Kevin, Bob, and Bradley, the founders of Random Row Brewing Co., have a vision to make a brewery and tasting room that has a little bit for everybody, kids included. Family friendly breweries are becoming a popular destination across the country, and a quick search on Google will bring up several articles highlighting these establishments.
Charlottesville in general is a great place to raise a family, and there is no shortage of things to do that involve the whole family. Before the brewery boom in Virginia (pre 2012 and SB-604) anyone bringing their kids to a bar would have been seen as irresponsible. This may still be the case, but we’re not a bar, we’re a brewery with a tasting room. What’s the difference? Rather than trying to define what a bar is, I can describe the purpose of a brewery tasting room. According to the state of Virginia, we are a manufacturing business. We manufacture beer that we can then showcase and sell directly to the consumer from the “factory”. The goal isn’t to get you intoxicated, it’s to have you experience the product we work so hard to produce while enjoying the environment we are currently working on creating.
Blue Mountain Brewery in Crozet is very family friendly, but 20-30 minutes away from Charlottesville.
This is where we want to ask for your opinions and ideas. We have been working on different ways to keep children occupied and happy while the adults are sampling the various beers we will have on tap. We want to preserve the atmosphere we are creating while offering a few activities for the kids. Small, child-sized tables with crayons and coloring books, a chalkboard wall for coloring, “family nights” with kid activities, these are all things we are considering having. Oh, and did we mention there will be plenty of parking right outside the brewery?
Please comment on what you would like to see at the brewery to keep your kids happy and occupied!
Construction has begun! Trenches being cut into the concrete for plumbing and our brewery trench drains!
Birth of a Brewery 
My kids like playing cornhole at the breweries…and I think a chalkboard wall sounds cool too!
LikeLike
Outdoor space is essential. (One of the main draws to BMBC and Bold Rock are the massive outdoor spaces. Kids need space to run around & they’ve both got it in spades.) Also, family-friendly seating. Bar height tables & stools without backs are a disaster for little ones. Think long benches or stable seats with backs. Little games on the tables – nothing too complicated – think the sort of quiet travel games & mind puzzles that Cracker Barrel often sells (amazon has a million of these). I realize you have limitations on what you can offer in terms of food, but so often food trucks miss the marks when it comes to kids – something munchy for them would be ideal: perhaps small paper bags of goldfish crackers, popcorn, granola bites etc. I do not drink beer whatsoever (sorry 😦 ) but my husband & friends do & we enjoy going out to different venues for tastings. However, we hardly ever go to places like Starr Hill because it is so un-kid-friendly in our opinion. Best of luck to you!
LikeLike
Thanks Jenny! Obviously we will not be able to compete with BMBC and Bold Rock on outdoor space since we are in the city, but we are planning on having a nice sized patio to be able to enjoy the weather when it is nice out. We will have plenty of seating options inside that will be accommodating for children as well. And snack items like what you listed will be on the menu to keep the little ones happy, juice boxes included! We also plan on having a few non-alcoholic options for adults (cold brew coffee and kombucha, as well as soda).
LikeLike
A life size checkers or chess board? Maybe something totally unique? My kids love playing at Cville Coffee because of the big turtle.
LikeLike