Frothy Moon Brewhouse — Restaurant in Virginia

My husband and I have been coming here intermittently with friends for Wednesday night trivia since January.

The positives: Beverages: I’m not a huge beer drinker but the selection seems good. They have a great homemade root beer if you prefer nonalcoholic drinks. I haven’t tried it, but I’ve heard the lemon soda is good. They’ve also got a coffee shop if you prefer beverages of the caffeinated variety. The cocoa is quite good. Atmosphere: The main coffee shop/bar has an industrial-chic aesthetic with a spacy twist. They have rotating exhibits of local art which is nice. On the busiest nights it can get crowded so might consider bringing your own chairs or arriving early. During the warmer months, there’s an expansive outdoor area that’s quite pleasant. Food: They’ll often have food trucks on-site, usually for trivia nights. It’s especially great when Nomad’s is there. Parking: There are two parking lots, most of it gravel. During trivia nights it can get pretty full so if you can arrive early.

Areas for improvement: Plastic cups: they use plastic instead of glass and won’t pour beverages into any reusable containers. I get that they want to keep their amounts consistent, but using plastic is off-putting. According to earlier comments I’ve read plastic was selected for safety reasons because a lot of patrons like to bring their kids, but we don’t need more single-use plastics polluting our environment. Fans: I know it’s Virginia and humidity is expected but in the outdoor area, some fans suspended from the ceiling would do wonders. Kid-friendly: Frothy Moon aspires to be family-friendly, which is great, but they should consider adding more kid-friendly activities. Inside they might add some indoor games or activities. Outside they need a playground or a jungle gym to get their energy out. There’s a put-put course, which is a good start, but the kids are told not to run around during trivia, which is unfair to them. I don’t have children myself, but if I were a little kid at one of these trivia nights being told to sit still while tallied scores I’d be bored out of my mind. Trivia Night: I’m not sure whether the people who run the trivia sessions are employees or independent contractors, but we don’t especially enjoy their format. Here’s why: a. They rely heavily on “Name That Tune” rounds where they’ll play song clips instead of asking questions. I’m assuming people like it because they keep doing it, but personally, it feels like a lazy way to fill up trivia rounds. An occasional round of music clips is fine, but when two out of your three rounds for every session consist only of music clips, you’re arguably not playing trivia anymore. They’ve relied so much on clips that I’ve started recognizing them from previous sessions. b. Audio: The microphone never seems to be working properly, so questions or music clips have to be replayed several times because people can’t hear them. They might consider visually screening the questions alongside speaking them, which they do with DJ Trivia at The Brass Tap. Or in the case of song clips, sheet music (okay, I’m joking about that one). c. Scoring: They could be more efficient with scoring. Due to extra credit/bonus point opportunities, it usually takes them several minutes to tally everything. During the winter we didn’t mind because we figured it was a new venture finding its way but after several months it hasn’t gotten any better. At the last session we attended, the answers took so long to tally that we didn’t remember or care about the questions.

I know I sound like all I’m doing is complaining, but Frothy Moon has a lot going for it and I just want to see them reach their full potential. It’s nice to have a local place that offers quality nonalcoholic options alongside beers and cider, and the atmosphere is a good one. There’s room for improvement, but considering they’ve been open less than a year, they should be proud of how far they’ve...

Outdoor space is awesome. Beer selection is pretty diverse and good. But yikes… beer tenders are not at all friendly. I find that fairly uncommon for a brewery. But decent experience with everything else.

Update: We came in today around 12:45 for lunch. There was no signs saying dogs weren’t allowed inside. Or was there wasn’t anything online saying so either. I understand it was a little busy but I tried to grab one of the beer tenders attention to ask if our dogs could come in with us to order. I was unsuccessful. But immediately as we stepped in suddenly they noticed us and immediately shouted the dogs are not welcome inside. And another customer walked by us saying he just got yelled at for the same thing. I work at a brewery and heck dogs practically can do what they want anywhere they want. But I know some places are different. Once I got to the counter I was trying to make small talk with the beer tender because I was embarrassed about my mistake. She only grunted and gave one word answers. It just made me feel incredibly unwelcomed. Breweries are usually so laid back. That’s why I usually love them. And try breweries everywhere I go. Just a tad disappointed with our experience. But now we know the rules if we decide we want to come back again. But I have to say… the food truck today was...

We were very excited to see a new establishment on jamestown rd especially so close to our home. When Frothy Moon first was seeking out permits to create this venue we met with the owner and his attorney to discuss the venue and potential impacts on our home/property ie music volume and times played. There are proffers in place to limit the time the music is played. More nights than not music is projected out from frothy moon to the surrounding neighborhoods and is so loud its like having a concert from our front porch. The owner shows no regard for his neighboring community and instead continues to blast music well past the time the board of supervisors allows.

I really wanted to like this place and still gave it a try before the music issue began. I tried the beer (it was pretty basic and overpriced) and the coffee resembles something I could create in my own kitchen. The atmosphere is okay, nothing amazing and the patio is nice on a warm day but doesnt include nice plantings or anything scenic/inspiring.

I’m a huge fan of other local breweries and would definitely recommend people visit these...