O'Connor Brewing Co.'s Pillow Fight Winter Beer Invitational 2019
Pillow Fight! Winter Beer Invitational featuring the juiciest pillowy beers from 20+ east coast breweries.
RaR Brewing (Cambridge, MD)
NoDa Brewing (Charlotte, NC)
Charles Towne Fermentory (Charleston, SC)
Aslin Beer Co. (Herndon, VA)
The Veil (Richmond, VA)
The Answer (Richmond, VA)
Fine Creek Brewing Co. (Powhatan, VA)
Adroit Theory (Purceville, VA)
Bingo Beer Co. (Richmond, VA)
Ocelot Brewing Co. (Dulles, VA)
Ardent Craft Ales (Richmond, VA)
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery (Richmond, VA)
Stone Brewing Co. (Richmond, VA)
Precarious Beer Project (Williamsburg, VA)
Virginia Beer Co. (Williamsburg, VA)
Brothers Craft Brewing (Harrisonburg, VA)
Final Gravity Brewing Co. (Henrico, VA)
Benchtop Brewing Co. (Norfolk, VA)
Smartmouth Brewing Co. (Norfolk, VA)
Reaver Beach Brewing Co. (Virginia Beach, VA)
Deadline Brewing Project (Virginia Beach, VA)
New Sarum Brewing Co. (Salisbury, NC)
Origin Beer Lab (Ashland, VA)
Reason Beer (Charlottesville, VA)
New Realm Brewing Co. (Virginia Beach, VA)
This year's Treasure Chest icon - "Hula Gal"
Green Flash Treasure Chest 2015
Green Flash Brewing's annual cancer benefit and awareness event called Treasure Chest is happening this Sunday (11 Oct 2015) in Virginia Beach! Throughout the week, in the Hampton Roads area, Green Flash will be throwing #raiseaglass2015 events to raffle off tickets to this great event and help advertise the cause.
(Check out photos from last year's Treasure Chest - Virginia Beach here.)
Green Flash's Phil Shannon and me (always with something strapped to my shoulder)
Treasure Chest was founded in 2011 by Green Flash Co-Founder and breast cancer survivor Lisa Hinkley. All the Treasure Chest related events raise money to support breast cancer charities. A beer and icon are released with the announcement of the event.
This year's Green Flash Treasure Chest beer is a naturally pink IPA with grapefruit and prickly pear juice and hibiscus flowers. I haven't had it yet, but plan on grabbing one this week! Last year's was great, barrel-aged Belgian style saison with plum. It was fermented in red wine barrels with house Brettanomyces, then conditioned with plums for six months. It was very good!
The Green Flash crew at The Birch, Norfolk, VA
Hampton Road's 2nd annual Treasure Chest event will be held at the same place it was last year - on the Green Flash Brewing property connected to where the new brewery will open in 2016. Like last year, they have invited other local breweries and shops to participate as a community to throw the big bash.
The new "Hula Gal" icon glass! Cute!
I was one of the photographers last year (you can see some of my photos in the video linked above) and can tell you it was a great time. Everyone was having fun (some a little more than others, you know who I'm talking) drinking some great beers and eating delicious food. The first time I ever had a sample of Home Republic food was at Treasure Chest 2014. That's saying something because I get out a lot! Another thing is that my wife, Shelby, will be volunteering at the event too. I can't wait to see her in action.
If you want a chance to win tickets, hit up one of the #raiseaglass2015 events in the area leading up the actual Treasure Chest October 11th. I've sorted them out for you below:
Mahalo!
- 10/6 - Tubby's Tavern from 5:00-8:00 PM (Virginia Beach)
- 10/7 - DoG Street Pub from 5:00-8:00 PM (Williamsburg)
- 10/8 - The Public House from 5:00-8:00 PM (Norfolk)
- 10/9 - Home Republic from 6:00-9:00 PM (Virginia Beach)
- 10/10 - Lynnhaven Pub from 6:00-10:00 PM (Virginia Beach)
Buy tickets to Treasure Chest on this page.
Photos included were from The Birch's Treasure Chest event last week.
The tasting room was open during the CRAFTED event.
Running Around Town - Oct 11, 2014
October 11th was a busy day. Saturday kicked off with the CRAFTED: Indie Arts & Craft Market at O'Connor Brewing in Norfolk, VA. Local crafters were joined by crafters from Richmond to display and sell their work. We saw a lot of friends and our buddies at HomebrewUSA were there serving up their beer; a demonstration on home brewing was setup for those who wanted to see how it's done.
