Beer Your Valentine, 2014

I know the snow has thrown everyone’s Valentine’s plans for a loop.  Don’t worry.  Here are several ideas for Friday, Saturday, and even next week.

Friday February 14th

Midnight Strawberry Stout Pin Tapping — 4PM

Looks like Midnight and AW Shucks will have you chocolate covered.

Will You Beer My Valentine? — 4:30PM

Head over to Bucket Trade and treat your love to a couple beer and dessert pairings:

Come celebrate Valentine’s Day with us and some great Valentine-y treats!

We will offer a Special Valentine Flight that includes:

– Bell’s Cherry Stout with a chocolate cherry stout cupcake that has cherry buttercream and chocolate stout fudge drizzle.

– Southern Tier’s Choklat with a chocolate stout cupcake filled with chocolate beer ganache and mint buttercream.

Plus we have plenty other delicious beers on tap and in bottle ready for a romantic evening in your belly!!!

Shakesbeer at Bardywood: The Love Scenes — 5PM

Bard Unbound returns to Hardywood this Valentine’s Day presenting the best of the Bard’s love scenes from the good, to the bad, to the lovely! This show is FREE and open to all ages!

February: Tis the season of the grand romantic gesture. So, instead of struggling with the usual choices of chocolate, flowers or a sappy card, let Shakesbeer at Bardywood give you a night like no other!

Bring your love, your friends or just yourself and watch Bard Unbound’s actors play some of Shakespeare’s greatest love scenes, paired with some of Hardywood’s greatest beers! (Hint -they’re all great!)

Not just for lovers, these scenes also present the “complicated” story, for ‘the course of true love never did run smooth’.

Romeo will share his share his sublime love for Juliet. Beatrice will reveal why she refuses to get married, and Benedick, his nonchalance about women. Rosalind (disguised as a boy) will test Orlando’s love for her…and more!

For those who want to make a grand personal gesture, at intermission an actor will be available to recite a Shakespeare sonnet and present a rose to your love (with a donation of $20 or more)!

Bard Unbound Actors:
Elisabeth Ashby
LaSean Greene
Cynde Liffick
Alana C. Smirh
Shanea N. Taylor

Our tasting room will open from 4-9PM, with live latin jazz from members of Bio Ritmo and Miramar beginning at 5PM. BardUnbound takes the stage at 7PM! Olio Cart VCU will be on site all night with gourmet sandwiches to pair with your favorite draft or canned beer.

What better way is there to begin your date night this February 14th?

Brews & Burlesque: Valentine’s Day Edition — 9PM

Those Freaking Weirdos is proud to host Brews & Burlesque, now on the second Friday of every month. STRANGEWAYS BREWING plays host to the only burlesque show in the known universe to take place within pastie-throwing distance of the brewing tanks.

See Dev L. Ish, Dante the Inferno, Melody Magpie and Moxie LaBouche in all their silly, sexy glory.

Each month will showcase a new local burlesquer. This month’s Nudie Newbie is Lea Loveless. Whiskey A Gogo Vaudeville Burlesque dancer will be our stage kitten

BUT WAIT, there’s more! We have a surprise planned for our loving fans, a type of burlesque never before seen in RVA (or possibly anywhere!), courtesy of Jen Coffin.

Plus Paris Creperie rva will be on hand serving up their amazing savory and sweet crepes.

Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door (cash or charge). http://www.tfwburlesque.com/buy/ Due to the popularity of this ticket, onlines sales are limited to 75; the remaining 25 will be sold at the door. Don’t delay!

21+ only

*Free off-street parking.*

Sound, lighting, pre-show & intermission mix set by DJ Jesse James Felice.

Saturday February 15th

Hop Deystroyer Party at Whole Foods Short Pump — Noon

For the love of hops, Whole Foods Short Pump is giving you all the flowers to drink with some excellently hoppy selections.  Here is what they will be tapping:

Ballast Point Sculpin — dry hopped cask conditioned pin
Bell’s Hopslam
Troegs Nugget Nectar
Stone Stochasticity Grapefruit Slam
Alewerks Bitter Valentine
Foothills Seeing Double

Hardywood Raspberry Stout Release — 2PM

The raspberry on the bottle kind of looks like an upside down heart:

Brewed with heaps of chocolate malt, cacao nibs, and local, late season red raspberries from Agriberry Farm, Hardywood Raspberry Stout captures the essence of a decadent raspberry truffle in liquid form. A beguiling ale, this stout’s enticing cocoa aromatics build to a flavorful crescendo of full bodied dark chocolate, subsiding with a pleasantly sweet, tart raspberry jam laced finish.

We’re celebrating Raspberry Stout release at 2pm (bottles, draft, food vendors) and with special Americana guests Andrew Leahey & the Homestead andThe Atkinsons.

2pm – Tasting room opens for Raspberry Stout bottles, draft, and food from Boka Tako Truck, Station 2, Phoenix Garden Vegetarian Restaurant and Super Fresh Carts.

