The Veil Brewing - Richmond

Tomorrow's, 2/13 releases....
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Crucial Taunt is our beloved house DIPA clocking it at 8%.
Shooting for 185-200 cases. $15+tax/4-pack. 1x case/6x 4-packs per person

Dirt Nap is our 8.8% DIPA hopped with Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy, and Nelson. Dirt Nap heads rejoice!
Shooting for approx 185-205 cases. $16.50+tax/4-pack. 6x 4-packs/1x case per person limit
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Internet Presents is a new pilot batch designed by our lead brewer Justin aka Cat Boy. Clocking in at 6% this fluffy little IPA is perfect amount of joose and dank. Super refreshing too!
Shooting for 40-50x cases. $14+tax/4-pack. 3x 4-packs per person

Casual Casual Drinks Drinks For the first time ever, we hit our lovely 8.5% DIPA Casual Drinks with dat DDH treatment. Hopped intensely with Citra and El Dorado.
Shooting for approx 180-200 cases. $17.50+tax/4-pack. 1x case/6x 4-packs per person

S’mores Hornswoggler For the S’mores variant, we took our 7% robust chocolate milk stout Hornswoggler and added over 60 gallons of Cholaca (pure liquid sweetened cocoa nibs) for extra chocolate character and 100lbs of mini marshmallows on the hot side. Then in secondary, we added over 700lbs of crushed up graham cracker and over 8lbs/bbl of marshmallow flavored coffee. Sweet milk chocolate, salty&sweet graham cracker, aromatic marshmallows, and nice subtle roast from the coffee. S’mores all in your mouth-hole!
Shooting for approx 140-160 cases. $17+tax/4-pack. 1x case/6x 4-packs per person

We will be hiding 15x Golden Tokens underneath the 4-pack holders(only on Hornswoggler cans). Find one of these coins and give it to a staff member behind the bar to get a free Golden Hornswoggler glass(as seen in the picture in this post; the Hornswoggler himself is on the back side of the glass)! This is the ONLY way to get your hands on this glass. We will never sell this glass. It is only acquired if you are the lucky few to find a Golden Token. We made 40% less of this style of glass than the last Hornswoggler glass. Make sure you try to grab one before we switch to the next style.

**We will most likely have a decent amount of
- Step Step Dad Dad (100% Mosaic DDH DIPA)
- Child Support (hoppy Pilsner with Citra) left, and a very small possibility that
- Sam from Other Half (Imperial Dry-hopped Imperial IPA) cans left from last week’s release.**
Anything still available from last week will be set at NO LIMIT

 

Final details for today's release.......As of about 20 minutes ago on the line thread from BTV there's less than 10 people there. I figured for sure with the low count of Internet Presents people would freeze their tails off for a few hours today. Glad to see that's not the case and hype is somewhat low early on.
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~S’mores Hornswoggler 7% robust chocolate milk stout Hornswoggler conditioned on Cholaca, mini marshmallows, and graham cracker.
$17+tax/4-pack. 1x case/6x 4-packs per person.

We will be hiding 15x Golden Tokens underneath the 4-pack holders(only on Hornswoggler cans). Find one of these coins and give it to a staff member behind the bar to get a free Golden Hornswoggler glass.

~Dirt Nap 8.8% DIPA hopped with Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy, and Nelson.
$16.50+tax/4-pack. 6x 4-packs/1x case per person limit.

~Casual Casual Drinks Drinks 8.5% DDH DIPA hopped with Citra and El Dorado.
$17.50+tax/4-pack. 1x case/6x 4-packs per person.

~Crucial Taunt 8% house DIPA.
$15+tax/4-pack. 1x case/6x 4-packs per person.

~Internet Presents 6% IPA. $
14+tax/4-pack. 3x 4-packs per person.


Leftover from last week's release...

~Child Support w/ Citra 4.5% hoppy Pilsner w/ Citra.
$13+tax/4-pack. NO LIMIT

~Sam from Other Half 10% Imperial Dry-hopped Imperial India Pale Ale. We hopped it with Citra, Nelson, Kohatu, and high oil Cascades.
$17.50+tax/4-pack. NO LIMIT

~Step Step Dad Dad 8.5% double dry-hopped DIPA. Hopped exclusively with 100% Mosaic.
$18+tax/4-pack. NO LIMIT

 

Over the past week it's become pretty clear in my mind they could move to the Trillium release model at any time. I know they'll never do it because their goal is to get people to make long distance trips and announcing a new can each day would hurt that. But still, the lines for the more hyped releases like last week have become so painfully slow that I don't want to go back for those anymore.

That said, today's release is about perfect and sounds like the crowd will be more of a steady flow.

 

That S'mores Hornswoggler sounds delightful. Over the holidays, I stopped in Richmond on the way back to Indiana from the Carolinas, and I'm definitely a Veil convert now.

