I was able to sneak in a visit to COTU Brewing as they canned Ray Ray’s Pale Ale with Old Dominion Mobile Canning. If you listen closely, you can hear co-founder Chris Ray describe part of the process. Cans of Ray Ray’s and Main St Ale will be available at the brewery today June 1st from 3 – 9pm. You will also be able to find them in Richmond area shops very soon.
UPDATE: So I did hear one of the last barrels wrong. The last two distilleries have been revealed as Bowman’s and Heaven Hills. Growler fills from 8-9pm!
Head over to Hardywood tonight Friday May 31st at 5pm as they tap seven Russian Imperial Stouts that have been aged in bourbon barrels from seven different distilleries . Pick your favorite bourbon or try them all in a flight. Five of the seven barrels that have been revealed thus far include:
Four Roses
Maker’s Mark
Wild Turkey
Jim Beam
Stitzel Weller
The last two barrels are due to be unveiled this morning on Hardywood’s Facebook page but I’m hearing one of them may be a Reservoir barrel. Learn more at the Facebook event here.
Strangeways Brewing released a note on their Facebook page detailing their rollout this Saturday May 25th starting at noon. Before you ask, I have no idea which beer styles are represented by Secret Batches 1 & 2.
Here you go:
Strangeways Brewing’s RVA Bar Crawl Starts at Noon This Saturday!
Come out and taste Secret Batch 1 and Secret Batch 2 of RVA’s Newest…….Strangeways Brewing!
The beers will be available on draft at ALL of these fine establishments starting at Noon unless otherwise listed:
- Capital Alehouse (ALL 3 RVA Locations/Downtown; Innsbrook; Midlothian)
- Mekong
- Mellow Mushroom
- Sedona Taphouse
- Joe’s Inn
- Station 2
- Sine
- Don’t Look Back
- Portrait House
- Burger Bach
- Tarrant’s
- Olio
- City Dogs-Fan
- Sergio’s
- Extra Billy’s
- TJ’s (3:00)
- Commercial Taphouse (4:00)
- Comfort (4:00)
- Fat Dragon (4:30)
- Popkin Tavern (4:30)
- Saison (5:00)
- The Camel (5:00)
- Rappahannock (5:00)
- Blue Goat (5:30)
A.F.M. says, “Come Join the Troop”
Read more about the history behind Strangeways from Richmond.com here.
Yesterday, Center of the Universe released details about where you can try their edition of Homefront IPA leading up to this Memorial Day weekend starting Thursday May 23rd at the Flying Squirrels game at The Diamond. Baltimore Orioles closer Jim Johnson will serve as Hops for Heroes‘ ambassador for Homefront IPA and will be in attendance at the game as well. Here is the posting from their blog; one of those bats might make someone a nice Father’s Day gift:
We’ve got a great line-up of patriotic events leading up to Memorial Day to celebrate the release of Homefront IPA!
Homefront IPA is a West Coast style IPA, brewed with orange peel and aged on Louisville Slugger bats donated by none other than Louisville Slugger. After the beer is brewed, the bats will be dried and auctioned off. 100% of the proceeds for the beer and the auctioned off bats will go to Operation Homefront. Last year, with the help of 6 participating breweries and other organizations that donated the hops and grains used to make the beer, Hops for Heroes (the name of the organization in charge of planning and coordinating everything for Homefront IPA) was able to raise $165,000 dollars for Operation Homefront. [Read more about the beer here].
Because this beer is baseball themed, we’re releasing it on Thursday, May 23rd at the Flying Squirrels stadium in Richmond followed by a tasting on Friday at Whole Foods and an official party at COTU on Saturday. Here is our line-up of events.
Homefront IPA Release at the Diamond
Date: Thursday, May 23rd
Time: game starts at 6:00 pm
Location: The Diamond, 3001 N. BoulevardDetails: Homefront IPA will be on tap at the Taste the Local stand. There are also fireworks scheduled for that night, and there will be some military presence to help celebrate. [More details here]
Homefront IPA BBQ and tasting at Whole Foods
Date: Friday, May 24th
Time: 4pm-7pm
Location: Whole Foods Glen Allen, 11173 W Broad StDetails: Meet us at Whole Foods for BBQ, live music and a Homefront IPA tasting. Bottles of Homefront IPA will be available for purchase that day. More details here.
