When you have a friend working a brewery in the area you’re headed for a weekend trip, it’s a great excuse to connect and sample some good beer at the same time, and let’s just say we were not disappointed!
Our friend Matt from Rocket Frog, Dianne and Gary from Journey Moore Often
Rocket Frog Brewing Company is located in Sterling, VA as part of industrial park setting. It’s pretty much in the middle of everything in the area. There’s plenty of parking either during the day or on weekends, so not to worry there.
And if you’re into urban hiking or biking, the Western and Old Dominion Trail is easily within walking/skating/biking distance of Rocket Frog. There are a couple of other breweries in the area within walking distance if you’re into a tasting day or a brew crawl.
Perhaps most importantly, most people ask – where did the name come from? Turns out it’s a real thing. As you can see below the Virginia Craft Beer published a story of a rocket launch with a picture clearly showing a frog taking “One Giant Leap for Frogkind” as the article states below. Essentially, the rocket frog leap shared the same calendar date as the birthdate of two of the owners, twin brothers David and Richard Hartogs, Jennifer Showell-Hartogs (David’s wife) being the third owner.
Photo by Chris Perry / NASA
Oh yes, the beer. There’s a really nice selection available and something for everyone’s taste. When we talked to Matt, he steered us to the draft choices he thought made the most sense. We tasted a few and like everyone presented to us.
Though they’re a young brewery, they already have award winning crafts that they can show off to those who come in to see what’s going on.
The exterior may have a commercial/industrial look to the outside, but the inside has that nice sports pub feel to it. There’s a fair amount of seating and a couple of TVs to watch your favorite game.
We were given a tour of where they make the beer and it was impressive to see how they do it.
They typically have a food truck set up outside so you can eat while your either tasting or sharing a pint with friends.