Smartmouth

Our Belgian Style Saison is slightly peppery and dry, with apple/pear notes. Effervescent and earthy, with a hazy, unfiltered yellow-orange color. Pair it with barbecue, cured meats and smoked sausages. Or sample it with fresh seafood like oysters, striped bass and mussels.

Alter Ego aged in Chardonnay barrels with raspberries

A showcase for one of the hottest hops out there right now; this pale ale uses solely Citra hops. Yes, we jumped on the Citra bandwagon and we love it. With five hop additions, Citra’s unique tropical fruit aroma and refreshing grapefruit and citrus flavor profile come through in a big way. Try Bandwagon and you will see what the rage is all about. Grains: Two-Row Barley, Cara-pils and Crystal 20, Hops: Citra, O.G.: 1.061 IBU’s: 80 ABV: 6.5% SRM: 5.4

Named for a smooth operator who sidetracked our quest for a name (we’d tell you the full story but we might get sued.) The frothy beige head gives off a nutty aroma with some earthy notes from the Columbus and Willamette hops. The flavor profile is slightly sweet and bready. Adding oatmeal to the malt bill gives this brown ale a smooth and rich body. A great transition beer from winter to spring with a 6.3% ABV that packs a little punch. ABV: 6.3% IBU: 42 SRM: 24 OG: 1061

Don’t be deceived. This bubbly brew may seem demure, but it packs a solid punch. We put our own twist on this one, a Belgian-style golden ale, packing it full of Sorachi Ace hops, which lend lemon undertones. You’ll also note pepper and a subtle sweetness as this beer washes over your tongue, finishing dry with a light hop flavor. Bedeviled seems unassuming with it’s pale golden tint and smooth taste. But that belies it’s more devilish side, an ABV of 8.4%. We dubbed this beer Bedeviled in honor of the Neikirk’s pet, Duvel, an ornery trickster of a dog who was named for the overlord of this beer style.

Made from the finest Nicaraguan coffee beans, Belgian yeast and roasted chocolate malts, this stout was brewed in collaboration with local coffee guru and fellow Chelsea resident, Shackleton Coffee. Served cold, this brew has a strong coffee, cocoa and caramel flavor. Let it warm as you drink it and more Belgian yeast qualities and plum notes reveal themselves. Buckle Up goes well with thick-cut peppered bacon, Belgian waffles or most anything else served during brunch.

Named in tribute to the railroads that surround our brewery, Cowcatcher Milk Stout is a surprisingly sessionable beer that is as black as night with a thick, tan head. This beer is brewed with lactose, giving it a substantial smooth body. Munich, black malts and roasted barley lend a roasted coffee-esque flavor profile to balance the sweetness of the lactose and Crystal 60 malt. This offering was brewed as a limited edition beer, with only 10 barrels available. Don’t let anything get in the way of you drinking some Cowcatcher Milk Stout! ABV: 4.8% IBU: 27 SRM: 46

Gearing up for this winter’s galactic movie release, we’ve brewed a Schwarzbier dubbed Dark Helmet. Though it’s as black as evil, its smooth maltiness with a hint of coffee will please even the most righteous. This hard-to-find lagered style is the ideal summer choice for dark beer enthusiasts.

German Style Beer Infused With Lemonade

RVA’s Cary Street Cafe invited us to brew a celebratory beer for their 20th birthday. A hopped-up brown ale resulted. Our shared fixation with the Grateful Dead made the name GDTRFB (Going Down the Road Feeling Brown) a natural choice. Loaded with Centennial, it has that quintessential hop aroma. It’s full of chocolate roastiness, biscuit essence, grapefruit freshness and a touch of spring grass.

Irish jargon is as hearty as its stout. So we dubbed this brew Gandy Dancer, a tribute to the rail laborers that keep our community in motion. With ingredients sourced from the motherland, it’s as authentic as you can get this side of the pond. A thick caramel head crowns a silky black body, full of heavily roasted barley and husky malts. Acidulated malts lend a tinge of tang that cavorts on the tongue. Feel free to have a few, the ABV is only 3.8% and IBU is 41.

