The Answer Brewpub - Richmond, Va (2019)

**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: ANNIVERSARY POP-UP SHOPS**

WHEN: Saturday September 21st 10AM-12PM
WHERE: In front of the Garage Door (Right Side of Patio)

We invited a few Local Brands to come share their craft with us. Come by to say hello and buy some cool limited items while they last.

VENDORS:
• IAMCMBryant
• 8-BIT ADAM
• CLEAR NERO
• MKMA
• HopWorks RVA

NOTE: CASH / VENMO / PAYPAL PAYMENTS PREFERRED.

 

Saturday is definitely going to be very busy. The are releasing one of the most sought after glasses of the week (princess/yoshi) along with a release of a canned stout (it's not often they release stouts in 16oz cans) and probably the most scratchers given out on this day. People will probably start to line up well before the sun comes up. If you minimally care about scratchers, glasses and the cans then coming later in the day after the initial rush dies down would be best. Depending on how counts there could be glasses and stout cans later in the day but we won't know for sure until limits / counts are known. But it will probably be pretty slammed all day.

Sunday will be less busy than Saturday most likely but still going to be busier than normal with out-of-towners wanting to get their JOOSE Crowlers since those should be available to go alogn with another beer / glass release. Again, stopping by later in the afternoon if possible would be your best bet but if you want to snag some JOOSE to take back with you then you're going to have to probably get there before opening. They often kick Joose mid/late afternoon but with it being anniversary week and more people in town I wouldn't be surprised it those kicked a couple hours after opening if they even last that long.

I'm sure you've been researching stops on your visit but I would recommend Triple Crossing (Fulton location), Final Gravity, Veil and Basic City if you are looking for other suggestions.

 

Wednesday/Anniversary Day 3 (9/18)

- What Do You Mean You're Out of Joose?! We will be slinging Crowlers of our new 9%abv milkshake DIPA Collab w/ Imprint Beer. This lactose DIPA is brimming with fresh mango, passion fruit, and Papua New Guinea Vanilla.
$13.50 / Crowler. Limit 2 Crowlers per person

- Blanka glass!
$20/ glass, limit 6 per person

___________________________________________________________
A few observations from afar this week...

After yesterday's release selling out in just over 2 hours, 6pp is much too high of a limit for glassware. What single person even needs that many glasses unless you are grabbing some for friends that cannot make it or you plan to flip them for $$/other glasses. I get that The Answer does not want to carry over glasses from day to day wanting them to sell all on the day they are release but at least make them last most of the evening for those that may be showing up later (p.s. I doubt I will be able to make it to any of this week's releases so this comment is not for personal reasons). If anything, lower limits and allow people to curcle back through the line if the crowds do due down over the course of the evening. After seeing the boxes yesterday for the glasses and they happened to come 6 per box I also figure this limit is much easier to manage for staff so they are not continuously pulling glasses from boxes and handing them out. My point is if anyone shows up on a single day they should have a good shot at leaving with the releases for that day. Not just those who sat in line (or left their chairs out) or showed up shortly after opening.

This one will be a little more controversial but at least the first two release days I find it hard to believe most of the winners of the Gold Mega Man, so far, are completely at random. Sure, the recipient of the glass is truly shocked when they scratch off the gold mega symbol but I gotta believe the staff member who gave them that ticket knew exactly what it was. And I'm not saying anything is wrong with that. 3 of the 4 winners from the posts on Q&A are regulars/locals who are the most active in the social media groups, most giving to the community and generally most passionate Answer fans. If anyone is most deserving they most definitely are but when others close to The Answer say "no, it's really luck." I gotta roll my eyes. I'm sure they just wanted to make sure the most dedicated are rewarded earlier in the week and then hopefully it will be truly more "randomized" later on. My favorite really was the guy on the first day at the front of the line who made his first trip to hang out with a buddy, has little interest in glassware and ended up giving it to his buddy who is a big fan.

For those coming into town the rest of the week don't be surprised by empty chairs holding spots in line if you happen to see them. I didn't think that was done at The Answer but apparently groups of people, some regulars, make their way to Mekong for lunch / shares / etc while waiting for The Answer to open and it's accepted that a chair does in fact hold your spot in line. At least very few posts Ive seen have people complaining about it.



