The Best Brewery Hops in Northern Virginia: Loudoun County

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Nowhere in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area is experiencing brewery growth like Loudoun County. Loudoun County has long been a destination for those seeking our wineries, but it’s quickly becoming a must-visit for serious craft drinkers visiting our nation’s capital. In 2018 alone, they’ve had ten new breweries apply for or be granted licenses– this will give the county a nearly 42% increase in craft beer locations in a single year. Keep your eyes peeled for this to continue to be a hotbed for serious brewers looking to avoid the logistical hassle of setting up shop in Arlington or Alexandria. Northern Virginia is a spread out area, and odds are you’ll be driving to reach your brewery destinations, so either make sure you’ve arranged for a designated driver or find a nearby AirBNB. There are several brewery hops that are either walkable or a accessible by a very short drive in Loudoun County… but these are our favorites.

3. Solace Brewing –> Ocelot Brewing

This hop has a lot going for it, but it’s getting knocked primarily due to distance. The other two hops are definitely walkable, and this one, though a mere 5-minute drive, isn’t. Still, anyone in the Sterling/Dulles area should give this hop a look, especially fans of IPAs. Start at Solace Brewing, a huge open taproom. As one Yelp reviewer noted, “You could throw a football around inside.” Not that you’d need to: there are plenty of games, a foosball table, darts, and multiple TVs for watching sports.

We’d also recommend not throwing a football for fear of shattering the massive glass wall that reveals Solace’s brewing tanks. Food trucks come Thursday through Sunday, but for those craving some between-beer munchies, they have a popcorn machine: pay $1, and you get all the popcorn you can eat! As for the beer, they have an IPA-centric menu, but don’t ignore the stouts and browns. Our recommendations: the Seeing Stars is a fruity, hoppy IPA, rich with pineapple and guava flavor, and The Kick Rocks is an easy-to-drink stout that still possesses a chocolatey kick.

From there, head to Ocelot Brewing, a large warehouse of a brewery that was certainly packed the Friday night we went. Barrels line the walls, and a huge mural of brewery stickers from across the country greets you at the entrance. As far as the beers go, this is a prime destination for hop-heads visiting the area. I’ve heard people complain that if you don’t like IPAs, your options will be rather limited here… but thankfully we are not victims of such a curse. They are at the forefront of the haze craze, with numerous well-balanced NE IPAs on tap at any given moment. Our recommendations: the Mi Corazon is a Citra and Galaxy-hopped hazy IPA that would easily earn a spot on the podium of the best IPAs in the county. For those who are looking for something absent of hops, the Lie, Cheat, and Steal is a prime coffee stout, one of the best of its kind in the county as well.

2. Jack’s Run –> Dragon Hops Brewing –> Adroit Theory

If you find yourself near Purcellville, Virginia, you’ll find a delightful, walkable hop that includes a couple of really fun breweries and another that delivers some of the best beer in the state. Start at Jack’s Run— or, if you’re a fan of arcade games, end at Jack’s Run. This place has one of the most impressive collections of arcade games you’re likely to find at a brewery. When we were there, they were having a Free Play Friday special, in which you could play the games for free all afternoon! As if this level of hospitality wasn’t enough, the bartender also provided free Goldfish– at a time when it seems more and more breweries charge for small packaged snacks, it makes us cherish the places that offer free snacks all the more.

Jack’s Run is more of a destination for the atmosphere than for the beer, but they also have some surprisingly good options on tap. Our recommendations: we’re used to underwhelming Berliner Weisses in local small-town establishments like this one, but Jack’s Run’s Berliner packs an impressively tart punch. Also, the Mornin Joe Oatmeal Stout on Nitro doesn’t have the usual overly light body that so many nitro stouts possess– it maintains the richness so many of us want from a stout.

It’s a very brief walk from here to Dragon Hops Brewing, one of the friendlier breweries I’ve been to in memory. I pulled up and the co-founder was outside, carving a massive dragon out of wood. He told me he’d never tried a wood carving like this, but he liked working with wood, so he thought he’d give it a try (he was doing a sensational job). Inside, the evidence of top-notch woodworking was omnipresent. A huge circular wooden bar sits in the middle of a large open taproom, and an impressively massive circular wood-cutting adorned with hop-shaped lights hangs above it. Even the coasters are slices of wood!

Inside, you find skee ball and other games, perfect for taking anywhere in this enormous facility, perfect for bringing large groups to party. Both co-founders were there, and they and the employees were all happy to strike up conversation to make you feel at home. Beerwise? Our recommendations: Crystal Myth will satisfy the pilsner fans, and My Brown Aled Girls is a sweet malty brown. As a pro tip, if Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl comes on over the radio, sing along, and the bartender may bless you with a free pint of Brown Aled Girls!

