Center of the Universe Brewing Company

We missed growl-​o-​ween but still enjoyed trying the Octoberfest beer. Being a Sam Adams Octoberfest fan and not really liking others, I was skeptical but the DH and I are now both fans. It was dark and a little cool out but we heard a live band so we sat outside. There are plenty of wooden picnic tables and hops growing on all the trellises. We had been here before a couple of times years ago and most recently last year for Das Bier Run (fun!). I am not too crazy about COTU’s openness to having children running about but they can often be entertaining (like when doing an impromptu Conga line!). Gotta find out the name of the band — they were toe-​tappingly good!

It’s quite a hike to find this place! If you’re a die-​hard draft guy or gal and want to sample everything Richmond has to offer, it’s worth it to give this place a try. Otherwise, you might want to stick to places closer to the city.
The nifty thing about COTU here is the Biergarten outside (Beer Garden, for non-​Germans), and it is certainly a beautiful place to enjoy a beer on a pleasant day. Speaking of beers, there are plenty to choose from of every variety and hoppiness. Your liver won’t thank you for coming, though your taste buds will! Prices for said drafts are reasonable to boot. Service was what I would call average, no hints of pleasantness or unpleasantness, really.
While nice days make for a nice outside drinking experience here, the interior is darkly lit and doesn’t have much of an ambiance. Also, if you’re looking for food, you’re pretty much limited to the food truck that’s on site most of the time, and the offerings they have are pricey. Honestly, if it’s a beautiful day and you just want to drink some beers outside with friends and don’t mind a hike to get here, go for it. Otherwise, you might be better off finding a restaurant closer in that happens to carry COTU beers. Not knocking the place at all, though it’s quite a trip to make without any dinner options or bad-​weather provisions.
Overall: 3.0 stars
— — — —
Pros:
— Great draft beer selection! They have something for beer drinkers of every background.
— Biergarten is awesome, assuming you’re there on a nice day.
Cons:
— It’s quite a trip to get here. Put it this way, when you get to this general area, the only other traffic you see will be people coming to and leaving from COTU just like you are.
— In bad weather, you’d have to drink inside, and it’s pretty dark and uninviting in there.
— Food options are limited to one food truck that hangs out near the Biergarten. I hope they consider trying to make some meals of their own available if enough of their patrons request it. Being able to pair some food with these beers would be awesome.

This is an awesome brewery!
I was there this weekend for Happy Camper fest and I couldn’t believe that I had never been there before. It’s right off of 95 next to some camp grounds in the sticks of Ashland. I loved the whole vibe of the place. It’s an easy going, no judgement zone hideaway. I’m not into beer, so I can’t speak to how good it is, but I loved the creative names (PocaHOPtas)! All of the employees were standouts. I got the vibe that they really loved working there. That’s what I love to see whenever I’m at a business!
This looks like it would be the perfect place to have an event too. There are two large tasting rooms. One has games, plenty of seating, flyers for upcoming events, and cute themed decorations. The other was a little more dark with less decorations and cute-​ness, but it is a nice, quiet alternative to the main room. They sell t-​shirts (that are SO soft by the way) too. Then, outside there’s a stage area with great sound, picnic tables, a walk up beer window, and plenty of space for festivals and other events.
COTU is #winning.

COTU had been on my radar for a while. First, it’s a mere 5 minutes from the neighborhood my parents live in. Second, the Pocahoptus is one of my favorite beers; I frequent a place here in Williamsburg simply because they serve it.
The space is pretty large with a nice outside patio, I’d say it’s similar in size to Alewerks here in the ‘burg. I sat in the front room at the bar and had a flight, which included 6 beers for $ 7. On this night there was a high school reunion party going down which made it kind of crowded (and there were some pretty obnoxious people). Luckily there were a few seats at the bar since the party was happening in the larger room (though they came to the bar to get the beer). The two taproom servers were prompt, but not particularly friendly.
Though I love my Pocahoptus, I really didn’t enjoy any of the others that much aside from the the session IPA.

Just a basic Brewery
I recently decided to stop by this brewery on one of my few trips up to the DC area and I do know COTU has some really good beers in bottles, but the problem is you WONT find any of their good beers here at the brewery. Upon walking into the place I was overwhelmed by the stench of beer almost like it was spilled all over in the small bar area and never cleaned up. I’ve been in many other breweries in the area and none of them reeked of beer as much as COTU does. I quickly grabbed a set at the bar and opted for the flight which at $ 11 it pretty expensive for what you get. Out of all the beers that were on tap I wasn’t impressed with any of them. I guess that what I get after drinking many Imperial Stouts and high ABV beers all over 9%. I’ve recently found this fact to be true of many other breweries in that there is NO core beers to be found even at the brewery. For example: Blue Mountain Brewery has their Dark Hollow which is an amazing core beer. Or like Dogfish Head Brewing that has MANY beers on tap that you can’t find else where in bottle form. O don’t particularly enjoy visiting a brewery that has beers on tap that I can purchase all the time at the grocery store.
**Overall, COTU is like I said, just ok or average. Nothing notable about their beer stood out or made me think to myself «DAMN that was good, I cant wait to come back here again and try that out again.»
Cheers!

