RVA Spots: Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery

annestuartteter
Sep 15, 2016
3 min read

I’m pretty sure every girl dreams of standing in a field of sunflowers. Maybe not when it’s 100 degrees out, but I’m sure you’ve all thought about. I made that dream a reality on Saturday when I headed out Lickinghole Creek Brewery. They were hosting a “Pick Your Own Sunflower Event” last weekend and I had to go.

My first time to Lickinghole, but not my first experience with their beer, we ventured out around noon and let me tell you, it is a hike from the city - about 30 miles down 64 and then through some back country roads that are not labeled, you find Lickinghole. GPS it and pay close attention.

At first it appears like a modest residence in a country neighborhood, but the closer you get, the more you realize you are stumbling upon a magnificent gem, that just so happens to be in the middle of this country neighborhood. Nestled on what feels like millions of acres (what do I know, I grew up in the city, a third bathroom is impressive to me) you can tell Lickinghole is a family operation, more of a we have a farm and happen to produce beer, instead of the other way around.

The whole facility is in what feels like a baptist church (praying to the beer gods instead of the one up above however) and run like a mini festival, with a ticket equaling any beer of your choice, food trucks and live music. When we got there, we decided beer and food first, then to our appointed mission of sunflowers.

The beer was good! I got their Citra Hop India Pale Ale and really enjoyed it. They had a tequila something that scared me a bit. They also had a few food trucks that afternoon, Northern Neck Oysters and Continental Divide. I can never say no to oysters, so I had a half dozen. Delicious!

There was also some delightful live music, that was pleasant but not overpowering. Ten picnic tables were situated behind the brewhouse for eating, drinking and music listening. While they had a few tents, very little could save you from the oppressive summer heat that day. It was fine, we weren’t there to be in the shade. We came on a mission - pick all the sunflowers we could!

After enjoying food and beverages, we trucked out to their expansive fields. This was a special weekend they were hosting that allowed all guests to come pick sunflowers from their fields for free. I could see why - so many sunflowers! Not that I’m complaining, but I could understand why they were letting people take them.

So we walked a bit and then took the plunge into the field. The sunflowers were as tall as my face and the stalks were as thick as bamboo. We wandered through the field to pick out the best ones we could find. Some of the flowers were larger than my face, but we also got some “smaller” ones to balance them out (now that they are in my apartment, the small ones don’t look small at all).

After about 45 minutes, the heat was getting to us and the flowers were getting heavy, so we trucked it on back up the path to head home.

Sunflowers may have gotten me out to Lickinghole, but it won’t be my last time there.

Learn more about Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery:

lickingholecreek.com

4100 Knolls Point Dr. Goochland, VA 23063