Author Archives for rvabeermeister

Celebrate The Virginia Oyster Trail With Farmhouse & Wild Virginia Ales At Rappahannock Thursday

Credit: Andrew Cothern

Credit: Andrew Cothern

Earlier today Governor McAuliffe named Virginia as the oyster capital of the east coast with seven flavors of oysters found in seven different regions.  These regions make up the newly named Virginia Oyster Trail along the Chesapeake Bay.  The trail will serve as a major tourism development project to connect travelers to Virginia oyster purveyors, raw bars, and restaurants, and the watermen culture throughout Coastal Virginia, the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula and Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

“Virginia produces the best oysters in the world and as the oyster industry continues to grow, we want to let it be known that Virginia is also the Oyster Capital of the East Coast,” said Governor McAuliffe.  “In addition to growing, harvesting and selling the best oysters, our watermen are providing good jobs in their communities, generating revenue and tax dollars throughout their region, and helping improve the environment of the Chesapeake Bay as their oysters filter millions of gallons of water each day.”

Credit: Virginia Tourism

Credit: Virginia Tourism

Rappahannock River Oyster Co farms four different varieties of oysters, each from a different region:

  • Rappahannocks (the 1899 original) from Topping, VA — sweet, buttery full bodied taste with a refreshingly clean, crisp finish
  • Stingrays from Ware Neck, VA — sweet and mildly briny with a clean, crisp finish
  • Olde Salts from Chincoteague Bay, VA — bold sea-side brininess with a smooth, clean follow-through
  • Yorks from the York River — sweet and buttery with a mild brininess

McAuliffe also declared November as Virginia Oyster Month.

If you are like me, you can’t wait over two months to celebrate (read: devour) Virginia oysters. And you won’t have to!

Head over to Rappahannock Restaurant Thursday August 21st starting at 4pm as they tap some Virginia farmhouse and wild ales.

Here are a few of the beers to be tapped:

  • Ardent Craft Ales Saison
  • Lickinghole Creek Rosemary Saison
  • Strangeways Wild Wallonian Dawn Saison
  • Three Brothers Virginia Wild Blend
  • Triple Crossing Single Hop Saison

There will be some other surprises in store so grab a beer and down a dozen oysters or two.

RVA BrewBQ Returns For Its Third Year This Sunday

RVA BrewBQ logo

Once known as RVA-B-Que, Richmond’s summer beer and barbecue festival returns this Sunday August 17th from Noon to 5pm as RVA BrewBQ at 17th Street Farmers’ Market.  The new name changes the beer focus to our now eleven Richmond area breweries.

Beer samples are $2 each; full pours are $6.

Satisfy your thirst with these Richmond brews:

Ardent Craft Ales — Richmond Center of the Universe — Ashland
Saison Ray Ray’s Pale Ale
Honey Ginger Oktoberfest
Extra Billy’s — Midlothian Hardywood — Richmond
Double Deke Black IPA Singel
My Only Weiss Bohemian Pilsner
Isley Brewing — Richmond Legend — Richmond
Blue Hefner Hefeweizen Oktoberfest
Choosy Mother Peanut Butter Porter Pilsner
Lickinghole Creek — Goochland Midnight — Goochland
Creator Hoppelbock Granite Oatmeal Stout
Saison Virginia Midway
Rusty Beaver — Ladysmith Strangeways — Richmond
Roy’s Big Bad Brown Ale Albino Monkey
Bucktooth IPA Woodbooger
Triple Crossing — Richmond
Saison
Kill the Lights Black IPA

All this local beer plus food from an array of Virginia barbecue producers including Richmond favorites like Halligan’s, Buz and Ned’s, Alamo, and Extra Billy’s.

Head over to the Facebook event for more information and take a look at the important reminders below.

If You Need Me, I’ll Be At Mekong Drinking Cigar City Beer Tonight

Cigar City Brewing is coming to town tonight Thursday August 14th with a RV packed full of their ambassadors and a ton of their beers.

Their party bus will stop at Mekong to throw the largest Cigar City tap takeover Richmond has ever seen.  Mekong will tap twenty two beers in total with many of them debuting for the first time in the city.

