Saturday 28th of November 2015 10:00:10 AM

link
Harrisonburg Virginia is a nice college town with three local breweries. Three Notch'd Brewing has two locations, a smaller brewpub here in Harrisonburg and a larger production brewery in Charlottesville. The Harrisonburg brewery is located on the ground floor of a five story brick apartment building called the Urban Exchange. There is limited dedicated parking to the left of the building. Along the side is a small elevated deck patio with several small black metal tables. Walk around to the front entrance, where you'll see their large wooden plank sign hanging overhead, as well as a beer bottle collection in the front windows. Inside, the place has a black concrete floor and high black ceiling. The walls are decorated with brewery posters and colorful local artwork. There is a mini shuffleboard tables and a rack with several board games available for play. Engaging and eclectic background music is playing. The staff is approachable and charming. There is a central walk-up concrete-topped bar, and several high top wooden timber tables with wooden stools. On the left is a lounge area with soft chairs and a muted television. The thick timber motif is accented by their three notch logo. The backstory is that the brewery is named after a Revolutionary War trail marked by three axe notches in the trees. A chalkboard on the wall lists their 9 house beers on tap, and several of the names follow their historical theme. A window to the left of the bar looks into the small brewhouse. This nanobrewery has short stainless steel pot brewing vessels and tiny rollable stainless steel fermenters. It is a cute operational that belies the strength of their ales. The beer is well crafted, spans a good range of styles, and features a few creative recipes. Most of the recipes are common to the Charlottesville brewery, but a couple are exclusive to this location. I enjoyed a sampler flight to try them all, and my favorites were their Biggie S'mores Imperial Graham Cracker Stout and Tollan RyePA. They do not have a kitchen, but the bar does sell a few snacks. I suggest eating before visiting, or take a growler to enjoy with a meal at home.