The Veil Brewing - Richmond

1. Probably going to need to get there well before 3 to get out by 4:30. Last week the line had wrapped the lot (est 60-75 people) by around 2:30 I believe. That's what someone posted at least. That's probably at least a 45min - 1 hour wait if not longer from the end of the lot. Bottles sold out by 5:30 last week as well.

2. I'm not sure if they allow this or not but I would assume you could if you wanted to go to the back of a likely ridiculously long line.

3. Once you are on their property/parking lot you can drink in line but only pours you order from their bar inside. You cannot bring your own beers to drink in line / share. That's a big ABC no-no in Virginia.


If you are on fb and not already in the group join the Behind the Veil group. They don't do "line update" threads as regularly as they used to but people will be posting and asking about the line tomorrow so that will help you track how it is forming.

 

Don't be that guy.

They open at 4 so getting out before 4:30 is going to be tough for a bottle release unless you are there pretty early. If it was a "regular" weekly can release it wouldn't be too difficult.

 

Thanks for the response! I figured no outside drinks, but didn't know if you could buy from them and drink while you wait.

I also doubt I would re-line, since it sounds like the lines move much slower than they do in Florida. It looks like my brother can come, meaning he can get his own bottles (leaving me one for myself and one for my bottle share group). We just need to make sure we're out by 4:30-4:45.

I saw a few conflicting reports on the times. Someone said they sold out at 6:30. A lot of people said they were in and out in an hour. Just trying to narrow it all down since we'd have to leave early. Might try to get there around 2 to be safe.

 

You're right. My mistake. It was sold out around 6:30 last week. 850 bottles of DB and Vanilla is just 650 bottles so expect a much sooner sell out tomorrow even at the lower limit.

 

It’s a 2pp limit though so there are more total allotments this week.

If you need to he out by 4:30 I would try to get there around 2, but its tough to say because both the line size and speed have been pretty variable and hard to predict lately.

Does anyone else feel like a BBA barleywine with vanilla just might not be good? Imo, vanilla-adjunct beers are almost always disappointing. It’s usually either barely noticeable or overdone and medicinal tasting. For CoW I feel like too little would be better than too much, but in my mind I just can’t imagine vanilla improving the beer.

 

Ha, you guys must do things differently in VA. Re-lining is standard practice in Florida. The breweries set limits at the time of the release to guarantee that everyone in line at release time will get bottles, and if you want more, you can get back in line.

But it also sounds like the lines move much slower. Angry Chair will have a 1200 bottle release with several hundred people in line, and everything is wrapped up in 30-45 minutes (including re-lines).

 

It's actually more max allotments this week, despite less total bottles 2x vs 3x.

Well The Veil has asked on social media in the past that you not circumvent the per person bottle limits by getting back in line. Obviously some people still do it but its generally frowned upon.
I've seen this practice mocked in other non VA places too...there was a whole FB joke/thread about some guy putting on a disguise to re-line at an OH bottle release.
But yeah the line can be pretty slow there for these kind of releases, sounds like AC has it figured out, that's pretty quick.
It also isn't just grab your two bottles and go, there are multiple cans, leftover wild bottles from last week and vintage bottles this week, the options/choices is what slows it down to a painful crawl (sometimes).

 

The funny thing about Florida is that re-lining is usually from the people trying to hook up their friends or trade partners. The people who are only there to sell the beers immediately after the releases come in with several mules (including paid ones for bigger releases) and don't need to re-line to get extra bottles (though some do). My wife gets pissed at me when I ask her to mule, because she knows she's just there to get extra bottles for my brother and my friends in Denver and Raleigh.

The breweries also don't care about re-lining, and encourage you to do that if you want extra bottles. Their main focus is guaranteeing bottles for everyone in line at the time of the release (or those showing up shortly after the release starts).

Has The Veil ever run into a situation where people showed up at 4 and didn't get bottles?

 

Hidden Springs in Tampa has a good system for this when they have multiple cans and bottles. You buy tokens, then go and redeem them for the beers you want. But it only works if all of the prices are the same.

 

Just different priorities, I guess. I think the "more bottles in the hands of a few more people" takes precedence here over who got there right at the release time but honestly, I'm not here to debate which method is better, preferred, right, etc. I just know the Veil has asked for people not to do it.
There probably has been sometime where you had to get there prior to opening or missed out but that's not typically the case. Most bottle releases last a few hours at least. Even at their big black Friday release some of the bottles lasted well into the evening.

 

@timw007 There really are two types of waiting for these bigger releases Veil does. You either show up early and have a longer wait on the front end before opening or you show up closer to opening and end up being in a long line when doors open with a long wait on the back end and the process ends up being drawn out for various reasons (lack of enough POS, people take way too long deciding what they want and how much, gotta try on merch to make sure it fits, etc). It has been quite some time since I made it down for a Veil Tuesday but I personally would rather show up early and be closer to the front than hope the process goes smooth when doors open and be in a longer line.

