Hello, I am living in Virginia for the month of July. Im looking to find out some good local beers worth trying while I'm here. There are not many "high ranked" breweries that I have found near me according to Beer Advocates ratings. I don't really care if they are high ranked, a lot of smaller breweries have beers that are hidden gems and worth trying. Please let me know of bottle shops/places to check out while I'm here! Thanks.
There are many threads on this, search for virginia, virginia beach, and maybe richmond. Not replying like this to be snarky, you'll just get better info that way. Recent good threads have been "what's your favorite VA brewery?" and there was one about VA beach as well. Welcome to VA!
Look around for Hardywood Park, Lickinghole Creek, Strangeways, Ardent, and AleWerks. Also you may be able to find Devil's Backbone, Blue Mountain and Parkway--not breweries from the area but they are Virginia homegrown and something you've probably never had.
VA Beach: Reaver Beach (oldest), Young Veterans (literally around the corner from Reaver Beach), and Back Bay down by the oceanfront. Close by in Chesapeake: Big Ugly Close by in Norfolk: O'Connor and Smartmouth If you're adventurous and you're willing to go through the tunnel to the upper peninsula, there's St. Georges in Hampton and Williamsburg Aleworks in Williamsburg. There's also Wharf Hill in Suffolk, which is new and up-and-coming.
Wharf Hill's in downtown Smithfield, and I don't believe they have their own beer on tap yet, but they do have a decent taplist and good food nonetheless.
Stuff in your area ... (some in planning) http://www.vabeertrail.net/directory/categories/hampton-roads-breweries Directory Home. Broken down by regions ... http://www.vabeertrail.net/directory/ Fans OF VA Brewery Page on Fbook .... in case you got questions https://www.facebook.com/groups/FansofVACB/?ref=br_tf
Yes to this. Though I'd say skip St. Georges and just head up to Alewerks in Wmbg. Maybe do it early on a weekend and hit up somewhere like Dog St. Pub while you're there. A MUST if you're in VB for a month, head over to Birch in Norfolk. It's a top beer bar in VA on RateBeer.
If you get up to Richmond, hit The Answer Brewpub. They are doing some quite tasty things there. Plus, you can head next door to Mekong, which has been a #1 rated beer bar for a couple years. Lots of Belgian stuff on tap that you may not find anywhere else. I also need to second what a few others on here have said and go with Hardywood and Strangeways. Properly done, you can start at Hardywood and take "backroads" to Strangeways and The Answer / Mekong.
As others have said, consider a trip to Richmond, it definitely has the best beer scene in VA right now. The Answer/Mekong, Hardywood, Ardent, Strangeways, and Lickinghole Creek are great destinations, and there are lots of other places around town with good taps.
