Commonwealth Brewing Co was founded as the manifestation of one family’s love for making uncompromising, exceptional beer and sharing the experiences with friends. The spark of inspiration was ignited during a revelatory European brewery and beer hall tour while Jeramy was visiting Natalie, who was traveling (aka wandering) abroad for two years. But it wasn’t until 2013, after years of stove top excellence, beer geekery and a house too full of brewing equipment, that it was time to fully embrace the craft beer lifestyle.
Commonwealth opened Sept 6, 2015 as a result of next level commitment, mild insanity, family, friends and a profound sense of purpose. Since then, we’ve grown into a tight knit band of like minded people who believe beer should be adventurous, diverse, extremely drinkable, and defy boundaries. We honor farmhouse traditions, huge hop American styles, and the complex depths of wild fermentations.
Located inside a fully renovated, former fire and rescue station built in 1962 and nestled in a funky beach cottage community (flip flops mandatory) on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia Beach, our facility is complete with a double garage bay tasting room, private event spaces, an outdoor beer garden, and a conditioned barrel cellar housing hundreds of barrels of mixed fermentations for long term aging.
I get the guava, and always love guava. More blood orange. Pours hazy pink with ok head. Tangy and well balanced. Very nicely done like medium rare steak. Can.
Canned 4/4/18, drunk 5/11/18. Fully hazy-to-cloudy, copper-bronze-maize. Off-white head fades steadily to cover. Uh oh. Already very malty and full of caramel with light oxidation obvious. Bread, biscuit and only light mango-lime for hops, almost as an afterthought. In mouth it's well-attenuated with a soft texture but just tired and malt heavy with oxidation and abundant caramel showing too strongly for its age. Lightly bitter lime, mango and heavy apricot marmalade. Good honey character and great carbonation. Guess it should have been opened sooner, but still surprised it's this oxidized. No alcohol or resin or flaw.
Intense like a secret Haitian vodou society. Citrusy hops hit you on the head like the Toton Macoute with enough booze to give you a hangover like Baby Doc running for office again. Pours murky orange with ok head. Some herbals. Boozy bitter end with some herbal vibe like Bokor potions. Tall can.
16oz can pours a dark gold with some white head. Nose has heavy soap and herbs, lavender, lime. Flavor has lime, flowers, some vanilla here, stone fruits vanilla. Finishes tart and oily.
Green onion and pine with passion fruit. Very juicy stuff, wonderful as always. Pours murky orange with good head. Tangy and light bitter with almost a note of spice. Fair amount of resin. Gets better the more you drink. Can.
$5.00 pint can from Wine Warehouse. This is my Virginia Beer Rating #1500. Pours murky/hazy golden with a small white head. Aroma is strangely herbal, not quite medicinal, but leaning that way, along with light citrus and earth. Flavor is... well that's interesting. Slightly sweet citrus, green tea, slight Earl Gray, lemon zest, light biscuit. Enjoyable. Here's to my next 1500 VA Beer ratings! EDITING TO ADD: I enjoy this even more as time goes on. Extra point overall.