Fordham & Dominion Brewing Company

 

 

A: Very nice-well lit and clean environment.

Q: Growlers we bought were very nice. Have a big metal handle and the clamp down topper.

S: Service was not impressive. The bartender seemed bothered that we wanted 3 growlers filled up to go. Slight miscommunication as to what brews we could fill our growlers with. No need to be rude though...

S: Had a decent amount of beers on tap. A few from another brewery. And they had Budweiser bottles!! Not awesome.

V: Kinda pricey. Did have a deal on the growler and koozy for $25.

Would probably visit again, if just to sample what they had on tap.

A: Super clean and very roomy inside.

Q: One interesting note, their growlers have the big metal handles that strap around the bottle; AWESOME.

Ser: The man at the front, who I think went behind the bar to help us, was in a word; a dick. He was very curt, and seemed we inconvenienced him asking him for help.

Sel: Wasn't anything extraordinary but wasn't terrible. They had a few of their beers on tap, and a few other micros as well.

Val: Actually pretty avg. The growler be bought (new), was right around $25.00 .

All in all we were pretty happy about this place. We would absolutely visit again. I just can't wait to try the beer I brought home in the growler.

The ODB was smack dab in the middle of where I worked and where I lived, and I was often conned my coworkers into heading there for lunch. It had a brewery onsite, true, but almost every aspect of the place screamed that someone was trying too hard. Located in an anonymous office park the inside decor featured nauseating Ikea colors here and there., and overall is a turnoff. Food wasn't bad, but compared to a lot of other places in the area, it wasn't the best eats. The beer was pretty good. Nothing like trying to work through an afternoon after a few pints of their Aviator, or distract coworkers enough so that they don't drink their growlers at their desk. For bikers and runners, they're just yards away from the W&OD Trail, giving a chance to refuel before pounding out a few more miles. Nice to have in the neighborhood, but nothing to write home about.

I was in the D.C. area and I hit up this place with a friend for lunch. Located in an odd place for a brewpub (among many high-tech businesses), it's also in a nondescript business. If the sign didn't have "Brew" in it then I would suspect Old Dominion is a store selling spare refrigerator parts.

Inside is set up like any restaurant or brewpub, with a bar set in the center, and different rooms with plenty of tables and boothes. The inside can hold plenty of people.

The beer selection is decent, consisting of their year-round ales and lagers, as well as a couple seasonals. A sampler is available which gives a small 5oz sample of four beers. Mine had the Lager, Ale, Pale Ale, and a seasonal which I believe is their 2007 Belgian Pale Ale. The food is decent, a notch above your standard pub food.

If you live in Ashburn or work in the high-tech area there, this place is a good stop for a bite. Although there are better places, and OD seems to be going downhill, (was it going anywhere before AB bought it?) it's still worth a visit.

Honestly, I'm a fan of the Old Dominion brews, and I enjoy picking up sixtels and pony kegs of their beers from time to time. But I really hate driving all the way out to Ashburn, VA from Washington, DC to get them. It's a long haul. Still, once I get there, I tend to enjoy myself.

The brew pub... well... looks like it was an addition to a warehouse in a gigantic industrial park. And it was. But once you get past the lack of aesthetics here, you can sort of enjoy yourself. It's a nice big, relatively airy, open space with tables straigt ahead as you stand at the hostess stand, with the bar just off to your right. Through some giant glass panes you can see the brewery, which is cool, and the bar is stocked to the nines with any and every type of available OD brew you could ask for. The selection is definitely worth a visit, but just don't expect too much ambience in the place.

The staff is usually a bit consumed with their own goings-on to really take the time to care for the casual patron. This might be different for regulars, but each time I've been in (and I've been there at least 10 times) they have taken their time tending to me. It's kind of annoying, but it hasn't been a problem for me though, because I'm not usually in a hurry. It helps if there's not a crowd too. But timing aside, the staff is generally okay, and they seem to know their beer well enough (as they should).

The food is generic pub grub. Not great, not bad, and reasonably priced. You're fairly safe if you stick with a burger.

If you live in NOVA and haven't visited OD yet, you should. And if you adore the OD beers and you find yourself passing through NOVA anytime soon, you should also visit. Otherwise, their brewery and brew pub is not a place I would actively seek out, for the simple fact that it's just like a hundred other good-but-not-great breweries out there today.

