Lost Rhino Brewing Company (Ashburn, Virginia) - 9 JUL 2014

I wasn’t expecting to find a brewery in Ashburn, VA, a small town located north of Dulles Airport, but there it was - Lost Rhino Brewing Company - nestled in an industrial park, identified by the concentration of cars parked near the entrance in an otherwise empty lot.  I wasn’t sure if we’d make it to the brewpub so earlier that evening I had their New River Pale Ale with a fish taco dinner at nearby Ford's Fish Shack (itself a bit out of place in a strip mall).  The beer was very good and I was looking forward to trying some others.

Lost Rhino Brewing Company entrance.

Lost Rhino Brewing Company bar.

We were welcomed by friendly staff at the bar and selected a sampler of 5 beers (plus one later) -  shown below with the Hawaiian “hang loose” sign in acknowledgement of the surfboard culture of Lost Rhino exemplified by the surfboard strapped to the rhino’s back in their logo.  The beer sampler included the following:  Face Plant IPA,  Tupper's Rye IPA, Tank 12 XPA,  Smokey and the Rhino, Birth of an Ace (Brett IPA), and Bone Dusters Paleo Amber Ale.  Bone Dusters Amber Ale has an interesting story that has been featured in a number of recent Science reports including NPR, Scientific American, and Fox News.  It is a collaboration with Paleo Quest.  A wild yeast was found on some protocetid whale fossils discovered in Virginia near the Dismal Swamp was used in the fermentation.  Great story, but the beer wasn't so hot.  Personally I preferred the Tupper's Rye IPA.  The other IPAs were pretty good also.  Smokey and the Rhino was a smoked lager that was just a bit too smokey.  The group sitting next to us leaned over and said, "I noticed that you all didn't finish the smoked beer either".  They obviously felt the same way.

Hanging Loose with a Lost Rhino beer sampler.

The bar area was quite large, with communal tables and seating around the walls.  Through a doorway was another equally large room with a couple of cornhole games going on.

I didn't realize that Corn Hole had made it to the National Capital Region.  

Artistic view of brewing operation.  I wish I could post this on Instagram to see how many likes I would get.