If you are in town early then head over to Mekong and grab lunch there along with their impressive taplist. They are only a couple miles away from Veil and open at 11. Another option is to check out Bingo Beer in Scott's Addition and you could easily park near Veil and walk to Bingo and be closer if you follow the posts on the BTV fb group and see the line starting to form. I checked out Bingo several weeks ago and their beers were pretty solid. They opened back in November. Lunch was delicious and the space was big with a lot of arcade games set up to pass the time. Both Mekong and Bingo open at 11am.

 

I know we talked about this last week. I agree less would be better. I feel like since Bourbon carries vanilla notes this might just be a way to draw that out a bit. If it's a Vanilla bomb like Vanilla SF I could see it being less enjoyable. But also I've never had a vanilla BW and am really curious to try even though I don't think I can make it in time today.

It isn't common, but there have been times where people showed up at open and didn't get the release. It happened more in the past with coveted cans like early gose releases but has happened with bottles before.

If you're trying to be gone by 4:30, you won't have the option of relining and making it through even if you're the 1st person in line today.

The "no relining" isn't a VA thing so much as a Veil thing. Basically it's just a "don't be a dick" approach, but at the same time no one will call you out for re-lining. People check with those around them to see if they aren't getting the whole allotment and score extras that way. I've had people ask me and I've helped with that, I've also bought extras from folks in line. I mean, someone can also have a friend a bit further back in line and cut in the line after their first go through so they don't have to go to the back of the line. No one will call you out for any of these in line but you might show up on a snarky BTV post. [anyone remember those girls in the gladiator sandals that cut a 2 hour summer line last year?? haha]

This is 100% true, but you can't have beers in line before they open at 4. I feel like everyone's more social and in a better mood once they're in the lot with a beer in hand so that's typically my preference. If it's like last week, the line absolutely flew compared to past lines for less complicated releases but yeah, that's the risk.

Mekong before Veil while monitoring the line FTW! If it isn't looking bad, grab answer pours/crowlers at 4 then head over. But obvs can't do that on a day you need to be outta dodge by 4:30PM

 

And there's a line update thread on BTV, @timw007 . Most recent post as of about 10 mins ago (Noon) is 11 people currently in line.

 

Not surprising, I'm sure people wanted those 12 coco SF's.

 

I don't recall The Veil posting on their social media about this but caught it while looking through their site this morning. For anyone that may be planning to check them out this Sunday (Super Bowl Sunday) it looks like they have shorter than normal public hours from Noon - 4pm (usually Noon - 6pm) and then hosting a ticketed Super Bowl Watch Party from 5:30pm - 11:00pm. Tickets look to be $28.16 ($25 + $3.16 fee). Full details (and link to purchase) below.

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RVA's Great Big Watch Party
Its the biggest game of the year! Come out, watch and celebrate a fantastic year of football. Fun, food, games, prizes and so much more.

About this Event

NFL Veteran Tim Hightower & Richmond Moms Blog's Emmie Croxford host this year's RVA's Great Big Watch Party at The Veil Brewing Company. Not only can you watch the game but celebrate a season with food, friends, fun and laughter; games, prizes and giveaways. Don't talk about it the day after - be a part of the experience. Tickets are limited and will not be available at the door.

 

What's astounding to me is that the week of CoCo SF there were 11 in line by noon.

Yesterday for 12 Starve Bs it was 12 in line by 1PM and #13 in line got Starve B. That just seems odd to me by comparison considering the "whale" status for Starve B.

 

FWIW they released Vanilla CoW that day too. And the weather was worlds better than it was yesterday

 

Thank you - that definitely makes sense. So on top of weather probably a case of "the line will be bad I'd rather be at the front and out sooner" that day where yesterday was a quieter release.

 

Anniversary date announced...
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Yooooo!!! We are totes amped to announce the dates for our 3rd anniversary week long rager!
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This past year we pushed ourselves more than ever. We continue to be humbled by the love and support you all have given us! We can’t thank you guys enough and can’t wait for what year four has in store for us(including some new locations )!
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Starting April 23rd-April 28th we will be releasing a bunch of bottles/cans and draft as well as tapping a bunch of guest taps on Sunday April 28th from some buddiez. We will have some rad food from some of our food buddiez like Cobra Burger Intergalactic Tacos and The Highroller Lobster Co.
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We will be announcing more info about the beers and other details about the festivities over the course of the next few weeks. Stay tuned y’all! This anniversary is going to be bigger and better than ever!!!

 

haha, they are going to draw out the specific info on this for weeks.