I’m not sure what to think about this place. I tried this out over the weekend and walked away feeling weird about it. I thought the location was strange. I don’t know Ashland very well, but it was kind of in an industrial service location, just across from an RV lot. Oh well, businesses have to do what they can to get a foothold. I was very excited to pull up to a covered veranda with hop vines growing over the thing. I could see a food truck outside and a band getting set up, or tearing down — either way, live music at the place on the weekends = cool.
Inside is a very quaint bar. A few regular tables, short tables with couches and high tables all centered around a corner bar. There’s some games and stuff littered about, it was actually a very cool hangout atmosphere. However, for that reason it was a bit weird to me, like I was crashing someone else’s party. It was personal in there, which I liked, but for whatever reason I just couldn’t get comfortable there.
All the brews offered were on a chalk board — I purchased a flight, a sample of each of the beers offered with the intention of finding my favorite, buying a pint to hangout with and filling a growler for the road.
Now, I don’t know what the new VA laws are and how these things work here, but the flight was $ 11.xx and they will not let you run a tab. A flight is probably close to maybe a beer and a half, so I thought that was a lot.
There were 7 beers offered there and at the time I went, 4 of them were pale ales, 1 was a german alt which was also bitter. Personally, as a fan of craft beer, I’m tired of bitter beers, but it’s the summer and I guess I just have to deal. However, that was disappointing to me.
Their Kolsch was awesome. Clean and refreshing, but Kolsch is Kolsch and there’s not much you can do with it. I thought their Amber ale was truly remarkable though. Probably one of the best ambers I’ve ever had. They are canning this and selling in VA, but they were out so I wasn’t able to buy any. I was not impressed with the Pales, but mostly because I’m just not a fan so please don’t take that as a slight against COTU.
I don’t know whether I was expecting a bit more interaction with the staff there to talk about their beers or not. Their staff was very polite, but I was definitely on my own the whole time. I plan to go back and try some of their fall seasonal brews. I will update this review if anything changes.

Great beer, laid back atmosphere and large outdoor area for nice weather. We’ve been here twice and enjoyed it each time. Do a flight to sample them all.

Orange is the new stout is on point. Chris and Phil know their stuff. beertenders very friendly

I was passing through Ashland on my way back to Baltimore from Richmond for an interview and stopped in at the COTU Brewery. Having gone to school at R-​MC, I was skeptical when my friends told me about a brewery in Ashland. I was extremely delighted by COTU! The staff were extremely friendly (I am terrible with names, but I remember Maureen who was working b/​c she was a fellow social worker!) and one staff person was going around ensuring everyone was having a great time and even brought me a delicious cheesecake from one of the outside food trucks!
The beer, service, and staff were all so wonderful at COTU. They are able to celebrate their 2 year anniversary this coming weekend, so I recommend you check it out.
Reasonable prices, beer to go in growlers and cans, and great deal for a flight of all of their beers (quite a few!). The brewery doesn’t offer food, but there were at least 2 food trucks there on a Wednesday night and they had snacks on each of the tables.
I visited on a Wednesday, but there was a family with some small children, there was a great little play space and a staff were super fine with younger children around, so bring the family!

Great experience. The food trucks are great and the variety of beer makes it worthwhile. You have the beer garden and indoor places to sit. You really can’t lose. You may not like all the beers, but you’ll find 4 – 5 that you’ll like. The one thing that I don’t understand is why so many people being their kids here.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that little Ashland has a brewery now. I wish this place existed when I was going to college down the road. I would have been happily drinking to the sounds of 95 in their biergarten at any possible chance.
The boo and I stopped by during a recent trip to visit some of my Randolph-​Macon friends. When one of them mentioned COTU Brewing, we had to check it out. We did a flight. A couple of the beers tasted a bit skunked, but the rest had good body and flavor.
They even had a lusciously bearded man making and delivering fancy mac n’ cheese. Living in the Twin Cities has taught me more than I ever imagined I could learn about craft beer and COTU Brewing could definitely hold its own with the big boys and girls.

