Tap Handle #209: Old Dominion - Oak Barrel Stout

I like this tap more than I thought I would. Each variety has subtle differences in the tap layout, with the label being the most distinguishing feature.

Old Dominion Brewing was founded in 1989 in Ashburn, VA by Jerry Bailey. Bailey was working as a federal government employee when his brother gave him a homebrewing kit for Christmas. After much research and planning, he decided to open a brewpub, and it was an immediate success. The grounds behind the brewery were used to host the Old Dominion Brew Festival from 1996 to 2006.

Bailey put Old Dominion up for sale in the mid-2000s. No serious offers to purchase the company were made until 2007, when Fordham Brewing of Annapolis, MD offered to purchase the company, financed in part by Anheuser-Busch (AB) for a minority stake in the two breweries, to form Coastal Brewing Company. The majority of Coastal is owned by Fordham Brewing. Old Dominion also operated a brewpub at the Ashburn brewery, which was closed in August 2008, primarily due to ongoing losses directly related to the overall U.S. economic downturn. Immediately after the sale, the brewers at Old Dominion worked with the brewers at Fordham for several months to ensure a consistent recipe transition. After the breweries combined operations, Coastal Brewing increased its focus on Old Dominion's popular brands, with all slower selling and non-profitable brands and contract brews culled from the product line by Coastal management.

In May 2009 all brewing operations, combined with those of Fordham Brewing, were moved to a new facility in Dover, Delaware. The current core brands of the brewery continue to sell briskly in both the on-site and packaging ends, and can be found as the "house" brews at many locations throughout the DC Metro area, including the Great American Restaurant chain (except for the Sweetwater Tavern in Centreville, VA), Verizon Center, and Nationals Park. Old Dominion continues to host various brew sampling and cask events throughout the DC-MD-VA metropolitan area, maintaining their status as a Mid-Atlantic regional brewer, and their Oak Barrel Stout and Hop Mountain Pale Ale brands remain popular sellers in the packaging end of the line, available at several retail and grocery chains throughout the region.

Oak Barrel Stout is rich and smooth, combining seven different malts and two hops, and dry-hopped with fresh vanilla beans and toasted oak, resulting in a stout that has a bourbon barrel flavor. Recommended food pairings are oysters, clams, brie, and chocolate. Weighted average on ratebeer.com is 3.59 out of 5.

Old Dominion Official Website