Center of the Universe

RVA ON TAP: The Veil Named Best Brewery in VA, Big Lebowski, & New Releases

Caley Sturgill | November 28, 2018

Topics: Ardent craft ales, Black Heath Meadery, Center of the Universe, Handmade Holiday Craft Show, Hardywood, Intermission Beer Company, Legend Brewing Company, RVA On Tap, strangeways, the answer brewpub, The Big Lebowski, The Veil, triple crossing

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 with news this week with beer releases and festivals, events, and other cool happenings around town — so hold on to your mugs!

Last week, we rolled through the festivities with some awesome Black Friday events and tons of beers from our favorite spots around town (The Veil alone had more than ten featured at their Dark Daze event). We’re getting a break from the holidays for a bit this time around, and have a lot more great brews on the way.

I’m a big fan of the weird relationship that Richmond has with The Big Lebowski: One that I neither understand nor care to understand, because I am going to think it’s great either way. From Center of the Universe’s El Duderino (still a favorite) to the entire neighborhood of Carytown throwing a bathrobe bar crawl in The Dude’s honor, to The Byrd Theatre hosting “The Big LeBYRDski,” we for some reason as a city cannot get enough of this guy. I tell you, guys, it is so funny that this whole area has settled on the same bad 90’s humor to keep coming back to. I really am at home in this dumb city, I love you all.

Anyway, we are back with even more Dude this month, with Black Heath Meadery’s 12 Weeks of Dudemas, “Because 12 days would be very un-Dude.” Nice. The meadery is releasing a signature Lebowski-themed mead every month now, and a limited-release Lebowski character glass every Tuesday for 12 weeks. *I need every single one of them. Black Heath, I’ll see you soon, and thanks for being you.

S/O to The Veil for being named Virginia’s Best Brewery by Thrillist this month. The Veil is a local favorite for a million different reasons, but I’m stoked to see Richmond on the national map (again) for its beer scene and glad The Veil put us here once again. There’s a reason that every time I visit, there’s a line out the door — and it’s worth the wait.

Bold. Rich. “Unabashedly Expressive.” Center of the Universe’s Jesus Mexican Hot Chocolate Imperial Stout drops this Saturday, and it’s appropriately spicy. Full of cayenne peppers, cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla blend to give it the perfect Mexican hot chocolate taste, Jesus Mexican Hot Chocolate’s brewers say it’s perfect for polishing balls and talking smack before the semis (go easy, folks). They also noted that it’s a “no-bush league, psyche-out brew, because nobody…….. with The Jesus!”

It’s made with Maris Otter, Carafa II, Carafa III, Double Roasted Crystal, C-90, Flaked Oats, and Barley. On top of those are some Belgian Dark Candi Syrup, Cinnamon, and Habanero peppers (woof!) to really heat things up. It’s meant to warm you while you drink, but don’t go too fast out there in the cold, because the 11.4% ABV will hit quick.

If you’re looking to get even spicier this weekend, COTU is also hosting Brewery Burlesque! This match made in “eccentric heaven” is curated by Ellie Quinn, the self-proclaimed Duchess of Dork who set out this year to tickle and tease Richmond’s funny bones. Tickets can be purchased here, and the breweries non-private space will still be open for drinking to regular customers.

Over at Intermission Beer Company, Tell Tale Ale is coming out this Friday. This black IPA is dark and malty in its base, laced with toffee and caramel and balanced against a bright-hop profile to show its floral-citrus notes. It’s perfectly “Richmond” with its Edgar Allan Poe references, and the brewery is even handing out copies of the “Tell-Tale Heart” at its release this weekend.

Happy new location to Strangeways! The local spot is opening up Scott’s Addition’s ninth brewery, bringing more booze to the city’s booziest neighborhood. Beer crawls are about to get even better with this addition to the area.

In new recipes this week, Strangeways is releasing a few variations: This Saturday, they’re ringing in the final month of the year with Ampelos, a Wild Grapevine Saison, Sing With Animals Vanilla Milk Stout, and Escape Goat Weizenbock.

The original Weizenbock beer, according to the brewers, was actually the inspiration for their owner to start up the company. His variation includes local Virginia malts in addition to German Saphir, Perle, and Saaz hops. Ampelos has a white wine-like character in its taste and smell, and the wild grapevines it comes from bring a subtle fruit-twang to pair with its mild spiciness (so if you’re looking for that hard-hitting spice, check out COTU this week as well!) Their Sing With Animals stout sounds tasty, too, with a silky texture and strong vanilla flavors.

Yay, fun stuff at my fave! Hardywood is hosting the Richmond Craft Mafia’s 14th Annual Handmade Holiday Craft Show this weekend, and it’s full of all the best vendors (covered in heated tents, so hold the excuses). Personally, I’m a huge fan of handmade products, and Good-Old-RVA is absolutely full of talented creators. I can’t wait to see what they come up with. More than 50 “makers” will be there, half each day, so make sure to check out both days to not miss out. Paired with Hardywood’s beer, no wonder they call it Richmond’s favorite shopping event.