If anyone is headed there tonight, I'd love to work out a way to get some; it's only a 12-hour drive for me, but alas, I think they may be closed before I could get there. I posted a ISO/FT, but also feel free to check my Gots and message me directly.

 

I’m starting to know more and more people who’re disappointed by Veil’s output (myself included). Perhaps the lack of consistency finally caught up with them. That and I have a sneaking suspicion the A Team is largely working on the barrel aged and sour program.

 

These ba and aged wilds/sours have (mostly) been pretty impressive in my opinion, especially for so early in their program. Glad they have been more or less under the radar compared to cow, etc & easy to aquire.
People can keep all the fomo triple IPAs of the week my friends & I keep stocking up on myf & concentric.

 

Yeah, I get that and I like the BA sours they’ve done so far (except No More Sleep). It just seems like their IPAs have almost entirely fallen off. I’ve been disappointed for a few months now with almost every IPA they’ve done (Red Bugg being an exception). It’s a shame, I used to love Veil but now I’d rather drink other stuff.

 

I’m impressed with the consistency of their product including their IPAs. All the barrel aged stouts and sours are on their first batch but you’ll likely see a difference between batch one and two, just depends on the barrels.

 

The BA stuff makes sense and I’m not worried about.

I was more frustrated that White Ferrari, We Ded Mon, Master Master Shredder Shredder, Crucial Taunt, et al have failed to be consistent. I noticed this before they changed to the new system and don’t seem to be the only one as more and more stay away for anything other than collabs or major league releases. I suspect Matt is not directly involved in the brewing process for a number of beers past batch 1 unless it’s a collab that riffs on an existing beer (Henry Ded Mon).

Considering the direction of recent offerings, I’d say Veil is definitey interested in a more vegitative taste for their IPAs. Things like Natureboi, Swimming Poolz, Shreddy Krueger, and Needsaweek show that their future IPAs will tend toward the after taste found in their zero IBU series.

 

Their IPAs have always had that taste to me. Figured it's their house yeast.

 

They stated from the very beginning that perfecting their mixed ferm/wild/etc beer would be their main goal and focus, and so far they have not disappointed in that regard. I have not tried any of the darker ones because I already know that I probably won't like them, but given Matt's experience at Cantillon and compared to initial attempts at wild beers from other breweries, I don't think these first batches are a fluke. I am hopeful and confident that we will continue to see great beers come from their coolship and barrels.

"Hopeful" and "confident" are not, however, two adjectives I would use to describe the rest of the beer they make. I have been disappointed in both the consistency and direction of their brewing. Their IPAs have always had an earthy/vegetative aspect that I don't love but don't hate either. Its the taste of the Veil. Its strong trend towards big ABV and sweet that really disappoints me. They are definitely trying to carve out a niche for themselves, but in my opinion its a niche that does not need to exist. They do still occasionally put out great hops, the recent batch of Dirt Dirt Nap Nap was excellent, but there is too much crap to wade through to get there.

Their stouts have, again in my opinion, always been awful. Way too sweet and focused on appealing to the pastry stout crowd, without even doing it well. Its amazing that people still get excited and buy Horns, and then post about how disappointing it is every time.

Both Circle of Wolves releases were great, but I'd like to see them nail it a few more times before I call that one a hit.

The Never series can be good, but they usually overdo it with the double versions. Again, they appeal to the LCD "omg this one has the most fruit and most sugar so its THE BESt ONE" crowd. Never mind that the "best" of those beers are usually a chore to drink more than 6 oz of. The Tastee series is the logical extension of this, added sugar for the childlike beer drinkers out there.

Having said all that, Child Support is freaking delicious, I've gone back and bought a case of this last release two 4-pks at a time.

 

I'm with @Sip404 and @beernuts Something happened with the IPA brewing and in addition it's this push for TIPAs and overly sweet IPAs that I think is hurting Veil and has really sent me across town to Triple Crossing who is just crushing every batch. I really hope Veil makes a correction and gets back to producing consistent batches CT, MS, DN etc. Also Horns used to be good. The Coconut Horns from last November was amazing. Also original Oreo Horns. Now it's mostly burnt cold brew and super thin. I was literally shocked this morning to realize Smores horns had sold out. Who the hell is buying a 120+ cases of that?

As for the BA wilds and stouts. They're on point including No More Sleep. Dark sours aren't for everyone but by no means was there anything "wrong" with No More Sleep really tasty beer. I am also hoarding as many bottles of MYF and Concentric. Can't wait to see how they develop over time.

 

@beernuts Yeah, I've gotten some of that taste before, but it seemed like it wasn't as often in a lot of the stuff I remember having months ago. Batch 3 or 4 of We Ded Mon was very strong citrus without the herbal and earthy qualities, as was the first Chubbles they released, and the anniversary batch (B2 or 3?) of White Ferrari, cans of which became the best IPA they've ever done (after a week or two). I definitely got the earthy flavor with things like Insink or anything with much dry hopping though.

