here for it.

The Dude returns! El Duderino is heading back to Center of the Universe, and this White Russian-inspired Stout is every bit as delicious as the traditional mixed drink. This brew was pulled together from eight different malts, along with vanilla beans to bring out the realest flavors of chocolate and espresso with a tan, creamy, and pillowy head.

El Duderino dropped last year shortly before the Carytown Big Lebowski bar crawl, where I delightfully got to witness a crowd of people walking the streets in their bathrobes and pouring into New York Deli to clear them out of all the El Duderino they could drink. Thankfully, I got a taste of my own just in time — and I can definitely recommend it highly.

It’s lager time! Lager Day is coming to Triple Crossing Beer this Saturday from 12-8pm, full of recipes both old and new. At their spot in Fulton, Triple Crossing is serving up the lager love with brews like Tiny Pils, Pathway Pils, Hiltop, Festbier (in perfect timing for this month!), Czech Dark, and Cinder Rauchbier.

If you remember from last week, Czech Dark just recently dropped in all its late-fall flavored glory, with a toasted, dry, roast-forward finish and hints of red tones to round off this extra-dark brew. It’ll be up on the taps for Lager Day, and all lagers throughout the day will be served in the brewery’s exclusive German glassware that you’ll get to take home with you afterward. On the eats side of things, they’ll have Postbellum’s soft pretzels served with beer mustard and pimento cheese, along with their pizza kitchen menu.

Pour and Pasties is back at Strangeways Brewing, and this one’s always a crowd favorite. Head out to the Dabney Rd location this Friday evening for brewery burlesque and all the beautiful entertainment you can take, with a full evening of performances and a great cast.

Performers this time around will include Venessa Chevelle, Nyx Nebulae, Bert Shaffer, Scarlet Starlet, Murphy Lawless, Sally Stardust, and their host Ego Von Hubris. The event is thrown by Strangeways in collaboration with Burlesque Right Meow, which hosts shows all around town with an especially awesome effort for inclusivity. Their feminist-forward principles bring in body types of all identities, shapes, and sizes, and they’re big on celebrating the art of burlesque for everyone to enjoy.

Last night at The Veil Brewing Co., another multi-release went down with four new brews for the people of Richmond.

whitebugatti, pictured above, is a Triple IPA hopped “luxuriously” with Citra and Galaxy hops, brewed with only the freshest available. It hits in at 11% in ABV and 100% in my dreams, and I can only hope I make it to the brewery in time to get a glass of this delicious brew.

The Veil also dropped Mean Everything, a brand-new brew that came together with Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, and Ekuanot hops in addition to a lot of oats to bring the earthy, fruity flavors all together in a 6% ABV beer. Next came Special Combo #5, and if you’re remembering back to the end of the 90s (and the tunes of my childhood) to the release of “Mambo #5,” you’re not alone. This Double IPA comes in at 9% ABV for a high-but-not-too-high-drink, at least in my book. Push me up to 10% and I need to stop at one brew, so for Special Combo #5, we’ll say cheers to two.

The last release of the night brought Tefnut, an 11% ABV cosmic Imperial Gose that was made as a collaboration with Omnipollo to “reimagine what a fruit beer can be” with new processes and fruit volumes, and plenty of ripe, juicy mango character.

If you haven’t heard the news yet, there’s another opening scheduled for The Veil with another Scott’s Addition addition: a new food hall! They’ll have more than 18 vendors all in one awesome place, with a massive rooftop bar and 25,000 square feet to pack it with all of Richmond’s best — including beer by The Veil, because it wouldn’t truly be a Scott’s Addition collab without them.

Coming up this Friday, Final Gravity Brewing Co. is releasing two new beers inspired by both coasts. The East & West Coast Double Beer Release party goes down all day Friday, with Luminosity and California Dreamin’ both fresh to the taps.

Luminosity is a New England Double IPA (my favorite!) that brings together Multihead, Belma, Cashmere, and Vic Secret hops for a tropical blend that can “brighten your glass like the glow of early morning sun shining through a dewy haze.” With notes of peach, melon, and apricot to top it all off, this one’s right up my alley.

California Dreamin’ is coming back to us in a return; this golden beauty was a crowd favorite that was so loved they decided to bring it back. The 7% ABV beer was made with a combination of Columbus, Simcoe, and Centennial hops to bring out a clean, citrusy flavor with a subtle bite.

A fresh Double IPA is here at Väsen Brewing Company, and like the other DIPAs out this week, it’s a high priority. This dank, fruity brew came out over the weekend at Väsen, and it was appropriately-named Mandarin Galaxy.

The recipe is bold with juicy fruit flavors, brewed with Citra Cyro, Mosaic, Mandarina Bavaria, and Australian Galaxy hops. It’s new in cans and on tap, and it brings Väsen into a bold new universe of hoppy citrus flavors.