On Friday, Hardywood’s releasing their Just Right Oatmeal IPA cans and prefacing the weekend event with a truly just-right brew: Balanced with notes of orange and grapefruit over a rolled, malted oat foundation for that juicy-smooth flavor with a dry finish. Yum!

The Answer Brewpub has done it again, as they always do! Mind Games came out yesterday at the brewery, made with Mosaic, Galaxy, and El Dorado hops. The DIPA is made with a cooler whirlpool-hop addition compared to their usual beers, and they’re stoked on the results. It’s in Crowlers and on tap at the pub now, and it looks like the perfect texture and color for a warm(ish) November day. Get ‘em while you can, before the weather freezes us all back to our houses and makes us want to curl up with more holiday brews.

It’s that perfect time again when the city starts glowing with holiday lights all around, and man, is Richmond beautiful when it’s all lit up (contrary to the summertime, when it’s just regular lit). Head across the bridge this Friday to watch the annual lighting-of-the-city at Legend Brewing Co. and see the Grand Illumination from the best view in town. They’re going to get busy as one of RVA’s favorite spots in the night’s best location, so get your reservations early for this one.

⟁ Triple Crossing is back with an awesome new beer this Friday in Fulton for Latest Broadcast. This 8% DIPA is a hoppy recipe that gets into some deeper combinations of hops, bringing some new variations to the table outside of the regular run-of-the-mill brew. Latest Broadcast is full of floral-green pineapple citrus, deepened-candied grapefruit dank, and soft apricot peach — “all cohesively pulled together with that softness” we’re all looking for. Can’t wait to give this one a try. ⟁

Butte County Proud. Ardent is donating 100% of their Resilience IPA to the Sierra Nevada Camp Fire Relief Fund, so make sure to drop by and give it a shot to help out and enjoy a great brew at the same time. They’ve also got their Hazy IPA cans available in the taproom right now, so if you need a good reason to check out Ardent this week, they’re giving you plenty!

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, Boozey Black Friday & Movember

Caley Sturgill | November 21, 2018

Topics: Center of the Universe, Hardywood, holiday, isley brewing, kindred spirit, movember, strangeways, Thanksgiving, The Veil, three notchd, winter beer

If you missed the last column, you can check that out here. Our kegs are overflowing with news this week, from beer releases to festivals, events, and other cool happenings around town — so hold on to your mugs!

Last week, we started jumping into some holiday brews and hit up some awesome festivals, too. Now it’s almost……Thanksgiving! Hallelujah! As much as I hate the history of this holiday, man do I love the food. And the family, and the love, and everything about the holidays. What’s your favorite yearly celebration? Thanksgiving is definitely mine. Hit up the comments on our Facebook post and tell me yours. I’d love to hear what gets you guys excited every year!

Do you have any Black Friday plans? …….Do they consist of avoiding every store in town and drinking about it? Me too! Thank god for The Veil, because they get it. To cater to the anti-BF lines crowd, they’re releasing their Bourbon White Russian Hornswoggler on the special day. One: Anything that sounds like a White Russian is my favorite thing of all time. Two: I can’t wait to drink beer at home while everyone else stands out in the cold and wrestles each other at Walmart. Count me out, and The Veil, count me in!

More awesome brews from The Veil on Friday come with Dark Daze, an annual fest for Black Friday with tons of awesome releases and brews on sale. Even Even More More is a 13% Double-Maple Imperial Stout (YUM!) and it’s rich, roasty, and sweet with maple flavor. There is nothing I love more than a maple beer, so I definitely want to give this one a try! Lord Whangdoodle (nice) is a unique Imperial Stout with a sappy, sticky-sugary sweetness. It’s got honey, cinnamon, vanilla, liqueur, baklava and candied-orange peel. Maple BA Whangdoodle (that word is never going to not-be funny) and Honey BA Whangdoodle are two more variations, one with layered maple flavor + chocolate character, and the other aged in honey bourbon barrels for over a year.

There are a TON more awesome beers coming up at The Veil on Friday. That’s only the beginning. This sounds like a blast, and most-definitely a much better way to spend Black Friday than out in the cold!

Over at Hardywood, the party continues on Saturday with their Apple Brandy Gingerbread Stout release. Hardywood has been releasing awesome GBS beers all month, and man, I’ve never had a Hardywood beer I didn’t like. Apple Brandy “blends in perfect harmony with the cinnamon-kissed oak staves of the apple brandy barrels,” and has notes of honey, chocolate, and fragrant cinnamon. It’s 10.4%, and it sounds delicious! If tomorrow is Thanksgiving, then Hardywood, I’m thankful for you.

If you need to keep the party flowing even further past the holiday (I don’t blame you), hit up the brewery on Sunday for their post-Thanksgiving dance party with Afro-Zen. Global grooves, cold beer, and good friends — what more could you need?

