NORFOLK, VIRGINIA
Residing at a blue-grey Colonial grocery store of the 1940’s in the Colleywood neighborhood of Norfolk, ELATION BREWING became the city’s first combined brewery-coffeehouse during March 2019 (followed thereafter by Cova Brewing).
Serving delicious bakehouse pizzas and pub fare at the spacious bowstring-trussed barroom and while offering biscuits and tea at the left side coffeehouse, Elation will please any serious gourmandizer.
At the arched bark top 20-seat bar, there are twelve taps, hanging Edison lights and a refrigerator for to-go canned beers. The large cement-floored community-tabled barroom features high industrial ceilings, restored beams, old red brick side walls, floor-to-ceiling front windows and varied exposed ducts for rustic effect.
Behind the bar are the windowed stainless steel brew tanks containing nine fine suds my friends Bob and Scott and wife, Karen, help me enjoy alongside a few pizzas on a steamy July Saturday afternoon ’23.
Flagship German moderation, Larchmont Lager, let spritzy citrus-spiced bittering stride by musky floral herbed Saaz hops and earthen graining.
Honeyed lemon herbage, floral-spiced sweetness and white peppered lemongrass tartness serenaded Saaz-hopped That’s Amore Italian Pilsner.
IPA-like piney citrus hop bittering prodded Zuper Pils, leaving lemony grapefruit zesting upon its mineral grained pilsner malting.
Lemon-licked herbage settled across musky pilsner malts for sessionable clear-yellowed Larchmont Light Golden Ale, finishing with light citrus spicing.
Year-round Rosé Gose let its lightly vinous white and green grape esters entice dry rosé stead as salted lime, oaken cherry, tart cranberry and blush pink wine illusions whir.
Coriander-salted blood orange and tangerine tartness regaled briny lemon liming for dry Mimosa champagne spinoff, Mimgosa Fruited Gose.
Ultra-dry lemon limed pineapple and mango tartness informed Beach Please Sour Fruited, a lightly acidic tropical elixir.
Two well-liked IPA’s included dry NEIPA, Highland Park, contrasting tartly sweet orange marmalade against lemony guava-gooseberry salting. Also, West Coast IPA, Notice This, paraded piney citrus perfuming thru dry pale malting.