Monthly Archives: May 2014

Get Your Drink At The Wink Today!

De Fles Winkel aka “The Wink” is a new craft beer bottle shop having their soft opening today June 6th next to Home Team Grill in the Twin Hickory Shopping Center near Innsbrook.  Surrounded by the neighborhoods of Wyndham Forest, Wyndham, Twin Hickory and Grey Oaks, The Wink should be a great resource to residents who have longer for a craft beer destination in their backyard.

I had a chance to talk with owner Lou DiCello in early April just as the walls were being painted.  Lou was very aware of the need to protect beers from light damage and planned to use minimal florescent lighting supplemented with floor and ensconced lighting.  The Wink will be able to pour pints and fill growlers through use of a gourmet food ABC license.  This license will also allow for the sharing of bomber bottles in shop at a common table.  The Wink will offer packaged gourmet foods to eat in store or take home.  There are also plans for fresh light food options that may include homemade pretzels.

When we talked in April, Lou was looking at organzing the store by beer style rather than by brewery with a target of at least 500 distinct beers.  You can expect a lot of Belgian beers as they are among Lou’s faavorite styles. While they will not store kegs to sell, they will special order kegs for home use if desired.

You can join them for an opening reception later this afternoon.

De Fles Winkel
11355 Nickols Rd
Glen Allen, VA  23059

Lickinghole Creek Farmers’ Market Saison At The Camel For RVA Playlist 4th Birthday Party Tomorrow

RVA Playlist Bday LCCB Pin posterMy good friend RVA Playlist will celebrate 4 years of highlighting the Richmond music scene with a birthday party at The Camel Wednesday May 28 starting at 7pm.  The feature of the night will be a FREE show from Richmond bands Vexine, My Darling Fury, and The Trillions.  Before the music starts at 8pm, The Camel will tap my collaboration with Lickinghole Creek, Farmers Market Saison.

Created especially for  RVA Playlist’s 4th Birthday Party, Farmers Market Saison is cask conditioned version of Short Pump Saison with ingredients found on the first day of South of the James Market’s spring season.

On May 3rd, I found Agriberry strawberries,  Pleitez Produce’s pickling cucumbers, and Village Garden’s herb blend.  The strawberries were coated with turbinado sugar and some of the herb blend then grilled over charcoal.  The cucumbers were simply peeled and chopped.  Small additions of lemon peel, cracked white peppercorns, more herb blend and homegrown mint were added to the pin before allowing it to condition for three weeks.

The pin will be tapped when the doors open at 7pm.  So come out and enjoy a beer and stay for what will surely be a great night of live music.  Head over to the Facebook event for more information and updates.

The Camel
1621 W Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23220

Make It A Richmond Beer Memorial Day Weekend With Strangeways, Lickinghole Creek, Center of the Universe, & Hardywood

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Richmond! If you are looking for beer, and I know you are, there is a bounty to choose from all over town today Saturday May 24th.

Steal the Vessel at Strangeways — ALL WEEKEND

Here is a note to help with your weekend festivities:

Hellloooo, 3 day weekend! Because we know you have grill outs that require tasty beverages, we’re doing Steal the Vessel and Strangeways Growler refill specials now through Monday! Our special holiday hours are Sunday 12-10 and Monday 12-9 so there’s plenty of time to get your Strange. 

 

Bourbon Barrel Three Chopt Tripel Release at Lickinghole Creek — 1PM

 

Spend some time down on the farm sipping LCCB’s Bourbon Barrel Tripel.  Only 2000 bottles available for sale at the farm.

 

Homefront IPA Day at Center of the Universe — 3PM

While Center of the Universe celebrates Homefront IPA Day at the brewery, the beer will make appearances at Brew’s beer school, The Bucket Trade, and a tap takeover at Station 2.

 

 

COTU_Operation Homefront

Want to take one of the bats used in Homefront IPA home? COTU will be raffling them off.

Hardywood Gingerbread Stout Bottle Sale — 3PM

Yes, Hardywood is releasing Saison Rustica today at 2pm but they are also selling 200 bottles of Gingerbread Stout to celebrate being named top Richmond brewery in Style Weekly.

 

Cowboy Up with Lonerider Brewing At The Bucket Trade Tonight

Lonerider beersA few beers from one of my favorite North Carolina breweries tonight May 20th down in Chester starting at 5pm:

Lonerider Tap Takeover with their Ales for Outlaws and a few more surprises on tap. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to drink some great beers that are hard to find in RVA. “Remember there is a Lonerider in all of us!”

