Paint the town GREEN with on March 14th for
Shamrock the Block 2020!
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☘️ Beer, Wine , + Cocktails
FREE EVENT!
Behind The Suit: Santa Bob Brings Cheer To The River City
Richmond’s Santa Bob isn’t your traditional Santa — and with in his delightfully down-to-earth personality, he makes Christmas extra-special for each child he meets.
Christmas season is upon us again, the so-called most wonderful time of the year. But for local professional Santa Claus Bob Saintsing, known as Santa Bob while on the job, it’s also the busiest time of the year — he’s probably suiting up as we speak, preparing for another breakfast with Santa or a private event.
Saintsing has only been in the Santa game for about four years, but he’s already been appointed as the City of Richmond’s official Santa Claus for its two main holiday ventures, at the Main Street Station and for the Grand Illumination. “It’s a big feather for the cap,” says Saintsing.
Last season, he worked the Winter Market at the Gallery of Main Street Station, standing alongside Mayor Levar Stoney at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the outdoor ice rink, and leading the marching band and dancing elf procession into the station. This is his first year as the Santa for Grand Illumination, since the City of Richmond is taking over the event in 2019 after The James Center hosted it for the past 34 years.
But Saintsing is more than a public figure — he’s a businessman. On his website, there’s a list of several different services you can book Santa Bob for, including private parties, personal photo ops, advertising, and even a FaceTime call with Santa for the youngsters. Santa Bob also offers a service called “Sneak-A-Peek at Santa,” in which he books a few home visits on the night of Christmas Eve, so that some lucky little ones in the Richmond area get the memorable experience of watching Santa Claus place their gifts under the tree and eat the cookies they left out for him.
“There’s a lot of money in advertising as a Santa,” says Saintsing. “But the aspect of the job that I really love is interacting with the children.” A lot of the conversations Santa Bob has had with the little ones over the years endearingly remind him of Art Linkletter’s famous House Party segment, “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” Saintsing hates for the Santa experience to feel rushed.
“I genuinely get a kick out of what they have to say, and I know it’s an important moment for them,” he says. “At so many places I’ve worked, I’ve been told ‘Santa, you’ve got to move it along,’ but I like to engage the child.”
This year is Santa Bob’s busiest season yet, to the extent that he had to order a third suit. “I’m a heavy perspire-er,” Saintsing laughs. “Say sweat and I’ll do it.” So the thick, heavy suits have to be washed after each use, and need at least two days to air dry — which means with only two suits, he’d be putting on a damp one anytime he has a third consecutive booking. So if you want to gauge how successful a pro Santa really is, ask him how many suits he owns, especially since a quality Santa suit ordered straight from a Hollywood outfitter can cost a couple thousand dollars. “I would love for it to become busier, so that I can order a fourth suit next year,” says Saintsing.
But around Halloween, before the holiday madness had begun, Saintsing was able to make time to grant RVA Mag an interview with Santa Claus. During the first 11 months of the year, he runs his own mobile custom picture framing service, called Want It Framed. Saintsing hopes to retire from that in the next few years, but having always said he’d work until the day he dies, Santa Bob is his retirement. His identity was unmistakable when he arrived for the interview looking exactly how one would imagine the real Santa Claus off-duty; a red sweater, a big ring emblazoned with “SC,” and a full white beard.
“I wear a lot of red now,” he says.
Saintsing’s beard, which he’s had for 45 years, is au-naturel at collarbone length, with threads of silvery and ashy grey running throughout. His opposition to bleaching it or donning a fake beard is an uncommon decision within the commercial Santa community, since the consensus seems to be that an authentic Santa’s beard is long and perfectly white. “There are some nice fake beards out there made of Yak hair that look real,” he says. “But if you look closely, you can still see that little bit of mesh glued to the skin, and that’s the kind of kid I was. I would look for things like that.”
For Santa Bob, it really is all about the children. When visiting with him, they don’t sit on his lap — they sit on a knee-height, retro chrome stool with a red cushion and bow. He’s only had one crier to date, and it was early in his Santa career. The tears were caused by the parent forcing the unwilling child to sit on Santa Bob’s lap for a picture. That incident spurred the use of the stool. “I’ve never had a child decline to sit on it,” he says. “I think it’s better for everyone that way, including me.”
Santa Bob doesn’t put on too much of a theatrical persona either. He talks to the children in his regular voice, and doesn’t pretend to be 475 years old or have magical powers. “I put on the suit, but my message and the conversation isn’t an act,” says Saintsing. “And I’ve never been a fan of walking into a room and bellowing ‘HO, HO, HO!’ as loudly as possible. It can be frightening.”
But Santa Bob’s most unorthodox characteristic of all might be his honesty. “When you’re telling them one lie after another, you’re playing a game with their minds,” Saintsing says. “I’ll stretch the truth, but I don’t like to lie.” With Richmond being a relatively small city, he’s had encounters as Santa with children that had seen him around as just Bob. He tells them “Yes, that was me, I live right here in Virginia and only work in the North Pole. It’s too cold for me up there.” Saintsing was once confronted on the stool by a child that somehow knew of his daughter, and was baffled by how Santa could possibly be a father. He told the child, “There’s not just one Santa, because no one lives for 400 years. Every now and then Santa has to retire and a new one takes over.”
