Maya breaks in a new brewery

Clay recently started a new job as general manager of Patch Brewing Co. It's a new brewery located in Gordonsville, VA, and is just on the verge of opening. The official opening is next weekend, but they had an unpublicized "friends and family" event today. Maya and I attended. 

Maya was a bit nervous at first. It was a new place and was full of people she didn't know. But Clay was there and he brought her a bowl of water and a dog treat, so we were off to a good start. The crowd was mostly folks from the local craft beer scene so I knew quite a few of them. Maya didn't know them but they are a friendly bunch of good people (craft beer people usually are), so she relaxed as more and more of them came up to her wanting to meet, pet, or take her picture. 

She didn't sample any beers but she smelled them and seemed to approve. I sampled two of the initial four beers and liked them very much. Not being an IPA drinker, I couldn't vouch for the other two but folks seemed to like them. 

The place is located at the old VFW hall just outside Gordonsville on Rt. 231. Phase I of the development that is opening now is the picnic pavilion, which they have transformed into a very nice beer garden. The VFW building itself will require more extensive renovation but it has a lot of potential. They own 16 acres of land there too. It includes an old little league baseball field and they have put in a new dog park. There is land where they will be growing some of the ingredients for beer and cider, and there will even be a nature walk trail through the woods. They will be rolling out new beers as they finish the brewing process. They also are serving a couple of local ciders and wines. There's lots of do, lots to come, but it's getting off the ground now. Exciting times.

Best of all, it's dog-friendly. The only dog there today other than Maya was Gus, who belongs to one of the owners. Gus is a good boy and one of the beers is named after him - "The father, son, and hoppy Gus," an American IPA. 

This is the picnic pavilion, which is now a beer garden. There are

two bars at the far end.

Maya, ordering at the bar.

You always get good service when you're this cute.

This is my favorite of the beers, an English brown ale, called "A stone in the woods."

The "plastic" pint glasses are greenware, made of cellulose derived from corn.

They will have proper glassware once they move inside but these were fine and are biodegradable.

Even on a hot day, there seemed to be a breeze blowing through the pavilion. 

Maya got lots of love.

There are picnic tables on either side of the pavilion. Come fall, there will be firepits as well.

When anyone wanted to pet her, Maya would always check with me first to make sure it was ok.

Mostly she settled down right next to my stool.