Extremely disappointing ending to what should have been a very special day. My husband and I were celebrating our 60th birthdays, and our daughter planned a surprise gathering for us at Cooling Pond. We had absolutely no idea anything was planned. We walked in and were completely surprised to see our family and friends waiting for us. It meant so much to us, and we were having a wonderful afternoon. Our group was small and everyone was purchasing drinks and supporting the food truck. For approximately the first two hours, we essentially had the indoor space to ourselves. Even later in the afternoon, there were only a few other groups and plenty of open tables and available space. From what I personally observed, no one was waiting for a table and our group was not lingering or preventing other paying customers from having somewhere to sit. That is why I was so confused when things suddenly changed toward the end of our celebration. Our tables began being cleared even though members of our group were still there, still drinking purchased beverages, and still paying customers. Personal decorations and belongings were being moved, koozies were removed from glasses, and unfinished drinks were being cleared. Things then became extremely uncomfortable between Lori Pope, the co-owner/event coordinator, and our daughter. I did not personally witness every moment of their interaction, so I will only speak to what I know. I saw how upset our daughter and family became, and several relatives who were present told me they witnessed Lori repeatedly aggressively poking/touching our daughter during the confrontation. What had been such a happy celebration ended with everyone quickly gathering our belongings and leaving because we no longer felt welcome. Only afterward did I learn that our daughter had contacted Cooling Pond months in advance, spoken directly with co-owner John about the gathering, and followed up in writing. Lori then messaged me directly afterward, stating that she hadn't known about our gathering and describing what happened between herself and John as a "total miscommunication." Whatever communication problem occurred between the owners was internal to their business. It should never have resulted in our family of paying customers being treated this way. To make the ending even more upsetting, two personal commemorative glasses from our birthday celebration were missing after our hurried departure. We contacted the brewery afterward hoping they would be found and saved for us. My husband and I live locally and had enjoyed Cooling Pond before, which makes this particularly disappointing. We weren't taking over a crowded establishment or occupying space other customers needed. We were a small group celebrating, purchasing food and drinks, and enjoying time together in a venue that had plenty of available space. I am incredibly thankful to our daughter and everyone who came to surprise us. They made our 60th birthdays very special despite how the afternoon ended. Unfortunately, after this experience, my husband and I do not plan to return. As local customers, there are too many other businesses we can support where our family will hopefully feel welcomed, appreciated, and treated with respect. read more

This place had ok Beer at best. But when Log Home recommended this place the owner bad mouthed them. Their beer was ok, however he seemed to be offended when we were not a fan of The Bourbon Barrel and the Marlboro which were average at best. read more

Friendly staff. The pizza and hibiscus sour was amazing, would definitely come back here if I was in town. Nice place to hang and grab a drink. read more

Cooling Pond Brewery - Hibiscus sour - Breweries Near Me - Mineral, Virginia

A friend and I stopped here today. The super nice guy working there asked about our tastes and recommended two really great beers to try, the Figs and Honey Saison and the Lago Di Amore pilsner. My friend and I really liked both so we got one of each. They also offer wine and cider, but the beer is brewed onsite. It was an overcast and windy day so we sat inside, but there was ample outdoor seating. This looks like it would be great place to come in the summer to fully enjoy all that this brewery has to offer. read more

Cooling Pond Brewery - Outside - Breweries Near Me - Mineral, Virginia

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We ventured to the Cooling Pond for the first time after having driven past it countless times. It was a hot day and there were limited seats in the shade, so that would be my only complaint, but it was a casual, easy, family friendly set up. Our kids ran around the plentiful open area while we tasted and sipped our beers. We ordered inside, and were helped quickly. There was a decent number of folks there but the ladies behind the bar were doing a good job of getting flights and beers out without keeping people waiting. We enjoyed our time there, and may return if the time is right. read more

Nice brewery with lots of beer and wine options. Plenty of tables for all party sizes. Seating both inside and outside. They have some food offerings too! Had a sour on site and bought a bottle of wine to go. read more

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Nice place, large interior with plenty of room. Pretty views on the exterior with ample seating. Decent tap selection as well as a few food options. Friendly service and knowledgeable staff. read more

