Drink Local! Northern Virginia is ripe with wineries, cideries, breweries, and distilleries. Here’s a look at some of our favorite tasting rooms and taprooms — and what to pick up when you visit.
For the Type A beer lover, merely sitting and sipping a pint of suds with friends might not be entertaining enough. These breweries add trivia nights, pinball machines, and other competitive pursuits to make for a winning combination.
The weekly Thursday trivia night at Mustang Sally Brewing Company draws in groups who want to battle it out by answering questions about sports, music, movies, and more; but if you arrive solo or as a couple, you’ll probably be able to team up. The top three winning teams receive 20 percent, 15 percent, or 10 percent off their total bills. While you’re there, rack up a tab sampling expressions like Westie IPA, a West Coast-inspired IPA brewed and dry-hopped with Cascade, Centennial, and Simcoe hops, or seasonal brews including Brunch Imperial Stout with flavors of coffee and cinnamon toast, and Loaded Imperial Sour Ale — cranberry blood orange cheesecake with a gingersnap crust flavor. 14140 Parke Long Ct., Stes. A–C, Chantilly
There are plenty of fun competitive activities regularly on the calendar at Eavesdrop Brewery in Manassas, located in a building with a loft that was formerly used to raise racing homing pigeons. Weekly entertainment options include a paint night, Coos & Brews karaoke, a cornhole tournament, a Family Feud–style game night called Opinionation, music bingo and music trivia, and an open mic night. Get your game on while trying Blue Birdy Poptart, brewed with oats and a taste of blueberry syrup, and Swede-est Assist, a New England–style IPA made as a collab with the Washington Capitals’ Nicklas Bäckström. 7223 Centreville Rd., Ste. 115, Manassas
Fancy yourself a pinball wizard? Then you need to check out Ocelot Brewing Company, a music-themed brewery in Dulles named for a Phish tune. Fermentation tanks are named for owner Adrien Widman’s favorite frontmen, including Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, and beers for song lyrics, like My Only Friend, a Russian Imperial Stout. But the focal point of the space is the pinball arcade, curated with upward of 20 machines from Widman’s friend Chris Chatman of Outa-time Amusements, including a few rarities; if you are a flipper master, join the pinball league or enter its tournament. 23600 Overland Dr., Ste. 180, Dulles
Beloved Ashburn brewery Lost Rhino Brewing Company dates back to 2009 when founder Matt Hagerman snatched up some of Old Dominion’s brewing equipment after it moved its operations to Delaware. Today, Lost Rhino, a surfing term about the quest for the perfect wave, is best known for brews like New River Pale Ale, Rhino Chasers Pilsner, and Face Plant India Pale Ale. Popular weekly events at the taproom include bingo on Mondays and trivia on Thursdays. Tuesdays are reserved for record lovers, who are encouraged to bring the best vinyl in their collections to be featured in 15- to 30-minute sets on the turntable. 21730 Red Rum Dr., Ste. 142, Ashburn
Feature image courtesy Mustang Sally Brewing Company
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This story originally ran in our December issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.