And yeah, @beernuts I getcha. I've been impressed by Veil's barrel sours but am not a big fan of most of their stouts even though I like Sleeping Forever. I thought Vermicious Knid was one of the better sour stouts I'd ever had. All this said, it just seemed like the IPAs had a few more hitters in my memory. I used to go down almost every Tuesday and for the last few months I haven't been able to, but my Richmond connect has provided me with several cans.

I still greatly enjoy the kettle sours though. Even if almost all the doubles they tried to do have failed to live up to their single siblings.

 

Did I accidently log into BTV? haha.

Yeah agreed, for a month or longer it seemed like 80% of their hoppy beer were triples. I've tried my fair share of triples (unfortunately) and its a rare one that doesn't make you think of syrupy/sweet. Not coincidentally, those are the ones people cite as hits like chubblesb1, red bugatti, etc.
Good thing there are plenty of other ipa brewers around, I'll keep going to Veil for the wilds, BA beers, and some kettle sours.

 

They posted an IG picture yesterday of a white miata, I would love it if they made a 5-6% version of white ferrari. Of course it will probably be a 40-case pilot batch with half-case limits released on a day with a couple mega-hype beers.

 

I only bought one 4 pk of Chubbles 1 and drank them all within a week. It's one of my favorite Veil beers of all time and doesn't resemble Rubber Band or any of the other way too big ABV and MEGA dry-hopped monsters they've been putting out. I'm afraid they're becoming like Evil Twin.

 

What's left Wednesday....
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~Dirt Nap 8.8% DIPA - $16.50+tax/4-pack. 6x 4-packs/1x case per person limit.

~Casual Casual Drinks Drinks 8.5% DDH DIPA - $17.50+tax/4-pack. 1x case/6x 4-packs per person.

~Crucial Taunt 8% house DIPA. $15+tax/4-pack. 1x case/6x 4-packs per person.

~Child Support 4.5% hoppy Pilsner w/ Citra. $13+tax/4-pack. NO LIMIT

~Step Step Dad Dad 8.5% double dry-hopped DIPA. - $18+tax/4-pack. NO LIMIT

 

It's nice is to see comments with thoughtful criticism and even balance here - BTV often borders on absurd so I'm loving this conversation. I have an internal tug of war with my feelings about the Veil and I doubt any of these are dissimilar to what others think or feel but just my two cents.

Consistency - There have always been complaints consistency since batch 2 of what, Crucial Taunt? A great example for me is White Ferrari - B1/B4 were near perfect, B2 (anni) and B3 (July) were far from it. So many of their beers follow a pattern like this it's silly. But when they nailed B4 I was sorry I traded any for what I'd get in return because I'd have rather just had those cans of WF back. At the same time there are beers they have consistently nailed or improved with each batch (Broz Night, CT3, IdonteverEVER...).

High ABVs - I think just about all of us would love to see more <7% IPAs. Dusty Roadz for instance was fantastic both times they've dropped that one. When MS is on point it's agruably the best IPA in RVA. So why don't they make more of these? A friend said as much to Catboy and was told people just don't travel for the low ABV and do for the high ABV beers. I'm hoping that starts to wear a little thin because PRBLMS was fantastic, TRBLS was a mess. ImdonewithU was killer, ImREALLY done was not. Needsamonth was just gross. But damn if they have not dialed in WWDD to a damn near perfect TIPA that's been better each batch. This most recent batch was absolutely fantastic. So seems even their inconsistency is inconsistent.

On that note, not every beer needs the DDH treatment. Frozen Ocean (released a year ago today actually) was fantastic. FFOO was not. Step Dad is a great beer - SSDD was not.

Hype/The line - we all find annoying, but I feel like I have to forgive the hype. Their job is to sell as much beer as possible and hype makes it possible. Let other people fight over the Goses (though NNMM is absurdly good) and Horns (haven't loved one since CocoB1), even the collabs have been spotty. I do wish they'd do a better job with servicing the can line. Rather than have bartenders walk the line for empty glasses, give one a POS and stick him/her at the front door. The past two lines I waited in (my fault, my choice, I know) were just dreadfully and inexcusably slow. I'd love if I could get up there this week to grab Dirt Nap from the bar with no wait (consistently one of my favorites) but I can't. Oh well. Something else almost just like it will be out next week.

 

Va Beach locals.... looks like Esoteric just tapped
- Dirt Nap
- Crucial Taunt
- Same from Other Half
- Casual Casual Drinks Drinks
- S'mores Horns

 

That’s kind of expected with Hornswoggle, it’s a milk stout and themed from Willy Wonka. The other main stouts Sleeping Forever and Pallbearer are not overly sweet.

A few more times would equate to years, do you really need years to determine the base is fantastic?