Photo by Jason Lefton
Red alert! There’s a craft beer scavenger hunt going on this weekend in Jackson Ward, and some mighty fine — and hard-to-find — kegs will be tapped. It’s a celebration of Trinkin’s second anniversary, and beer aficionados Saison Market, laser studio Big Secret, creativity hub Gallery5 and fundraising wizards Screens ‘n’ Suds will be getting the party started right. And quickly. And for a great cause: All proceeds benefit the Virginia chapter of the National MS Society and nonprofit Gallery5. Mark off all of Saturday evening on your calendar, because this party runs from 5:30 to 10 p.m.
If you’re not familiar with Trinkin, it’s a Richmond-born site that connects beer lovers with their beloved. Saison/Saison Market co-owner Jay Bayer explains, “It's a great consumer-centric site that allows restaurants and bottle shops to communicate with craft beer consumers in an increasingly difficult market to navigate. Saison and Saison Market carry a lot eccentric and niche beers; Trinkin makes it much easier for us make that information available to motivated consumers.” Arguably the best part of the Trinkin site is its “eBarmony” filter, which matches you up with the beer of your dreams based on important questions like, “Steve Perry or Katy Perry?”
Event partners Gallery5, Big Secret and Saison Market will be pouring various special beers at each location, starting at 5:30 p.m., with a tap list that includes Hardywood Park's The Great Return with Pineapple, Champion Brewing Co.'s Megalodon Imperial Coffee Porter, Three Brothers Brewing's 2nd Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Barley Wine, Heavy Seas' Golden Ale cask with Sorachi Ace Hops and Lemon Peel, Strangeways Brewing's Martian Spring, Black Heath Meadery‘s The Muse traditional honey mead, and Ardent Craft Ales' Double IPA. One of Big Secret's laser-made tokens for a suggested $5 gets you a pour from a mystery pin at its studio and a spot on the reserve list for Hardywood’s last bottles of Sixtel, which the brewery made for Screens ‘n’ Suds.
You can also get your art fix at the party: Screens ‘n’ Suds will be selling prints, and Big Secret plans to auction off a laser-engraved birchwood poster by artist Matt Leunig. (Full disclosure: My husband, Jason Lefton, owns Big Secret.) DJs Reinhold and Tom Ace will be leaning into it at Gallery5 until 10 p.m., at which point there promises to be a mad rush to Saison Market for the after party (and ANOTHER special taplist consisting of Champion Brewing's Face Eater Gose and Ardent Craft Ales' Bourbon Barrel Dark Rye).
TL;DR — It’s 10 excellent beers at three superbly fun locations over the course of five hours. You do the math — and then get yourself a cab. No worries; all the cab companies are also featured on Trinkin. Cheers!