Not impressed, it was more like a chucky cheese with all the kids running around. Couldn’t have played darts if wanted to because of the kids. The music was good on the patio but again too many kids for a brewery. Beer was average

COTU is right down the street from me. Craft beer is something I love with a passion. I had a sampler and all the beer was kind of bitter. It seems to me they might be trying a little too hard to be different while overlooking the fundamentals of why people like beer. I think with a little more time they’ll get around to making beer that doesn’t make you shudder after every sip. I’ll give them another try in the Spring.
Music in the back room is something they shouldn’t do… nothing to soak up the sound… just four concrete walls made the room unbearable sound-​wise. Get some cloth on those walls in you intend to have entertainment.

I was super pleased to see this brewery sitting across the street after I parked my Airstream after driving for several hours up from North Carolina. I was tired, hungry, and did not want to detach the trailer from the car in order to go looking for food in town. So instead I walked across the street to the COFU brewing company and had a flight of their beers, and it basically substituted for dinner, but the beer is good enough to do that– flavorful and filling with a range of flavors/​strengths. The bar staff was really friendly and cool. A cool bonus to have next to the campground.

COTU is a cute little brewery. From the chalkboard drink list to the outdoor garden area in the back, it’s a nice place to spend an afternoon (particularly since there’s not much else in the way of entertainment in Ashland!) The beer is good, and the flights are relatively inexpensive. They (sometimes) have food trucks, live music, and cornhole in the outside picnic area.

Great atmosphere, love how laid back everything is.

a friend was playing music in their garden, so i drove up from richmond. it was worth the drive.

I could see this place being really fun on a nice evening. They have outdoor picnic tables and indoor picnic tables. Inside the place echos a lot and feels more like sitting in a garage. The beer is okay. I had the sampler and I like the Main Street brew the best. I’m not a fan of beers that are too bitter.
They have food trucks come by depending on the night. During my time there a crêpe truck was parked outside. The crepes were yummy, especially the sweet ones. Wish it wasn’t about to rain, think I would’ve liked sitting outside.

If you love hoppy beer, this place is for you. If not, there are better options around Richmond. I don’t mind strong IPA, I just prefer balance in my beer that I found lacking in ⁵⁄₆ beers I tried here. You can get a flight for $ 10.50, which I felt was okay price wise. Their best beer is the Main St., the bitterness was balanced compared to their other beers. They also have a new beer about to be released similar to a Belgian blonde that I enjoyed.
The seating is great, tables and couches, nice art pieces on the wall, friendly and helpful bar keeps, management is on top of things. If you’re hungry there is a Tex-​Mex catering truck outside where you can place an order and they will bring it to wherever you are seated inside. I didn’t try the food but maybe I should have because I had a really tough time trying to make myself drink the IPAs that came with the flight of beer. And judged on the slowness of the beer being drunk around me, I’m guessing I’m not alone fighting back the bitterness.
I would not suggest this place to other people until they balance their beers better, which they might accomplish in the future, my distaste for the beer was based on my tongue and that will vary from beer drinker to beer drinker. Otherwise it was clean and well managed and comfortable in terms of a fun environment to hang out with friends.

A new brewery in the 804? Hell yea! I say the more craft breweries popping up, the better.
Located in Ashland, Center of the Universe (or COTU) is well worth the drive from the city. I ventured over during their grand opening with a few friends and tasted all four beers being offered at the time. My favorite was the Ray Ray’s Pale Ale, but I also enjoyed the Richard (an IPA) and the Main St. The Kolsch wasn’t my cup of tea — not because it wasn’t well brewed but because my taste buds prefer other flavors. Definitely glad I tasted all of them because I’m no beer connoisseur and sometimes I’m surprised by my preferences. Some moods call for a stout, others call for an IPA… Apparently the Richard was a one-​time deal, but they now offer the Pocahoptas for IPA lovers. I look forward to trying it soon!
The brewery itself is spacious with an open layout, a bar area with seating and a great outdoor space with a few picnic tables. During the grand opening, they were serving their brews both inside and out (via a Brown’s truck) and a few food trucks were on site for any hungry patrons. Not sure what their plans are or if this will be a regular thing, but it was a perfect way to kick off their opening! I mean really, who doesn’t like yummy food trucks paired with smooth, delicious brews? This girl does, that’s for sure.
I definitely look forward to future visits to COTU, as I’d love to see what the tasting room’s like on a non-​grand opening day. With plentiful seating, it seems like it would be an easy place to chill for a bit. And now that restaurants throughout RVA have tapped some of their brews, I can snag a Ray Ray’s on the regular. Cheers to that!