Moving to Virginia Beach

I'm sure someone local can chime in with some more thorough advice, but the Birch in Norfolk is widely considered the best beer bar in the area, and the Grape & Gourmet is a nice bottle shop in Va Beach.

http://www.grapeandgourmet.com/

http://thebirchbar.com/

 

BREWERIES:
If you're at Oceana, you'll be real close to Reaver Beach, Young Vets, and Green Flash (once it opens, just a cpl more months supposedly).

Va Beach also has Pleasure House Brewing out on Shore Drive, Back Bay at the oceanfront, and Commonwealth.

Being in VA Beach, you're next door to Chesapeake and Norfolk. In Chesapeake is Big Ugly. Norfolk has O'Connor, Smartmouth, Bold Mariner, and Coelacanth. Norfolk should be getting a couple more before the end of the year supposedly (Rip Rap and Bench Top)

BOTTLE SHOPS:
G+G mentioned above will be real close. There's also the Total Wine at Hilltop shopping center (VA Beach), which I believe is the largest on the East Coast. There are 4-5 TWs throughout Hampton Roads.

 

If you are on fb there are a couple groups that are local as well as a very active (over 8k members) statewide group with lots of Tidewater folks

- Surf N Suds Beach & Brew Club
- Hampton Roads Beer Forum
- Fans of Virginia Craft Breweries

 

I pretty much agree with everything said already.

Not to go to that other site, but G&G is currently ranked best bottle shop in VA and Birch best beer bar in VA.

In VB: My vote is for Reaver for best beers (fresh Hoptopus is something special). There's also a Whole Foods with nice rotating taps, not to be overlooked. Mix It Up is out at the shore - haven't been yet but planning to this weekend I think.

In Norfolk: My vote is Smartmouth for the best standard lineup (Notch 9 is one of the best DIPA's in the state and Alter Ego Saison is my go-to at most bars/restaurants in town). O'Connor has the best taproom for a hangout in the area - I like their limited releases much more than their standard lineup. Haven't been to the other Norfolk breweries yet.

Toward Richmond - I love most all of the limited releases from Alewerks in Williamsburg (about 1 hour NW with normal traffic, side note: brace yourself for traffic in Hampton Roads if you haven't been warned). Between VB and Richmond, Alewerks is a midway point with some great releases - Bitter Valentine, Cafe Royale, Secret Admirer and a few others are some of the top releases in the state, imho. Va Beer Co. just opened and has one of the better standard lineups around.

Richmond you know about Hardywood, and I've loved everything I've had from Ardent too. Most Hardywood stuff hits distribution and is easy to get without going to a release save for their big one offs (Foolery, Ruse, Trickery, and GBS variants). Up there is also Mekong and The Answer. Stone is also there and a work in progress. When you're looking for a weekend trip, RVA is a fantastic beer destination and only about 2 hours away.

I personally wasn't pleased with my Big Ugly trip - if you're driving south to the Outer Banks it might be worth a stop by I personally wouldn't put it at the top of the list above the other places anyone's listed.

I hope this helps some! Feel free to drop a line with specific questions, cheers!

 

Don't forget Green Flash too. Their Va Beach facility will be opening up over Memorial Day Weekend. Obviously no review since they have not opened yet but that's another one, like Stone, will be very busy by the out of towners/tourists who may not know the local breweries very well.

 

Pretty much everyone above nailed it, lots of good things listed.
The VB/Norfolk/Ches area has improved quite a bit with beer options over the last year or so with the breweries mentioned above, several of which are new-ish, and good beer focused restaurants like Esoteric, brewpubs like Wasserhund, etc.
We all have our favorites and certainly some misses but my suggestion is to make sure you check out Reaver Beach's sour/wild program, it is unlike any of the others locally (so far).

 

Big reason why I personally like them best of the VB brewers. Something like The Reaver at like $12.50 for a 750ml sour is an amazing bang for your buck. Only VA sour I've had that has beaten what I've had from Reaver was Alewerk's Lover's Greed - but (qualifier) that needed to sit for about a year. Here's hoping that next batch is out soon!

I also agree there are tons of great places to grab a nice craft pint. Y Not Pizza comes to mind as a place with great beer selections and multiple locations.