Ooooooooh, I! Want! This! Center of the Universe always knows how to hit me right in the tastebud feels and they even got the mean humor down this time, too. Mmmmm. This Friday, Shut Up releases and it’s all my favorite things in one — brewed to drink in front of your obnoxious family members over the holidays and give them the little reminder everyone needs: shut your pie hole, and eat some pie. There’s always plenty around at Thanksgiving. Shut Up is aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels with cold brew coffee, then blended together and full of chocolate, coffee, vanilla and bourbon. I am so happy about all these winter beers, I can’t say it enough. Cold weather flavors RULE, y’all!

The Veil wasn’t the only one to get their post-Thanksgiving plans in order the right way this year. Isley Brewing Company is also celebrating the dreaded Black Friday in the most-awesome of ways this year, with their release of Apple Brown Betty. Holy wow, this sounds tasty. The English nut brown ale has an addition of Blue Bee Cider fresh-pressed apple juice (drool), caramel, buttery cinnamon, and mulling spices for an All-American apple pie flavor profile. It’s a rich, dark mahogany color with a cream-tinted head, and this 6.6% beer is 100% on my to-do list.

Over at Three Notch’d RVA Collab House, Masterclass is new at the brewery. It’s a Saison-infused herbal recipe with spiced notes just in time for the holidays. If you didn’t make it out to the release party in time, you can grab a crowler for your family dinner, or “watching the game at home in your stretchy pants” if you go too hard on Thanksgiving.

In more Black-Friday-news, Strangeways is hosting a Black Friday Local Market for all your small business needs. Shop local! Richmond really does a great job of supporting its own people, and here’s your chance to do it and drink some tasty brews at the same time. Head on over to Strangeways this Friday and get a jump on all the holiday shopping (and beat the lines!) with one of our favorite spots.

Kindred Spirit is in the spirit this holiday. For Movember (men’s health awareness month), they’re kicking off some special events to recognize the men growing beards and moustaches to raise awareness. There’ll be live music by Bobby Baine, prizes, giveaways, and a special Movembeer Beer release at the party. It’s going down on Sunday after Thanksgiving, so boys and all beard-growing people, resist the family pressure from Mom to trim that beautiful facial hair this holiday, and go treat yourself with a prize for sticking it out!

That’s it for this week’s RVA On Tap! As your new 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: Home Brew Competition, Holiday Beers, & Funk Fest

Caley Sturgill | November 14, 2018

Topics: Ardent craft ales, beer, Center of the Universe, fine creek brewing, friendsgiving, Hardywood, holiday, Legend Brewing, RVA On Tap, Stone brewing, stony point beer festival, strangeways, Thanksgiving, the answer brewpub, three notchd

Last week, we saw the start of plenty of holiday brews and began ringing in the holiday season. This week we’ve got beer festivals, Richmond-filmed movies at local breweries, birthdays, and plenty of awesome new releases.

This Saturday, tons of local breweries are all coming together at once for the Stony Point Beer Festival. Tickets allow unlimited sampling(!) and have craft beers from all around the region, with most from the Richmond area and a few of my personal favorites from more rural Virginia, like Star Hill and Devil’s Backbone. Other participants include Legend, Ardent, Lickinghole Creek, Kindred Spirit, Midnight Brewery, Vasen, Castleburg, Strangeways, Steam Bell, and Intermission Beer Company. Come out for unlimited beer — an absolute dream — and to check out RVA favorites alongside Virgina’s best.

Also on Must-To-Do’s in events this week is one of RVA’s favorite traditions, Richmond Beeristoric. It starts at Ardent, and this one’s better than the marathons, because it’s a marathon of beer! And history! In the East Coast’s best beer town, and one of the best history towns, what could be more fitting?

Head over to Ardent to hear from legit historians and award-winning beer (that’s right, one of the brews that put Richmond on the map with a medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver this year). Strangeways, Basic City, Fine Creek, Steam Bell, Final Gravity, and The Answer are all hopping in for this festival and it’ll take you on a tour around the city, through Chimborazo park (ignore the ghosts), the Yuengling beer caves, Triple Crossing, and plenty more awesome stops!

The Answer Brewpub is famous! (Not that they weren’t already, but) the Broad Street brewery was the filming destination for Last Call, Richmond-based production company Aisthesis Productions’ latest hit. The feature film spans the course of a night at the bar, taking the viewer “on a psychological journey that’s both raunchy and hilarious, yet tragically sad.” If you hit up Hardywood around Halloween, you may also remember Aisthesis as the company who taught the brewery’s FX Makeup workshop. Last Call also features Tony Foresta from Municipal Waste, and more’s coming later this week from the magazine on what it’s all about.

Also at The Answer this week, the brewery dropped Z-Ma. Leave your jolly ranchers at home, they say, and come give the frosty malt a try.

Over the bridge at Legend Brewing Co., Legend Quad came out this weekend. The decade-old beer is still running, and came out back at Legend’s 15th birthday party. The Belgian ale is strong, dark, spicy and fruity with plums and figs. Its caramel and dark-sugar notes has a creamy body with warming alcohol and a deep garnet/mahogany hue. According to the brewers, it pairs well with hearty winter stews, smoked meats, rich desserts, or as a nightcap by a warm fire — and, like all beers, it’s best enjoyed with friends. Grab a few buds on our next chilly night (aka every night now), and tell us what you thought!