Homefront IPA Party at COTU
Date: Saturday, May 25th
Time: 4pm-9pm
Location: Center of the Universe Brewing Company, 11293 Air Park Rd.Details: Live music from Tristan Thorndyke and his band, and food trucks (Curbside Creations and Slideways Mobile Bistro).
Homefront IPA is a collaborative beer brewed for the sole purpose of giving back. All of the ingredients needed to brew Homefront IPA, as well as bottles, labels, tap handles, and other supplies were graciously donated. This beer is being brewed by a total of 9 breweries nationwide and 100% of the proceeds will go to local chapters of Operation Homefront – a military charity that gives back to military families in need.
Want to know the story behind Homefront IPA and the other 8 breweries participating? Check out the Hops for Heroes website here.
American Craft Beer Week is so huge this year, I am now on my fourth post just to get the details out. Here is where you can sample your way through the week.
Libbie Market
Libbie Market will have a special tasting Wednesday May 15th to celebrate the release of Hardywood Cream Ale cans from 4:30 – 7PM. If Libbie Market can get 50 people to confirm they will attend tasting on Facebook, they will break out some beloved Hardywood Reserve Series and Barrel Series releases for the event as well. Maybe some Gingerbread Stout?
Total Wine W Broad
Total Wine on West Broad will be sampling beer throughout the week. Here is their schedule:
Monday May 13th
4:30-6:30PM — Sierra Nevada tasting with rep Scott pouring Summerfest CANS, Kellerweis, Pale Ale, Torpedo, Southern Hemisphere and Hoptimum
4 – 7PM — Smuttynose tasting. Luke from Specialty will pour Summer Weizen, Old Brown Dog, IPA, and Noonan Black IPA.
Tuesday May 14th — 5-7PM
Flying Fish Richmond Kickoff with rep Andy Newell (all the way from Jersey, folks!)
Breckenridge tasting with rep Drew
Wednesday May 15th — Big day with three brewery heads in one place!
4-7PM — Starr Hill tasting & Meet the Brewer with founder Mark Thompson 5-6PM
5-7PM — Legend tasting with founder and owner Tom Martin 5-7pm
6:30-7:30PM — Hardywood Park Cream Ale cans debut with co-founder and co-owner Eric McCay
Thursday May 16th – 4-7PM –Another big day with two brewery heads in the house!
Salem, VA’s Parkway Brewing Kickoff with founder and owner Keno
O’Connor Brewing tasting with founder and owner Kevin O’Connor
Bell’s tasting with rep Greg
Friday May 17th — 4-7PM
DC Brau tasting
Flying Dog new canned beer tasting
Saturday May 18th
12 – 3PM — New Belgium – Let’s play the Belgian game Rolle Bolle and taste the new Rolle Bolle beer plus others with rep Julie
12 – 2PM — Finch’s Beer Co. tasting
3 – 5PM — Blue Mountain tasting
There will be a lot of tap takeovers as Richmond celebrates American Craft Beer Week May 13 – 19. I’m still in the process of gathering details on a lot of items but here is what I have so far. As always, I recommend you bookmark this page to check back for updates.
Monday May 13th
Pins for the Win — 5pm
In lieu of the normal pin crawl, it seems Taste the Local is going for a more choose your own adventure type of night with Virginia beer pin tappings at three special locations. All pins will be tapped at 5pm:
Update: Joe’s will tap thier pin at 6:30pm; this should make it easier on folks trying to enjoy all three pins.
5PM — Commercial Taphouse — Hardywood Belgian DIPA with Amarillo hops
6:30PM — Joe’s Inn in the Fan — Legend Hopfest with Centennial hops, sweet orange peel, & Reservoir bourbon chips. Filled by Matt & Ben.
5PM — The Camel — Three Brothers Oatmeal Stout with coffee & maple syrup
$2.50 Pints at Popkin
Every night of American Craft Beer Week, you will be able to enjoy $2.50 pints at Popkin Tavern all night long.
Parkway Brewing RVA Launch at Capital Ale House Innsbrook
Salem, Virginia’s Parkway Brewing will make their Richmond debut at Cap Ale Innsbrook with tappings of their Bridge Builder Blonde and Get Bent Mountain IPA.
