Wednesday 5th of September 2012 08:13:25 PM

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Starr Hill Brewery originally started in Charlottesville, but they relocated west to Crozet to enable continued growth. Their brewhouse is a renovated frozen food manufacturing facility. It is a very large industrial cinder block building with plenty of space. Park in their gravel lot, and walk through the receiving dock area to their tasting room. They have a walk-up three sided wooden bar with enough space for about two dozen people. I visited on a weekend and enjoyed their entertaining free tour, which spans from the malt room to their bottling line. The place has ample square footage, and is filled with brewing equipment. In the middle of the brewery is a row of their eight stainless steel fermenters. The atmosphere is casual yet professional. The brewery is clearly a manufacturing environment, but the tasting room includes a star motif decor and plenty of purchasable Starr Hill paraphernalia. They have six of their brews on tap and you can sample all for $5. You can also purchase bottles or growlers to go. Their beers include Amber Ale, Festie Amber Lager, Jomo Lager, Pils Pilsner, The Love Wheat Beer, Northern Lights IPA, Double Platinum Imperial IPA (my favorite - deliciously bold and hoppy), Boxcar Pumpkin Porter (nice for fall season), and a special reconstruction of colonial Monticello Reserve Ale from wheat and corn. In short, I enjoyed my visit to this brewery, and enjoyed tasting the variety of their offering.

Monday 31st of August 2009 02:34:15 PM

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This was a a great brewery visit. They have a small bar set up in the middle of a vast (freezing cold when I went in Dec.) interior, right in front of the tanks, and you can have at whatever's on tap. Brilliant. There are tables out and I think they have entertainment some nights, but this is not really a bar per se.

I bought a couple cases and can honestly say all were great. Worth a special mention, though, is a seasonal called The Love which I was fortunate enough to get on tap at a tapas place in C-ville.