Shotgun Betty ~ Part vixen, part vigilante, she uses her sharpshooting skills to target those that show a weakness for wheat beer with a body that won’t quit. This German-style hefeweizen features a rich, banana-clove nose and refreshing dry finish. 5.8% ABV

Sweet Josie ~ As strong-willed as she is seductive, she knows how to draw you in then bring you to your knees. This American brown ale is a complex beer balancing a nice hop bitterness with a generous amount of chocolate and aromatic malts. 6.1% ABV

Peacemaker ~ Don’t let the badge fool you, Peacemaker is popular with lawmen and outlaws alike. This well-rounded west coast style pale ale uses several hop varieties and a special blend of malts for a unique and bountiful hop aroma with a balanced bitterness. 5.7% ABV

Head over to the Facebook event for more information and updates.

The Bucket Trade
13131 Rivers Bend Boulevard
Chester, VA 23836

American Craft Beer Week RVA 2014 Redux

Richmond will celebrate in a variety of ways this American Craft Beer Week (May 12 – 18).  Stay tuned as I will update this page as I get more information on different events.

Tuesday May 13th

Trivia Tuesday at Strangeways — 4PM

Collaboration Tap Takeover at Cask Cafe — 5PM

Celebrating the collaborative nature of the brewing community, Cask Cafe will tap an eclectic collection of collaboration beers.

Here are the beers expected to be tapped:

Crim Dubbel — Legend & Williamsburg Alwerks
Gentlemen’s Club — Cigar City& Widmer Bros
GAVA Joe — Terrapin & Starr Hill
Collaboration Not Litigation — Avery & Russian River
European Slaycation Belgian IPA — Greg Self (Whole Food’s Growler King) & Champion Brewing Company
Man Crush — Green Flash & Smartmouth
Devil’s Secret — Devils Backbone & Apocalypse
Good Morning Mekong — The Answer & Cigar City.

Pizza Tonight will be cooking up pizza at 5.

Perennial “Meet the Brewer” & Takeover at Brew — 6PM

Brew will host tap takeover with Perennial Artisan Ales out of St Louis, MO as part of their American Craft Beer Week celebration. Owners, Phil and Emily Wymore, will be on hand to talk about their beers.  Brew will raffle off a very special Perennial bottle with 100% of the proceeds going to charity.

Here are the beers on tap for the night:

Abraxas
Sump
17
Vermilion
Luna Mare
Regalia
Black Walnut Dunkel
Aria
Saison de Lis
Hommelbier
Heart of Gold
Dual Artisanship

Devils Backbone Mini Takeover at Bucket Trade — 5PM

Bucket Trade will have a trio of Devils Backbone beers on tap to celebrate the week.

Vienna Lager, 2012 Gold World Beer Cup and 2009 Great American Beer Festival Silver Medal winner, is a chestnut colored lager with a malty aroma and subtle toasty sweetness derived from a multi-stage mash. A pinch of noble hops gives this refreshing beer a clean finish. IBUs – 18, ABV – 4.9%

Striped Bass Pale Ale, Golden in color with a light body and pleasant hop bouquet of traditional German hops blended with the intense citrus of American hop varieties. 5.2% ABV 26 IBUs

Schwartzbier, Derived from recipes of medieval Germanic brewers, our Schwartz Bier embodies a millennium of refinement. This black bier gets its characteristically subtle roasted flavor by using the finest toasted malts. Lager yeast creates a quick & dry finish. 5.2% ABV 18 IBUs

Ale of Fergus, Scottish-style 60 shilling ale. Light brown in color, light to medium body with hints of toast and toffee in the finish. 4.0% ABV – 22 IBU

Devil’s Secret – collaboration with Apocalypse Ale Works

Wednesday May 14th

Goose Island vs Firestone Walker at Mekong — 5PM

Of course, you can go to Mekong any time this week to celebrate but Wednesday two breweries battle it out for supremacy.

Goose Island
Bourbon County Brand Stout
Bourbon County Barleywine
Sofie
Sofie Paradisi
Ogden Triple
Lolita

Firestone Walker
Parabola
17th Anniversary
Velvet Merkin
Double Jack
Wookey Jack
Union Jack

Thursday May 15th

Cheers to the Firkin Weekend with Hardywood at Station 2 — 5pm

Debut of Hardywood’s first sour beer — Rum Barrel Saison.

