Rusty Beaver Brewery

My boyfriend and I came here from out of town. We love breweries and trying new beers. We were surprised to see this brewery in a shopping center. It was very small, but they do brew their own beers inside. They had about 9 or 10 beers. The ones we had were all great. It’s a cute place to check out.

Adorable brewery in Ladysmith. I felt like I was in Colorado. The beers are good. Nice pit stop from 95 traffic.

Heaven.
A nano-​brewery 5 miles from the VIC baseball fields where I will be many weekends over the summer. That means long wait times in between games. That means occasional rain delays, heat waves etc.
I always look for a place where I can chill during these scenarios.
Really can’t do much better than a nano brewery!
I’m very happy — laid back atmosphere, friendly service, great beer.
I’ll be back!

When I showed my brother the growler of beer I got from Rusty Beaver, I told him that their slogan is «You never forget your first beaver». «Especially if it’s rusty» was his response.
Unfortunately, this is one Rusty Beaver that is somewhat forgettable. This nanobrewery sits on US-​1, just a short ways down off of the Ladysmith exit on I-​95. The wife and I had some issues finding it due to GPS issues, but we quickly got turned in the right direction and found the shopping center where they are located.
They have a very nice interior inside. My only complaint is that things seem a little bit cramped on the inside. I’m no stranger to nanobreweries in a strip mall (see BadWolf, Manassas VA) so I expect there to be an issue with space, but it seems that the layout could be better. I was glad to see that they offer food here, and someone came in just for their wings. (But alas, they were denied due to their fryers being down)
As for the beer … well, that’s the forgettable part. Mostly. They make decent ales here, but nothing was really unique and the only beer that stood out was their Quake Imperial Stout. It is a VERY good Imperial Stout, very heavy with a chocolate and malt profile. The single malt, single hop Smashed Bastard is pretty good as well — very crisp, smooth and easy drinking. Otherwise, their IPA, Brown Ale, and Amber was pretty standard stuff for their style.
It was somewhat «in-​between seasons» so I just missed their pumpkin ale and they didn’t have their spiced porter ready yet. I’d like to try them again when they have a really unique seasonal or some more variety offered. My guess is that they will eventually grow out of the strip mall space and move to a larger facility that allows for more variety and experimentation.

Worth a stop for a taste. 6 tasters for $ 8. Owner, brewer, bartender, chef, etc was manning one guy shop when I stopped early afternoon. Krampus, spiced Porter, was very tasty and my favorite. They have wings & waffles but didn’t have any food. Nice simple, basic, & clean tasting room.

Well, we spent 30 minutes after their «opening» time waiting for them to open their doors (mind you, this was after a 45 min drive to visit AND calling to confirm they would be open).
The beer was meh — there were some solid ones, but nothing was noteworthy. You’d think with such a great name they would take some more chances with their beers, but most of them were very, very boring.
Not a fan.

Great local beer with locally grown hops, free samples, and great pricing on filling up your growlers. Stop on by and support this great entrepreneurial venture in craft brewing!

A local NanoBrewery, gotta love it.
With a name like the Rusty Beaver… it better be good, right!
They also sell home beer and wine making supplies and offer lessons.
It’s great to see these small brewery’s popping up around the country.
Get out there, have a pint and support your local beaver… er ah… brewer!