It’s American Craft Beer Week!

The only week each year that you can celebrate with an abundance of incredible American craft beer–wait, just kidding, I do that every week.

May 15, 2013; 10:12 AM • by Ross Catrow

Did you know that it’s American Craft Beer Week? A week that the left coast of America has been enthusiastically celebrating for decades,¹ Craft Beer Week brings tons of events, tap takeovers, festivals, and more to RVA. This week the beer flows like wine, with an absolute ton of events for the beer lover. Here’s just a sampling of what’s in store for you!

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Hardywood Cream Ale (in cans!)

You know what’s bad for beer? Light. And you know what sucks at keeping light out of beer? Glass. Cans are good for beer, and Hardywood is getting in on the metal revolution by debuting a cream ale–their first canned beer. Unfiltered and easy drinking (only 4.4% ABV), you’ll find me with one in hand until Labor Day.

Welcome to RVA, Parkway brewing

Parkway Brewing, located down in Salem, Virginia,² is launching a couple of their beers in the Richmond market this week. Their Get Bent Mountain IPA is billed as Virginia’s tastiest IPA–which definitely calls for an afternoon of comparing and contrasting at your local pub. Check their website for a list of RVA locations.

Center of the Universe Homefront IPA

On May 23rd, Center of the Universe Brewing Company will release their Homefront IPA–a collaboration brew that benefits Hops for Heroes. Two really awesome things you need to know about Homefront IPA:

1. The beer is aged on Louisville Slugger bats! How cool is that?! Chris Ray, one of the founders of COTU, used to play ball for the Mariners and brought some of his je ne base ball to the recipe. Read the full origination story here.
2. Homefront will be simultaneously brewed and distributed by nine breweries, including 21st Amendment, Left Hand, and Stone. Kind of a big deal.

Tap takeovers!

What would happen if your favorite brewery came into your favorite bar and dominated the tap selection? Find out this week at a bunch of different places! Here are three worth your time:

• Devil’s Backbone; Can Can; May 15th — They make the world’s best Vienna lager, and it only costs like $8 for a six pack. Try some of their other brews, you won’t be sorry.
• Goose Island; Fat Dragon; May 16th — Goose Island! No longer just for Chicagoans! Fat Dragon debuts the Goose Island Sofie Paradisi, and they’ll also have a bunch of beers on tap from the brewery’s Vintage Ale line. Matilda is one of my faves, so don’t miss it.
• Center of the Universe; Mekong; May 17th — Featuring Oakey Pokey, Oak Aged Crazy bet, and Crazy Oakey Pokey, this mini takeover isn’t called an Oak Battle for nothin’. I’m not sure what’s going on with those beers, but something tells me you should probably bring a designated driver.

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There’s about a billion more beer-related events going on this week, and I’d encourage you to check out the beer-soaked web page of the RVA Beermeister for more details.

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May 15, 2013 10:12 AM 2