Perennial Takeover & Meet the Brewer at Mekong — 5PM

If you missed your chance at Brew, Phil Wymore will be at Mekong as they tap eleven of his beers.  Here’s what will be on for the night:

Abraxas – Imperial Stout brewed with ancho chili peppers, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, and cinnamon sticks
Sump – Imperial Coffee stout with Sump coffee beans
17 – Imperial Stout brewed with huge amounts of chocolate malts, cacao nibs, and mint leaves
Barrel Aged 17 – Imperial Stout aged Twelve months in Rittenhouse Rye Barrels with cacao nibs & mint leaves
Black Walnut Dunkel – chocolate brown German Dunkelweizen aged on Missouri‐grown black walnuts
Duel Artisanship – collaboration with Prairie Artisan Ales – Experimental IPA with Brettanomyces
Heart of Gold – Wheatwine
Aria – Belgian Style Ale with Brettanomyces
Hommel Bier – Dry-hopped Belgian Pale
Saison de Lis – Belgian-style Saison brewed with chamomile flowers
Regalia – Brettanomyces Saison
Regalia with pear and ginger

UPDATE: Abraxas will be replaced with an Andall.

Friday May 16th

Richmond Beer Lovers 4th Anniversary at Hurleys Tavern — 6PM

Richmond Beer Lovers celebrate their 4th anniversary with a Hardywood tap takeover at Hurley’s Tavern.  Here are the beers on tap for the night:

Singel
Beaux-Arts Triple IPA (collab with Bluejacket)
Bourbon Barleywine
Sidamo
Gingerbread Stout
2013 Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
Raspberry Stout
Kristallweiss
Brian’s Barrel Blend #4
Bohemian Pils
Hoplar (cask conditioned pin)

Saturday May 17th

Nectar & Knife DIPA Release at Triple Crossing — Noon

Triple Crossing releases their latest beer fresh from their tanks:

As IPA lovers ourselves, one of our main goals when opening this place was to release a DIPA that would be a hop-head’s dream come true. We think Nectar and Knife is just that. This beer is dry hopped three separate times with over 18lbs of hops. It sits right around 8%ABV, is a deep golden color and finishes perfectly dry. Prepare your palette!

Oh, and in case you get hungry, we will be having Boka Tako out all day for grub. Come get some.

Goochland Quad Release at Lickinghole Creek — Noon

Lickinghole Creek will fill growlers of their tasty Goochland Quad from noon to sunset on the farm. With its rum-like flavor, it makes perfect sense that the next evolution of this beer will be after spending time in Flor de Cana Nicaraguan Rum Barrels. Flora De Cana is Spanish for sugarcane flower. Look for it in a couple months.

https://www.instagram.com/p/n8JUy8BWLH/

Midnight Brewery Second Anniversary — 1PM

Celebrate the end of the week with Midnight with three special cask pins, two food trucks, and live music:

We opened our doors May 2012. What a ride it has been so far! Come celebrate with us May 17th at the brewery. This will also be the end of American Craft Beer Week. What better way to celebrate than to keep it local. Really looking forward to this. Hope you are too. Cheers!

A Good Day In RVA at Hardywood — 2PM

A day full of live music and Hardywood beers.

 

Virginia Hops & Barley Festival Is This Saturday

The 4th annual Virginia Hops & Barley Festival is this Saturday May 10th over at the Historic Malvern Farm in Midlothian.  If you have not been to this festival before, you should grab some friends and check it out. Tickets are $20 in advance for general admission or $50 for VIP admission and can be bought here.  Check out the festival’s Facebook page for more information.

VA Hops & barley 2014

Historic Malvern Farm
288 Hugenot Trail
Midlothian VA 23113

Adroit Theory Hits Richmond With Beer School and Tap Takeover Tomorrow

Purcellville’s Adroit Theory will be available in two spots in the Richmond area tomorrow Saturday May 3rd.  This nanobrewery has been making a big name for itself. Get out and try some because who  knows when your next chance will come.

Beer School at Brew — 4PM

Owner Mark Osborne will be leading Brew’s FREE beer school.

Brew
6525 Centralia Rd
Chesterfield, VA 23832

B/A/Y/S of Pigs at Bucket Trade — 5PM

Bucket Trade will be bringing Adroit to Chester for probably the hottest tap takeover to hit south of the river.  They will also be pairing the delectable beers with local barbecue smoked on B/A/Y/S hazelnut staves.

Here are the beers making their first appearance in the area:

  • GIAA – Double IPA brewed exclusively with Citra, Belgian Candied Sugar, and aged on Ash
  • BAYS – Imperial Stout brewed with Hazelnuts, Cherries and aged on Ash Wood
  • BAYS – Tawny Port Barrel Aged Version- Regular version of BAYS aged in Tawny Port Barrel
  • Scorpion – Black IPA brewed with Galena, Columbus, Citra, and Summit Hops
  • Fear Is Your Only God – A brand new Saison
  • Pigs Get What Pigs Deserve – Imperial Brown Ale with Smoked Bacon regular

Head over to the Facebook event for more information and updates.

The Bucket Trade
13131 Rivers Bend Boulevard
Chester, VA 23836

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