Coming up this Saturday, Fine Creek Brewing is releasing their Dark Mid Ale and Thai Tea Milk Stout brews. Thai Tea definitely sounds like something you don’t see every day, with two pounds of raspberries added to its small cask. Dark Mid Ale is made with cardamom and orange peel, and it sounds perfect for this chilly weekend coming up: this medium-dark recipe is perfect to drink by the fire on a fall night, so give it a taste and don’t forget the s’mores.

In December, Fine Creek is holding their Wild and Weird festival, which celebrates all the best unique beers and ciders out there from Virginia. Keep an eye out for more on that soon, and don’t forget to grab a ticket from the brewery.

Calling all home brewers! Stone Brewing’s Homebrew Competition and American Homebrewers Association (AHA) rally is coming up this Saturday. The People’s Choice-style competition gives attendees the opportunity to sample beers from dozens of homebrewers and vote on their favorites, according to Stone. Come out and give your booze a shot to be brewed in collaboration with Stone if you win, and be released across the whole country (all 50 states!) plus 40 other countries through their distribution network. It’ll also be entered into the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) competition next year, so this is a huge time to shine if you’re ready to go large with your recipes. Sign up here if you’re into it.

Hardywood has another great stout release coming up this Saturday, and it sounds awesome. Rye Barrel Gingerbread Stout is coming out at Richmond, West Creek and Charlottesville. This variation of their Gingerbread Stout is matured in rye barrels, and these stouts are a mix of milk chocolate, vanilla, honeycomb, cinnamon and more with a velvety feel down the hatch. The release party is an all-day show at the downtown spot with Paint Fumes (NC), SICK BAGS (RVA), The Reputations (TX), and Cruzer (RVA) playing. Hardywood’s also got a Vegan Holiday Dinner Demo coming up on Sunday, with tons of ideas on vegan dishes for all the veggies in your life. Come out to learn good eats that the whole family can get behind, like vegan meatloaf and gravy, roasted garlic potato hash, lemoned green beans and dessert with SuhWeet Rootz.

Strangeways has FOUR releases this weekend! First up: Tirami’zu Brew, their rum-barrel aged porter. This collab with Mamma Zu’s kitchen, Edo’s Squid, Dynamo, and 8 1/2 is a world-class tiramisu beer. It’s aged with cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, and coffee from Black Hand (my favorite!), and its brewers want you to “Find out for yourself why tiramisù means pick-me-up.”

Next is Kakapo, the New Zealand Pilsner named for the large, green, nocturnal parrot native to the islands. It’s a “refreshing dry-hopped pilsner” with a light-hued body, made with three different New Zealand hops including Wakatu, Pacifica, and Green Bullet.

Spectacular Optical is coming out too, and this New England IPA is soft, pillowy, and combines beer with tropical fruit smoothie. It sounds like a great escape from the cold weather, and it comes along with StarTropics, a Brut IPA that’s mildly bitter and bone dry with more tropical and citrus aromas.

Three Notch’d RVA Collab House is ahead of the game this season with their Feliz Navidad Smoked Mexican Ale, collabed with Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company. It’s a pleasant surprise to me to see RVA breweries working with DB, because they were the first brewery to steal my heart back in my mountain days and will always be an age-old favorite for me. Feliz Navidad is a beechwood-smoked malt brew and a touch of lime zest, and the proceeds benefit FeedMore. All-around, this is definitely on my list to check out. Three Notch’d also has Scott’s Addition Nights every Monday from now until December 17 in Richmond’s booziest neighborhood, so if you can’t catch them for the release, you can still check them out until the holidays.

Do you know anybody who still says “groovy”? I do, and they’re my favorite. Head on over to Center of the Universe this Saturday for their Funk Fest Day 2, “taking it down to Funkytown” with a full lineup of 12 funky sours with live music as well. Mouth-watering Puerto Rican cuisine will be cooked up by Freekin’ Rican, and Scattered Smothered & Covered is coming to jam all evening. Mmmmm, just how I like my breakfast at Waffle House.

On the lineup for sour brews: Sour Stouts — original, cherry, and chili (wow!), Sour Saisons — with ginger or lavender. Then we’ve got a Rhubarb sour pale ale and a Pocahoptas, a sour red ale, a Bier de Garde, and……. “??????” A mystery beer! My favorite!

COTU turns 6 this year, and the celebration is going on all weekend. Hit them up for one of many fancy brews, and drop me a line with your favorite!

Yay, Friendsgiving is here! Thanksgiving is great, but there’s just something extra special about celebrating a regular holiday with a bunch of friends (probably because everyone gets to skip the family drama and actually have fun). Ardent is celebrating it right this year, with its 4th annual feast & food drive and food from Autumn Olive Farms, ZZQ, and side dishes and desserts from all around RVA. To reserve your plate at the table, just donate 15 food items at the taproom anytime between now and the start of Friendsgiving. All the food donated goes to Feed More, and tickets cost $15 if you don’t want to directly bring food to donate. 100 percent of the proceeds go back to hungry families, so all options are good options!