That said, they do put on a nice OD Beer Festival each year (excepting 2007, that is) which is a lot of fun to go to.

The brewery tour was given by the owner, so we got an interesting take on the history of the place. He did mention that they may be selling soon to retire. We decided to hang out afterwards for lunch in the bar/restaurant.... things went downhill from there. The service was absolutely awful, and the food was not great either. They seemed overworked and understaffed. The beer is pretty good so I took home a growler, which was unnecessarily pricey. I'd agree with the reviewer who said too much quantity, not enough quality. I'd recommend a tour and buying the brew at the grocery store if you see it, but skip the restaurant.

The Old Dominion Brewing Co. is in the middle of nowhere (industrial park), but once you've found it you are in for a good time. A big bar surrounded by a decent amount of restaurant style seating. The beer selection is huge, although sometimes I feel that ODB does too much quantity and not enough quality, but that is just being a bit picky. The food is very good brewpub fare - the tuna steak sandwich is darn good. The ambience of the place is quite nice, as it is literally attached to the big ODB brewery. Through the windows you can see their bottling line and a few other items, and the place is nicely decorated with various items. A good place to pass a few hours either before or after a trip to nearby Dulles Airport (IAD).

I've visited this place 3 times over the past 5 years or so, most recently in February 2007 as rumors of the brewery's sale loom. "Back in the day" I used to love this place in an out of the way industrial park (their original location expanded to included a brewpub) as an icon of a small brewery done good. But on my more recent visits, the staff has seemed overworked and unevenly attentive, and the food has been nothing more than average. But they have a great catalog of all the Dominion beers plus a handful that you can't find anywhere else, so of course I’ll be back if I'm in the area ... just not many other options.

If you're unfamiliar with the area, this can be quite the interesting drive because it's in the middle of absolutely nowhere. If you go by Mapquest directions, it seems easy, but as you start down the road, it looks like you're in the middle of some army testing ground. Eventually, a busines park appears and it's nestled away in there.

I love the restaurant...as soon as you walk in, you can sign up for their mailing lists and watch the bottling machines. The walls are decorated with posters of their beers, and labels accentuate the table tops. There is a fairly large bar with several hightops and a good many booths.

We stuck with something we could share and got the pub nachos...very good for the value. They offer all of their beers at the bar, either on tap or in bottles...I had the Octoberfest. There is a large cooler stocked with their sixpacks, but you can also buy cases; a small giftshop is next to the cooler. Their beer is priced 6-7 bucks per sixpack and $18.00 per case. I left with the seasonal sampler pack and a sixpack of some Octoberfest.

I stopped in on the way to Fredericksburg. Definitely stop by if in the area.

I grew up near the Ashburn brewery, and so was glad when I finally got to visit and try a few myself.

The ambiance is average, great brew pub, but nothing to write home about, the exterior is very bland and unassuming.

Old Dominion beers are of high quality, and you will find all of your favorites here plus a few (like Aviator) which you can't normally find for sale. This alone, combined with their sampler deal makes it worth a visit. An excellent chance to find a great array of beers.

The service is fairly good, they are educated and know the beers, and can easily recommend one, but it tends to be busy with long waits, with a really commercial feel. You get the feeling the servers have been trained and don't actually have much working knowledge of beer, nor have they likely tried much of it.

Overall not a bad place, reasonable value, and decent selection.

After spending Tuesday morning out at the Reston Petting Zoo with the girls, we decided that it was time to go out to lunch. Situated in the back part of a corporate office park, the Old Dominion Brewery and Brewpub can be a bit tough to find. It seems to be the least likely of places for a fairly large brewery, but the mountains of kegs in the back give it away.

Upon opening the door, you are presented with the OD bottling line which was filling green bottles on our visit. The layout of the pub is open and there is a large bar area with plenty of stools. The main dining room is filled with tables and booths and there is a back dining area for special events and busy times.

We were greeted by a pleasant hostess who saw our car seat and grabbed a sling for it. Our server did not seem to mind having a party with two young kids and took our drink order. Our booth was large and gave us plenty of room to spread our various glasses, sippy cups, plates, and toys. She returned quickly to take our lunch order which was brought in no time at all. She checked back frequently to make sure we had everything we needed, but she was not intrusive.

