Williamsburg, Va. Suggestions...

You shouldn't have any problems finding Hardywood . It's even in grocery stores down here in Va. Beach . Also check out Alewerks Brewing and the Wine Seller .

 

Hair Of The Dog Bottle shop is awesome and so is the place next door, Dog Street Pub. Also, visit Alewerks Brewing, Big Ugly Brewing and the BVirginia Beer Company abeer with a craft beernd if you get a chance to go across the "pond" to Norfolk, go see O'Conner Brewing, Smartmouth Brewing and check out "The Birch" in Norfolk. If you wanna drink a beer, send ma a message and come by the house, like to drink a beer with a craft beer lover.....

 

Echo what others mentioned above. AleWerks is very good. They are located right across the Street from the Outlets. Hair of the DoG is probably the best bottle shop in the area and their sister business next door, DoG Street Pub has really good food. I have not been to The Virginia Beer Company yet but have heard very good things. Oceans & Ales is also a pretty good restaurant on the far end of the outlets that typically has a really good tap selection. Enjoy the trip to VA!

 

If you're there for that long, definitely consider making the trip up to Richmond. It's an easy hour drive away on 64, and you can hit up a number of great breweries (Veil, Hardywood) and exceptional brewpubs like Mekong/TheAnswer.

I would echo everything above, as well. HotD is my favorite bottle shop in the area (they have free tastings on Fridays, as well), followed closely by The Wine Seller. Dog St has a great tap list and good food, too (they just put on Hammerhead Speedway Stout, actually). If you're looking for another option nearby, the Cheese Shop in Merchant's Square has an underrated little bottle shop in its basement. Not too many people know about it, and therefore they hold onto marquee bottles for much longer. Alewerks is the best brewery in the area, beer-wise. Virginia Beer Co just opened up -- great atmosphere there and can make for a good afternoon, but the beer is a little... lackluster.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend driving southeast for beer options -- you have to go all the way to Norolk for the Birch (which is great) for a decent bar or to Virginia Beach for Reaver for brewery options. Good luck, and feel free to PM me as well for any specific questions, as I'm close by. Cheers.

 

I agree with most of what's here for sure.

I don't know if you're planning to hit Busch Gardens but one thing I haven't seen mentioned anywhere for this area in any of these forums - Busch Gardens added a 30 tap craft beer bar to the Festhaus. It's mostly Virginia brew (some stuff that doesn't see bottles/cans too). They did seem to be very much in line with the season - lighter spring/summer offerings, but still. World class amusement park now has a legit local craft beer bar option.

If you're looking for beer with a movie - the Movie Tavern just added a pretty legit bar and serve local craft offerings from places like Alewerks and Hardywood.

Hardywood stuff is very easy to find but you won't find many marquis things around - their Bourbon Barrel Barleywine is on shelves even at grocery stores but you won't see Gingerbread Stout or things like that this time of year if that's what you mean.

My 2 cents on some of the others:

Alewerks, if you haven't had their beer in the past year or so it's time to try again. They've gone unfiltered and things like their standard Drake Tail IPA are vastly improved now as a result (though I'm not a fan of the Superb IPA they just dropped). Droste Effect (imperial chocolate stout) is around and very nice. Also just saw Secret Admirer is back June 4th - score!

Va Beer Co has the much better place to hang out (bigger, nicer beer garden) - I feel like their beers are beyond solid but are a bit more up the middle. They go for balance and do a great job of that but I get the impression they want to have a broad appeal with a lot of the beers - still you can't say they aren't well made. They'll always rotate a saison and should have some single hop and other limited release on tap. Their Imperial Red was world class.

Hair of the Dog bottle shop has the biggest bottle selection and a whole wall of VA beers. Counter pressure growler station (love that) and will do crowlers of anything on those 8 taps. Check bottle/can dates though - one complaint I have for them is not much fridge space and a lot of beers linger on the shelves. The Wine Seller is much better for this.

If there's something in particular you're looking for, call ahead today and see if they'll special order it for you. If they can get it, either shop will gladly do that for you if they don't have it.

Dog St Pub is definitely worth checking out - they update their taps online which helps. They're on the expensive side - wouldn't be surprised if that's $10 for an 8oz pour of Hammerhead or Enlightened Despot, but you also won't find those around here anywhere else. If you plan to eat there, make reservations.

Feel free to PM with questions if anything more specific. Hope you have a good visit. Cheers!

Big Ugly is in Chesapeake - maybe you meant Brass Cannon? I believe they're still closed for the relocation and haven't opened at the new location yet though. I agree on the rest.

This. I'd drive northwest to Richmond for their options before I'd consider driving southeast to Hampton Roads - it's on your way in and out of town. I used to live on the other side of the water and if you're in Wmbg - RVA makes far more sense, especially since you'll avoid beach/tunnel traffic on a holiday weekend. You'll be able to find plenty of options from those brewers (Reaver, O'Connor, Smartmouth, Young Vets etc.) at Hair of the Dog.

 

Secret Admirer on June 4th?? May have to make a trip!

 

Thought better to revive an older thread than start over...

Can I get Veil anywhere in Williamsburg? Or only in RVA? I'll be passing thru early Monday (closed), and heading home to Philly early Wednesday (closed). Not sure if i'll make it up there Tuesday during open hours and have heard such great things...

 

No cans and unless Dog Street or somewhere just happens to get a keg you will not see any Veil in W-burg.
For example a local burger spot (Norfolk) just posted today they have a keg of Master Shredder and 2 weeks back I had a few drafts at a VA Beach restaurant so it happens, but it is sparse.

 

Which burger spot is that? Thx

 

80/20

 

Seems that the Hampton Roads Area gets quite a bit of Veil distro outside of RVA when that happens. Field Guide in Norfolk also just posted on social media they have tapped Master Shredder too.

 

Yeah Esoteric in VB has had Veil kegs on multiple occasions as a few others have popped up randomly.

 

Thanks guys, maybe I'll try to setup some trades or something. Appreciate the responses.