When confronted with the inevitable young skeptic, Saintsing also handles that difficult discussion with honesty. He says to the older ones, “Look, we all know there’s no Santa, don’t we? But do you know who the real Santa Claus was?”
When they say no, he gives them a brief history on Saint Nicholas and how he evolved to become Santa Claus, then asks them if they like how it feels to give gifts. They’ve always answered yes, so he leaves them with the sentiment “That’s what Santa is all about. He’s just a symbol of giving. But promise me you won’t ruin it for the younger ones.”
Saintsing goes against the grain of traditional Santa behavior in a handful of ways, because he cares more about the child’s experience than staying true to a formula — even though he is a graduate of formal Christmas college, and an active member in local and online Santa communities.
Yes, Christmas college exists, but it isn’t as absurd as it sounds. It’s an annual 3-4 day summit for professional Santas and Mrs. Clauses where issues and difficult circumstances that could potentially arise on the job are discussed, in order to crowdsource solutions and suggestions. “You hear a lot of war stories,” says Saintsing.
Saintsing graduated from the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School in 2018. Located in Michigan and established by a Macy’s Santa, it’s known as “the Harvard of Christmas colleges.” He’s a member of the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas, which mostly serves as a resource for tips and tricks on how to maintain a quality Santa beard. He also participates in the state’s chapter of Virginia Santas, attending luncheons and events.
One of the most common topics of discussion at these meetings and luncheons is how to deal with the scenario when a child tells you something deeply disturbing, illegal, or dangerous that’s going on in their lives. “Children confide in Santa,” he says. “He’s seen as someone trustworthy.” It hasn’t happened to Santa Bob yet, and he’s not entirely sure how he’ll deal with it if it does. “I keep saying ‘if it happens,’ but other Santas tell me that no, it’s not ‘if’, it’s ‘when’ it happens.”
So far, the most upsetting and difficult questions he’s gotten from children are the ones that expose the underlying socio-economic reality of Christmas. He’s been asked things like “Why does Billy get all of this stuff for Christmas and I don’t?” Saintsing still doesn’t know how to best answer that one, but he takes a page out of his own book and tries to address it with some honesty. He usually says, “Well, two of Santa’s most valuable helpers are your parents. There are things that your parents don’t want us to bring you, and there are things they don’t feel that you’re old or responsible enough for yet.”
Despite being such a natural at it, Saintsing never once considered becoming a Santa until a chance encounter in a restaurant. A few years ago, after his wife and daughter had convinced him to grow out his beard, which he’d previously kept cropped closely, a little boy was leaving the restaurant where Saintsing was eating with his family. The child locked eyes with him and was smiling but visibly shaking as he walked by. A few moments later, the family returned to the row of booths and approached Saintsing. The mom translated the boy’s nervously garbled speech, “He wants to know if you’re Santa Claus.” He knows it sounds like it’s straight from a Hallmark movie, but it’s the truth.
Saintsing admits that before that experience, he had never been much of Christmas fan. “I believed in Santa when I was little, but I found out he wasn’t real during a tumultuous period in my family’s life, so I think I resented Christmas from then on,” he says. After his daughter was born, his Christmas spirit was revived and he climbed a 35-foot step ladder to decorate the holiday tree. But as his daughter got older and stopped believing in Santa, the number of lights dwindled. In those last few years before he became Santa Bob, he hadn’t put any Christmas lights up at all… but that little boy in the restaurant altered the course of his future. He turned to his wife right after it happened, and said, “You know, I think Santa’s going to be a part of my life.”
Saintsing would like to become a year-round Santa in retirement, possibly sporting Hawaiian shirts with his beard and red hat. Apparently Santa work can be quite lucrative; Saintsing says that somewhere, there is a year-round Santa — and the community won’t divulge who or where he is — who made $150,000 last year. While the salary would certainly be nice, Saintsing would just like to live comfortably. He doesn’t want to become invested in money and lose sight of Santa’s message.
Recently, a friend of his daughter’s who now works in Chesterfield County Public Schools contacted him about visiting her school, but didn’t think they could afford Santa Bob’s rates. “As a knee-jerk response, I told her not to worry about it and that I’d halve the rates,” says Saintsing. But he woke up the next morning shocked by what he had said.
“‘I thought ‘Where did that come from?’ This is about a school, and one with a lot of underprivileged students.” So, he sent her another email waiving the hourly rate entirely. “I was stuck in business mode, and to me, that’s a sign of getting in too deep,” he says. “Santa is all about giving.”
To catch up with Santa Bob and learn more about his Santa services, check out his website and contact him here — and don’t forget to find your holiday cheer this year.
RVA On Tap: Thanksgiving Holiday Edition
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 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).
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
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, 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
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, from beer releases to festivals, events, and other cool happenings around town — so hold on to your mugs!
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!
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!
Punks for Presents celebrates 11 years with four shows & 12 holiday cover bands to benefit Children’s Hospital of Richmond
Metalheads dissatisfied with mainstream Christmas carols can get into the holiday spirit this weekend and next at the 11th annual Punks for Presents concert, a series of shows around town featuring holiday-themed cover bands to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Richmond.
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