The beers on draft include a wide selection of their own beers in addition to the ones they contract brew for other area restaurants. We had 5 different lagers to choose from including: Dominion Lager, Victory Amber, Hard Times Select, Aviator Amber, and Tupper’s Hop Pocket Pils. They had 13 different ales to choose from including: 29,035ft DIPA, Dominion Light, Dominion Ale, Dominion Black and Tan, Dominion Irish Red, Dominion Irish Stout, Oak Barrel Stout, Old Dubliner Ale, J. Pauls 1889, Tupper’s Hop Pocket, New River Pale, Brewer’s Art Pale, and Mob Jack Pale. They also had a variety of 6 packs in the refrigerator near the bar, and they will also fill growlers. Prices were reasonable.

I ordered the 29,035ft DIPA which was served from the cask and into a room temperature shaker-style pint glass. Nothing too cold here which was nice. Most glasses were of the standard pint variety, but there were weizen glasses and chalices as well behind the bar for the appropriate beers. My wife had the Dominion root beer which she enjoyed and was served in a chilled glass without ice, perfect!

The menu covers the gamut, but vegetarians have only a few options which include a veggie quesadilla, Caesar salad, salmon salad, fish and chips, pizza of the day, and a grilled tuna steak sandwich. There were burgers, chicken and barbecue sandwiches, pasta dishes, and a rib eye steak as well as some other choices. We opted for the soft pretzels which came with tasty beer cheese, the fish and chips which consisted of 4 large pieces of cod with a light batter and crisp fries, and the salmon salad which was a perfectly grilled piece of fish resting atop a mound of fresh field greens. The kids mac and cheese was enjoyed by my oldest daughter. Portions were just large enough to be filling, but not overwhelming. Prices for salads ranged from $5-10, sandwiches ranged from $7-9, and the entrees ranged from $9-17, and seemed fairly reasonable given the portion sizes.

Overall, we had a great visit with tasty, reasonably priced food, ample beer selections, and nice pleasant service. Definitely recommended, and it was not too crowded during our lunch. Not sure about dinner, but it seems as though they have ample space if the crowd builds. Definitely worth stopping in and enjoying a few pints when you find yourself in the Dulles area.

Showed up in plenty of time for the tour, so we wandered around a bit first. The tour was quite nice, with as much beer, more or less, as you can drink. They had Winter Brew, Scottish Ale, and Lager. All good. With Route 11 chips to snack on. It was quite humorous to see 1,000 lb bags of sugar and stacks of 20 gallon buckets of honey they have sitting around for their Root Beer and Ginger Ale.

The pub food was good, reasonable price. Burger was top notch and the fries were great. I had their Irish Red Ale and Tupper's Ale as a Real Ale that night and it was outstanding. Service was friendly and was helpful when I looked at the various Dominion labeled items to buy. It's a bit of a trip for me, so I can't make it an every week visit, but it's very nice.

Stopped in today with a large group in search of beer and a tour. We were either exceptionally lucky or the guy who set up the tour knew what he was doing. We were given the tour by the founder and owner himself. (they plan on selling by end of March. Current plan is to sell to the Marketing Pres. and some others, unless there is a better offer). Setup is very nice back there, w/40K square feet of space and 35000 barrels as a goal for next year.

The brewPUB aspect was finished a few years back and includes a small bar and two small dining areas. We didn't have any food, but appeared to be your normal pub grub. I was pretty surprised at the number of people who seemed to be sitting down and drinking here on a Saturday afternoon, since the place seems to be in the middle of nowhere. They had an enormous amount of their delicious beer available in the bar, with sixes, kegs, growlers and soda available to take with you. Staff were nice and seemed to know what was going on.

The beer, as expected, was tasty and fresh. We had the new 2006 Spring beer directly out of the fermenter. (Clear and hoppy--They supposedly filled the lauter tun with hops. It was crisp, hoppy and tasty.)

This place is worth a gander if you are on this side of town. Not an everyday stop for me, coming from out of town and in mortal fear of VA/DC traffic, but well worth the trip.