RVA ON TAP: Heavy Metal Pumpkins, Big Lebowski Bar Crawl, & New Fall Brews This Weekend

Caley Sturgill | October 31, 2018

Topics: ardent, carytown bar crawl, Castleburg, Center of the Universe, covenant beer fest, craft beer and brewing magazine, Halloween, novemberfest, oregon hill parade, strangeways, The Answer, The Big Lebowski, the cask, The Veil, triple crossing, Väsen

IT’S HALLOWEEN! Hallelujah! It’s Lucky Number 13 for the Richmond Halloween Parade, which is going down in Oregon Hill tonight. Meet up in Monroe Park at 7, and bring your puppets, bring your props, dress to impress: the citizens are the parade for this RVA Halloween tradition. Once you’re done at the parade, the city’s got a ton of great beer releases, bar crawls, and events to keep your juices flowing through the week and say hello to November.

Does playing music at plants really affect how they grow? Does blasting metal at pumpkins change how they taste? Strangeways set out to find the answer. Porter season is the best season, and these guys know it. This Saturday, Gourd of Thunder returns, made with freshly-picked local pumpkins that were ripened on the vine “while continuously listening to heavy metal.” It was created to cataclysmically blow your mind with its face-melting, high-voltage attitude (not unlike myself as a kid, S/O to my mother for her troubles).

This malty-pumpkin fuses with a milky sugar creaminess, packed with bourbon vanilla beans to drive the cinnamon, ginger, and clove spices right through your skull (sweet!) and aged in oak barrels. Headbangers Unite!

My fav is back, and there’s a whole bar crawl to drink it at! “Pull out that bathrobe grandma gave you last Christmas, and strut your stuff in Carytown” for the Big LeBYRDski Fest in honor of 1998’s best movie. Grab a Center of the Universe (COTU) El Duderino, the famous White Russian milk stout (yum!), featured at this weekend’s Carytown Bathrobe Bar Crawl because “It’s how the Dude would want you to roll.” The crawl hits Citizen Burger Bar, Burger Bach, NY deli, Mellow Mushroom, and RVA Draft Room, and it’s topped off at the end with a showing of The Big Lebowski at the Byrd Theatre. I can’t imagine a more perfect day.

Speaking of COTU, a brand-new brew is on its way from the Ashland spot this Saturday for the Donny Coffee Brown Ale release. This whole week is full of brews right up my alley, and Donny doesn’t disappoint. This Southern-English style brown is brewed with Lamplighter Coffee’s cold brew, and its smooth, velvety flavor is topped off with toffee and caramelized sugar notes. COTU says it’ll remind you of carefree coffee dates with your closest nihilist buddies — truly a pastime at Lamplighter. Donny is brewed with Maris Otter, Crystal 120, Crystal 77, Flaked Barley and Flaked Oats, and balanced with Perle hops and Richmond’s favorite coffee company.

Is everyone this into fall beers, or is it just me? Here’s another drool-worthy brew this week, Castleburg’s mOatmeal Stout. For a stout, it’s light, creamy, and pretty low in ABV — at 5.5%, it’s suitable anytime and sounds like an English dream. Dark, rich, malty, and full of chocolate, coffee, and fruit. This stout is brewed with Cascade and Willamette hops, dark roasted malts, and traditional English yeast to round it out, according to the brewers. It’s also gluten-reduced, so all of you watching your waistlines can enjoy it before America eats its weight in food for good ol’ Thanksgiving tradition a few weeks from now.

Vasen is ahead of the winter game, with a full-on Stout Month called Walrus Series. The heavy beers are certainly comparable to this monster of the animal kingdom, and they’re paired at Vasen with Intergalactic Tacos and trivia from Geeks Who Drink for the release party tomorrow night. These beers come in four varieties: the Wired Walrus, the Imperial Walrus, the Whiskery Walrus, and the Sour Cherry Walrus. Vasen’s also partnered with Mustaches for Kids Richmond, and brewed a special Cancer Gose Bye Bye with the organization. The benefit-collab beer will also be on tap tomorrow evening, and the brewery is donating 20 percent of its sales to the nonprofit: so go drink for a good cause!

Everyone’s favorite south Robinson Street spot paired up with Ardent to come up with the Barrel Aged Defenestrator. The Cask had a hand in this doppelbock-collab, which is lagered for 10 months in bourbon barrels. Its 10.4% ABV has the same malty base and stone fruit as the beer’s original version, but with some extra bourbon and oaky flavor, according to the brewers. Come out to The Cask Thursday night to give it a try with The German Snack Shack on-deck.