After O'Connor went headed over to Smartmouth Brewing--also in Norfolk--because Shelby saw that New York Souvlaki was setup there that day. We kept missing it when it was out so this was the perfect opportunity to finally try it. It was great! Lucas inside poured me a nice, cool Rule G Shelby and I finished while we ate our chicken and pork kebabs.
We went to Cheap and Cheery at Grape & Gourmet in Virginia Beach, VA after we finished up at Smartmouth. I've posted plenty of Cheap and Cheery event photos and it's one of the events Shelby and I look forward to every month. We bumped into a bunch of friends while perused and sampled wines, beers and ciders on the tables. A great event that lets you sample things you might not normally buy. Wen we finished at Grape & Gourmet we took a little break at home to finish up a pita full of meat called "The Bomb" we got from New York Souvlaki earlier. After our brief down time we headed out again.
The last stop of our run for the day was at Lynnhaven Pub to meet the local chapter of Barley's Angels. Barley's Angels Coastal Virginia is a group of female craft beer enthusiasts who aim to educate and promote craft beer in their region. One of the ways they do this is through volunteering and that night's meeting was a big one because the next day they were going to work the Treasure Chest event.
San Diego brewing company Green Flash has held a breast cancer awareness benefit called Treasure Chest Fest. This year is special for Virginia Beach because it was going to the first one and held on the future spot for a brand new Green Flash brewery! We bumped into a lot of friends and met the friendly people from Green Flash mingled about.
We headed home at a decent time but I still stayed up too late. In the morning I was headed to Treasure Chest Fest where I was asked to be the event photographer. I'll write about that later.
O'Connoroo!
The new O'Connor Brewing Company facility is huge, especially compared to the old building the next street over. Standing on top of the roof you can see for miles over the low rooftops of the industrial area, past the neighborhoods and beyond. Taking in everything around the building, getting a bead on the location. What caught my interest was the old coffee roasting plant a couple blocks away. It used to house First Colony Coffee & Tea, the 109-year-old business closed it's doors in 2011. I asked brewer Skylar Sickles what he thought about the new place.
“I love it.” he said.
I stopped by O'Connor Brewing Co. to check out the new spot before the huge grand opening dubbed “O'Connoroo.” I was greeted by their marketing director, Hannah Serrano, who gave me a quick tour around the warehouse. She then handed me off to the brewers, James Moriarty, Brian Mandeville, and Skylar Sickles who were there getting the new tanks hooked-up. The 211 W. 24th Street location started out as a food processing plant, then furniture warehouse before being converted into a brewery. The wide, open space allowed O'Connor to triple the annual output to 15,000 barrels. The building houses a cooler and docking area too; this will allow them to produce and hold more beer in addition to convenient shipping. This all equals higher product output.
The extra space will allow the brewers to experiment with small batches. They've done this in the past, but they'll have more to share and they can test out barrel aging. Barrels are going to be brought in from distilleries in the surrounding area. The brewers said they're going to love the extra space and the large windows that line the brewery's walls can be opened to let air in. I remember spending a couple hours with the brewers in the old location a few years ago. It was summer and it was hot, damp—the new space will be a lot more comfortable. The old spot on 25th Street has been shuttered up and the tanks there will be going to Midnight Brewery outside of Richmond, another craft brewery that started in 2011.
Kevin O'Connor, said, “I just love the way the place looked, architecturally, and how the place felt.” I can understand the feeling. The space allows the brewery to add a lot more the O'Connor experience. There is a mezzanine “VIP” area above the taproom bar. The bar is housed in what was formerly a refrigeration area—you can still see the large doors that was used to access the units. Twenty-one taps will be behind the warmly lit, wood-worked and corked lined walls. For the curious, the cork walls are original to the building, insulation for refrigeration units. As I was leaving I couldn't wait see how this place would be put together in a week for O'Connoroo!
The weather was perfect. We showed up to O'Connoroo around 3:30 PM, this was the official grand opening of the new location. We missed the 2:00 PM kick-off—pipers, ribbon cutting and the small crowds. The place was packed already with lines for beer tickets winding out of the gate! The docking courtyard was lined with food trucks and pop-up restaurants. The trucks included Karnage Asada, CXB BBQ and Eats, Granby Street Hot Dogs; the pop-ups were from Waffletina, Belmont House of Smoke (the brisket was very good!), Cogan's Pizza, 80/20 Burger Bar and Colley Cantina. In the center were spots to hang out and play cornhole. Speaking of games, if you go inside, there is a gameroom. They still have their oversized Jenga from the old joint and there is a shuffleboard court to boot. More games will be added in the future.