My wife and I decided to visit the brewery this past weekend and have lunch at the Brewpub. Overall, it was a great experience and we're definitely looking forward to visiting again sometime soon.

As others have mentioned in their reviews, the brewery is a bit tricky to find, but if you use the directions on the OD website, it's a lot easier than Mapquest or Google. The brewpub is quite spacious in that the ceilings are at least 30 feet high (warehouse style) with exposed pipes and giant fermentors, holding tanks, etc. behind glass walls by the entrace. The brewpub is well decorated with posters for their various beers and other OD-related products. A few TVs by the bar along with at least 2 dozen tables scattered throughout the space.
There must have been 25 or more taps in the bar area and only 3 were unavailable while we were there.
I ordered a sampler (4 - 4oz. samples for $4.50) of the Oak Barrel Stout, New River Pale Ale, Scottish Ale, and Tuppers Pils. My wife ordered two sets of samplers and tried some other beers. The Oak Barrel Stout was absolutely incredible on-tap; much smoother and sweeter than the bottle version. I had a 16 oz. pint of that with my food which included a salad and a platter of pretzels. The food was better than I had expected and it came out in a timely fashion especially considering the we were there during lunch time on a Saturday and the place was nearly full with a few people waiting for tables.
We ended up buying a growler of the New River Pale Ale to have during the SuperBowl and a 6-pack of the Oak Barrel Stout (bottled 5 days earlier!).
A definite must-visit if you're in the area. Pick up a growler, if at all possible, because refills are only $6-7 depending on the particular beer.

Stopped by to buy some beer and sample a brew or two. My directions took me straight there, but I knew I was looking for a joint in an office park. The place was spare and bare, only the tap handles and the window into the bottling area revealed that this wasn't some dirty cafeteria. Beer quality...superb. Service was awful. The fact that I wasn't there for lunch apparently upset everyone and the fact that I wasn't impressed with the rauch didn't help. Beer selection was stellar. Everything they brew seemed to be available including their soft drinks. Alas, I didn't try the food, but I will on my next visit. Beer prices were very reasonable.

Ok do not use MapQuest or Yahoo Maps to locate this place because you will not find it. Use their website's directions because that area is under constant construction. Even with these directions the only way you will know the spot is with the mountains of kegs out back.

Ok the inside is a bit like Victory Brewing. It is spartan but hey it is an office park. You will see the bottling line at the entrance and then a U-shaped bar with a couple satellite high tables. There are booths along the perimeter is what is the restaurant.

We were there during Friday Happy Hour so the bar was crowded until about 8. There was no trouble squeezing in for some action. The staff were efficient if not really young. The bar staff were not over 21 and the wait staff were even younger....good for them. I never had more than a 1 minute wait at the bar. They also put the Flyers on instead of the local hockey team. Of course the Flyboys are superior to that sorry excuse for a team out of D.C.

Our focus was on the beer. We had some finger pub food. Decent soft pretzels for not being in SE Pennsylvania. The nachos were so-so.

My very awesome friend Roan22 was on a pilgrimage akin to going to Mecca, Medina or Jerusalem. This Hokie was going to drink as much Tuppers Hop Pocket Ale as her belly could hold and I was going to try as many Old Dominions as I could since the pickins are slim in Philly.

I will say I was very happy that they had multiple examples of my favorite brew style - American Pale Ale!!! There were between 6 - 10 beers on tap if I recall. I think I had 5 of them. Standouts were the Mobjack Plae Ale, Hop Pocket Ale and Pils. Mobjack had this wonderful butterscotch nose but the taste was not like butterscotch but a hoppy APA....could be catagorized as an American-styled IPA but it was not all hops. Sorta close to Hop Devil but with more character.

They have a gift shop that sells nice stuff. Pols, t-shirts, glasses. You can get bottles and growlers. Roan22 got an entire cases of Tuppers that was only a week old. Sweet! The only sucky thing was that last call is 10 PM.

