Center of the Universe Brewing Co. Retired Orioles pitcher Chris Ray says baseball prepped him for opening a brewery. "You get thick skin when playing a professional sport," says Ray. "There's constant scrutiny. [I know that] not everyone is going to like every single one of our beers." Ashland's Center of the Universe Brewing Co. (COTU) opened seven years after Ray began home brewing with his brother. "I never got serious about beer until I was traded to the West Coast in 2010," he says. "The amount of breweries was amazing, and my arm was starting to hurt a little bit." His brewery produces two hop-forward beers, Ray Ray's Pale Ale and Pocahoptas IPA. Main St. Virginia Ale is a bready brew, and COTU's newest beer, El Duderino, is described as a "White Russian" milk stout (a milk stout is a sweet stout that's fermented with lactose) and is made from eight different types of grain, with whole vanilla beans added in the secondary fermentation. —GS
Local Beer Package
Extra Billy's Smokehouse and Brewery Midlothian's Extra Billy's Smokehouse and Brewery opened in 2000, making it the second-oldest microbrewery in the area. After 13 years, the then-struggling brewery replaced its head brewer with home brewer Brandon Tolbert. Six months later, Tolbert won a gold medal in the 2013 Virginia Craft Brewers Cup, for Citra Ass Down IPA, and a silver medal for Midlo American Ale. Tolbert currently brews three beers, Citra Ass Down IPA, Midlo Pale Ale and Proverbial Porter. In the hopper are two new unnamed beers, a stout and a Belgian pale ale. Unfortunately, there's limited distribution of the beer outside of filling a growler-to-go. Tolbert says his biggest challenge has been building business. "When I arrived, the beers were not good. One beer, Flanders Dark, was a porter that got contaminated, so (the ex-brewer) made it a sour beer. I've had people that love it ask me when I'm going to make that beer again." —GS Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Darling of RVA's burgeoning craft-brew movement, Hardywood already boasts a 100-point score from Beer Advocate for a bangin' Gingerbread Stout (with local ginger from Casselmonte Farm) that was also the overall winner of our blind taste-testing. Hardywood's current capacity is 5,000 barrels. "We're almost there, so we have more tanks on order," says co-founder Patrick Murtaugh. Now beers are only available in Richmond, but expanding sales, especially to Northern Virginia, is part of Murtaugh's six-month plan. "We just installed a much bigger bottling line, and we [debuted] 12-ounce bottles in October." Singel has been Hardywood's sole year-round beer, but the success of Cream Ale recently earned the cans perennial status. Also, check out the limited-release Pilot Series, whereby Hardywood stretches its creative muscle via 20-gallon micro-batches. —JT Legend With 20 years' experience under his belt, Tom Martin of Legend Brewery has seen the beer industry change shape plenty of times. Richmond's most established craft brewer set up shop in 1994, back when imports were king. During the next two decades, Legend's loyal local following helped it expand into other parts of the state, followed by D.C. and North Carolina, but Martin doesn't take anything for granted. Nowadays, there are fewer taps to go around, as regional watering holes find themselves virtually surrounded by new craft brewers. But Legend's still going strong, consistently rejuvenating its classic lineup with new beers and holding tight to its brick-and-mortar Manchester location, which includes a full-service menu and arguably the city's most pleasant deck. —SH Midnight Brewery Twenty minutes from Richmond, Rockville's Midnight Brewery is operated almost completely by volunteer beer enthusiasts. Owner Trae Cairns is the head brewer, but relies on Becky Rudolf's voluntary 30-hour workweek to keep the tanks clean and the suds flowing. "It's weird for me, because why would someone want to come and volunteer so much?" says Cairns. "But [Becky] gains more all-around knowledge [at Midnight Brewery]." Rudolf says, "I felt like any other place, I'd be schlepping boxes." Midnight Brewery produces five beers: Rockville Red, New Beginning Kolsch, Not My Job Brown, Head First Pale Ale and Midnight Granite Oatmeal Chocolate Stout, which is Rudolf's brainchild and currently in production. When asked how he would describe the brewery's beer-making style, Cairns answers "sessionable" — a brew term that means easy-to-drink beers with moderate alcohol. —GS Strangeways Brewing Richmond's known the aptly named Strangeways for barely four months, but founder Neil Burton spent four years planning the business. And the head brewer spent 15 years with so-called "gypsy brewers," the flying brewmasters that sling suds under different artisanal labels. Burton explains: "We have dedicated equipment for sour beers, and we're well-versed in barrel-aging and wild beers" — a funky style requiring unconventional yeasts and real precision. Capacity is 5,000 barrels, but Strangeways is kicking off with 1,000 barrels. "We'll make sure beers are perfect and equipment is dialed-in," says Burton, "and then we'll grow." Geek out with their Compendium of Curiosities, beers with unusual ingredients offered each Wednesday, including a barrel-lagered Oktoberfest, plus a brew made with tea leaves picked by trained Chinese monkeys. —JT