Here are the beers to be tapped starting at 4pm:

Mekong Restaurant
6004 W Broad St
Richmond, VA 23230

Bock Battle Between Lickinghole Creek And Strangeways This Weekend

There is nothing wrong with a little friendly competition between Richmond breweries.  There are no losers this weekend as Lickinghole Creek and Strangeways pit bock vs bock for Saturday and Sunday beer releases.

LCCB starts things off Saturday August 9th with the release of their Creator Hoppelbock, a hoppy doppelbock.

We are excited to release our newest lager. This one’s a doozy. We love the Doppelbock style, and as y’all know, we love hops, so we decided to “Create”a Hoppelbock. The Creator Hoppelbock maintains the malt heritage of the style while adding a fantastic hop presence without extra bitterness.

Nine distinctive malts provide the structure of the Creator, while New Zealand Hallertau, US Mount Hood, Styrian Celia and German Hersbucker account for the hop flavor and aroma.

https://www.instagram.com/p/rYFqoSBWN0/

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

Strangeways has you covered on a potentially rainy Sunday August 10 with their bourbon bock, Virginia Vulgarian Bourbon Bock:

This oh-so-smooth bourbon bock is lagered specifically to blend with the bourbon characteristics of the A. Smith Bowman barrels, but with a lower ABV to increase drinkability…

An unrefined Virginia gentlemen is lured deep into the woodlands by the thrill of the hunt. Patience is his creed absent creature comforts that often come few and far between. His mind hearkens what Virginia native Thomas Jefferson once said: “With great risk comes great reward”. With this he seeks out full flavors enhanced by local Virginia bourbon, while at the same time harboring the desire to avoid excessive booziness and burn, which could detract from the smooth character and malty sweetness of the luscious, deep red elixir he so fervidly craves. A rapid flavor assault wets his appetite and courses through his veins as zings of bourbon resonate. His quarry in hand, the Virginia Vulgarian reveres the potion’s art of being quite approachable in its manageable 6.66% ABV.

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

Virginia Craft Beer Month & IPA Day Collide Thursday

Credit: Center of the Universe Brewing

Credit: Center of the Universe Brewing

Let me tell you, Virginia loves itself some hops.  There will be plenty of hops to go around as tomorrow Thursday, August 7th is National IPA Day.  Here are a few Virginia beer events around town to get your hop on:

Pocahoptus Yeast Study at Center of the Universe — 4PM I really love what COTU is doing here just wish I didn’t already have a conflict.  That’s four different Pocahoptases (Pocahopti?) for you to try:

IPA fans rejoice!  It is an entire day we are dedicating to our favorite India Pale Ale, Pocahoptas.  Ever wonder how much influence a yeast strain has on a beer?  Let us school you.  We did 3 different batches of Pocahoptas using 3 different yeast strains; London Ale, Pacific, and a Belgian Golden yeast strain.  You will be able to try all 3 and compare them to the ever delicious original Pocahoptas.  Don’t drag your feet!  5.2 gallons each.  Once its gone, its history!  Oh yeah, we will have a pin of Pocahoptas as well.  What’s in it?  Come in to find out.  LONG LIVE THE IPA!

COTU will also be tapping a cask conditioned pin of Pocohoptas.

Yipee-Ki-IPA Day at Strangeways — 4PM Strangeways will have six different IPAs on tap for their IPA Day party. In addition, they are running their “Steal the Vessel” promotion from now until Labor Day; so get your growler, grunt, or blue Ball jar while you can.

Here are the IPAs they will be tapping:

  • Cranberry Disintegration Barrel Aged IPA
  • Phantasmic East Coast IPA
  • Cherry Phantasmic East Coast IPA
  • Lemon Berry Phantasmic East Coast IPA
  • Peach Phantasmic East Coast IPA
  • Raspberry Phantasmic East Coast IPA

Virginia IPA Innvasion at Joe’s Inn — 5PM

Joe’s Inn will be tapping a small but impressive selection of Virginia IPAs. Their $6 burger is one of my favorites in town.  Try one of these IPAs with yours:

  • Ardent IPA
  • Blue Mountain Prizefighter
  • Hardywood Bourbon DIPA
  • Hardywood Great Return
  • Lickinghole Creek Til Sunset Session IPA
  • Starr Hill King of Hop Imperial IPA
  • Triple Crossing IPA
  • Potters Hopped Cider

You can find more details including addresses in the calendar here.

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