The morning following our trip to Richmond, VA was indeed a struggle. We were tired, full and were really torn up about leaving Kyle; won’t see him again until Christmas. But in traditional Beerventurer fashion, we parted ways and headed to more breweries. Partly because we missed our window of low-traffic opportunity, but mostly because we still needed to hit Ocelot Brewing Company of Dulles, VA and Lost Rhino Brewing Co. of Ashburn, VA.
Ocelot Brewing Company (Dulles, VA)
What many consider to be the pretty-kitty of the animal kingdom, Ocelot Brewing is also the pretty taproom of the brewing kingdom. The spacious, vaulted tap/brew room is gorgeously decorated and you forget that you’re in an industrial park. One wall is lined with barrels, the tap system holds a whopping 21 drafts with one nitro tap, and the giant mural of the Grateful Dead Bears is also topnotch.
This fine afternoon we got a flight of five. From least to most favorite we have Hourglass Body, Megaton Maple, Scream of the Butterfly, Juvenile Success, and Buddhist Prodigy. The Hourglass Body oatmeal stout was extremely bitter on the front end and had an off putting flavor on the backend. Maybe some sort of infection, but certainly not what we were expecting. The Megaton Maple stout didn’t really follow up with our maple expectations either. Again, this stout was bitter and the flavor wasn’t as advertised. Maybe they’re just getting started into the stout game?
The flight game picked up a little starting at Scream of the Butterfly. This farmhouse was a little on the lighter side of the farm-funk but was a dry and refreshing beverage on the hot afternoon. Nothing too crazy, but just a well done brew. Juvenile Success IPA is hopped with classic Mosaic and a name I seldom see; Azacca. The Azacca hop is named after the Haitian god of agriculture and has a “big citrus and tropical fruit tone” according to http://www.adha.us. This combination clearly made for a superior IPA.
Lastly, the Buddhist Prodigy DIPA with Galaxy and Amarillo. Stacking Buddhist and Juvenile against each other, I had leaned more toward the Buddhist just on personal preference. Both beer ranked a 4.25 on my Untappd checkin, so it really boiled down to what flavor profile tickles your fancy. Melissa ofcourse abstained from the vote.
I don’t think Ocelot is really known for it’s stouts, but the rest of the flight proved out quite nicely. So if it’s a sunny day serpentine (Babou!) on over to Ocelot grab an IPA and some deck seating. Ocelot Brewing of Dulles, VA earns a 3.65 out of 5.
Lost Rhino Brewing Co. (Ashburn, VA)
Surprisingly not lost, but in Ashburn, VA and a quick 15 minute drive away from Ocelot Brewing is Lost Rhino Brewing Co. This brewery also doubles as a brewpub so if you need a quick bite. Just don’t expect anything too fancy. Normally it’s a flight of five brews but today we had to settle on just four as they were kicked from a rager they threw the night before.
In order from least to most favorite we had Rhino Chasers, Face Plant, FInal Glide, and Genius Loci Series: Alphabrett. Rhino Chasers Pils was your average no-frills straight pils. Nothing bad, but nothing crazy here. Face Plant IPA wasn’t nearly as face-tank as the name alludes to, as this is what I would call an entry level IPA. Mild bitter, mild aroma, not a whole hearted IPA but well built.
Final Glide hefeweizen and Genius Loci Series: Alphabrett Belgian brown were a tossup for first place. Final Glides traditionalism is something we can appreciate. Classic, crisp and sweet. We enjoy hefes so much that we’ve even homebrewed three hefes ourselves; a traditional, mango and a strawberry. The Alphabrett was a cask brown fermented with brettanomyces which produced a sour, woody flavor. It was one of those beers that didn’t immediately impress the tongue, but as your consumed the 6.5% ale you actually grew fonder of it. Another first place that boiled down to personal preference.
Lost Rhino Brewing Co. of Ashburn, VA is a nice little place for a pint and finger food. Nothing in the tap lineup was super impressive, but we didn’t have a bad beer here either. There is no need to grab your gun to poach a Rhino in VA, just drive on over. Lost Rhino earns 3.25 horns out of 5.
And that concludes our Virginia trip! Back to Jersey and more beeventures to come!
