My cousin was in the hospital recovering from surgery, and I was his after care specialist for when he was released. Doug came with me to hang out, and we were both planning to have a full work day from the cousin's apartment.
After walking up the street to the delightful Riverbend Roasters for coffee and bagels, we settled into work.
But fate would have other plans.
The internet was out (thanks to down detector we were sure it wasn't just a problem at his address but his neighborhood). Both of us did what we could to reschedule meetings and alert our teams to the lack of internet (thank you, phones and Slack!) Then we thought... what to do, what to do... I thought for sure my cousin would be spending the second night in the hospital, Doug said that he'd be released when the hospital felt that he should be released.
Doug had downloaded the pdf of the beer trail map, because he is smart like that. We then had our plan for the day.
We opted to head to the most dense part of the beer trail on the map, a neighborhood labeled Scott's Addition. Looked like we'd be able to visit a couple breweries in one fell swoop. We'd grab a beer at a couple locations and take out for the rest (gotta drink responsibly!)
Ardent Craft Ales is centrally located at spot 2 on the neighborhood map featured above, so it seemed to be a great option for a starting point. As it was early in the day, we were looking forward to lunch (Doug had scoped the menu out while planning, and was looking forward to the charcuterie board).
He wanted to sit outside, but immediately it became obvious we were destined to hang at the bar when I started to talk with the beerkeeper, Maddy, who was delightful, welcoming, vivacious.
Thinking about the recent visit I had to a northern Virginia brewery which I didn't enjoy and felt ignored and overlooked, this was refreshing. Talking about the industry and brewing, the neighborhood and the Beer Trail with Maddy was a lot of fun.
To be honest, I always recognize when it is busy in a brewery or a bar, the staff are not going to have time to shoot the shit with some rando amateur beer blogger. I know I'm not important, I know I'm not some sort of professional. I just think small talk is sometimes the heart of things in this industry, so when you can get some and get GOOD some, it's even better.
Beats the shit out of a middle distant stare-through when your glass is empty and the person doesn't ask you if you want another. If you're sitting at the bar, it usually indicates you're gonna be looking for your glass to be filled.
Maddy made sure of that. If anyone from Ardent ever reads this - please know your staff was exceptional, and it's why we didn't end up leaving and going to a secondary or tertiary location on our "tour" of Scott's Addition, and also why I'll be back in June when I am back in Richmond.
Anyway. The beers.
Instantly it brought up the image of the ICEE art and other similar cold fruity summer heat slaying snacks of our youth.
It was crisp, clear, lovely.
Doug got the Ardent Wheat, which had such an amazing flavor. Pictured to the right here, the Ardent Wheat is on the left and the Cold IPA is on the right. And down below the Ardent Wheat is hanging out with the Doug-desired and very well adored by both of us charcuterie board.
The charcuterie board had three different cheeses, two different meats, pickled onions and wee pickles, and olives. The pear, delightfully sliced, was perfectly ripe and lovely with a piece of cheese against it.
My only complaint about the charcuterie board was I usually love a nice piece of toasty bread or two for building up a mini stack of the cheese and meat together. That would be the only thing I think that would improve this presentation. The bleu cheese would have been best suited against a cracker or toast. The Appalachian in the middle was perfect against both meats, and I think the cheese at the far right was the Carolina. Smooth and creamy. The Ardent Wheat was a perfect pair to all the flavors here.
Next, I went into Gose territory to get the Mixed Berry Gose. Initially, I'd wanted the Orange & Clove but they didn't have it on draft, just can, so I'd wanted it on draft. I'm not a huge fan of mint so I didn't go the pomegranate route.
It's times like this that a flight is nice, but in some ways that's cheating in my book, especially with checking into things on Untappd. 4 oz samples are not exactly a full experience.
The mixed berry gose was a beautiful color, vibrant and happy. The flavor was subtle, and it wasn't very sour so if you like your Gose to be puckery, this isn't it. It was a good transitional choice between the first course and the sandwich to come.
Doug went with the Defenestrator.
A collaboration with the Cask Cafe, this was a great doppelbock. We ordered our sandwiches. Doug got the Pressed Avocado, which came with ham, fig jam, brie. Struggling with my decision, I ordered the Roast Beef which came with gouda, spicy mustard and garlic aioli.
I asked the beerkeeper (Maddy was off on other duties) what he'd recommend with the sandwich and if the IPA X or 14 would be the better bet. He steered me toward the IPA 14 (noting IPA X doesn't mean 10, the way one might interpret).
Doug had the Kellerbeer with his sandwich. Note that I didn't photograph either beer at this point because we were very busy eating our delicious sandwiches with the amazing side slaw.
The IPA 14 was great with the roast beef and the Kellerbeer came home with us in a takeaway bag along with some Ardent Wheat. All told, both great choices with the meals we had.
To be honest, I am sad that I didn't get his name but the beerkeeper we had was delightful. A lovely person, and I would recommend going to Ardent to meet him. I asked him to pose for me with his Sláinte tattoo, as it is a big part of my family heritage to see such a marking of a great server and one who shares such cheer.
If anyone from Ardent does social media or tracking of web referrals in Google Analytics, leave a comment and let me know who this lovely human is. I won't post Maddy's picture that she let me take because she's mostly sharing her tattoos and I don't have permission necessarily. I wanted to take pictures of them for our kid Jess to show them a fellow sea creature liker. But I did tell this human why I wanted the picture.
Everyone in my family would agree this is awesome.
We were thinking of swinging round to the cidery or another stop on the beer trail before heading back to base camp in Church Hill. My phone rang and it was the hospital telling me my cousin would be ready for pick up very shortly. Oh! okay! So that changes things. Doug brought me back to the house, and he headed north to home.
I waited for the pick up call (which didn't come for another 2 hours, but that's okay - I was happy to get a nap) and my take away beers were in the fridge, waiting to keep me company later on that week.
Where my cousin lives there isn't a brewery right handy - there are some good beer bars, and one restaurant within walking distance where we had some Ardent and others during the week. I understand someone is opening a brewery in Church Hill this spring/summer so that'll be another addition on the beer trail to go visit when we go back!
Thanks Ardent for a great day and visit!
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