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RVA ON TAP: The Holidays are Here, and The Big Lebowski Meets Boobs

Caley Sturgill | December 26, 2018

Topics: ardent, Castleburg Brewery, Center of the Universe, Ellie Quinn, Hardywood, holidays, Legend Brewing, RVA On Tap, Shiplock Brewing, strangeways, The Big Lebowski, The Veil

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 saw some great releases from local spots and even went Dashing Through The Fan. Krampus made an appearance again, and beer lovers far and wide prepared for the holiday week with the season’s best recipes. This week, we’re checking out some awesome new brews, events, and even brand-new breweries to close out 2018 and kick off the new year. 

PHOTO: Shiplock Brewing

This week, Richmond welcomed a fresh face to the local brewery family. Shiplock Brewing is the newest addition in town, coming from the same hands behind Southern Railway Taphouse. It found its home in the old 7 Hills Seafood & Brewing, and it just opened its doors this month. We’re excited to start off the new year with a new member of the family, and can’t wait to learn more about what’s on tap as Shiplock gets more familiar with the community. 

PHOTO: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

In contrast to the newest spot in town, our longtime friends at Hardywood have some news this week as well. On Saturday, they’re dropping their Raspberry Stout, and just a few days before New Year’s Eve, it sounds like a great one to sit down with and say goodbye to 2018. This 9.2% ABV stout’s brewed with chocolate malt, cacao nibs, and late-season red raspberries from Agriberry Farm out in Hanover. A lot like fresh beers from our friends at Strangeways, this weekend’s treat hails from local fruits. It’s full-bodied and flavored, “beguiling with notes of rich dark chocolate and raspberry jam.” Mmmmmm. I’m a sucker for a good jam, and Hardywood nailed it with this one. Head over to the brewery this Saturday and let us know how you like it. 

PHOTO: Legend Brewing Company

Happy holidays from Legend Brewing Co.! Richmond’s true OG’s are getting festive this week, and they just brought back their Bourbon Barrel Brown Ale at their spot over the bridge. Brown ales are both my favorite kind of beer, and for some reason, one of the hardest for me to find at a lot of places — and everyone knows you can’t go wrong with Legend, so I’ll definitely be giving this one a try! Also on tap this week is Dopplebock, Tripel, and a Tiramisu-inspired porter cask (two tiramisu beers in two weeks! Lucky me). Head on over and show Legend some love, and if you’re feeling lucky too, maybe you’ll even run into ol’ Saint Nick. 

PHOTO: Castleburg Brewery

Hats off to some lucky princess out there, because her horse is here: The return of the Black Knight is coming up this Friday at Castleburg Brewery and Taproom. This earthy IPA has a pine-like profile, according to its tasters, and its floral and citrus flavors fit with its English and German dark malts. It’s an extra-dark Black IPA with chocolate and coffee tastes, and at 6.7% ABV, it’s a nice way to get that dark beer taste without the high content of most stouts. 

PHOTO: The Veil Brewing Co.

Today’s the first-ever release of Never Calm³ over at The Veil Brewing Co., and this triple-fruited version of their original Never Calm gives the passionfruit-pineapple gose an extra oomph. The Veil is celebrating Koelschip season right now — their favorite time of year, and also their fourth in a row brewing the Lambic-inspired and “spontaneously fermented” beers. Every release from The Veil seems to be an awesome one, and it’s no surprise that they’re the talk of the town so often for new folks visiting Richmond. Never Calm’s fruity goodness is making its debut appearance tonight at the brewery, and the triple-fruit beer sounds like the perfect summery escape to cheers Christmas goodbye this week. 

PHOTO: Strangeways Brewing

Speaking of triples, Strangeways is dropping three brand-new brews this Saturday. Sleeps with Angels is a chocolate imperial stout, and it’s accompanied by Geomancy and Bohemian Grove. Geomancy is a refreshing and fruity Belgian table beer, according to the brewers, and it’s brewed with grown barley from Epiphany Craft Malt and more local goodies, as always — Virginia malted wheat from Murphy and Rude. They also note that it has subtle notes of fruity and spicy yeast, “alongside a more aggressive berry character from boysenberries, that lend both acidity and sweetness.” Its triplet sibling, Bohemian Grove, brings a great earthy flavor to the family with tropical fruit, black currant, pine and gooseberry to complement its citrusy, dank hop profile. Also coming up this weekend at Strangeways is their fourth annual “Out of the Darkness: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Fundraiser” event, so be sure to swing by and give what you can. 

PHOTO: Ardent Craft Ales

Looking for fun on the first day of the year? Well, I hope you don’t go too hard on New Beer’s Eve, because there’s even more good stuff coming up after it. Mean Bird, Richmond’s fried chicken and vegan fried chicken faves is heading over to Ardent at the top of 2019 to serve up chicken and gingerbread waffles (YUM) on top of all their other delicious goodies. If you’re moving slow from the night before, have no fears, they say, because Mean Bird’s coming out at noon and they’ll be around all day. Mean Bird’s got your recovery covered. Whether you’re feeling fresh from crashing before the ball drops, or desperately trying to get past the night’s festivities, Ardent and Mean Bird are your guys. 

PHOTO: Center Of The Universe Brewing

Y’all, I really can’t with Richmond and The Big Lebowski. I’ve speculated about this many times before in this column, and our city’s Lebowski-Love is truly a gift that keeps on giving: Happy holidays, because it’s back, AGAIN, and we have Center Of The Universe to thank. I really do love this weird town and its weird love for this weird movie, and I only joke because it’s confusing — in the best kind of way. The Dude rules, and RVA knows it. Head on over to their event with Ellie Quinn for The Big Burleski, a Big-Lebowski themed burlesque show with BL costumes and tons of surprises in store. If you go, please let us know what kind of “surprises” a Big Lebowski burlesque show entails, because I’m imagining so many things.. Wow. Anyway, this sounds like a total blast, so don’t miss it! 

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: 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.  

PHOTO: Black Heath Meadery

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. 

PHOTO: Thrillist

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.

PHOTO: Center of the Universe

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. 

PHOTO: Intermission Beer Company

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. 

PHOTO: Strangeways Brewing Company

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. 

PHOTO: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

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! 

PHOTO: The Answer Brewpub

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. 

PHOTO: Legend Brewing Company

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. 

PHOTO: Triple Crossing

⟁ 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. ⟁ 

PHOTO: Ardent Craft Ales

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: 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

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!

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.

PHOTO: Strangeways

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!

PHOTO: Carytown Bathrobe Bar Crawl

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.

PHOTO: Center of the Universe

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.

PHOTO: Castleburg Brewing

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.

PHOTO: Väsen Brewing

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! 

PHOTO: Ardent

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.

PHOTO: The Veil Brewing Co.

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.”⟁ 

PHOTO: Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine

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.

PHOTO: Novemberfest

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. 

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! 

Center Of The Universe Brewing’s El Duderino debuts this week with parties at Broadberry & Byrd Theatre

Marilyn Drew Necci | November 3, 2014

Topics: Center Of The Universe Brewing, Jackass Flats, RVA, The Big Lebowski, The Broadberry, The Byrd Theatre

This week, Center Of The Universe Brewing debuts its brand new cholocate milk stout, El Duderino, with release parties at The Broadberry and The Byrd Theatre.
[Read more…] about Center Of The Universe Brewing’s El Duderino debuts this week with parties at Broadberry & Byrd Theatre

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