We're just going to keep the train rolling with these power rankings from my east coast road trip. Previously I brought you the power ranking of states that I drove through between Chicago and Norfolk. This time around, we are going to address the full force of my borderline alcoholism that I say is a craft beer affinity, and power rank all of the various beers I drank in Norfolk, VA.
A couple changes this time around. First and foremost, we have pictures for this one, so that's pretty neat. Secondly we are going to rank by location. We went to 4 different drinking locations on this trip; 3 breweries, 1 sail boat tour, and the Blue Moon Tap House which I'm not counting because they served me 2 different tapped-keg beers. That's really all the updates, let's talk beer.
Stop 1: Benchtop Brewing
The 3 breweries we went to were all within half a mile of each other, absolutely stupid how close all this delicious beer was in proximity to each other. So naturally I drank as much as I could and my friend Abbey was gracious enough to drive back. We started at Benchtop, which is admittedly probably the second-string brewery in the area, but their merch was pretty dope and they had a great IPA flight (pictured above).
The first beer I tried however was way outside my comfort zone. Typically I am a NEIPA guy, keep it on the light side, maybe some citrus or passion fruit in there, that's the money zone. This beer was the polar opposite of that, it was called the Walter's Brunch. This was a porter (literally the darkest beer), with coffee and syrup flavoring. I don't know what compelled me to order this, but it seemed to be the most popular item they had. I was beyond surprised at how light this beer was despite the fact that it was so dark. It literally tasted like breakfast in a glass and filled me up about as much too. My only knock against it is that there's no chance I could drink more than 2 or 3 of them before I would need a nap from being too full. Not a great all day drinking beer, great to end the night though. I give it a 6.9/10 (nice), and would definitely recommend everyone try it if given the opportunity.
After a nice surprise to start, I decided it was time to fly. For any rookie drinkers out there, a flight is 4 beers, typically a half pour, purely made for sampling. However if you choose your beers correctly, also a very efficient way to get buzzed. My flight, which I am nicknaming the Fresh Theory Flight:
-Ripping Freshies
Absolutely lived up to its name, so refreshing, strong amount of alcohol content but a little bit of a raspberry flavor to it. 7.2/10
-Sabro Theory
The worst of the theories, but not bad. It's like the Thor: The Dark World of these beers, one of them has to be the worst. 6/10
-Nelson Theory
The best one in my opinion, great passion fruit flavor, but also not much otherwise distinguish it as all 3 of these "Theories" are NEIPA's. 7.5/10 but may change my mind with the 4 pack that I bought.
-Proven Theory
I wouldn't exactly call it "Proven." But it was a damn good beer, however just a very cut and dry NEIPA, so it's basically just like a Hazy Hero. 7/10
Overall rating on the IPA flight is a solid 7. It wasn't the absolute best flight I've ever had in my life, but it was still damn good and I genuinely enjoyed and finished all 4 of them. After that I was sufficiently buzzed enough to spend way too much money on brewery merch. But we're support local small business right?
After this it was on to the Shangri La of Norfolk Beer: Smartmouth Brewing Company. I didn't think to get pictures of the place, but it is just a giant old warehouse that's been converted to a brewery, and we were there for one of their new beer releases! Of course I had to try it so we'll get there.
Beer number one at Smartmouth was another porter (who am I?) called "Happy Birthday Curiosity." Honestly I tried it because it's tag line was "#1 all-time social distancer." Have to reward that type of cleverness. The beer itself was also actually delicious. It tasted exactly like coffee cake, kind of like if you were to mike iced coffee with coffee cake creamer and then sneak a bunch of Bailey's in there, absolutely delicious. Smaller knock on the heaviness this time, still a 7.8/10 would drink so many of those.
The second beer however was the winner for the trip. The beer that was released about 2 hours before we showed up, appropriately titled "Party On, Thor." It was a Czech lager brewed with strawberries, and if I'm being honest I wouldn't mind just injecting this right into my veins. This beer was so refreshing, not heavy, not tart, and just a little bit sweet. Incredible summer beer, and a great boat drink. Sign me up for a 12 pack of this, 8.8/10.
After Smartmouth, we had to make our way to our final stop because, you know, bars aren't open until midnight anymore. Our final stop was more of a craft house than an actual brewery. It was a very quaint little building called The Birch, and the main selling point for me was that they have mead.
We're just going to jump right into it: I think I only want to drink mead for the rest of my life. The one I tried is called "Viking's Blood," which: 1. Fucking sick name 2. Spot on name. Quick FYI: mead is one of the oldest ways to brew "beer" but it is essentially a malt liquor brewed with fermented honey. It is super sweet, but carries a 19% alcohol content. Two glasses of this and you are shit faced. This was about enough for me on this night, but I still enjoyed every last drop of it. Not sure if this qualifies as a beer either, but still had to point out how incredible this drink is. Go get it at your local liquor store.
The last beer I had on this night was called a Snorkasaurus. I think I was either face deep in a grilled cheese or far too drunk to take notes because my only comment was: !!!. So I think it was pretty good.
Overall I think Norfolk has a rich and impressive beer portfolio. Well above average at best. The porters aren't too heavy, the IPA's are unique and creative, the names are top notch and every sip felt like it was personally made by a brew master who has lived in Norfolk their entire life. I can't put it ahead of Chicago as best beer city yet, but I'm also biased to my hometown.
Next stop on my trip is Baltimore, so those rankings will come out once I leave here on Wednesday.
-TM
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