By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones

According to local lore, Charlottesville’s nickname ‘the hook’ can refer to the C in the name, a defunct independent weekly magazine, or the scholarly tradition of a “Gentleman’s C“ grade at the University of Virginia. Perhaps a grade earned by students who value balance and quality of life and forfeit study time to enjoy a locally brewed malt beverage. Today’s beer scene in Charlottesville, however, earns grades that far exceed a Gentleman’s C.  So, this beer scene is literally “off the hook.” Downtown Charlottesville is a beer destination where you can do a walking beer tour and not get behind the wheel.  Here are some of the highlights of the downtown C’ville beer scene, so you can efficiently plan your own program of study. 

Do your homework by checking brewery hours! Most open between 3:00 and 4:30 on weekdays, and noon on Saturdays and Sundays. Some are closed Mondays and/or Tuesdays. This itinerary is a Saturday plan as breweries open by noon. You could do a driving tour, of course, but that means somebody is DD and you don’t get all your steps in for the day! Or, hire C’ville Hop On Tours for a private group tour and leave the driving to a pro. 

Start your day with brunch at either South Street Brewery or Three Notch’d Craft Kitchen. Both open at 11 am on weekends for brunch and have space to accommodate groups. They are only a six-minute walk from each other, so you can easily walk from one to the other. 

South Street has been quenching thirsts in an atmospheric brewpub since 1998. Wonderful beers, an appealing food menu, wines, cocktails, and THC seltzers! Same owners as Blue Mountain Brewing in Nelson County. Take a ride on Satan’s Pony or get a flight to start the day.

Six minutes’ walk from South Street and you will reach Three Notch’d Craft Kitchen in the IX Art Park and home of their main production brewery.  It’s large group friendly, and has a full menu of food, cocktails, beer, and wine options. For brunch, you might choose a Minute Man Juicy IPA or a Fruit of the Bloom Wheat ale brewed with raspberry and hibiscus as your eye-opener.

Rockfish’s West Main Street tasting room on the pedestrian mall is a three-minute walk from South Street or a nine-minute walk from Three Notch’d. Helles lager and strawberry pineapple gose were tasty recent offerings, but selection will vary as at most small breweries. We love the outdoor patio and browsing the shops, restaurants, bars, and theaters along the pedestrian mall. A great location for people watching and meeting friendly strangers! Rockfish also has another tasting room north on Preston Street. 

From Rockfish on Main, Random Row Brewing is a nine-minute walk. Random Row’s Mosaic Pale Ale won Bronze at GABF in 2020 and Gold in the Virginia Craft Beer Cup in 2019.  They brew a range of classic styles, and if you are feeling colorful, they brewed Over the Rainbow Skittle Sour. Note that last one may be a Pride Month offering so if they are out (in the beer sense) you may need to BYOS (bring your own skittles). They also have good pizza!

Walk left on Preston under the underpass, and next door is Kardinal Hall, a large beer hall-styled restaurant. They don’t brew, but the beer and food menus are grand. You order at the counter, and when the food is ready it’s brought to your table. Service was speedy on a recent visit, they can accommodate groups, and the outdoor beer garden is charming in nice weather. 

You can walk up Preston from Kardinal Hall to the historic Dairy Market in six minutes. Crozet’s Starr Hill Brewery has a tasting room here with 22 beers, hard seltzers, seltzer cocktails, and mocktails. The Dairy Market is a fantastic food hall with Thai, Himalayan, falafel, pizza, poke, American comfort food, and more. You can bring food into the Starr Hill Tasting room which has plenty of seating and a large bar. Opens at 11 daily. 

Right across the street from the Dairy Market is Superfly Brewing. A small family operation with eight solid beers on tap, Superfly has a funky music-retro-analog vibe. We highly recommend the Midnight Train London Porter, brewed by owner Ed Liversidge, an Englishman who ditched his career in the financial services industry to follow his passion for brewing. This luscious porter won a Gold Medal in its style category at the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild competition for 2024 and a Bronze for Best in Show! Thursdays and Saturdays at 7 there is often live music, and a pop-up disco could happen randomly according to locals.

Note that this entire itinerary could be done in the reverse order on Saturdays, when breweries tend to open by noon. Start your day at the Dairy Market and Superfly and proceed down Preston. End the day at Three Notch’d or South Street. It’s a palindrome of an itinerary!

We must mention two excellent C’ville downtown breweries that involve a drive. Decipher Brewing is well worth the visit. They won the Virginia Craft Beer Cup Best in Show in 2022 with their Barley Late Kolsch. The Snowball’s Chance Helles Lager won a Gold Medal in the Virginia Craft Beer Cup 2024. Librarian Irish Red scored Bronze in the 2024 World Beer Cup. Every beer we tried here was stellar. This is a family operation, they are veteran-owned, and they are now serving pizza. They don’t distribute, so you have to come here to try these fantastic beers!

Northwest in the Bellair section of Charlottesville is Selvedge Brewing. Their first location was in the Woolen Mills and they have kept the textile branding, with beers like Denim Lager, Houndstooth Bitter, Jorts Pale Ale, Flannel Stout, etc. Clean and well-brewed beers, a smoked doppelbock that knocked our socks off, a large tasting room that can easily accommodate groups, and an elevated bar food menu that emphasizes local sourcing. 

We have only mentioned breweries we have been to. Hogwaller, Eastwood, and any we haven’t mentioned are on our bucket list. Enjoy your time in downtown C’ville, a true beer destination. 

Looking for lodging that won’t break the bank? Check out the Acorn Inn in Faber. It’s a forty minute drive from downtown C’ville and terrific for groups who want to socialize after a day of beer touring.