Never Dead returned at The Veil Brewing Co. last night, so get ‘em while they’re hot (cold)! This All Hallow’s Gose Ale with sour candy has “Pillowcase after pillowcase of Sour Patch Kids and Sour Gummy Worms.” Its brewers say it tastes like a sugar-filled night of mischief and mayhem, and we all know The Veil’s best brews don’t last long — so swing by while they’ve got them. You can also buy this one in cases, and there’s a one-case or six 4-packs per person limit on purchase (so if you’ve got a sweet tooth, don’t expect to go snatching them all up from the rest of us).

PHOTO: Triple Crossing Covenant Beer Fest

Triple Crossing is opening its doors once again for its ⟁Covenant Beer Fest⟁ in Fulton. The brewery is hosting 19 world-class brewers and separate can release event the night before on Friday. At the festival, the entire Fulton Brewpub will be open and tickets can be purchased beer-by-beer during the event.

⟁At Friday’s Covenant release, all the triangle variants have increased hops. Interstellar returns in addition to Falcon Smash coming out of hibernation in 16oz cans. Next up is Galaxy Triangles, a 6% IPA brewed with flaked wheat, flaked oats, and malted wheat — on top of crushed pineapple tropical passion fruit and threaded into the house ale’s trademark citrus. Galaxy Triangles has a softer-than-10-ply plushiness. Light that Never Goes Out is the fourth release, and the golden sour has a refreshing tart acidity along with its deep fruit tones. According to the brewers, it’s “just as easily consuming all the attention in the room, and then forgotten about when shared with good company.” This Light is well-done among friends. The final can release of the night comes with Nectar and Knife, which has a bright, grapefruit-pulpy zest softness brewed with “Simcoe and her daughter Mosaic.”⟁

Richmond’s on the national beer map for being awesome again. Feels like every week we win something new: Congrats to The Answer Brewpub for being that marker this time around, hitting the list for Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine’s Best 18 Beers of 2018. The Answer’s 3 Scoops is one of the brewery’s “in-your-face sour” fruit beers that push the legal limits of fruit content, and according to Beer and Brewing, the intensity of flavor is undeniable. The magazine noted that for brewers in 2018, it’s been hard to talk beer without a conversation about using unfermented fruit: a conversation, they say, that was primarily started by The Answer — “so unapologetic in their approach that they’ve even designed ticking time bomb labels to stress the meaning of ‘drink fresh, keep cold.’”

3 Scoops is a fruit smoothie beer with a daiquiri consistency, and comes in flavors like Passionfruit/Lemonade/Mango and Raspberry/Strawberry/Rhubarb. With these fruit blends, The Answer has “expanded the idea of what beer can be” to Beer and Brewing Magazine.

If you’re traveling this weekend, be sure to hit up Novemberfest in NOVA. The Alexandria event features a ton of Virginia brewers, with RVA favorites like Ardent, Blue Bee Cider, Final Gravity, Hardywood, The Answer, Triple Crossing, Väsen, and The Veil — plus a bunch of other great ones throughout the state. The outdoor block party has more than 80 local beers and ciders total and sounds like a blast, so check it out if you make your way up north.

RVA On Tap: Halloweek, Harvest Festival, & Doggy-Beer Events

Caley Sturgill | October 24, 2018

Topics: ardent, Center of the Universe, Final Gravity, garden grove, Halloweek, Halloween, Hardywood, Isley, Legend, RVA On Tap, strangeways, The Answer

Last week, we saw some great beer releases and checked out the Scott’s Addition Booz Crawl, which is coming up this Saturday in Richmond’s booziest neighborhood. We also hit the books again as one of the country’s best beer cities (but we already knew that).

Haaaaallelujah, today is the first official day of this year’s Halloweek! That’s music to our ears at the magazine, because it’s our favorite week of the year. RVA Magazine partners up with Hardywood Park Craft Brewery once a year to bring Richmonders the city’s best in Halloween events, jam-packed with beer, bands, zombies, parties and more on every day leading up to the 31st.

Halloweek starts tonight(!!) at Hardywood’s Kick-Off party, with a Halloween FX Makeup workshop for all the overachievers out there, silent movie screenings of the best classics, and Thriller-mixed punk/horror garage jams — but the big fun comes on Saturday, when the brewery drops Trickery in an all-day party for the occasion.

Hardywood first introduced Trickery a few years back as the Halloween season’s go-to brew, and the “deliciously dark” stout has received great feedback every year since: it was even named one of HopCulture’s best beers in the country to drink this fall.

Trickery is all your Halloween dreams wrapped up in one. The 13.5% ABV imperial milk stout is aged in apple-brandy barrels for 8 months, and full of flavors like warm caramel, blackstrap molasses, and chocolate-covered cherries. It’ll be on tap at all three of Hardywood’s locations, and open to take home in to-go bottles if you can’t get enough.

In more new booze news, Ardent is releasing their Fall American Sour Blend tomorrow at their Scott’s Addition spot, a copper-colored and medium-bodied blend of sour blonde and Brett IPA. This is one of those patience-is-a-virtue beers — the kind that gets better as it ages in your kitchen, while it gets harder and harder not to open it (and the kind that if you’re like me, ends up opened in a day). It’s dry, balanced, and the “funky characteristic” from Brettanomyces pairs with the oak barrels it’s aged in to bring this beer a light acidity to its taste.

