Legend Imperial Brown Ale

The details: Legend Brewing Imperial Brown Ale, 8.4% ABV, 28 IBU, served in a 22oz. bottle

Since I recently packed the fam up and went for a visit in RVA, I thought it would be fun to do a set of reviews of beers from my hometown. Full disclosure: I grew up just outside of Richmond, but since there is absolutely nothing worth mentioning of that little village, I've grown to think of RVA as my hometown since I was old enough to drive there on my own.

So RVA has a little history when it comes to brewing. Over the years a brewery opened by one of D.G. Yuengling's sons, an Anheuser-Busch brewery, and a Pabst brewery have all called RVA home. They all disappeared by the 1970's, and there was not a local brew to be had in the river city. It was a time of national brands, and with an A-B brewery just an hour away in Williamsburg, local beers just weren't in style. 

My earliest memories of beer in RVA are from my high school days in Shockoe Bottom. This was the neighborhood were all the bars and clubs were - all the ones I was sneaking in to while my friends were the bouncers. We had a particular taste for awful shooters back in those days (let's face it, kamikaze's go down pretty easily), but we also enjoyed two particular local beers - Richbrau and Legend.

Richbrau was the second coming of the label that was the last to close it's original brewery; in 1969 as it were. The origins of Richbrau stretched back to the turn of the 20th Century, but it's rebirth in the 90's has since ended - it closed again in 2010. The other brewery is still rolling strong just across the Manchester Bridge from downtown, over on West 7th Street in what was, in 1994, a very sketchy area. That brewery was called Legend Brewery, and it's flagship beer to this day is their Brown Ale. It's as traditionally English as Richmond was/is, and it's a very easy go to when I'm home. This time I found the Imperial version, released as a celebration of their anniversary (they do something like this every year, can't wait for their 25th).

I wish there was more I could say about the English brown ale style. It's one of my favorite styles when it's cold out; right behind porter if I'm being honest. It's tastes a bit like a tootsie roll is sweet; this particular version has seven distinct malts so the sweet flavor is up there, by not cloying. Thankfully all that malt doesn't leave a weird aftertaste. It's also pretty aggressively hopped, which is what gives it the stronger-than-your-average-brown-ale alcohol flavor. I expected this with an ABV of 8.4, and that's why I wouldn't normally pick an imperial. Still, there's a damn good reason why this brown ale is still Legend's flagship after 23 years - it is still as delicious as the first one I had all those years ago.

Stay tuned next week for RVA brewing since I've left home... more interesting beers to come!

The verdict: 4.25 out of 5 (on Untapp'd - follow me @slownumbers to see what I'm drinking!)