Overview
Starr Hill Brewery has been in Crozet since 2005, when the original Charlottesville production operation moved into a much larger industrial space at 5391 Three Notched Road. The brewery was founded in 1999 by Mark Thompson, Kristin Dolan, and Coran Capshaw, Capshaw of Red Light Management, the music management firm that handles, among others, Dave Matthews Band, and it grew through the 2000s into one of the larger independent breweries in Virginia. The Crozet location is where the beer is made, the taproom is in the same building, and on most weekends there's a band.
What that means for a Crozet resident or visitor is that the brewery is the room. You're not in a bar adjacent to a brewery. You're inside the production facility, with the brite tanks visible from your barstool, and the smell of fermentation in the parking lot. It's industrial in the literal sense, and that is part of the charm.
What's on draft
Starr Hill keeps twenty-four taps rotating year-round. The flagships:
- Northern Lights IPA, the brewery's most-distributed beer, a session-strength IPA with a clean West Coast hop profile.
- The Love, a German-style hefeweizen, the warm-weather default.
- Reviver Red IPA, a fall beer that has become a near year-round request.
- Whiter Shade of Pale Ale, a pre-IPA-era pale ale, classic.
- Boxcarr Pumpkin Porter, fall only, sells out, every year.
Plus a rotating set of seasonals and limited releases, barrel-aged stouts in winter, sours and saisons in summer, the occasional collaboration with a Charlottesville restaurant or the local ciderworks. The Crozet taproom usually has one or two beers on tap that you cannot get anywhere else, including some short-run experimental batches the production team is testing.
The kitchen is a rotating set of food trucks, parked outside the taproom on most weekends. Friday afternoon through Sunday evening you'll usually find at least one, typically a barbecue, taco, or pizza truck. Check the schedule before driving out if you're going specifically for food.
Music, trivia, runs
Starr Hill's standing programming is the reason most regulars come back, not the beer.
Bluegrass Jam Session runs the second Thursday of every month, free, open to anyone with an instrument and a willingness to sit in. The jam has been running for more than a decade. The skill range goes from "weekend hobbyist" to "this person has been on a stage in Nashville." It is one of the better live-music nights in central Virginia and almost no one outside Crozet knows about it.
Trivia with Olivia runs Tuesday nights at 7 PM, a weekly trivia operation that rotates between Starr Hill, King Family Vineyards, Birdwood, and a few other local spots. At Starr Hill the room fills up; come early.
Cville Runners group runs leave from the taproom Thursday nights at 6 PM, route through Old Trail and back, and return to the taproom for a pint. All paces, all welcome. The run is free, the beer is up to you.
Weekend live music is more variable, often Friday or Saturday, sometimes both, sometimes neither. Original artists, regional cover bands, the occasional touring act passing through. Free and unticketed.
Brewery tours run Saturday and Sunday on the hour from 1 PM through 4 PM. Free, no reservation needed, last about 30 minutes. They walk you through the production line and pour you tastes of two or three beers along the way. If you've never seen a working brewery the tour is worth it.
Visiting
5391 Three Notched Road, Crozet, VA 22932. About a mile west of The Square. Phone (434) 823-5671. Hours: Mon 3–8; Tue–Thu 3–9; Fri 12–9; Sat 11–9; Sun 12–8. Holiday hours and special-event schedules at starrhill.com/crozet.
Plenty of parking. Family-friendly until late, with a kids' play area in one corner. Dogs welcome on the patio. The taproom is loud during music nights and during the bluegrass jam, if you want a quiet pint, come early on a weekday.
Why it matters
Starr Hill is one of the businesses that anchored Crozet's transition from industrial-village-with-orchard-history into the small-but-decorated town it is now. When the brewery moved here in 2005, Crozet was still mostly defined by the closed-in-2000 ConAgra plant and the historic depot. Starr Hill putting its production line into Crozet brought jobs, brought a destination, and made the case for other producers, the wineries, Pro Re Nata, the cider houses, that this part of Albemarle County was worth investing in.
The brewery has since opened a second taproom in Roanoke (PRN+ in Staunton is a different operation by a different family). The Crozet location remains the original. The bluegrass jam still runs the second Thursday of every month. Trivia is still Tuesday. The Cville Runners still leave Thursday at 6.
If you live in Crozet and you have not been on a Thursday for the bluegrass jam, you are missing one of the village's standing institutions. If you are visiting, route through here for a tour and a flight on a weekend afternoon. The beer is good, and the room is the room, exactly the right amount of industrial, exactly the right kind of local.
More brewery in Crozet
Frequently asked questions
Where is Starr Hill Brewery Crozet?
Starr Hill Brewery Crozet is located at 5391 Three Notch'd Rd, Crozet, VA 22932, in Crozet, Virginia.
What are Starr Hill Brewery Crozet's hours?
Mon 3–8; Tue–Thu 3–9; Fri 12–9; Sat 11–9; Sun 12–8
How do I contact Starr Hill Brewery Crozet?
You can call (434) 823-5671 or visit https://starrhill.com/crozet. Hours and current information are most reliable directly from the business.
What kind of business is Starr Hill Brewery Crozet?
Starr Hill Brewery Crozet is categorized as brewery in our Crozet directory. See the description and quick facts above for what makes this listing distinctive.