RVA ON TAP: Lager World & Oktoberfest at Hardywood

Caley Sturgill | October 2, 2019

Topics: Ardent craft ales, Ballast Point Brewing, beer, beer column, Center of the Universe, Final Gravity, fine creek, Hardywood, Isley Brewing Company, kindred spirit, RVA On Tap, strangeways, The Veil, Three Notch’d RVA Collab House, Triple Crossing Beer, vasen brewing

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 more fall events and some amazing new beer releases from our favorite locals, plus a bittersweet goodbye to one of my favorite Virginia spots after their closing in Botetourt County.

If you’ve been enjoying the array of Oktoberfests around town this month, trust us that we’ve got one you won’t want to miss. Hardywood’s Oktoberfest goes down all day this Saturday at their West Creek spot, and they’re telling you to pull out your lederhosen, because it’s time to party!

The fest goes on from 1-10pm, with games, contests, live music with Elby Brass and the Harpoondodgers, and lots more. Some of our favorite eats are also going to be around, like Grandpa Eddie’s Alabama Ribs & BBQ (my personal favorite, as you all have heard from me a hundred times by now — try them!!), The Return of the Mac, Southern Spud, Dockery Farms, Candy Valley Cake Company, La Bete, Wigglestick Barbecue, and the Prost Food Truck. The PROST! Bar opens to kick off the day at 1, then Oktoberfest goes on with some extra-special barrel tappings and a parade of booze.

And the most important part: the beer! They’ll have “a whole slew” of German brews ready to go at Hardywood, like Smoked Marzen, Munich Dunkel, Doppelbock, Helles, and Hefeweizen. Don’t miss tons of awesome Oktoberfest-themed games with Shalom Farms as well, and traditional German dancing from the Alpine Dancers. See ya there!

We’ve got some awesome news coming this weekend from Center of the Universe, too. We all know the feeling of visiting our favorite breweries on a slow night and wishing there was more food around. Aside from a small few, most spots in Richmond don’t have food vendors stationed at their spots all the time.

That’s about to change again with our friends at COTU, who are celebrating the grand opening of the permanent Freekin’ Rican food vendor out at their Ashland brewery to occupy the “beer window” in the biergarten. The whole day will be full of activities and Puerto Rican-inspired food to commemorate the opening, with burgers, bratwurst, tacos, quesadillas, nachos, sandwiches, pork and chicken entrees, and more.

For the occasion, COTU is bringing back their limited return of Monkey’s Uncle Lemongrass Tripel and Summer Moon Raspberry, an Imperial Wheat Ale, for one day only! They’ll also be starting weekly specials the following week, like $3 tacos for Taco Tuesdays, Tapas Thursdays, and Island Sundays to bring out traditional Caribbean Island dishes — so if you miss the very-special returns of these two stellar brews, you’ll still have a reason to celebrate the new addition with them every week.

Three new brews hit the taps at Strangeways over the weekend, and we can’t wait to get our hands on these.

Fine Malt Lyrics Malt Liquor — which one might assume is a House Of Pain reference — kicks off the releases, and this high 9.1% ABV brew hits in at 30 IBU and has an “absurd strength,” according to the brewers. With a big malt-forward taste, it came together with both two-row and six-row barley, plus flaked corn to round out all its flavors.

Brass Monkey comes second, and this 7.3% ABV with 30 IBU recipe is a lot lighter — and might just be perfect for those friends of yours who tend to pick the brunch drinks over beer. This mimosa-style beer is Strangeways’ Fine Malt Lyrics mixed with orange juice to create the perfect beermosa blend (and it’s Beastie-approved).

Wizard Fight! is the lowest ABV of the releases, and at 7.0% and with 70 IBU has a “chewy malt character” that’s accented by its juicy fruit flavors and aromas. The Pilsner and white wheat malts come together with the Columbus and Azacca hops to combine the fruity with the crisp in the New England IPA.

More great brews are on the way this week with Fine Creek Brewing Company’s Chestnut Honey Brown Ale release on Saturday. The beer is coming as a collaboration with Elysium Honey, who are hosting a pop-up at the brewery from 3-6pm this Saturday as Fine Creek taps their brand-new brown ale.

Chestnut Honey has a rich maltiness to its flavor, with fruit characters highlighted from the honey additions in its brewing process. With nutty and bready malt tones, the Elysium Honey has a fruity and herbal aroma that goes perfectly with the tastes of pumpernickel bread, coffee, and baker’s cocoa in this beer.

You can grab a glass of your own this weekend, and support Elysium Honey’s land and hive management work, alongside Damian Allen playing in the taproom through the evening.

Over at Final Gravity Brewing Co., Pulsar New England IPA made its way to the taps in all its 100% Falconer’s Flight hop glory recently.