A proper stage has been built in the brewery to host their weekly performers. The O'Connoroo had four bands to check-out: The Framers, DJP and MrT, The Dahus, Big Virginia Sky. Between the stage and taproom are long tables and a bar with stools that runs the length of the lined-up tanks. The seating allows patrons to check out the brewing area and equipment in addition to anyone on stage. We moved around the facility a bit and made our way up to the mezzanine. A smaller bar was up stairs to cater the VIP area. A good number of people from the area's craft beer scene were there to help celebrate O'Connor's big day.
DJP & MrT
Approximately there were 5,000-6,000 people who walked through the gates to attend O'Connoroo. This made for long lines for beer and the brewery posted an apology and promised to make good in futures events. They will definitely honor any beer tickets people held onto. So if you have some, don't throw them away! All the tickets O'Connor had available were sold by 8:15 PM that night. 42.5 barrels of beer was consumed, which roughly translates to over 10,500 pints poured! So much beer was pulled that the tasting room will only be open Friday and Saturday the week after O'Connoroo to allow them to refill the kegs.
Even though there were lines for drinks, everyone took it in stride. It was great seeing the community come out and support the area's spearhead unit into the craft beer scene. They've come a long way since opening in March 2010. Here's a little traditional Irish toast to close:
May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, beer beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.
I changed that a little bit, hope you don't mind. See all the photos from the event here.
(Special thanks to Michael Palfrey Jr., OBC Tasting Room Mgr., who let me ping him for information.)
The winning soup from Mannino's
She-Crab Soup Classic Winners!
Another She-Crab Soup Classic has come and gone with Mannino's Italian Bistro holding onto it's spot at the top. I'll admit I had them marked in first place too after tasting at each table--it's so delicious. Shelby and I pretty much voted the same way with Passion and Rockafeller's taking second and third respectively.
There were a bunch of good soups we sampled at the competition, making it hard to pick what we thought were the best at the event. I basically look for the lump crab, crab roe, a little Old Bay, and I like sherry in mine too.
Westminister's soup
Passion's She-Crab Soup entry
Here are the 2014 East Coast She-Crab Soup Winners:
CRITIC'S CHOICE:
1st Place - Mannino's Italian Bistro
2nd Place - Westminster Canterbury
3rd Place - Passion The Restaurant
Honorable Mentions:
Rockafeller's
Freemason Abbey
Steinhilber's
PEOPLE'S CHOICE:
1st Place - Mannino's Italian Bistro
2nd Place - 328 Tequila Lounge
3rd Place - Passion The Restaurant
Honorable Mentions:
Freemason Abbey
Rockafeller's
Steinhilber's
Check out the photos HERE!
Another Edition of...
I was putting together events on i-heart-food.com's new event calendar and saw the bottles and taps were going to be flowing this weekend. It's been a while since I posted a map to the local booze trail. Here's what's going on and make sure to check out my calendar for more details on the events:
1 May - Beer Tasting at Grape & Gourmet
- Weekly selection of new arrivals and favorites to try in the store.
1 May - ABSOLUT Artini at MOCA (Sold Out)
- 1920s themed Artini event at Virginia MOCA. Sadly it's sold out but there are rumors of getting tickets if you go to their page and poke around.
2 May - Wine Tasting at Farm Fresh (Great Neck)
- Farm Fresh always pours a couple of wines in the store if you're shopping. Good if the kids are getting on your nerves and you want to take the edge off.
2 May - Wine Tasting at Grape & Gourmet
- Weekly Friday night tasting with regulars. Good stuff!
2 May - Wine Tasting at Yiannis Wine Shop
- Yiannis always has something good on the table and if you're lucky maybe something special.
3 May - Big Brew Day at Homebrew USA
- Big Brew Day is a collection of beer enthusiasts who setup shop outside of Homebrew USA and show you how it's done at home. Last year there was a whole pig, hot dogs, hamburgers and much more. Free to the public. I don't think I need to mention there is going to be a lot of beer there right?
3 May - Town Center Virginia Beach Craft Beer Festival
- Town Center will be cordoned off to keep merry makers in while they enjoy the area's finest craft brews. Food and entertainment will be there too.
3 May - Spring Town Point Park Wine Classic
- The 8th Annual Wine Classic returns to Town Point Park running both Saturday and Sunday. Lots of events and wine will be available.