A pleasant brewery in Lake Anna (with a great name and theme, and associated T-shirts). We had a flight to try a few. I particularly liked the traditional Hefeweizen, while my wife gravitated to the tart cherry Hefeweizen. She also liked the Ipatopia, a sharp IPA, but neither of us were keen on the Penny's Tavern Red. No food here, other than a few packaged snacks, just beer and wine. read more

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My son is the beer connoisseur in the family and he wanted to check out this brewery. The people running the brewery were very nice and hospitable. The have a huge tasting room with lots of seats. There is also outdoor seating and have live music on occasion. An extra plus, was the lovely local artwork that was displayed in the brewery. I tasted my sons beer and it was full bodied and refreshing. I think they need to put some work into the outdoor design. I liked the beer and thought the service was excellent. read more

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Great beer, several food trucks and nice venue. They had a band and a singer outside and plenty of seats to accommodate the crowd. Really enjoyed it! read more

The bartender was rushing us and it was our first visit there . I asked questions and she seemed very bothered .

I was drawn to Cooling Pond Brewery by a story in the "Central Virginian" about a Jazz festival happening on Saturday. After arriving, I wandered into the main building, tap room. Cooling pond has plenty of seating inside and outside on the covered patio. The beer maid turned out to be one of the proprietors. Lori informed me that the bands were cancelled due to a storm warning. As it happened, it did not rain, but it was a nice day to be out and discovering new places. There is a nice stage with a grassy knoll for lounging and listening to the music. If you wander just past the stage area, there are some vines growing in the back. Beer seems to be the main focus, but it appears they also have wine. I looked down the extensive selection and settled on an Irish Stout. It was creamy and delicious. It is nice place to cool off and grab a micro brew. You can get various sizes of pours and they may have a sampler set. The Pond does have other events that are listed on their website. On their site is also a list of their beers and tasing notes. https://coolingpondbrewery.com The people are knowledgeable and friendly. The beer is good and the grounds are lovely to walk around or just sit and sip a brew. If you are around the lake on a hot day, it is worth a drop in. read more

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I have long enjoyed visiting Cooling Pond for the diverse beer selection. It's never too busy which is a good and bad thing. I recently went for brunch which was also pretty good. I was excited to learn they recently expanded their menu to serve dinner and decided to try it with my family. We arrived at 7pm and placed our order and opened a tab because, as we stated in doing so, we needed to place a to-go order as well for my son who was working. We took a seat outside to wait for our food. At 7:32 I went to the counter and tried to order the to-go order for my son so it would be somewhat warm when we brought it to him and was told they had already closed the kitchen and weren't accepting anymore orders. They close at 8pm and made no announcements that they were closing the kitchen. I am pretty disappointed that they couldn't accept one more sandwich order almost 30 minutes before they were supposed to close from a group that was present with an open tab. That is just bad business and bad customer service. But good for them if they don't need the business or the money. Or perhaps they need to hire additional help if they don't feel they can serve customers adequately during their open hours. Either way, I'll be spending my money at Log Home Brewing or Lake Anna Taphouse moving forward. BTW, the food we did get wasn't that good. read more

I love the atmosphere at the Cooling Pond, and the beer is fantastic! Such a relaxing and friendly place to hang out, with plenty of seating indoors and out. Always a bonus when they have live music on the weekends or a big event. family and dog friendly. And as an extra extra bonus they also serve wine and cider. read more

What a fantastic brewery & winery. We've been to many breweries and the beer here has all the others beat hands down. Several of the beers on tap are award winning beers. They had an awesome band on their big stage and a yummy food truck. The brewery itself is situated in a park like setting with lots of wildlife. The owners and staff were very accommodating. The veteran owner brews all the beers onsite and wants to ensure his customers are happy with his product. If you're anywhere near the lake, this place is a must. What a gem for Lake Anna! read more

Great brewery that was new to me in Mineral. Easy stop on 208 if you are coming or going to Lake Anna. You need to pay attention for the turn. The GPS throws you. Coming from the lake it tells you to turn too early (just where the building lines up on 208) and I'm assuming the opposite happens if going to the lake. They have plenty of outdoor seating. As we were leaving there was live music setting up on the patio. Beer wise, they had a Dark Mild on tap which you never seem to see anymore. It has good flavor for the style. The Swim Advisory was a solid hazy IPA. They had a great food truck on site as well. Covid protocols: Staff wore masks, and traffic was one direction inside. Plenty of social distanced seating was available. It is now a must stop when at the Lake. read more