The brand-new IPA came out as part of a triple-release with two siblings, starting with Retrograde Session IPA. Retrograde was brewed with all Mosaic hops in its return, and they also brought back The Doppler Effect in their latest batch. This new recipe added extra Mosaic hops to the original favorite, and double dry-hopped the hops in the fermenter *and* the kegs to bring out “that extra POW of citrus,” according to the brewery. Head over to get a taste of whichever suits your palate — or all three — and stick around for Dart Night if you make it out tonight!

Our buds at Triple Crossing Beer put something fresh on deck (and best enjoyed on the deck) this week as well. Czech Dark came back to the taps with Triple Crossing’s “hopes for the eventual end of summer,” and boy, are they preaching to the choir. With all these delicious seasonal beers coming out, we are anxiously awaiting a chilly day to drink them with.

Czech Dark pours with a black mirror deep-dark-ness that brings out subtle red tones underneath its fluffy head. You’ll catch some small notes of coffee in this easy-drinking 5.2% ABV lager, and the late-fall flavors are dry, toasty, and have a roast-forward finish.

It’s time for Lager World at The Veil Brewing Co.! This Saturday, head over to your favorite Scott’s Addition spot for The Veil’s second Oktoberfest-style jammer, with 12 special brews for the occasion, plus two extra releases.

If you’re in the mood for a lager, you’ll have more than enough to pick from: Hide, Child Support, Jackson Flavor, Rain, Coalesce, Numb, Love and Trust, Deathless, Thorn, Braühaüsenweisse (try saying that one three times fast), and Dwell, from both its first and second batches.

Special releases coming are Deathless in 4-packs and Batch 2 of Dwell in bottles that day, plus sausages from Cardinal State Butchers and the delicious Sugar & Twine pretzels. Something even more special: for $10 (16oz) or $14 (32oz), you can grab your own stein and fill ‘em back up with any beers available with no limit.

This Friday, a brand-new can release is going down at Väsen Brewing Company, and it’s right up my alley. This juicy Double IPA is called Mandarin Galaxy, and it’s “loaded” with Citra Cyro, Mosaic, Mandarina Bavaria, and Australian Galaxy hops.

You can get your own taste of it this weekend along with the perfect dinner to complement this brew: Intergalactic Tacos! Get spacey, Richmond. Both of these rule.

Got something on your mind lately? Here’s your chance to get it out with a Brainstorm. This collab brew comes fresh from our friends at Ardent Craft Ales, in collaboration with Narrow Gauge Brewing Company out of St. Louis.

Another delicious juicy Double IPA, Brainstorm is “bursting with flavors of orange and pineapple” from its double dry-hop process with Amarillo and Galaxy hops, and it’s the perfect way to close out these last super-hot days of summer and make them feel (and taste) a little better. With this soft, aromatic, smooth, and flavorful recipe, the 9.0% ABV beer hits in at 10 IBU and is available in both draft and crowler fills.

This Friday, Three Notch’d RVA Collab House is working with Dotted Line Collaborations to put out a new beer called Dot Your IPAs. This New England IPA will benefit the Shepherd’s Way Relief Center to donate a portion of their sales to the charity, which helps local impoverished citizens get back on their feet. The brews are $3, and for each one sold, $1 goes back to the organization — so head on out and drink for a cause!

In more collab news, Three Notch’d is also searching for more folks from organizations, companies, charitable causes and more to partner up and make collab beers to do good. If you or your place of work has any opportunities for collaboration, hit up Three Notch’d here and see what you can get rolling.

This one might be my favorite of the whole week. Isley Brewing Company just dropped Choosy Mother in-house and to-go — and this Peanut Butter Porter is all of the best parts of Reese’s and peanut butter pies wrapped up in one delicious brew.

They also released Sir Falstaff this week, a West Coast Double IPA with a lovely golden amber color and 9.1% ABV.

It’s the season of Brown Ales, and I couldn’t be more stoked for it. An especially-awesome variation just came out at Kindred Spirit Brewing: Coffee Brown Ale, which comes in at 6.0% ABV and brings out all the best flavors in one.

Coffee Brown Ale brings together the creamy with the sweet in this coffee-toffee mixup, with a hint of chocolate to finish it off. They also dropped Project Pale Ale, a 4.6% ABV ale that was hopped with Centennial and “a little CTZ” that brings out a perfectly piney flavor, resiny and with hints of citrus for a crisp, refreshing drink.

Before we go today, I just want to say a quick (and very sad) goodbye to Ballast Point Brewing in Botetourt County. This brewery was pretty special to me, and while it’s not close to us in Richmond, I held it very close to my little mountain heart from good times spent drinking their amazing beers on chilly days visiting home over last winter. It was one of the prettiest breweries I’ve been in to date, and something about a cloudy day, all bundled up in flannels overlooking the mountains at Ballast Point, just felt right. They aren’t closed nationwide, but after a big uprising from the locals trying to get them to stay, Ballast Point ultimately said no and closed the location to pursue bigger things and more distribution. They poured their last beer here last week, and they will be sorely missed by my hometown. Cheers forever, Ballast Point, and thanks for the memories!