New Belgium at Buffalo Wild Wings VA Center
Buffalo Wild Wings VA Center Commons location will be featuring New Belgium all week where they will have Rampant Imperial IPA, Ranger IPA, and Fat Tire on tap.
Tuesday May 14th
Anchor 80’s Night at Station 2
Head over to Station 2 for 80’s music and costumes as they tap beers from Anchor Brewing, America’s first craft brewery.. Beers on draft will include:
Anchor Steam Beer (California Common)
Anchor Liberty Ale (American IPA)
Anchor Brekle’s Brown (American Brown Ale)
Anchor Summer Beer (American Pale Wheat Ale)
Check out the Facebook event for more information.
Heavy Seas Night at Tarrant’s Cafe — 5PM
A night of Heavy Seas beers featuring Ellen Boucher’s firkin of Peg Leg Imperial Stout with cherry, vanilla, coconut, and coffee beans.
Tarrant’s will also be tapping the following Heavy Seas beers:
Black Canon IPA
Holy Sheet – Belgian Dubbel aged in Brandy barrels. Tarrant’s has two of the four kegs in Richmond.
Williamsburg Alewerks at Sedona Taphouse — 5PM
Head over to Midlothian as Sedona taps some Williamsburg Alewerks beers and take home a glass.
Update: Alwerks’ head brewer Geoff Logan will be hanging out at Sedona tonight as they tap the following beers:
Coffeehouse Stout
Cafe Royale
Colonial Wheat
Drake Tail IPA
Chesepeake Pale Ale
Firkin of Coffeehouse Stout with cocoa
Flying Dog Tap Takeover at O’Banks — 5PM
O’Banks in Hanover will host a tap takeover of Flying Dog beer featuring:
Green Tea Imperial Stout
Kujo Coffee Stout
Snake Dog IPA
Underdog Atlantic Lager
Woody Creek Belgian White
O’Banks Cafe
10392 Leadbetter Rd
Ashland, VA 23005
(804) 550-3888
Wednesday May 15th
Local Suds Night at Sine Irish Pub — 5PM
Register for this event here.
Devils Backbone Tap Invasion at Can Can — 5PM
Brewpub only releases plus a special firkin
Update: Devils Backbone is the featured brewery of the night at Can Can Brasserie. They will have a special unfiltered Vienna Lager pin with cocoa nibs, cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean, Oak chips, and Czech Saaz hops. Here is their draft and bottle selection for the night:
Draft
Congo Pale Ale
Vienna Lager
Wood-Aged Kilt Flasher
Bottles
Dark Abby
Azrael
Eight Point IPA
Schwartz Bier
Striped Bass Pale Ale Cans!
Starr Hill ‘Steal the Glass’ at Capital Ale House — 6:30PM
Capital Ale House will feature Starr Hill for a Steal the Glass night at all of their locations with Grateful Pale and Whiter Shade of Pale on tap. Meet brewer and owner Mark Thompson at the downtown location at 6:30.
Thursday May 16th
Cheers to the Firkin Weekend with Hardywood at Station 2 — 5pm
Goose Island Night at Fat Dragon — 5pm
Richmond debut of Sofie Paradisi along with the rest of the vintage ales
Friday May 17th
COTU Oak Battle at Mekong — 5pm
Center of the Universe taps some of their oak offerings Friday nigght at Mekong.
Oaky Pokey — Oak Aged Pocahoptus
Oak Aged Crazy Bet
Crazy Oaky Pokey
Richmond will celebrate American Craft Beer Week May 13 – 19 with three beer dinners. And these are just the ones I have counted thus far. Check out the details below and bookmark this page for updates
Tuesday May 14th
Devils Backbone Progressive Beer Dinner — 5:30pm CANCELED: Hopefully to be rescheduled for VA Craft Beer Month in August
Join Devils Backbone for Richmond’s first Progressive Beer Dinner. Launching from Popkin Tavern, we will be strolling though the Arts District and dining on delectable delights at five different locations. Your palate will be dazzled along the way with artfully selected beer and food pairings. We hope that you will join us for this one of a kind event.