On my last trip to Richmond, and flying through Dulles I happened to be in the neighbourhood of Old Dominion around lunch times, not once, but twice. Directly north of the airport, it's located in an industrial park and is quite easy to miss if you're just driving by. As you enter the brewpub you can see the substantial brewing operation through the windows to your right. The bottling machine is right by the windows and as I was there, there was an endless stream of empty brown bottles merrily marching down the conveyor to be filled. Many of the children in the restaurant were either watching this, or begging their parents to go to the window and watch (some parents seemed just as interested). The service was quite good and friendly and prompt. I was most impressed when the waitress accidentally brought me a full pint instead of the half I'd ordered, and without a pause after I corrected she said that I would only be charged for the half. That was the Hop Pocket Pils, and I also sampled the Hop Pocket Ale, the New River Pale Ale, the Oak Barrel Stout, and the Real Ale which was described to me as being a dry-hopped New River Pale Ale. The quality was very good with one exception, the Real Ale. It had significant amounts of sediment in it in the form of light flakes, and at the bottom of the glass was a slurry of sediment that resembled mud. This didn't affect the taste at all, and was pretty much the only detractor. The food was simple, nothing too complicated. Just standard pub grub, but quite reasonably priced. As I recall, my steak and cheese sandwich was about $8. All in all a very worthwhile visit if you're ever in the area. Recommended.

Just happened to be in town for a conference with work on April 2nd for the Hampton Roads invades Dominion weekend. Met up with several NOVA and HR BA's and a good time was had by all. Thanks ManekiNeko for the ride from the Metro stop to the Brewery, paying up on the $3 dare, and the ride back.

Atmosphere: Great, but I wonder if that was because I was surrounded by BAs? I missed the tour, but the place was packed when ManekiNeko and I got there. Very lively, no complaints at the constant cheering or rather raucous discuss at our table.

Quality: The quality of the beers and the way they were served was top notch. Lots of good beers served properly.

Service: A little lacking, not the fastest, and the waitress complained and huffed when ever we ordered the cask ale. I think she may have had to pump them herself. But they put up with all of us without to much of a complaint. Still pretty slow but they were busy so I can't really fault them without another trip and we had quite a number of orders constantly being refilled at different times with people coming and going and all getting beers at what seemed like different times.

Selection: Very good, wide variety of styles to choose from and lots of the beers they contract brew as well. Many different styles represented.

Food: Was ok, I wasn't as impressed with the Fish and Chips as others. But I rarely get Fish & Chips so perhaps I should have ordered something else. Everybody else seemed pleased with the food.

All-in-all a great place to visit (all though not convenient or easy to find) and a lot of fun with great beer. I'd go again in a heart beat.

Went up with some Hampton Roads BA's on the HR invades Dominion weekend. Met up with several other NOVA BA's and a good time was had by all

When you go to Old Dominon you will think you must be in the wrong place. It sits smack dab in the middle of an industrial business park. When you walk in you can see part of the bottling line. The room is basically a big box that they have broken up a bit with walls and partitions. To the right is a U shaped bar with taps on 2 sides and the back wall. The atmosphere belies the location as you quickly forget that you are in a business park.
The quality of the beers was good. Everything tasted pretty fresh,, although we did have the question on which Oak Barrel we were drinking. Service was good. I will give her a high mark just for effort alone. Basically we ran her ragged and she put up with us. Im not sure I would have wanted to serve us and be pulling hand pumps every five minutes. The food was good pub grub. The appetizers were nice and the Cuban sandwich was filling and quite tasty. The selection was good, although they were out of the Spring brew and ran out of the New River. Hey what can you do. Overall it was a great experience and I wish I lived closer as I could see making several trips.

I was amazed how crowded it was on a rainy Saturday. From 2pm to 10pm they never seemed less than 3/4 full. Also it seemed that every other person that went in had at least 1 or 2 growlers with them waiting to be filled.

Located in an industrial warehouse type area/building... very interesting location with glass walls to view some of the LARGE fermenters and more importantly the expansive bottling line.

An unreal variety of taps --usually over 25 beers brewed and/or contract brewed by them for various restaraunts -- with a beer for all tastes. The quality of the beers is outstanding when on tap or fresh in the bottle... older bottles tend to fade quickly... not sure what the issue is there.

The food is standard brewpub fare but made fairly well and menu changes often enough to not be boring. Most to the wait staff seem to be upbeat and are relatively knowledgable about the beers.

Nice to be able to drink brews there and take growlers and/or bottles for take-out...