3 May - Mariner's Museum Craft Beer Festival
- The Mariner's Museum will celebrate craft brews from the Southside and Peninsula in the museum. I haven't been to one yet, but they're supposed to be fun. The Hampton Roads Beard and Stache Society will be volunteering too.
6th East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic
The 6th East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic is tomorrow at the 24th Street Park. Over 15 of the area's best restaurants will compete to be named the one with the best She-Crab soup in Hampton Roads. Last year Mannino's Italian Bistro won both the Critic's and People's Choice awards. Read my review from the last one here on AltDaily. There will be lines, but the soup makes up for it.
Here who is competing this year:
328 Tequila Lounge
C.P. Shuckers
Freemason Abbey
Keagan’s Restaurant
Lucky Oyster Seafood Grill
Lynnhaven Fish House
Mahi Mah's Seafood
Mannino’s Italian Bistro
McCormick & Schmick’s
Murphy’s Irish Pub
Passion the Restaurant
Rockafeller’s
Roger Brown's Restaurant and Sports Bar
Steinhilber's
Tradewinds
Westminster Canterbury
The gates open at noon and the event ends at 3:00 PM. When you enter the park you'll make your way around the tables and get a sample of she-crab soup. Use your score sheet to mark your favorites and turn it in when you're done. Votes will be tabulated the winners will be named at the end of the event! When you're done, go grab a beer at one of the local watering holes. You can even make the Back Bay Brewing Co. grand opening on Norfolk Ave. down the way!
Check out the photos from last year's event here.
See you there!
O’Connor Brewing Co. - Black Saturday Block Party 2013
The holiday weekend was punctuated by O’Connor Brewing Company’s Black Saturday Block Party inspired by last year’s Black Friday Hurricane Sandy benefit. A perfect chaser for the Thanksgiving and Black Friday craziness, I planned on stopping by O’Connor’s after a day of shopping small in Norfolk, VA.
I drove Shelby and Marleigh downtown to visit a few friends and support Shop Small. We stopped by With Lavender & Lace, Studio Posy, Nest Home, and Lorak Jewelry. The two of them wanted to walk around and hit a few more stores around Granby St. so I headed down to the brewery on W. 25th St. Pulling up I and hopping out of the car into the cold, the first thing I noticed was someone was grilling. Whatever it was, it smelled great. The brewery’s block was barricaded, restricted to foot traffic; a stage was setup with a band running through its set. I headed in.
Hannah Serrano and Hardy Porter
As soon as I walked to the check-in table I bumped into AltDaily.com’s Hannah Serrano, who is also Marketing and Events Director at O’Connor Brewing Co. She walked me in and we chatted a little bit about how things were going. We passed by Bobby-Qs and CXB BBQ and Eats, this was what smelled so good when I got out of the car. I was definitely not going to miss out on that food. Porter Hardy of Smartmouth was near the street food so I snapped a photo of him and Hannah.
Barley's Angels
Checking out the food, I saw one of the Hoffmann Beverage trucks being manned by the local chapter of Barley’s Angels, a local group of female beer enthusiasts. The truck was pretty high-speed, LCD panels displayed what beer was coming out of the tap below it. All the O’Connor flagship brews were being poured: Green Can, Great Dismal, Norfolk Canyon, and more. I grabbed a Black IPA and walked around some more.
Several bands were slated to play that night: Nate Sacks, The Janks, BANTUSTANS, and The Wet Boys. Radiant patio heaters kept everyone warm outside in the docking area and street, though the amount of people in close proximity of each other and beer helped out a lot too. Approximately 500 attended the block party but it would be easy to think there were a lot more. Inside the brewery I bumped into Kevin O'Connor, brewer/owner of the brewery. He was all over the place, chatting and checking up on the event.
There were also small batch beers for the occasion and people could buy flights of these to get a taste of each. Traditionally, craft brewers will let the shop come up with their own recipes and formulas. Here’s what was offered:
Small Batch Flight
Chincoteague Oyster Stout – Oyster Stout
Schwarzwald – Black Lager
Winter Pecan – Pecan Porter
Bockenspiel – Bavarian Weizenbock
The Dark Monk – Abbey Ale
Maes Howe – Wee Heavy
Session Quad #2: Insomnia – West Coast Style IPA
By the end of the night O’Connor Brewing Co. poured approximately 4.5 barrels of beer! That’s about 1,500 standard, 12-oz cans of beer! If you stacked those they’d be as tall as—I have no idea, but I bet it’s pretty high. Everyone was having a good time and the food was great. I walked away with some lumpia in my coat pocket, saving it for Shelby and Marleigh.