It’s about a mile up either Hatcher or 21st to get to your final stop, Adroit Theory Brewing Company. We’d encountered Adroit Theory at Extreme Beer Fest, which gives you an idea of what’s in store here. You get extremely juicy IPAs, you get extremely potent and flavorful stouts, and you get extremely fruity goses. If you’re looking for a more typical flavor profile, this may not be your favorite spot– one of their mottos is “Craft Beer For The Select Few.” Since we love breweries willing to push our expectations (and our palates) to the limit, Adroit Theory felt like home away from home. It’s the type of place where the merchandise includes hand-crafted tap handles, teku glasses, and specialty “hop grinders.” It’s a small taproom with a small patio: not a place for a big party, but definitely a place to bring a fellow craft beer aficionado, taste everything on tap, and stumble home.

Our recommendations: haze fans should try any of their Double NE IPAs on tap, but the stout lovers are *really* going to find themselves at home here. The BLVCK Imperial Porters and the B/A/Y/S (Black As Your Soul) Imperial Stouts both have a number of variants generally available, and the majority are rich, decadent, and eye-poppingly good. The BLVCK Dark Chocolate Gingerbread was on when we went, and it has as hefty a gingerbread flavor as I can recall in a beer. The Antithesis: D.R.A.N.K. series of goses taste like tart versions of your favorite childhood boxed juices: the purple punch edition was the grape Kool-Aid of the gose world, something I never knew I wanted (the color was also sensationally, vividly purple). Finally, their crown jewel is the Illusion of Safety, an apricot pomegranate jalapeno gose that is singular, arresting, and intensely flavorful. You’d be doing yourself a disservice not to try it.

1. Rocket Frog Brewing Company –> Crooked Run Brewing

We were torn which brewery hop to give the top spot. Some of the best beers and the most fun can be had on the previous hop. However, when two breweries at the caliber of Rocket Frog and Crooked Run are located nearly next door to one another, we felt it was prudent to reflect that blissful convenience in our rankings. Rocket Frog Brewing Company is a relatively new brewery in Sterling, and right out of the gate, it delivers. It isn’t breaking the brewery mold: it’s simply a great hang-out with plenty of games and a number of delicious beers on tap.

Play the giant Connect Four, watch sports above the bar, and sample their numerous tasty IPAs. Our recommendations: the DDH Cosmic Charms is a smooth, slightly hazy IPA with a sharp hoppy finish. Also, the Wallops Island with Coffee is a formidable coffee-infused brown ale, giving you rich flavor for a drink that only contains 5% ABV– even the version without coffee is worth seeking out, as it just took home a bronze medal for best American-Style Brown Ale at the Great American Beer Festival!

Navigate your way around this industrial subdivision’s parking lot to find Crooked Run‘s Sterling location. Crooked Run has plenty of outdoor patio space to compliment the sizable interior, so even during peak hours, you should find a place to hunker down with a game and a flight. Their hazy IPAs are terrific, but their stouts are where they really shine. As a bonus, they have Senor Ramon’s Taqueria attached, so those who pepper their flight with 10+% ABV stouts can line their stomachs with scrumptious tacos and nachos in hopes of preventing the booze from settling in too quickly. We had a smorgasbord of empanadas, all of which hit the spot.

Our recommendations: the Verdant Force is a hazy double that competes with several of the other IPAs in a county full of terrific IPA options… but as noted above, hammer the stouts hard. Charm is as good a milk stout as we’ve had recent, Neapolitik is a sweet but hefty Neopolitan ice cream inspired stout, but our favorite was the Magnifico. It’s a dark chocolate stout with blueberry and cayenne pepper. The end result is something decadently dessert-y, but with a kick of fruitiness at the start and a dash of spice at the finish. It’s competitive with many of the best stouts in Virginia.

BEST PLACE FOR IPAS:

Ocelot Brewing (Runners-up: Adroit Theory, Rocket Frog)

BEST PLACE FOR SOURS:

Adroit Theory (Runner-up: Jack’s Run)

BEST PLACE FOR STOUTS:

Adroit Theory (Runners-up: Crooked Run, Ocelot Brewing)

BEST PLACE TO PLAY GAMES:

Jack’s Run (Runners-up: Crooked Run, Dragon Hops)

BEST PLACE FOR A LARGE GROUP:

Dragon Hops (Runners-up: Crooked Run, Solace Brewing)

BEST PLACE FOR A SMALL, QUIET DRINK:

Adroit Theory (Runner-up: Rocket Frog)

BEST PLACE TO EAT:

Crooked Run

Which is your favorite of these brewery hops? Please shout them out in the comments below! Also, please check out our guide to nearby Fredericksburg, and come back in the next couple of weeks to read our upcoming beer travel guides to Richmond and Washington DC!