Ballast Point Brewery's New Virginia Location

I recently got a chance to check out Ballast Point Brewery‘s new East coast outpost in Daleville, VA (only 30 minutes from Dinosaur Kingdom II and Natural Bridge!). The newly built and not quite completed brewery & restaurant is located in a rather scenic industrial park outside of town.

It was hopping on the fourth of July, but because of its size it didn’t feel crowded. In addition to great outdoor seating options, it features an enormous downstairs dining room and a spacious upstairs area with great views. a group of people sitting at tables in a restaurant

a group of people sitting at tables in a restaurant

a group of people standing in a room with a bar

a room with a glass wall and a window

a group of people sitting at tables in a room with large windows — *Upstairs Dining Space*

I like their approach to ensuring fasterÂ service — upon entering you grab a menu and sit wherever you want. All beer and food is ordered at the bar and you take a number back to your seat. Much faster than waiting for a server to take your order, and in our case the food would sometimes arrive before we’d even finishing selecting our beer flight. Also good if you want to move around as better tables and views open up.

a group of people at a bar — Ordering at the bar

I can see lines at the bar being a problem during busy times but they’ll probably work that out once they’re in full swing.

The Beer

Love love love the selection and the pricing. 4 oz pours for $2, 3 for $6. It seemed like they didn’t have the full offering of Ballast Point beers available on tap, but there were still 30 to choose from! Bring friends if you want to try as many as possible. a menu of a restaurant

I was surprised that at the end of tasting a dozen or more I still think their regular and unfiltered Sculpin are some of their best. A few others stood out as well:

Mango Even Keel — light mango notes on the finish that are refreshing without distracting
Oaked Barmy — well balanced, the notes of vanilla and bourbon balance the fruit.
Indra Kunindra Export Stout — loved the curry, cumin, cayenne, coconut and kaffir lime flavors! Drink it last because it will kill your palate for anything else.
Orange and Vanilla Fathom — they say it tastes like a creamcicle, it doesn’t. The orange vanilla notes are subtle and interesting with no hint of sweetness.
Cinnamon Raisin Commodore — great nose and not too much raisin flavors. The cinnamon mellows the stout a bit.

I thought the Red Velvet was pretty but not to my liking. Just flat without much flavor. a group of glasses of beer

The Food
They’re still working some things out with food and non alcoholic beverages. For instance, they don’t have iced tea, something of a staple in Virginia. 🙂 They’re getting the necessary equipment now, but it’ll be a few weeks.

The food menu was interesting, diverse, and reasonably priced — if the food portions were larger. It seemed right for San Diego, but for Southern Virginia they either need to decrease the prices a little or increase the portions. a pretzel and dip on a tray

The house made pretzel was pricey at $9 for one pretzel, but great! Particularly the California Amber mustard dipping sauce. a plate of food on a plate

I definitely recommend the Pork & Peaches, perfectly crisped pork belly and grilled peaches. a plate of food on a table

The Fish Tacos were disappointing, tiny and the fish tasted fishy. a grilled cheese sandwich and fries on a paper wrapper

If you like Pimento cheese, their grilled cheese was amazing though pretty rich — beautifully toasted bread, pimento cheese, and crisped bacon.Â I’m usually not a fan of fries, but these were great, crisp not greasy and a great palate cleanser between beers.

Growler fills happen at the front, quite reasonable prices and only $5 for the glass bottle. And if you’re a sculpin fan you can get one on almost any merchandise in the shop. 🙂