All-in-all a great night. If they do it again next year, and you’re in the area, you better go.
Kevin O'Connor Brewer/Owner
First Virginia Bacon Festival
The 1st Virginia Bacon Festival happened this weekend outside of Scope in Norfolk, VA. The festival benefited Beyond Boobs and an estimated 45,000 people attended the fest! Well-known restaurants from around the area offered bacon inspired meals, in addition to samples, to the bacon obsessed crowd.
Everything had bacon in it—chocolate covered bacon (the caramel and chocolate bacon was delicious), poppers, cocktails, cookies, you name it. The Fighting Jamesons provided live entertainment, a bacon eating contest was staged—a fella named Ryan Davis won, downing a pound of bacon faster than the rest. A “Top Chef” style competition was also conducted. You can guess what they were cooking.
Today’s secret ingredient at the Virginia Bacon Festival Iron Chef competition… #virginiabaconfestival #bacon #hrva #norfolk
1st Virginia Bacon Festival Cooking Challenge Ingredient!
Gordon Biersch Arts & Drafts - Craft Beer Event at the Sandler Center
Gordon Biersch Arts & Drafts - Craft Beer Event at the Sandler Center had a great turnout and the kegs were about dry by the time it was all over. Food was provided by Gordon Biersch and the fries they were serving were addicting.
The following breweries participated:
Gordon Biersch
Legend
Devil’s Backbone
Starr Hill
Aleworks
Smartmouth
Beach Brewing
O’Connor
St. George
New Belgium
Beach Brewing
Green Flash
Stone
Looking forward to next year!
Oystercrush 2013!
Oyster lovers were at The Yacht Club at Marina Shores in Virginia Beach, VA this past weekend to attend Oyster Crush 2013! Hosted by the Cape Henry Rotary. Proceeds went local charities, a favorite local area cover band The Deloreans provided live entertainment, and there were raffles for door prizes. Over 1500 tickets were sold for the event!
Over 10,000 oysters fresh from the Bay were consumed attendees; the oysters were provided by Little Sully’s Clams on the Eastern Shore. In addition to oysters and clams, local BBQ came from Suffolk’s Rodman’s Bar-B-Que, World-Famous Clam Chowder from Redfearn’s, and all of it washed down with beer provided by Hoffman Beverage company—a special treat was having Smartmouth Saison Ale on tap!
The oysters were delicious! They were available raw or roasted, tables were setup for shucking. The raw were particularly popular with weaving lines, converging on the single table serving them. The crew working that table had to be the busiest of the day.
10,000 oysters leave a lot shells, the Oyster Crush shells will be donated to Lynnhaven River Now for restoration efforts. If you missed this year’s event, make sure you save the date for Oyster Crush 2014, September 21st of next year.
*Special thanks to Jeremy Johnson who allowed me to cover the event. I’m looking forward to next year!
More photos at i<3food fb.
Battle of the Beers - Norfolk Edition
Battle of the Beers - Norfolk Edition
Young Veterans Brewing Company’s Jet Noise took home 1st and their Pineapple snagged 2nd. O’Connor Brewing coming in 3rd with their new Sasion. 80/20 Burger Bar provided the space and they kept some great food rolling out of the kitchen. To top it all off, the weather was perfect. Fun stuff.
5th East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic
I can’t believe I didn’t post some of these photos here! Sorry! A few weeks ago we attended the 5th East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic in Virginia Beach, VA. There were 19 completing restaurants working for a Critic’s and People’s choice award. If you check out the close-up shot just above you’ll see this years winner — Mannino’s. Here are the results:
2013 Winners
Critics’ Choice Award
1st Place: Mannino’s Italian Bistro
2nd Place: Blue Pete’s Restaurant
3rd Place: Murphy’s Irish Pub
Honorable Mentions: Lynnhaven Fish House, Passion the Restaurant, and Tradewinds
Peoples’ Choice Award
1st Place: Mannino’s Italian Bistro
2nd Place: Rockafeller’s Restaurant
3rd Place: Blue Pete’s Restaurant
Honorable Mentions: Freemason Abbey Restaurant, Murphy’s Irish Pub, and Sofia’s at the North End
I really think Whole Foods should have placed, I was honestly surprised that they didn’t even get a mention. Better luck next year guys, everyone did a great job! Can’t wait.