Friday February 21st

Legend 20th Anniversary Imperial Brown Preview Firkin — 4:30PM

Legend previews their 20th Anniverary Imperial Brown Ale at Commercial Taphouse.  Try it first before the April release.

Design cred: Whitney Paul

Virginia Wine Expo’s Burger Blast — 5PM

Gourmet burgers with delicious Virginia craft beer and wine sounds like the perfect date night to me.  Read more about it here.

Saturday February 22nd

Mad Fox Brewing Barleywine Festival

This festival is in its fourth year and amazing time if you can make it out.

Check out the list here.

Virginia Beer Returning To Virginia Wine Expo’s Burger Blast For Year Two

Virginia Wine Expo’s Burger Blast returns for its second year Friday February 21st starting at 5pm.  Bigger and better than last year, Burger Blast will feature artisan burgers created by fifteen talented Richmond chefs with unlimited samplings of Virginia beer and wine.  Held in the Ballroom of the Greater Richmond Convention Center, this fantastic evening of burgers and beers will sell out like last year so don’t wait get your tickets ($38/person) now here.

Take a look at the delicious burgers to be served and the participating Virginia breweries.

Restaurants & Burgers

  • American Tap Room: ATR Short Rib Sliders — Slow cooked braised Short Ribs served with all the fixins to build your own slider masterpiece with pickled shallots, mustards, red wine sauce, premium cheeses and grilled pineapple
  • Aramark: Beef & Italian Sausage Slider with Cilantro, Saga Blue Cheese, Red Beans, Applewood Bacon with Smoked Tomato Aioli and Sliced Havarti with Micro Greens served on a Challah Roll.
  • Brew: Pepperoni Pizza Burger: Freshly Ground Beef Laced with Pepperoni, Mushrooms, Mozzerella Topped with Sundried Tomato/Marinara Aioli, Served with Fresh Cut House Fries.
  • Burgerworks: The Bleus Burger Slider (last year’s people’s choice winner) — All natural, locally-sourced Angus beef patty topped with Danish Bleu Cheese, suateéd onions, bacon and a housemade Balsamic-port wine glaze.
  • Capital Ale House: Italian Slider — Veal and Lamb Patty with Roasted Garlic Marinara Sauce and Parmesan Cheese Crisp
  • Carytown Burgers & Fries: To be decided
  • Culinard: Duck/Turkey Burger on a Turmeric Brioche Bun with Hoisin Ketchup and Sakura Cress
  • India K’ Raja: Veggie Burger on Wheat with Tamarind Spread
  • J Sargeant Reynolds: Short Rib and Bison Slider — Short Ribs and Bison with Virginia Dark Lager and Bacon Glaze topped with Smoky Munster, Cherry Tomato ‘Jam’, Pickled Red Onion, Watercress Salad on a Housemade Brioche Bun with Grainy Mustard Aioli and House Half Sour Pickle
  • Mezzanine: Locally Ground Chicken and Avocado Slider with a Red Onion and Pineapple Relish 
  • Omni Resorts The Homestead: The Fairway Burger: Wagyu Beef, Cambozola Cheese, Pepper Bacon, Caramelized Onions on a Ciabatta Roll
  • Saison: Smoked Mushroom “Burger”, Saison Yellow Mustard Fancy Sauce and Pickled Mushrooms on a Potato Bun 
  • Savory Grain: Burger Blast Savory Slider: House made blend of Angus chuck, brisket, short rib, and rib-eye; topped with a local seasonal winter ale house cured glazed bacon, crumbled chevre, pickled red onions, and micro greens, finished with a VA pinot noir aioli, served on a fresh baked Lucille’s challah petite roll
  • Toast: Salmon Burger Slider: Salmon Burger with Poached Shallot and Dill Cream Cheese and Rappahanock Vineyards Cabernet Franc Reduction

Virginia Breweries
Apocalypse Ale Works – Forest
Bold Rock Cider – Nellysford
Center of The Universe (COTU) – Ashland
Devils Backbone – Lexington
Extra Billy’s – Richmond
Hardywood – Richmond
Isley – Richmond
Legend – Richmond
Lickinghole Creek – Goochland
Midnight – Goochland
O’Connor – Norfolk
Rusty Beaver – Ladysmith
Starr Hill – Crozet
Strangeways – Richmond
Sunken City – Smith Mountain Lake
Three Brothers – Harrisonburg

Check out the Facebook event for further updates.

Weekend Notes: 821 Cafe, Brew, and Popkin Tavern

Tonight February 7th, 821 Cafe ups their taps to seventeen and wants to give you a free growler (with fill).  Check out their tap list here.

Saturday February 8th, Brew is throwing another of their weekly beer schools featuring Founders.

To those with questions over Popkin Tavern’s closing, here are a few things you should know:

  • Yes! Popkin will still host their FREE beer school the next two Saturdays (2/8 & 2/15) at 4PM.
  • Popkin will start discounting beer Saturday February 8th in order to move it out before they close February 15th. 
  • As I hear it, there are some cool kegs they’ve been holding on to so be prepared for surprises.   

