Microfestivus 2014 Brewery Quick Look: Richmond’s Isley Brewing

I’ll readily admit the first social media item I saw about Richmond’s Isley Brewing was about their newly constructed patio. Of course, it was merely the first tweet I happened to read, but never the one to discount the importance of not just good beer, but a great place to drink it, it definitely grabbed my attention. Immediately, I made a mental note to check out their beer the next time I was in town.

I guess it’s a good thing that when I searched out reviews of Isley’s beer, I found them to be quite favorable too.

As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one curious about Isley’s beer. In early January, Tood and Jason Alström, founders of BeerAdvocate.com, took a brief tour of a few Richmond beer hotspots and stopped by the brewery, samping six beers and giving them scores ranging from 80 to 90 on their website. But it looks like Richmonders didn’t necessarily need the BeerAdvocate brothers to let them know about Isley and their good beer. Since opening in October of last year, the brewery seems to be a hit among the craft beer curious in the city, as they have just increased their brewing capacity in the last month.

Among the standouts from Isley is their Oatmeal Porter, called “The Bribe”, which many reviews note for its flavors of rich coffee, some chocolate, and of course oats or cereal grains. Other favorites seem to be their Blueberry infused Hefeweizen, and their “Choosy Mother” Peanut Butter Porter. They also have recently introduced an IPA called “Scott’s Addition”, referencing of course the district in which the brewery is located.

Without a doubt, I still plan on visiting that patio someday. But for the time being, the addition of Isley to the Microfestivus line up is definitely a welcome one from the ever growing Richmond beer scene.

Take a look at their website here!