@MistaRyte To answer your question, and I don't know for certain, but I don't think the folks at Nintendo really do pursue people who may be using their character likenesses. They don't seem to be as C&D happy as some large corporations. And in the grand scheme of things, BND glasses may seem like a pretty big deal to us but to them it's just small drop that does not show up on their radar.

 

if you are just wanting to try some beers that should not be a problem. You may have a little wait but there is a separate line for the can/crowler/glass release so if you are not interested in that and happen to see a line of people outside when you arrive don't be worried. Just walk past them and you can go straight inside. You have to find a hostess if you want to be seated at a table so that could be a wait but if you want to just go up to the front bar and order drinks you can do that. Still going to be pretty busy and finding a seat at the bar may be tough but they do have a standing area directly in front of the bar with long flattop you can lean against and place your drinks. Probably still going to have a wait as barstaff serves others there but not nearly as long as standing in line for the releases or table service.

If you are on Untappd be sure to check that as they update their taplist on there and it has been updated usually about an hour before opening each day so far this week. This will help you save some time not seeing the menu for the first time when you get up there. You will notice an "Answer Beers" menu as well as "Guest Taps' menu.

 

It's a scratch off ticket. One of the things people are standing in line for. The first couple days they have handed out 50 tickets/day. Probably going to stay that same amount the rest of the week with possibly higher counts given out on the weekend. Every person who gets one will win something. Either a house glass, mystery box (some random glass I think), Gold Mega Man glass, $500 cash or $1,000 cash.

 

Just after 11am update (still 5 hours til open) according to recent Q&A post line has already curled by the entrance to the parking lot on Crestwood and reached the sidewalk going towards Broad St.

 

**LINE LIFE COSTUME CONTEST**
- It’s been a fun week so far. Let’s make it more fun on SATURDAY with something AWESOME.
- We will be hosting a costume contest for best costume in line on Saturday.
- Judging will occur from 8AM - 11:45AM on Saturday
- Winner will be announced here (Q&A Group) Saturday Evening.
- There will be a BND x The Answer Mystery Box for 1st / 2nd / 3rd place.
- Get crazy. Have fun. But stay hydrated!

BONUS POINTS IF YOUR COSTUME RELATES TO THIS WEEKS GLASSWARE!!!

NOTE: Please keep costumes family friendly as there will be kids around"

 

Glasses (Blanka) sold out just after 5:30 today per post. 30mins faster than yesterday at the same limits and probably similar total count.

Tomorrow’s limit is
- 4pp on Answer Anniversary Thrasher Tilt Glass ($20)
- 2pp On Bill Better Have My Honey Crowlers ($14)

Noon opening

 

7:15am line update. Already crossed the lot and curling around the side towards the sidewalk according to most recent Q&A post. If it's 50 scratch offs given out again today that's probably pretty close to being all claimed.


CORRECTION ON LIMITS I POSTED YESTERDAY. Must have read wrong yesterday.
It's 4pp on Crowlers NOT 2 as well as 4pp on the glass.

 

Friday / Anniversary Day 5: 9/20/2019 @ Noon

- Dope AF : our newest Session IPA. This crushable can of chronic features a DDH of Cascade, Columbus, and Cryo Simcoe. 16oz cans
- King Hippo Glass - This thing is BIG! $20 per glass, limit 6 per person
- 150 scratch tickets.

 

Have never flown with Joose but I don't see nearly as many posts about explosions like I there used to be a couple years ago. Seems they may have gotten that under control better. I guess it's really how long your flight(s) back home are. if it's just a few hours then you're probably safe.

An icepack is always a good idea and when I do travel with beers I always wrape in a few layers of bubble wrap, tap and then role & wrap in 2-3 freezer bags just in case something does bursts hopefully the other bags contain it. Then I'll place the beers in a couple trash bags to keep clothes, etc (hopefully) clean if something were to happen.

 

Just after 7am line update, Friday. Line curled through the parking lot heading down sidewalk on Crestwood towards broad. Almost turning to go in front of the building toward Mekong. Est. 75 - 80 people.