 

The Birch in Norfolk. Also some nice breweries around your new area. Young Veterans, O' Conner, Smartmouth, Big Ugly and so many more

 

Some great suggestions here . Reaver Beach for sure . Went there for the watermelon sour release a few weeks ago . Most of the releases are low key , the re-release of Lunatic was kind of the exception . Still , bottles lasted about 5 hours and it was on tap for at least a month . They had about 16 beers on tap with several sours . I had a glass of the new sour and a flight of 4 . Everything was at least good . And Grape and Gourmet is definitely the best bottle shop in the whole area .

Wanted to add a couple of bars and couple of good areas in Virginia Beach .

Hilltop / Laskin Road
Total Wine - Huge . Found Lagunita's Citrusinensis there yesterday .
Whole Foods and the porch - Nice selection inside and at the Porch bar on the corner . I've had $5 pints of Lunch there .
Wasserhund - Mostly German beers and good brats and pizza . Need to go back soon .
Tapped Gastropub - About 30 beers on tap plus bottles and great food .

Chesapeake Bay / Shore Drive
Pleasure House Brewing - open about a year and a half . Some good beers , some experimental stuff that's hit or miss .
Mix it up - nice bottle shop , small but great selection . Next door now they have 50 taps for pints , flights and growler fills .
Lynnhaven Pub - kind of a dive but great beer selection and fun place . My favorite bar here .
Commonwealth Brewing - about 10 minutes away from the others . Fairly new but they have some good beers .

 

While we are on this subject, is there anything within walking distance or a short cab ride of Hampton Coliseum? A friend and I will be in town for Pearl Jam next week.

 

I don't know Hampton too well but they don't have much of a beer scene compared to Norfolk and Virginia Beach . Was there for a show a few years ago and we went to an English Pub on Mercury Blvd . It was a few blocks east of the Coliseum I think . Decent beers and food . Maybe someone else can help . Didn't see much near there on places .

If you tailgate put your beers in plastic cups . Hampton cops are way cooler than VB cops but I would still be careful . Enjoy the show .

 

St. Georges should be a good cab ride from the Coliseum. About the only thing going on in Hampton brewery-wise (and only if you like traditional English style brews)... everything else is a hike.

 

One more to add: Home Republic Brewery on Laskin Road in Virginia Beach. They have a nice little beer class too.

Word of warning: Big Ugly Brewery. They are closest to my house in Chesapeake, but I made the mistake of going there 3 months after they opened. The milk stout was decent but the IPA would peel the paint off a battleship. I think they strained it thru an infantryman's socks. That being said, I'm going to give them another shot.

Tim

 

That's a bit more blunt than I'd be. I generally try to be nice but I was there about 2 months ago and don't plan to go back until I've heard from people I trust I should give it another shot. They were very nice folks and had a nice vibe but yeah, this is a place that's been mentioned a few times in this thread that I'd say "check it after you've done everything else." where "everything else" includes going to Williamsburg and then on to RVA.

 

You should, they have a few pretty solid beers, their gose and their BA stout in particular. I agree they are not my main go to's in Hampton Roads either but they are definitely not the worst imo.

 

Any local Virginia Beach beers I need to try these days? I haven't been down to see the in-laws in about a year, but last time I wasn't all that impressed by Reaver Beach, Young Veterans, Hardywood or O'Connor.

 

My most recent vote is for Commonwealth in Va Bch by the shore. A lot of their standard fare is really, really good and the two sours I've had from them were good to great. Damn that "eggnog" beer haunts me (in the good way).

FWIW, based on the places you mentioned, I like some Reaver a whole lot, not so much YV and OConnor though OConnor one-offs have been pretty good. Hardywood for me really depends on what you get imho - Trickery and KY Christmas for the win there for me.

Are these the only places you've been in the area? If you let us know what you didn't like, or what you're looking for maybe we can help a bit more?

 

I agree with three of those, but did Reaver have any wilds/sours out when you visited? They just released one last week and have a pretty solid "NE style" ipa out now.

Commonwealth is definitely worth a visit IMO, they just released two BA'd beers that are excellent, and they may have a few of their sours left.
Green Flash recently opened and is fun to visit but probably not much there you haven't tried yet.

*oldnoob got me by a minute, with basically the same info