Get Off Maibock, our second lager beer, is made with all imported German malts, German yeast, and German hops. We went old school with it and used a special brewing technique called decoction mashing which will achieve a crisp, dry maltiness characteristic of German lagers. It will lager for 60 days!

Hardy, Porter is a dark and delicious creation designed to comfort you through the cold and dreary winter. It is uniquely single-hopped, with three additions of Palisade hops, which give a pleasant smoothness to the beer. Low in bitterness and brewed in the style of a brown porter, this beer boasts a variety of malts (Munich, crystal, chocolate and black patent) which give this beer a complex and rounded mouthfeel with hints of both sweetness and roast. Beyond just bearing his name, the brew was also created by Porter as a pilot batch which was later adapted and refined for the brew house by the head brewer, Greg. ABV: 5.1% IBU: 34 O.G.: 1.048

Hopped with Columbus, Cascade and copious amounts of New Zealand’s Southern Cross hops, this Imperial Red Ale has a crisp, sweet and spicy aroma. On tasting Holiday Helper Ale, the chocolate and caramel malts stand up to the piney taste of the Southern Cross hops to make this beer dangerously clean and smooth. It finishes assertively and the high IBU’s become apparent. We like it better as it warms and think you should enjoy this burnt garnet colored ale on a cold day with friends and family. Let it help you handle the fun and craziness of the season. ABV 7.2%

Chocolate Porter

So named for the lack of family-friendly names that our employees came up with for this beer. As Porter’s 8-year-old son would say, “They were all ‘Inappropriate’.” This straw colored beer is a pre-prohibition style cream ale that uses a solid proportion of flaked corn as was typical of that time period. The corn and six-row barley malt in this recipe gives off a slight bready aroma and keeps the body light and refreshing for a hot July day. To ferment, we used an ale/lager hybrid yeast strain that finishes crisp to quench your thirst. Also, as its clarity reveals, it is one of our few filtered beers. Grains: Six-Row Barley, Flaked Corn Hops: Northern Brewer O.G.: 1.048 IBU’s: 18 ABV: 5.3% SRM: 5.3

Iron Fist is a force to be reckoned with. This big beer boasts loads of heavily roasted malts that rival assertive hops. Delicate hints of chocolate and stone fruit surface behind it’s colossal flavor. Brewed by the British to satiate the Russians’ - and namely, Catherine the Great’s - penchant for formidable beer, the high alcohol content and hops kept this stout fresh for the long transit through the Baltic Sea. While stouts are traditionally paired with oysters, we think this beer also complements lamb stew, ribeye steak, chocolate and a nice cigar.

Our sweetest and tartest offering yet, Lactobacillusaurus, a Berliner Weiss, is a traditional German thirst quencher. This distinctly European brew features a satisfyingly sour taste. It’s unique and authentic make-up comes from the lactobacillus bacteria that we added to the kettle. Served mit schuss, a shot of Himbeer or Waldmeister syrup, sweetness balances tanginess. Enjoy with a bowl of fresh berries or a summer salad doused in lemon-y vinaigrette.

Brewer Jimmy’s brainchild, this offering is based on the English session ales that workers historically enjoyed with their lunch. The low alcohol content would allow them to have several in a session and still return to work. We’ve put an American spin on the session ale by using our own yeast strain and copious amounts of Cascade and Palisade hops. Dry, refreshing and citrusy, this is a great summer beer and the low alcohol means you can have more than one! Malts: Two-Row, Crystal 60L, Carapils Hops: Cascade and Palisade ABV: 4.0% IBU: 40 O.G. 1.040

It wasn’t brains or brawn that drew them together. It was beer. Greg prepped for his encounter with Chuck Silva, Green Flash brewmaster, like any giddy brewer would – he caught a buzz on West Coast IPA and grew a bushy beard. The result of their union was simply divine, an outrageously-hopped saison. A selection of rare hops imparts an array of citrus aromas and flavors, complemented by a hint of white pepper.