After the weekend, Halloweek continues when The Answer Brewpub teams up with the magazine and Hardywood Monday night to put on “Hallobeer,” an annual party at The Answer with music from The Mekong Express, and tracks from Earth, Wind, and Fire. There’ll be special brews on deck as well as costume contests for attendees, so remember what you learned at Hardywood’s FX Workshop and go win some prizes.

Final Gravity drops a new IPA this Friday with so many Galaxy hops “you’ll feel like you’ve known it from another life.” Down the black hole of Astral Plane, you’ll find citrus, passionfruit, and peach bringing this ethereal IPA together. Give it a try at its release, or swing by the brewery on Sunday for Oktoberfest in Lakeside. They’ll also be dropping their seasonal Kingdoms Rise and serving up some serious sausages from Cafe Rustika, marinated in the Oktoberfest beer. Bless.

Hope you like dogs, because there are TWO beer and pup events coming up this weekend! Center of the Universe Brewing, one of my faves around town, is hosting Growl-O-Ween this Saturday. Grab your pooch, your costume, and your good-time shoes, they say, for a doggone good time (nice). They’ll have musical chairs, photobooths, bobbing for tennis balls (my heart!), and all the proceeds go back to the Friends of Hanover Dog Parks and the Hanover Humane Society. My beagle, Bagel (pre-Richmond famous Bagel), would be in heaven.

Strangeways is also celebrating the best animal in the world this year, with Barktoberfest this Saturday benefitting shelter and adoption groups like Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC), the Henrico Humane Society and more. The fur-filled fun day is also hosting a doggy costume contest, so if you’re not a dog person already, I suggest (strongly suggest) you make your way there and change your mind (or else). All extra donations go to Adopt RVA, which Strangeways said was “a natural fit,” because “Dogs and cats are like beer. It’s hard to choose just ONE,” and they certainly know their stuff — Strangeways has 36 beers on tap every day.

Over at Legend Brewing Company, the Manchester Harvest Festival is right around the corner. The festival’s set for this Saturday, and has food trucks, costume contests (for both kids and adults) and good ol’ Americana music to really get that fall in Virginia feel. Legend has long-been our favorite place across the bridge, and the Harvest Festival is one of the best days of the year there. Make sure to come out and grab a fresh copy of the newest RVA Magazine in print, and wear your costume to get picked by our very own CEO, John Reinhold, who’s judging the contest at the event.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ISLEY! The Scott’s Addition brewery turns 5 this Saturday, and they’ll have five birthday infusions on tap to celebrate: a Mango IPA, Orangegasmic porter, coffee-infused Stunt Dubbel, bourbon-aged Fastidious Father, and Boozy Mother. Boozy Mother sounds a little reminiscent of my future. They’ll also have the Bodillaz and Manchu food trucks out for the event, and wine pours from James River Cellars. Head down this weekend and buy yourself a birthday beer on their behalf.

If you’re traveling soon, check out the Imbibe Beer & Arts Festival happening over two weekends in Fredericksburg and Virginia beach. Tons of breweries from around the state are coming out, including Richmond’s Ardent, Legend, Lickinghole Creek, and Strangeways. Some other Commonwealth brewers like Alewerks, Devil’s Backbone, and Starr Hill will make the trip from around the state, for an all-in-one Virginia faves fest with some of the best brews in the country.

For all the coffee lovers out there, Garden Grove just teamed up with Bright Spot Coffee to make The Empress. It’s part-cold brew, part-beer, and the coffee-infused Robust Porter sounds like the perfect way to start the day fresh all over again in the evening. We’ve got some more coffee brews coming up soon from around town — there’s nothing better in your beer for this time of year. Can’t wait to give this one a try!

Tapped: Midnight Brewery turns five, Garden Grove’s One Trick Pony IPA, & Mother’s Day celebrations

Amy David | May 10, 2017

Topics: Blue Bee Cider, Buskey Cider, Center of the Universe, Garden Grove Brewing Company, Hardywood Brewery, Isley Brewing Company, midnight brewery, RVA, RVA beer, RVA On Tap, Steam Bell Beer Works, Strangeways Brewing, The Veil Brewing Co., Three Notch'd Brewing Company

What’s happening craft beer lovers of RVA?! Welcome to this week’s “Tapped,” RVA Magazine’s go to weekly craft beer column where you can find all your craft beer-related events, releases, festivals and all the booze news your little hearts desire.

Our cup is overflowing with news this week, but first head over here to check out what awesome brews were released in Richmond last weekend.

So 2017 started off pretty crazy and it seems it’s just getting crazier by the day, but one thing you can count on is RVA Mag will always have the scoop on where you can go to get the finest craft beer in town! This week we have new beer releases, events, and other cool happenings around town, so hold on to your mugs because we’re getting ready to tap this thing!

