Champion Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awful music blasting makes any conversation impossible. Service was good. Beer quality good, but not a wide selection of styles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I try to stop by Champion every time I'm in the area. I really like the location, atmosphere, and for the most part, their beers! I love that they are playing around with different versions of their Berliner Weiss. The Gose is a pretty poor representation of the style, but the Berliner, and especially the Imperial Strawberry Berliner were quite good. My only real issue with Champion has to do with quality control. In general, I think they make pretty tasty hoppy beers. With that being said, I've come across two bad batches of different IPA's. I've had the Melee Session IPA a few times, and it's a great hopped up session beer. Unfortunately, one batch of this beer was clearly tainted with roasted malt. It tasted like a smoked beer. My brother and the bartender agreed. It was awful and should've been dumped long before distribution. The second issue was when a friend of mine ordered their Trench Gun IPA. The only distinguishable flavor in this beer was butter. It was from the brewery and should have been a fresh keg. Champion is doing some awesome stuff, but really need to eliminate these issues before I stop ordering their beers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Champion brews and sells their own beer on site. As of now, they brew in small batches which makes for a lot of turnover, which I like. They are a great brewery. They certainly are not afraid to push the envelope in terms of beer brewing and will explore some interest flavors and brewing agents like spice, salt, and even Iberico ham.

The brewery itself invites food trucks to park out front as they don't have a kitchen. Feel free to BYOF or order in too. The interior is poured concrete flooring with a more utilitarian feel. There are board games, some couches in the back, and a few tables in addition to the bar. It is very unpretentious, which I like. In warmer months, there are picnic tables outside.

The set-up is a bit slicker than some of your warehouse start-up breweries. Set in a small industrial building just a couple of blocks off the vibrant Cville downtown mall, the tasting room is a welcoming place. Service is excellent, especially when Drew, the tasting room room manager, is on duty. Cool, laid-back, extremely welcoming, he sets a great vibe and loves talking about the beer.

After a couple of early slight missteps, the beer is now consistently at least good and sometimes a lot more than that. Hunter, the brewer/owner, isn't afraid to wander outside style conventions and push a beer style in a new/different direction. His Habenero IPA is a great example of that. What sounds like a gimmick beer is a curiously refreshing, intense summer thirst quencher. With, you know, some heat. Another thing that Champion does well is partner with other local businesses, be they food trucks, community organizations, or other local entrepreneurs.

Champion has just announced that they are building a production facility in addition to the original brewery/tasting room set -up. This is currently a good to very good local brewery, with room to become exceptional beyond Cville.

I really wanted to like this place. Not far from the downtown mall in a mixed area with some residential and industrial space. A small place with a 12 seat or so bar and a bunch of tables. Nice atmosphere, welcoming bartender early on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

Five beers on tap but I did not think any of them were really any good. The kolsch was decent, the Imperial Peach Berlinerweisse and Brown ale were unmemorable, the dubbel outright bad and the bourbon barrel RIS was far too boozy. Bummer.

HV