Our American Amber is cleaner and more balanced than, say, a typical British Amber, which is usually sweeter. Murphy’s Law is malty, almost “bread-y”, with a slightly roasted bite. It’s a great all-around crowd-pleasing food brew, especially with party grub like chili, pizza or burgers. If you’re a bit more fancy, pair it with a Gruyere cheese.

Notch 9 gets its unusual name from the 8 throttle notch positions on a locomotive, with each one delivering progressively more power. Notch 9 ratchets it higher. It is an unfiltered double IPA with a citrusy aroma from a crazy amount of dry-hops. As it flows over your tongue, you’ll sense grapefruit and pine. It washes down with a dry crisp finish. Incredibly smooth and straw in color, it delivers the goods on strength.

Ours is dry-hopped and unfiltered, with an ever-so-slightly hazy appearance. Its copper color is clean and refreshing. Brewed in the West Coast tradition, it features a big hop nose and a dry, clean yeast with citrus/grapefruit undertones. Try it with spicy food, it’ll ratchet up the heat. We like it with Mexican, Szechuan and Indian cuisine. A classic cheese pairing is with Stilton Blue Cheese. It’s a bold beer that can stand up to bold flavors.

There was some dancing, and then a fall, and then a broken elbow...and so we brewed a low ABV beer, a pilsner. Everything about this beer is delicate. Its faint spicy, herbal aromas; its hint of sweetness; and its gentle breadiness fill your nose and then dance on your tongue in an effervescent spritz. European noble hops keep this glowing straw-colored beer mellow and refreshing. It’s the perfect choice to pair with a lunchtime salad or a dinner of savory smoked salmon or steamed shrimp.

Sommer Fling (formerly Uber) hefe is our traditional German-style hefeweizen that pours cloudy with a straw color and a white, fluffy head. It imparts an aroma with faint bready and spicy notes from the use of wheat and German noble hops; however, the aroma is dominated by cloves with bubblegum. It tastes slightly of bananas balanced with clove phenolics. Overall, this is an effervescent and refreshing beer perfect for enjoying outside as we welcome warm weather.

Special beer made for the release of the Force Awakens.

Intense electrical power courses through the third rail of a train track. Registering 9.2% ABV, our highly charged Third Rail Tripel is aptly named. Up front, you’ll detect tangerine and a hint of clove. It finishes like a dry white wine. About as authentic as you can get this side of the Atlantic, we sourced ingredients from the Old World, even the yeast is a proprietary strain from a Belgian brewery.

As Greg our brewer has made multiple Wit beers, this one was right in his wheelhouse. It is a Belgian wit which is similar to a German wheat beer but spiced with bitter orange peel, sweet orange peel and coriander. For yeast, he used the forbidden fruit Belgian yeast strain; the malt has pilsner, wheat and oats and the hops are 100% northern brewer hops. It is served in our 22oz hefeweizen glasses and it quite refreshing! OG:1.045 ABV:5.1% IBU: 10 SRM:4

“[Spelt] makes the spirit of man light and cheerful,” wrote St. Hildegard, a 12th century mystic, about this old-world grain that inspired our Mispelt Belgian Golden Ale. This brew is likely to have the same effect on you. Notes of black peppercorn and lemon will dance in your nose as you whiff this clear golden ale. It quenches your palate, clean and biscuity, leaving you with a satisfying herbal and sea-air finish. Enjoy with Bros. Fish Tacos, oysters, clams, or a baked mild fish.

über hefe is our traditional German-style hefeweizen that pours cloudy with a straw color and a white, fluffy head. It imparts an aroma with faint bready and spicy notes from the use of wheat and German noble hops; however, the aroma is dominated by cloves with bubblegum. It tastes slightly of bananas balanced with clove phenolics. Overall, this is an effervescent and refreshing beer perfect for enjoying outside as we welcome warm weather. Grains: Wheat (50%), Pilsner and Munich, Hops: German Tettnang OG: 1.055 IBU’s: 12 ABV: 5.8% SRM: 6