MENU
Popkin Tavern
Shared Appetizers
Maibock – Spring Lager
Rappahannock Restaurant
Poached Golden Tilefish with Spring Onions, English Peas, & Kumquat Agra-dulce
Belgian Wit
Saison
Tamarind Pork Tamales with Maracuya/Mulatto Chile Sauce
Tasmanian Pale Ale
Pasture
Mixed Fry of Clams, Pickles, and Okra with Red Slaw and Tartar Sauce
Ale of Fergus
Gallery 5
Carytown Cupcakes Assorted Cupcake Buffet
Tectonic Barleywine
Tickets for the dinner are $60/person and can be purchased online here. Head over to the Facebook event for more information.
Friday May 17th
Hardywood Beer Dinner at Olio in the Fan — 6:30PM
UPDATE: The cost for this dinner is $50/person which includes taxes but not gratuity.
Charity Rye Beer Dinner at TJs at the Jefferson — 7PM
TJ’s teams up with Greg Self from Whole Foods for a Charity Rye Dinner benefitting the Whole Planet Foundation. Take a look at the menu.
The cost for the dinner is $55/person plus tax and tip. Call TJ’s at (804) 649-4672 or email jonathan.kibiloski@jeffersonhotel.com for more information or reservations. Head over to the Facebook event for more details.
TJ’s at the Jefferson
101 W. Franklin St.
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 649-4672
Saturday, May 4th, marks the 12th annual Big Brew Day sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association. Homebrewers from around the world choose from predetermined recipes to brew on that day. There are three recipes this year: Belgian Blonde (hardywood Singel anyone?); English Dark Mild and an American Pilsner (think Legend Pilsner); see the actual recipes here.
Starting at 10am, Richmond’s local homebrewing club, the James River Homebrewers, will be brewing at Original Gravity over on Lakeside Ave. If you ever wondered about how beer is made, this is a great opportunity and promises to be a great time for all. So drive on down and join on the fun. Get there by noon and you may be able to join in on the worldwide toast.
Original Gravity
6920 Lakeside Ave.
Richmond, VA 23228
(804) 264-4808
Devils Backbone is bringing several beers from their Basecamp and Outpost locations for a tap takevoer at Sedona Taphouse tomorrow Tuesday April 30th starting at 5pm. Owner Steve Crandall and head brewer Jason Oliver as well as several DB reps will be in the house to talk about the beers.
Here is what you can expect to find flowing from Sedona’s taps tomorrow:
Vienna Lager
Eight Point IPA
Schwartz Bier
Congo Belgian Pale Ale
Dark Abby
Reilly’s Red
Wood-aged Kilt Flasher
Ramsey’s Irish Nitro Stout
Beggars & Thieves (CBC collaboration) – German rye lager
Sir Thomas Moore ESB
Vintage Azrael
Striped Bass Pale Ale Pin
Maibock
Check out the Facebook event for more information.
This is going to be a pretty awesome birthday weekend for me. If Hardywood’s Bourbon Cru release on Saturday was not enough, Sunday April 28th means it is time for another beer brunch at Secco Wine Bar. Oh and there is soft shell crab on the menu. Winning!
April Beer Brunch Menu
available 11AM – 3PM
house-made doughnut with lamplighter icing, almonds & cocoa nibs
smoked chorizo sausage on a toasted split-top bun with onions, peppers & cheesy scrambled eggs, served with a green salad
tempura soft shell crab benedict on buttermilk biscuits with Thai red curry hollandaise & grilled bok choy
smoked poblano pepper stuffed with “undirty” rice, over black beans with avocado cream, queso fresco, charred lime & eggs
pork sausage gravy & fried eggs over herbed buttermilk biscuits
chocolate chip pancakes with tart cherry compote, maple syrup & whipped butter, served with bacon and potatoes
(vegetarian version available)
veal meatballs with roasted mushrooms, fregula, tomato sauce & fried eggs
chilled turnip soup with basil, radish & evoo croutons
salad of mixed greens, shaved fennel, grilled green beans, goat cheese, hard cooked egg & olive brine vinaigrette
egg salad on fresh dill bread with cornichons & red onion, served with a green salad
The featured beers for the brunch are still being determined but they are sure to be awesome.
This is a non-ticketed event and all items are served a la carte. Seating will be done on a first come, first served basis. Email info@seccowinebar.com or call (804) 353-0670 to get reservations for parties of five to eight. Keep in mind that Secco’s size means the smaller your party, the quicker they will be able accommodate you.
Secco Wine Bar
2933 W. Cary St.
Richmond, VA 23221
(804) 353-0670
Richmond Beermeister 