Richmond, VA for the evening

Yes, they do serve it with white bread.

 

Just looking at the menu on their website, I was under the impression that one was only able to buy in 1 pound increments, which confused me. I went on a pretty epic road trip last month and hit up a ton of BBQ places (Sugarfire, Pappy's Smokehouse, Bogart's Smokehouse in St. Louis, Martin's in Nashville, Feast in Louisville) and every place sold by weight but also offered meat platters that let you chose a number of different meats and sides for fixed prices. I feel better knowing that you can buy in smaller portions which makes it easier to mix and match.

 

@jeevo If you are interested in another cider spot in the area Courthouse Creek just announced the grand opening of their location in Scott's Addition happening the weekend of June 30th. Right around the corner from Veil and Blue Bee at 3300 W. Broad St. Their main cidery is located a little west of Richmond. The Scott's Addition location is just a tasting room right now. They are not planning to brew cider there at this point.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I added it to my list. Hopefully I can diversify my drinking habits here and check out some of these spots, but that might be easier said than done with all of the beers pouring at The Answer, Mekong, Triple Crossing, and The Veil, haha.

 

Never tried mead but there's a meadery in Scott's Addition called Black Heath Meadery as well. Something else to diversify with.

 

Yup. @ncaudle mentioned it earlier in the thread. I had my first mead ever two years ago down at Garagiste in Florida, and it pretty much blew my mind in a way that no single beer ever has. Since then, I've always tried to keep an eye out for meaderies when I'm visiting other places, and Black Heath will be a definite visit for me.

 

A few questions in addition to the ones that have been posted:

What are the best brewery/beer bars to go to for a lively/fun atmosphere at night? Places where there is good beer, but the focus isn't on sitting down and checking in on untappd, the focus is on having a good time with other people?

What are the best cheap eat options in the Scott's Addition area? Under $10, let's say. Food trucks maybe the way to go?

Does Stone Richmond just suck? Is the tour worth doing?

Are there any breweries that offer good tours/experiences?

Thanks, cheers.

 

I don't spend too many late afternoons / evenings in RVA since I'm not local but the few times I have been around in the evenings I almost always stop by The Answer and it's always been quite lively. Lots of conversations going on. Not just sitting at a table knocking off ticks. If it's late enough in the evening there's oftentimes shares going on at the back bar.

Never been myself but Circuit Arcade Bar looks pretty awesome. They have a bunch of arcade / pinball games and about 50 beers on top. I believe it's a pour yourself pay-by-the-ounce set up. The usually have a few Veil and Answer beers on. Verified Venue on Untappd so you can see their taplist there.

 

Great question (about the brewery/bar), Vasen Brewing in Scott’s Addition is a fun place to hang out, especially when the weather is nice, lots of beer-casuals go to hang out on the patio. The Answer has a better vibe than most breweries/beer-nerd bars, Hardywood can be good too but that’s more of an afternoon-on-a-nice-day thing. I like the vibe in Canon and Draw a lot too, but I admit I haven’t ever been at night. Honestly most of the breweries and beer bars kind of die off at night, but most of Richmond’s “regular” bars and restaurants have good beer on tap from local breweries, so you don’t necessarily have to go to a beer-focused place to have a good beer. Don’t Look Back (Triple) on Broad Street near Scott’s Addition is fun if you like pool, and don’t miss Biscuit and Tang for some shuffleboard, the atmosphere there is awesome.

As far as good cheap eats in Scott’s Addition, Stella’s Grocery (right next to Vasen) is the place to go. There are usually a few food trucks outside of the breweries too.

I have never been to Stone so I can’t comment on that. I’m not aware of any breweries that do tours either. All-in-all I would say that with the exception of The Veil, most of our frequently-mentioned breweries are good to hang out at and not too nose-in-glass, face-in-phone. Some people really like hanging out at The Veil too, but I personally can’t stand the vibe there, its extremely uncomfortable in my opinion. All the people that work there are very nice though.

 

This.

Last weekend I did a RVA Brewery Tour: Final Gravity, Veil, Vasen, in that order.

Place wise, I would rate them FG, Vasen, Veil
Beer wise, I would put FG and Veil in a tie, followed by Vasen

What contributes to Veil being 3rd place wise is it looks cramped compared to both Vasen and Final Gravity. Veil does have a bit of outside space though - not the case with Final Gravity. Vasen has their outside deck, which is where I enjoyed their BA grapefruit tripel.

Final Gravity, to me, seems to be VERY underappreciated. Triple Crossing gets a "sticky" post, Veil gets a "sticky" post...

 

I agree about Final Gravity, I jut moved withing walking distance and they’re starting to challenge Triple Crossing as my favorite local brewery. They seem focused on making very drinkable beers, which is something I think a lot of other breweries overlook. For most of their beers I’ll take a sip and as soon as my glass hits the table I immediately want another sip. Its easy to see how they get overlooked though, basically no off-premises draft (with a few exceptions), no cans/bottles, and they don’t pander to the middle-school sleepover crowd with candy stouts and fruit beer cocktails.

 

Heading down this weekend- arriving the 15th and leaving early the next day, to pickup my GBS allotment. I'll have my wife and 8 month old with me so I'm trying to break up the day with some non-brewery activities. We're coming from Baltimore so my plan is to head right to West Creek when Hardywood opens at 1:00pm then head to Carytown for some shopping followed by ZZQ and Veil. We also have tickets to the GardenFest of Lights (anyone ever been? We're trying to get there at dusk), which looks like it's close to The Answer and Final Gravity. Gotta be at the Hyatt Place Richmond/Innsbrook by 7:30 to put the little guy to bed.

Can anyone recommend a family friendly spot near the last few places that we can grab a quick meal after the light show? Thanks a lot to previous contributors for the great suggestions.