Here’s the lede of a New York Times piece about beer that was published last weekend:
Epic OneWater Brew looks like your classic hipster craft beer.
Yes, that’s a lede from the paper of record from last weekend, not last decade.
It’s stunning to me that stereotyping craft beer as “hipster” still persists in the year 2023. I wrote about this nearly nine years ago, and in that time, craft beer went from being new and unique to being mainstream to being passé. The thought that craft beer is a “hip” trend is laughable to just about anyone who’s set foot in a brewery taproom in the past half-decade. Maybe I missed the memo that middle-aged men in white New Balances and parents toting around their kids in Baby Bjorns are considered “hipsters” now.
If craft beer was still hipster, we wouldn’t be reading articles writing beer’s obituary or wondering if beer festivals are over or asking if beer is boring now.
Anyway, if trends are cyclical, one day, craft beer will be cool again precisely because it’s not cool. And I’ll be ready for it, in my sensible, comfortable shoes and athleisurewear.
A Brief Richmond Brewery Guide
I went to Richmond, Virginia last weekend for the first time in a few years, and it was a good reminder that the beer scene there is often overlooked. The beer festival I attended was hosted by The Veil, which I’ll obviously mention here, but the city is well-served by a whole bunch of other noteworthy breweries. So, here’s a few worth checking out.
For more Brief Brewery Guides, you can see what I’ve done for London, Denver, Portland, Maine, and Seattle.
The Hazy Darling: The Veil Brewing Co.
It’s no surprise that The Veil’s festival was well-attended by haze-freaks queuing up for Trillium, Fidens, and Monkish. Those types of beers are how The Veil’s bread is buttered. Hazy IPAs, pastry stouts, fruited sours, and the occasional lager or mixed-ferm beer is what you’ll find on tap in their sprawling new space in Scott’s Addition that opened in April. Add some of their delicious yakitori to the visit and you’ll be a very happy haze bro.
The Gold Standard: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
Of the new school breweries in Richmond, Hardywood is by far the most well-established. Dating back to 2011, the brewery is probably best known these days for their gingerbread stouts that come out during the holidays, but their core lineup of beers can’t be overlooked, especially their Richmond Lager, the top-selling craft lager in Virginia. Their gorgeous outdoor space and on-site pizza are just icing on the cake.
The One with the Euro bent: Väsen Brewing Company
A Norse-themed brewery making Belgian, French, German, and Czech-style beers? It’s like a sampling of Europe tucked into Richmond. Vasen makes delicious lagers, outstanding farmhouse-style beers, and a generous helping of IPAs for the hop heads among us. Their spacious and friendly taproom doubles as a community hub, with a long list of weekly and one-off events (there was a charcuterie tasting when I visited last Sunday).
The Other Hazy Darling: Triple Crossing Brewing
On a visit to Richmond in 2017, locals were insistent that Triple Crossing was the hidden gem of the city’s beer scene. That’s not the case anymore, because they’ve gotten plenty more attention and wider distribution. Falcon Smash, their flagship hazy IPA, is still an absolute delight fresh off the tap these days, and their long list of IPAs can keep you plenty busy, but don’t sleep on their bottle-only farmhouse saisons, too.
The Can’t-Miss Food-and-Beer Destination: The Answer Brewpub
It started as a strip-mall Vietnamese restaurant that was known for pouring good beer back in the days when Richmond had all of one brewery. Now, it’s brewing some acclaimed beer of its own. The incredibly unassuming sit-down Mekong restaurant faces Broad Street, and darker, more rowdy brewpub is tucked in the back of the same building — essentially, a mullet of good food and beer. No visit to Richmond is complete without a stop here.
The Sour Specialist: Strangeways Brewing
Do you like Berliner Weisses? How about, like, a thousand of them? Okay, that’s a small exaggeration, but Strangeway’s 36 (!) taps at both their Richmond taprooms are dominated by the style, though they make plenty of other beers you might enjoy, like their Albino Monkey, a Belgian-style Wit, a staple at the brewery for their entire decade in business. Their original taproom on Dabney Road is worth a visit for the bric-a-brac alone.
Honorable Mentions: Half of the above breweries are in just one neighborhood: Scott’s Addition. There, you can also find Bingo Beer Co, a new sprawling arcade bar and brewery, outposts of larger rural breweries Starr Hill and Three Notch’d, and other Richmond mainstays Ardent and Isley if you’re looking to make a day out of one beer neighborhood. I’m a sucker for a hombrew shop-turned-brewery, and Final Gravity has fit that bill since 2015. Richbrau Brewing, a revival of a heritage brand in Richmond, impressed me on my first visit last weekend. And yes, there’s a big, corporate brewery in town that’s conveniently near the airport, if you’re worthy.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 3,134
Total breweries visited in 2023: 239
Total breweries visited in New York: 275
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #3128, Simple Motive Brewing Co., Yonkers, New York (Visited 20-Jul-2023)
It took me about six weeks too long to finally visit Westchester County’s newest brewery. During those six weeks, I heard beer drinkers from the city rave about their visits to Simple Motive, which is about an hour from Grand Central when you factor in an uphill walk, bus ride, or Uber from Metro-North. Those raves didn’t surprise me — brewer Kevin Glessing’s resume includes several spots in Maine, including Maine Beer Co. And Andy Galagarza, who was more than gracious a host on my visit, spent time hawking beer for Other Half.
Simple Motive was a long time coming. The brewery applied for their license more than four years ago, and an article in 2019 teased their opening with the founders posing in front of the then under-redevelopment Alexander Smith Carpet Mills they now call home. A Spring 2020 opening was teased, and then Covid happened. Their motive may have been simple, but getting a brewery built in tumultuous times turned out to be anything but simple. But good things come to those who wait, and by my judgment, it was worth the wait.
The beers are mature well beyond the six weeks they’ve been open. My favorites last week were the Nepperhan IPA, a clean hoppy brew bursting with tropical fruit, and the Mill Water, a roasty traditional Porter with chocolate notes that Galagarza says they’re striving to produce year-round. I’m all for that.
Simple Motive is open Wednesday through Sunday, with trivia night on Wednesdays and visiting food vendors throughout the weekend.
The Weekly Reader
What happened to NYC’s to-go drinks? [Tim Donnelly, NY Groove]
A long, meandering, fascinating history of Steam Beer [Martyn Cornell, Zythophile]
Hop farms can make for great solar farms [Matthias Schrader and Dana Beltaji, AP]
Modelo was on track to be the nation’s best-selling beer even before bigots boycotted Bud Light [J. Edward Moreno, NYT]
This read about “Stone Fermentation” is not about the brewers of Arrogant Bastard [Jerard Fagerberg, Good Beer Hunting]
One More Thing
As I celebrate a new beer spot opening in Westchester, there’s a noteworthy closing, too: Beer Noggin, a Bronxville craft beer staple for the past eight years, announced they will close at the end of this weekend. The bar and bottle shop was always a reliable source for new releases, specialty beers, and the occasional beer event, and will be missed. Their last day of service is next Monday, July 31st.
Cheers,
Chris
Chris, I was bummed when I read about Beer Noggins closing. I would always drive the 15-20 min from Mamaroneck to get a few crowlers and 4-packs of hard to find beer. It was a gem, but I guess another victim to the brewery taprooms?
Chris, Chris St Mary here in the Buffalo area. I'm planning the Buffalo Beer Geeks Beerweek in September. Please contact me. It's something you might be interested in. saint3863@gmail.com