Charlottesville Trip

I figure it's the least I could do after your great advice! I got to explore many of the places you suggested last weekend:

Friday night: Hit Hardywood around 8 pm. I was a little surprised at how empty the place was for a Friday night, maybe a handful of other people there, so we were able to grab bar seats. I sampled a few beers in a flight and was going to finish with GBS but it little kicked the pour before I was going to order. Thankfully, they had bottles in stock so I grabbed one for the road and had it later in the night. GBS was easily my favorite of the bunch. Most of the pale ales/IPAs had more of a west coast feel to me (full disclosure: I'm spoiled living in Boston with all of the NEIPAs we have access to), with Empress Evelyn being my favorite of the bunch. I thought the taproom was okay, but probably my least favorite of the weekend.

Saturday: Started at Three Notch'd a little before noon. Place was empty when I got there and grabbed a bar seat, but it was packed an hour later. Very family friendly with big tables and lots of kids running around. Definitely the broadest selection of beers and styles to choose from, some were average at best, most were above average. Minute Man and Brother Barnabas were my favorites of the ten I sampled. I also had the deviled eggs w/pork belly to snack on and they were fantastic.

From Three Notch'd I walked a few blocks to Champion. I thought it was a cool space with much quieter vibe than Three Notch'd, probably not surprising given the smaller space. Lots of fun games with a shuffleboard table, old school pinball and video games. Fangorn's Draught was easily the best beer I had of the offerings.

Sunday night: Managed to make it to Random Row around 8PM after the place cleared out following the football game and trivia night. Probably my favorite spot of the three breweries we visited with ample bar seating, big tables, and big screen tvs. The Mosaic Pale Ale was my favorite, followed by Keagan Imperial Stout.

From Random, my saint of a wife played DD and drove us to Beer Run to close out the night. What a cool little space that is unlike anything we have in the northeast - combination deli/cafe/restaurant, beer store, and bar. Had my three favorite beers of the weekend in Commonwealth Big Papi (just found out this week they are now distributing to MA), Brothers Resolute BA Stout, and Perennial Abraxas (I've already had BOMB and Founders CBS).

Our flight out of Richmond got delayed on Monday afternoon, so we camped out at Cross Grain Brewhouse and I got to sample Pocahoptas by Center of the Universe and the Devils Backbone Vienna Lager, both of which were okay, not great.

All in all, a good visit to Charlottesville. Thanks again for the advice!

 

Thanks so much for your reviews! Love to hear what non-locals think of C'Ville. I rarely get to breweries after 6-7pm in the evenings but your view of how slow some places were is not surprise. I think UVa was still on break which is why Hardywood was not too busy. Believe they were supposed to come back this past Monday. I hear usually the undergrads and grads that live in the apts above the tap room usually fill the place in at nights.

If you got at Three Notch'd early then it definitely does take them a couple hours to start filling up. it's a huge space but also the only brewery in town outside of South Street, which is much smaller, that opens at 11am.

Mosaic Pale Ale is my favorite IPA of the downtown breweries at the moment so glad you enjoy that. This year's Keagan is also very good with a sneaky abv.

Thanks again for the thorough review. Hopefully it will help others who are coming to the area for the first time.

Cheers!