champion brewing company

This is a bare bones operation whose sole purpose is to serve fantastic beer. Definitely not a place for a romantic dinner (or any dinner, for that matter) but if you're looking for great local beer, check it out.

Multiple people had recommended Champion Brewing in Charlottesville, as a MUST brewery in C'ville. So we ventured out on Sunday afternoon. The building is a bit off the beaten path, a few blocks away from the pedestrian walkway. The decor is pretty simple, industrial. It is a working brewery, no food for purchase (except for some small bags of chips or pretzels). But there is a food truck that parks outside (I think it varies?) and you are free to bring food in to enjoy with your beer. We had some of the BEST fish tacos we've ever had from the truck "Two Brothers." The beer was quite good. For a small flight ($6.50) you can pick 4 beers from a list of 7. The pours are totally decent -- probably about 4oz. If you are into IPAs this is a great place for you. Out of the 7 beers, 3 are IPAs. I would say in general, the flavors are STRONG, creative, and very different than what is usually out there. This certainly isn't Sam Adams! But the bourbon barrel stout is quite tasty and the Rye in your Eye is also very good. Certainly worth the visit.

Fun brewery that now has a fabulous outdoor area. Brew selections are excellent and Sean was a wonderful host. Food truck (which vary) offerings were delicious! Parking was plentiful which is a perk for C'ville!

Great atmosphere, friendly service, fantastic beer. Don't even bother with the other brewery nearby. If you like beer, this is the place you want to be.

For one of Charlottesville's newest breweries, Champion is quickly becoming the best! These guys don't settle with a handful of beers. now they do only have about 6-8 taps so that's all you will find available but they are always coming up with new beers and trying new styles. It's almost guaranteed that if you when to Champion last week and again this week there will be 1-2 new beers. This place never gets old. All the do is serve beer. They do have food trucks parked outside during the week and weekend for that but if you want quality beer and great conversations, Champion is the place to go!

Stopped by the Champion Brewing Company to try out some of their brews. I found the brews I tried to be good with their stouts being great. The interior has a real industrial feel and no food is served there. However, they do have a food truck parked out front and let you bring food purchased there into the CBC.

I had the opportunity to visit Champion's tasting room right after the new year, and had a fabulous time! The tasting room is a really cool space - the decor is sleek, and the beautiful wooden interior gives it a warm, old-school feel. I particularly liked the retro photos on the walls taken around Charlottesville during the '50s and '60s. We sampled a flight and I enjoyed everything, the standouts being the Missile IPA (hoppy, which I'm a big fan of, but also balanced, which is great to find in a new-to-the-scene IPA) and their Christmas beer (just so remarkably delicious and Christmassy - don't know how else to put it, but I can't wait for next season to get my hands on it again). If you're a beer person, they're doing some great work here and you'll be doing yourself a disservice to miss it.