Recommended !

What a great time I had while visiting Old Dominion one Saturday in August 2004. Thank goodness my BA friend Garthwaite offered to drive as I never would have found the place myself. It's buried way back in some industrial park in a building that certainly does not look like a brewery or a resturant. Inside is a different story. Table seating is available around a large bar that has probably 2 dozen different taps--each one pulls a different beer. The bar was packed, which was no big deal, cause we had arrived just in time to catch the 4 pm tour. The tour started with a free beer poured by our friendly and knowledgable tour-guide, Kenny (I later found out that Kenny is the Head Brewer at Old Dominion). The tour was informative and fortunately, was also chock full of free refills. I discovered that Old Dominion has a huge production facility. Not only do they make their own beers, but they sometimes contract out to make other beers, too. All of these are available on tap at the bar.

After the tour, we snagged a table near the bar and ordered some beer and some food. The food never came, so we placed the order again. Only half of our order eventually made it to our table, so we had to re-order the missing food. The wait wasn't too bad, as it simply gave us time to order and drink more beer. The food was acceptable. This is a brewery that serves food, not a resturant that sells beer.

If you are ever anywhere near Ashburn VA with a few spare minutes, I highly recommend stopping by Old Dominion. If you can make it for one of the tours on Saturday...all the better.

Finally made it up to Old Dominion today to check out the birthplace of some wonderful brews. The brewpub is tucked into the corner of an industrial park, but is very easy to find from the directions posted on their website.

The only thing I really liked about the atmosphere was the big windows into the brewhouse and bottling line, which was kind of neat. Overall, the place has a sterile feel, and that's not what I'm looking for when I go have a pint.

Aside from that, I was very pleased with the pilgrimage. The beer was good and plentiful (and what more do you really need?) and the food (I had the Chile Mac) was pretty tasty. I will definitely make a return trip some day.

I just wish I'd been able to take home a growler of Millennium. The growler of Spring Brew will have to console me, I suppose.

This was a bit strange the first time I went here, driving around in a business park with no other stores in sight. All of a sudden you take a left and there you see in standard black lettering Old Dominion, very odd location indeed. As you walk into the brewpub you can look through the glass at the brewery portion and see the tall mountains of their beer ready to be shipped. The bar is in the back with about 30 or so taps, many repeated of all the beers they are currently brewing. The atmosphere is fairly relaxing but boring, the walls only decorations are posters of their beers and past beer events. Decent variety of food on the small menu and everything I have ordered has been pretty good. The bangers and mash are exceptional, that is some type of sausage marinated and cooked in their oak barrel stout with mashed potatoes, spinach and caramelized onions. Oak Barrel Stout Bread pudding for dessert was awesome as well, now I will have to stuff my face with that every time I go there. The service has been good all but once and the wait staff seems to know a little something about the beers they are serving. They have a great selection of beers some that are only available at the brewery and you can also buy beer to carry out. Great prices on the beer as well. Definitely a spot to hit up if you are in the area.

This was an awesome place to go. I wish I didn't live 5hrs from it though. Ofcourse, then I wouldn't have any money in my pockets, which would cause problems. They had lot of cool vintage beer posters and paraphenalia around the spot, as well as posters for thier brews. The bar had something like 50+ taps, but a lot of them were repeats, all of thier own brews. I think they had something like 25+ different brews on tap. The service was a little stale and slow, if you got a waitress. It looked a lot quicker up at the bar though. Very reasonable prices on the brews. Nice little gift shop to get beer, clothes, and various other paraphenalia. I definately plan on making the trip back sometime to go visit again.

Let me start this review by getting my one minor complaint out of the way:
**Dominion closes too damn early. I mean seriously - 9pm on weeknights and 10pm on weekends, what the hell is that?