 

Popkin Tavern Says Party Isn’t Over With Goose Island Tap Takeover Tonight

Goose Island Big John Logo3Popkin Tavern might be closing February 15th but there is still some time to have fun.  Head over tonight Thursday February 6th as they pull out some Goose Island beers stashed in their cellar including a few Bourbon County beers.

Here is what they will be tapping as they wind down eight years starting at 7pm:

Bourbon County Stout 2012
Bourbon County Stout 2013
Bourbon County Barleywine 2013
Big John 2012
Nightstalker 2012
Juliet
Halia
Gillian
Lolita

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

123 W. Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23220

Experience The Evolution of Hardywood Sidamo Coffee Stout with a Pin Crawl Thursday

Taste your way through the evolution of Hardywood Sidamo Coffee Stout from base beer to bourbon barrel aged with a pin crawl tomorrow Thursday February 6th starting at 5:30PM.

Here are the stops on the crawl:

5:30PM – Commercial Taphouse & Grill — Russian Imperial Stout — base beer

6:45PM  – The Cask Cafe — Sidamo Coffee Stout — base beer plus coffee beans from Lamplighter Roasting Company

7:30PM – Portrait House — Bourbon Sidamo — coffee stout aged in Jim Beam barrels

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

Three Reasons You Should Get Craft Beer From Whole Foods Short Pump This Weekend

Whole Foods Beer Sale

  1. There is a huge sale on 750ml and 22oz bomber bottles going on right now, Friday January 31st, like as a I type this now!  The word used to describe the discounts was “DEEP.”
  2. The discounts will expand to include growler fills tomorrow February 1st from 8AM – Noon.
  3. They will tap Foothills Sexual Chocolate Saturday at 1PM. No growlers of this Imperial Stout as it is very limited.

Double Your Barrels With Brandy Blue Bee Cider and Hardywood Bourbon Coffee This Saturday

There are some cool things coming out of barrels this Saturday February 1st.  You can try one or the other but there’s plenty of time to get them both in.

Blue Bee Rocky Ridge Release — Noon

From noon to 7PM, Blue Bee Cider debuts their sixth and final cider from their very first harvest in 2012.  Rocky Ridge Reserve was aged for five months in brandy barrels before packaging into hand numbered bottles.  There looks to be only 356 bottles available so get these while you can cider fans. 

So go out and get a taste then take a bottle or two home.  Olio’s food truck will offer an ala carte menu to pair with Blue Bee’s ciders. Music will be provided by the Cider Sippers throughout the afternoon with traditional Appalachian tunes.

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

212 W. 6th St.
Richmond, VA 23224

Hardywood Bourbon Sidamo Release — 2PM

Hardywood’s Bourbon Sidamo returns for its second year starting at 2PM.  Aged for three months in Kentucky bourbon barrels, this coffee stout will have you prepared for whatever Punxsutawney Phil sees on Sunday. 

Enjoy Bourbon Sidamo on draft while chowing down on food from Station 2, Hungry Turtle Food Truck, Cielito Lindo, Super Fresh Carts or Goatocado.  Be sure to grab some bottles to go as well in case we are hit with another polar vortex.

Music will be provided by Fear of Music, The Shangri-Lords, and special guests Full Moon Fever starting at 4:30, 6:15, and 7pm respectively. 

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

Score Thirty-six Points with Devils Backbone and Pizza Tonight at The Cask Cafe

Credit: Devils Backbone

Credit: Devils Backbone

UPDATE: Sadly, Pizza Tonight will not be out tonight due to the snow, but the show must go on.

 

Head over to The Cask Cafe today Wednesday January 29th as they serve up thirty six points of Devils Backbone beers including their latest limited release, 16 Point Imperial IPA plus a fresh cask conditioned beer.  Pizza Tonight will be there as well baking their delicious pies including this new offering:

Here is the complete lineup for the evening to be tapped at 5pm:

  • 4 Point Pale Ale
  • 8 Point IPA
  • 16 Point Imperial IPA
  • 8 Point IPA — cask conditioned pin with Virginia Cascade hops

Head over the Facebook event for more information and updates.

The Cask Cafe
206 S Robinson St
Richmond, VA 23220

Hardywood, Strangeways, & Lickinghole Creek Heading to SAVOR This May

SAVOR 2014At the same time the VA Craft Brewers Guild elected new leadership, Brewers Association announced breweries participating in this year’s SAVOR: American Craft Beer & Food Experience on May 9th & 10th in Washington, DC.  Of the seventy six participants, five breweries are from Virginia including three from the Richmond area:

Devils Backbone Brewing Co — Roseland, VA
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery — Richmond, VA
Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery — Goochland, VA
Port City Brewing Co — Alexandria, VA
Strangeways Brewing — Richmond, VA

Richmond will be very well represented at this year’s event. Hardywood even became a Supporting Partner for this year.  See who else made it on the list this year here. The American Homebrewers Association and Brewers Association members-only presale is March 25 with public ticket sales starting March 26.

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