Making Trip To OBX

Grape & Gourmet, Virginia Beach: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14951/

 

Definitely G&G they will have some nice variety. This should cover your Outer Banks info:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...reweries-or-bottle-shops.161573/#post-2255112

 

Grape and Gourmet is a great store! You'll also likely drive past Let's talk wine, the store owner Ian is really cool and although his selection isn't huge, he has great beers.

OBX has a couple good ones too, Trio and Chips both have beers on tap as well as a good bottle selection.
If you pass through Elizabeth city on your way through, Coasters Downtown draught house always has good beers on tap and Soho organic market is a worthy stop as well.

 

Yeah the people that own/run grape and gourmet are really cool, they hold stuff for you as long as you pick it up by the end of the week. If you're talking about paying for it ahead of time they will probably hold it as long as you want.

 

Just got back from a week in Waves, NC. That's about 40 minutes north of Hatteras. We did make it down there for a day trip on Monday.

Beer pickings are definitely slim in Hatteras, but there is a shop near the ferry terminal that has a decent selection. Two Hearted was fresh and they had a couple of Founders and Terrapin selections. They do have two small keg boxes with 4 beers on draft, but it was too early in the season for those to be running.

We hang out in Waves several times a year and both Good Winds and Watermen's have a decent draft selection (Watermen's only has beers from Carolina Brewery in Chapel Hill) and are great places to watch a sunset. Watermen's has live music most Thursdays-Saturdays.

I would make the stop at Weeping Radish as much for the meat as for the beer. If you like brats, then this is a must. Uli, the owner, runs a butchery here too. Grab brats and dogs to grill later in the week. Get a bottle of the Black Radish and if you like root beer, grab one of theirs. The Bitter Bee is a nice honey IPA, a good beach drinker.

Chips in Moyock and KDH are the best shops for bottles. Trio is nice, too. All of these are stops on the way down, though. Trio and KDH are a good 80 minutes from Hatteras.

Outer Banks Brewing Station is very kid friendly for lunch (with a large playground in the back) and has really nice food and a decent selection of beers. They do growler fills. Full Moon in Manteo also makes some nice English style beers, with the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch (imperial stout) and their Manteo Porter are my two favorites. Growlers are available here, too. Warning - this is a very small place and gets crowded in the summer. Go early or go during off hours. But do check out the actual 9-seat brewery immediately next door to the pub. Yes, nine seats.

Checking your route map, there are some really good beer shops in Richmond that will be worth a stop. Also, Hardywood is an up-and-comer in the Richmond area and will be worth hitting. If you take the route through Charlottesville, then there are some good choices there too. If I had to get one beer from VA now, I'd try for something from Hardywood.

 

Best bet is stopping in Richmond somewhere. Checking Seek-a-brew, I would look for Firestone Walker, Maine Beer, AleWerks, Hardywood, Terrapin. I've heard good things about up-&-comer Lickinghole. I personally like a few of the Devil's Backbone beers.

Some NC specific beers are Foothills, Duck Rabbit, Olde Hickory, NoDa, and Wicked Weed. I doubt you see any at OBX other than Foothills and Duck Rabbit.

http://www.seekabrew.com/distro/compare.html

 

Total Wines are definitely not all the same, even in the same general area. I used to live down that way and the one in Virginia Beach is much better than the one in Norfolk. Unfortunately I never went to the one in Chesapeake.

Union Jack and Double Jack will be easy to find, but you have little chance of seeing a Parabola or Sucuba. Jai Alai should be no problem. I reccomend Red Wheelbarrow or King Titus by Maine Beer, both should be easy to find. La Folie sits on shelves at Total Wine after it comes out, but I'm not sure when that is. I haven't seen any yet this year.

 

The Springfield Total Wine tends to have limited releases for longer, but the Fredericksburg Total Wine is laid out a lot better in the beer section. You can always call ahead when you are coming through or check their inventory online for anything that you want. Also, if you are trying to save time, you can order online and I believe they hold it for up to 14 days.

Check out Alewerks special release stuff if it is out when you are here. Cafe Royale, Bourbon Barrel Porter, and Bitter Valentine are all great.

Firestone Walker special releases and other special release in general (BCS variants, etc) go within a few hours in these parts. Unless your trip is just perfectly timed for delivery day on Parabola (which is a slight possibility in June) you probably won't have a shot. You'd have better luck arranging some in-person trades.

Jai Alai has become easy to get along with Florida Cracker and Hopped on the High Seas.

 

They have Jai Alai at Total Wine in Northern Virginia but I'm not sure what distribution is like in the central/southern part of the state. I would just call the one you plan on going to, they will tell you if they stock it. BCBS is only released in November, you might see it here and there afterwards in large well stocked areas like DC but not at Total Wine and honestly its very unlikely you will see any just stopping places on your drive.

 

No, Northern Virginia refers to the suburbs of DC, Fredericksburg is not part of that.

 

Yeah, Springfield is Northern VA. I've never been to that Total Wine though. What exact route are you taking? If you can make it to the Whole Foods in Fair Lakes (basically a large shopping area in Fairfax), you definitely should. They have Jai Alai almost always and some incredible stuff on tap as well (with growler fills). I can vouch for the Total Wine in Chantilly as well, that's the one I go to.