That said, Dominion is a great, great place. Set up in a somewhat industrial area, the brewpub focuses more on quality product & service and less on atmosphere. Inside there is a large bar with quite a few dining tables surrounding it and spilling over into a couple larger rooms. The menu has changed recently & now features daily sandwich and pizza specials. I've enjoyed pretty much everything I've ordered, but if I had to mention a couple food recommendations they'd be: Sauerkraut Balls, Artichoke Dip, Turkey Sandwich, Pub Burger, Pizza Specials, & Oak Barrel Bread Pudding.
Besides the fantastic, friendly service, we are of course going there for the beer. They have 20+ taps & there are almost always 2 additional cask ales (typically Hop Pocket Ale is one). Favorite taps include Tuppers (ale and pils), Oak Barrel Stout, New River, Millenium, & the various seasonals.
Growler fills are $5 and there are often case & 6 pack specials to be had. Good prices, great service, a comfortable setting, & a huge selection of freshly brewed craft beer. ..how I love Old Dominion.

I am discriminating, and I LOVED this little place. The review shows less than that, and it is only because there are categories. The beer was top notch. the tour was top notch. the beer was free on tour.
the tour was free. you could keep filling up after the tour. the tour was free.

What I am saying is, they had a good lunch, and you could drink the rest of the tour away, with some of the BEST BEER I HAVE EVER HAD. On the tour you pass though an unusual entrance to the back area where you find the familiar scent of malted grain. and fromthere you taste a few taps that can rival the best beers you've ever had.

I believe it was not too easy to find, unexpected where it was, and finally, satisfying. next time I am in that part of virginia, I am there. I'll see you.

Part of Poitras/VA 2004 vacation...

As stated in previous reviews, upon arriving, it seemed as if we had found the brewery, but not the brewery, since we were in the middle of a rather large industrial park complex. However, all was well, and we quickly found we were in the right place after all, and parked and entered.

Our party of 3 1/2 was seated quickly, which was a nice surprise for after 6PM on a Saturday evening. Pretzel appetizer was excellent (but ran out during my next visit, bummer), especially with the beer cheese dip. Burger and ChiliMac were both entree hits. Drinks were refilled and/or replaced in short order, which was much appreciated. Growlers were filled with no questions (and for $5.25/fill, $6.25 for OBStout, how can you go wrong?), although the Oak Barrel Stout wasn't allowed to foam down before capped, leading to a partial fill and some flatness. Still good though.

Nice roomy setup of facility, with well-spaced tables, spacious bar in center of room. Visited again to meet up with some NoVa BAs, ManekiNoki, Garthwaite & Sue, and AragonUnplugged. Good time was had by all, and thanks for the trades for Cadillac Mtn Stout, guys! Also ran into Cfahooligan's dad Doc, who said he had to buy me a beer since I had my BA shirt on, but then mysteriously disappeared without doing so. Oh well. :-)

I hope to visit again another time, worth your time, for sure.

Ok, first off, this place is in a RANDOM location. Its in an office park. You'd never find it if you weren't looking for it. With that being said, its worth the search to find it. While a bit lacking in the atmosphere category (so are a lot of other great brew pubs), they have great beer on tap and tasty, reasonably priced food. Beers are reasonable ($3.60 a pint) and $2.50 at happy hour. They have an impressive selection on tap, although probably too many of their contract brews overlap. The Belgian Brown is tasty, and you can pretty much only get it at the pub. Their summer Wit beer was good as well. What I look for in a quality craft brewer is attention to style. This is why I like OD and Victory so much. When they brew a wheat beer, they'll brew an interesting style of wheat beer, like a Wit or Weizenbock, not just a bland american hefe. Thats what sets guys like this apart, in my opinion. You can also get kegs reasonably from here if you have a home draft setup.

I went with my girlfriend to this place on a Saturday night at about 8:00. It's a little hard to find and, as others have described, not exactly in the prettiest of places (unless industrial parks are your thang). That said, the setting is very clean. Like, spotless. Always a good thing in a brewery. For breweriana, it's all about trumpeting the beers produced there, something I will not fault them on. They did a good job covering up the facct that this basically is a warehouse and that there's a working brewery on the other side of the glass.

Had to wait a bit to be sat at a table, but that's what beer is for, right? Otherwise, I had great service that night, or at least not as bad as some of the other reviewers experienced. One great little anecdote: when it came time for the waitress to ask about dessert, she just comes up and says, "You're gonna have the bread pudding, right?" We're like, "How did you know?" Granted, there's only one other option for dessert, but it was still amusing.

