Richmond, Va has a vibrant craft beer scene which has helped to make the pandemic more bearable especially given the abundance of warm afternoons. Sone and Legend are big time brewers but I am lumping them all together because they can be part of an enjoyable stroll thru Richmond.
Stone Brewery is the east coast version of their original West coast Brewery. Their beer is brewed with a hop-head in mind as almost all beers are variants of an IPA. One of their more popular beers is the Arrogant Bastard Ale whose bottle reads:
“This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory—maybe something with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made at an independent brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless seltzer / fizzy yellow beer / whatever-the-hell will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multimillion-dollar ad campaigns make all that junk taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this.
We believe that pandering to the lowest common denominator represents the height of tyranny—a virtual form of keeping the consumer barefoot, stupid & led by the nose social media. Brought forth upon an unsuspecting public in 1997, Arrogant Bastard Ale openly challenged the tyrannical overlords who were brazenly attempting to keep the people chained in the shackles of poor taste. One glance around and it’s glaringly obvious: they’re winning…as of now. Yet we will not stop. Ever. Since the very beginning, Arrogant Bastard Ale has reveled in its unprecedented and uncompromising celebration of intensity. There have been many nods to Arrogant Bastard Ale…even outright attempts to copy it…but only one can ever embody the true nature of Liquid Arrogance! Hated By Many. Loved By Few.”
You just have to love that. You can find their beers in store across the US and they are on tap in many places as well. One thing I liked was their carryout beer prices were great – both crowlers and growlers were great bargains for great, fresh beer, some of which can only be found at the brewery.
While enjoying a beer with my sister we conversed with a couple of bikers who pedaled their way from just north of Williamsburg via the Virginia Capital Trail trail. Using this trail I was able to walk to downtown Richmond and cross the James using one of three options – The Mayo bridge, T. Tyler Potterfield Pedestrian Bridge or the Belle Isle footbridge. Since the Mayo Bridge also accommodates vehicles it is the least scenic route, but the other two are very nice although considered part of the James River park system.
It was about an hour walk from Stone to Legend and I thought I’d enjoy one of their “legendary” (do you see what I did there?) Brown ales and the bartender asked if would prefer to have 2. And then she explained that it was time for happy hour when a person could get a 32oz mini picture for $5 instead of paying $6.75 for a pint. Sign me up!
The bar had a few different places available to sit and enjoy a beer. Pictured above is the front patio which received a nice dose of afternoon sun. But they also had a heated enclosed area and another open air sitting area as well.
Their beer is well made and great tasting. As mentioned, they have won awards for their Brown ale and it is a solid offering. I also had their standard IPA called Golden IPA followed by Godfather IPA. Each was pleasant and tasty. The Golden is a year-round offering and I appreciated that it wasn’t juicy/fruity, or cloudy/hazy. Just a great IPA.
I walked back to Stone using the T. Tyler Potterfield Pedestrian Bridge and it was a nice stroll.
Triple Crossing Brewery is around a mile away but I phoned ahead to pickup one of their famous wood-fired white pizza. What a taste treat.
| Their beer offerings are OK but not in the same league as Stone or Legend, but they make up for that with their Pizza and they had a nice venue for performers. Still a nice place to spend some time |