Midnight Brewery is celebrating five years this Saturday, May 13 with live music, food, and a new beer release. The brewery will be pouring Summer Down Under, a new Pale Ale that has a twist with the fruit of Guava.

This Friday, Isley is back with their weekly infusion, this time its a Bloody Mary version of their Fifth Circle IPA.

Isley Brewing is also celebrating mothers all month long with specials and events all around the Choosy Mother Peanut Butter Porter! Regular glasses of their signature porter will be priced $1 for the entire month, and customers will receive $5 off the purchase of three 32oz. crowlers to go!

The weekend of May 20th will be jam packed with events for the whole family to enjoy. Saturday, May 20th they will have Strawberry Fields florist on site (since Mom enjoys flowers this week as well), and will feature music from 2:00-9:30 from Zack Artis, The Royal We and more! On Sunday, May 21st, local bakers will compete for the title of Choosy Mother Bake-Off Champion with a judged competition to see who can create the best recipe using the Choosy Mother as an ingredient. For more info or to reserve a spot in the contest, please contact [email protected].

Center of the Universe is celebrating moms on Sunday with a special brunch. Moms are invited to sip on MOMosas and beer bloody marys, sample cheeses from Truckle Cheesemongers, dine off of the menu provided by The Grapevine, and walk away with a special limited edition stemless wine glass.

On Thursday, Strangeways Brewing will release three Totally Tublar Radler variants including Apfelsine (Orange, Pampelmuse (Grapefruit), and Kirsche (Cherry) go try them all!

On Mother’s Day, Strangeways is also treating moms to a Southern-Fried Drag & Variety Brunch. Hosted by the one and only, Magnolia Jackson Pickett Burnside, this fun, campy, raunchy DRAG & Variety show is not for those fancy, tea-sippin’ mamas out there. Add some fresh chicken n’ waffles from Mama J’s, a side of beermosa specials, and a sprinkling of raffle prizes throughout the show, and you’ve got a recipe for one fabulously fun feast! Advanced tickets are $25 and include admission to the show, a reserved seat for your party, a beermosa ticket, chicken n’ waffles, a your first raffle ticket, beermosa specials, and mor

Hardywood has quite a few events and releases happening this weekend. On Friday, the brewery will do a small batch can release of Road to Idaho, a citrusy IPA.

On Saturday, Hardywood will release a Boysenberry Berliner Weisse, a new fruited variation of of of their warm weather brews.

On Sunday for Mother’s Day, Hardywood will host a market with Studio Two Three To Go. They will have vendors on site with handmade gifts for the special Mama in your life! The S23 To-Go truck will be on site live-printing small prints/mom inspired cards, totes, and koozies! Bikini Panini will be here serving up good eats for the whole family! Live music by Lemon Sky starts at 3pm.

Garden Grove Brewing Company has two special releases for you this weekend. First up is One Trick Pony, a 6.4% juicy, tropical IPA. The Carytown brewery will also release Virginia Pale Ale, a 4.6% brew highlighting Meridian and Calypso Hops.

On Monday, May 29 GG will host their next great meal in their ongoing Taproom Dinner Series featuring Wild Ginger Asian Fusion & Sushi! Five courses of mouth-watering cuisine will be matched with five of their beers. $39 plus tax & tip, Reservations Required.

The Veil Brewing Co. is celebrating Mother’s Day teamed up with Commune RVA to provide a vendor market with plenty of gift ideas to shop with or for mom.

From 2p-6p Indigo Therapeutic Massage and Healing Arts will have two chairs set up offering free 10-minute massages. Sign up sheets available on-site. Goatocado will be slinging food all day starting at Noon and we will have some amazing treats from Sweet Frog Premium Frozen Yogurt starting at 2p.

Three Notch’d Brewing Company RVA Collab House returns with their weekly beer collaboration on Thursday. This time, they’ve partnered with Joey Johnson who has spent years in the beer industry and as an accomplished homebrewer to make the “Juicy J” IPA.

Steam Bell Beer Works recently announced they planned to open a 5,000 square foot brewery and taproom called Canon & Draw Brewing Co. in the Fan on West Main Street. Check out our interview here.

Taste and check out over 30 Craft Beers from some of the best breweries in Virginia at the Virginia Hops & Barley Festival this Saturday at Westchester Commons. 1 pm-7 pm. Tickets $10-$50 which can be purchased here.

Blue Bee Cider is celebrating Mother’s Day with their in-house sangria, made with raspberries and blackberries soaked in their Harvest Ration dessert cider, plus delicious eats from Continental Divide Richmond taco truck.

Today, Buskey Cider will release their mouth-watering collaboration with Sugar Shack, a Jalapeño Lime Randall’d Cider. Get their donuts specially made with Buskey’s Jalapeño Lime Cider at this event served off their gluten free donut truck and pair this dessert with a pint of Buskey

On Mother’s Day, Buskey Cider will have sangria pints and produce from Ellwood Thompson’s! Details here.

Send all craft beer-related submissions to Amy at [email protected]. Cheers!

Words by Amy David. Top Photo credit: Midnight Brewery