The food we had was excellent. I highly recommend the aforementioned bread pudding, which is made with their Oak Barrel Stout (probably one of the best stouts made in the US, if not the world). It's got beer and butter. If they could find a way to put some bacon in it, we'd have food nirvana. Also good was the beer cheese that came with the pretzel appetizer. The food is largely American, but well done and quite yummmy.

For beer, you're limited to the offerings made on premises, which is about 20 or so beers. I highly recommend the Oak Barrel Stout. Can't praise it enough. I also had two limited offering beers which were quite good, a Belgian Style Brown (seemed like a dubbel to me) and a Baltic Porter. The other beers they make are all rather good as well. One heartening sight was the ubiquitous presence of patrons with growlers in this place. It was damn crazy. They got a lot of repeat customers, and a lot of people just walking in to fill their growler.

If you live in the area: Go. If you're visiting the area and can take the time to get there: Go. 'nuff said.

I guess it all depends on what you're looking for out of a brewpub as to whether you're gonna love this place or hate it... if you are looking for great atmosphere that's trendy and hip.. this may not be your kinda place.. but if you're not into all that and don't mind the rather plain decor, but LOVE great beer and selection then this is an absolute can't miss it if you're ever in the area as I was lucky to be. Granted, depending on my mood I can fall into either category, but I loved this place and the brews... as I said as long as you don't mind the "office-like" atmosphere this place is great to get some great beers and you can even get them in cases of bottles which is a huge plus!

What can you say about a place that has 20 plus taps, all featuring excellent brews made on the premises? Sure, it's a long way away from everything (except from Dulles Airport and from where the Redskins practice during the summer), located in an industrial park with zero charm. Sure the service is surly at best, non-existent at worst. And sure, only the hamburgers qualify as "good food". But, oh, the beers! There's always at least one cask-conditioned, and they never seem to be out of anything. The 20-something offerings cover every conceivable palate, leaving no beer drinker unsatisfied. The Dominion brewpub is worth the trip - just eat somewhere else first, and make sure you've got plenty of time to cope with the lousy service.

Finally made the pilgrimage here after nearly a year living in Arlington, a little less than a half hour away. I quite enjoyed it.

Its definitely off the beaten path, so get exact directions off their website. In an office park type environment and not easy to spot. At first I was surprised to see how much it wasn't your typical brew pub (especially from the outside), like a Rock Bottom, etc. And indeed the interior atmosphere is a little lacking. But I came to sort of enjoy the lack of "bells and whistles". It really had more of a straightforward feel of just being at the brewery itself, with the focus on the beers rather than the atmosphere. The food we had was good, not great.

The beers were great in terms of quality and selection. You can get a "flight" of four (4oz) beers for 3.95 and i think a single 4oz beer is a dollar. This is great for tasting and then settling on a pint. They had around twenty brews including two hand pumps. Service was good and they also have their beers for sale in six packs and growlers, t-shirts, hats, etc. and tours. The New River Pale Ale was excellent, with one of the best aromas of any beer I've ever sniffed. And the Tuppers Hop Pocket Ale on hand pump was great. Never tasted beer in England but I'm guessing that's as close as I've come. Can't wait to go back.

Stopped in here for some lunch and a few brews and was most impressed. The first thing that strikes you are the approximately 45 taps that they have at the bar. Sure a couple are repeats but they have every brew that they brew at all, even the contract brewed ones, on draught here. They even have their root beer and ginger ale that they brew for the kiddies on draught. The selection is daunting and makes the choices difficult and calculated. The service was good as I never had an empty glass for more than probably 30 seconds and the food that I had was also good. Standard pub fare on the menu with some slightly defferent selections on the sandwich board. I will definitely be making many return trips so that I can try all of these brews on draught at the source.

The brewpub is situated directly next to the brewery-- the mammoth conditioning tanks are in direct view. Service at the bar is prompt and very friendly (previous visits I sat at a table, service is only average there)-- I wasn't left waiting for my next brew. Outstanding selection of ales and lagers... Every brew is well balanced, clean and enjoyable, even if it isn't your favorite style. Old Dominion would be an American classic if they more widely distributed their beer. ALthough out of the way from DC (~30 minutes) it is certainly worth the visit. I make the "pilgrimedge" every time I'm back in VA. Food isn't particularly noteworthy, but any sane person goes for the beer.