Bikes and Brews

Let me be honest right off the bat – I am not a bicycle enthusiast. I rode my bike as a kid, but over time, I have lost my knack for it. They say that things you used to do but haven’t done in a while will come back naturally like getting back on a bike… in my case that means these things would come back to me slowly and painfully, and probably cause bruises and emotional strife.

But enough about my bike riding issues…. what does this have to do with beer?

The front doors, for us non-bikers

A month or so ago, a new brewery opened in Ashburn, Virginia called Old Ox Brewery. Old Ox is a production brewery located on a bike trail called the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail. I mean that literally… the brewery is ON the bike trail (between mile marker 25 and 25.5), as in the trail is 20 feet away from the door to the brewery! This gives Old Ox a close relationship with bike riders that they have parleyed into a pretty cool and laid-back craft beer drinking atmosphere.

I wandered up to Ashburn last Saturday afternoon to visit and drink some beers. The brewery is physically located in an industrial park that has more of a commercial feel than a heavy industry vibe. It’s a quiet part of town that gels well with the overall mood of the brewery.

The tap room is large and inviting with a big bar area, TVs on the walls and views of the brew house in the next room. After chatting with their friendly staff at the bar, I ordered my flight of their four brews and took a seat at one of the tables near the bay door (which happens to open to the W&OD trail) and watched the bikers coming off the trail park their bikes and come on in for a pint. Again, I’m not a biker, but I found this phenomenon fascinating.

The bay door, for the bikers, and air-flow purposes

Another really cool aspect of Old Ox is the food situation. They don’t make food there (although they do have bags of chips and some sodas) but they do have a partnership with Jennifer’s Pastries, which is another small business located in the same complex. Jennifer’s menu is on every table in Old Ox, and all you have to do is call her… she delivers your food to your table in the tap room. They have excellent sandwiches and pizza. How cool is that?

The Black Ox photobombed this photo
of the chalkboard

The beers at Old Ox were excellent as well! The four they had on flight when I was there were their Golden Ox Golden Ale, Saison d’Ox Saison, Alpha Ox American IPA and Black Ox Porter. I thought the Golden Ox was tremendous – it had a perfect balance of light hoppiness and refreshing malt sweetness. It was an easy drinker for sure. So too was the Saison d’Ox, which had a very light and pleasantly sweet malt backbone, with just enough tart edge to cut through the food I was eating from Jennifer (nice touch). The porter was equally wonderful – dark and malt forward… truly delicious! The IPA was a session IPA, so the hops were more toned down than I and my fellow hop heads usually like, but for a session IPA, it was very nice.

Old Ox also has a section of the production floor open to the public for additional seating and corn hole tournaments. It’s kind of nice to go in and take a look around, especially for us beer-obsessed folk who like to see where the magic happens.

I recommend a field trip to Old Ox for those of you in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area, or for those passing through. It’s a pleasant and laid back craft beer drinking joint. And if you’re a cyclist and you frequent the W&OD but haven’t yet stopped in, shame on you.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!