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Great local brewery open on the weekends near Lake Anna. We were visiting the state park and decided to give it a try one Saturday afternoon. They had a variety of beer including a dark mild, a sour, hefeweizen, stout, blonde ale, red ale, a juicy IPA, an ESB, a porter, and a few more. Live music is often offered on Saturdays and food trucks are there on the weekends. Can enjoy a pint on site or have a crowler or growler filled to go. We have a couple of camping trips scheduled for later this year; we will be returning to Cooling Pond. read more

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Excellent little brewery! Good options and tasty beers. Really liked the hazy IPA. Spacious outdoor seating area and friendly staff. We would come back! read more

Cooling Pond Brewery - View from patio - Breweries Near Me - Mineral, Virginia

Unremarkable. The facility is large and has lots of options, however they are not doing anything useful with the space. Just a big barn serving beer. Huge supporter of LKA business and would love to see a brewery thrive but they need to go find some added value for the consumer. Some ideas: - food truck or serve on-site food - live music (or at least some good tunes on radio) - tv's with sports - games (cornhole etc) - trivia night - guest taps Hoping we caught them on a slow night. Plan to come back and hoping for a better experience. read more

Disappointing. The beer tasted like flavored water and the food truck outside only had burgers and little snack options. The service counter was not managed well. You can tell this is a new brewery ran by inexperienced management. Hopefully they'll learn and get better. But I won't be back for the simple fact that it wasn't good beer. read more

Cooling Pond Brewery - Brewery Chalkboard - Breweries Near Me - Mineral, Virginia

We wanted to go out for beers while staying on Lake Anna and had a great experience at cooling pond brewery. It's a huge property with a big parking lot. Lots of outdoor seating - it looked like you could bring your own chairs if you wanted. They have a big stage and a band was playing all night. There was some food you could order through the bar but also a food truck outside. The beers were great! There were probably about 8ish beers on tap but there was a huge variety. I got a flight, then a beer, and two cans two go. Can't wait to go back! read more

I tried the Swim Advisory IPA and it was pretty good. I got a growler of it to take home. They only had one person working so the wait time was a bit longer than expected but the man working was handling it like a pro. I will definitely return. There is and massive amount of space and it is very comfortable even with the crowd that was there to see the singer that was performing. read more

Cute place inside. Very basic, but nice and clean. Cool hangout spots outside, but it was too hot out for us. My hubby and daughter ordered a flight each. Each flight costs $10 which averaged to about a pint of beer each. I am not a beer drinker, but they both enjoyed their beer and I enjoyed the free popcorn! read more

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Hidden gem! Both beers I had were awesome. The outdoor space is nice too. We were the only people there which worries me. The employee we talked to was very nice and helpful. read more

Stopped by to pick up a 6 pack of cans to support a local brewery enroute to our campground nearby. I asked for a six pack of cans to go. $45!!!! Lesson learned, will def not be returning. I was so angry walking out of the establishment spending $45 for a six pack of beer. read more

Great, small brewery in rural VA! I loved the variety of beer and all the seating available outside.

It was a great first time. Only thing upsetting was we had planned on visiting a couple days prior, based on website stated opening days/hrs, and when arriving found a chained gate. A sign or notice on the Facebook page of the unplanned closure would have been helpful of a wasted trip. This aside, the beers had when we did go were very good and varied. It's common for microbrews to have very similar flavored beers. The staff were extremely friendly. We went on a Friday and got to enjoy some local live music, too! read more

Great place! They've been open 7 months. The owner/operator was super personable. He truly wants you have feel at home & enjoy your time. We can't wait to go back!! read more

Love this place!! Quality beers and great service. My favorite is Penny's red ale and love that we can fill the growler for enjoying it at home read more

Cooling Pond Brewery - Lemon shandy and Vienna lager - Breweries Near Me - Mineral, Virginia

Just opened so thought we give it a try. Very nice inside and out. Ordered 6 flight sampler and then a 4 set flight so we could try out all the beers they make. Kind of pricey at 23.oo for all 10. Very good tasting and the owner is super friendly. Biggest issue I had was he spent all this money on the very nice building and decor, but the taps he has for the beer to pour them out, look like their from a easy bake kitchen set. 1/2 the beer came out as foam on each one, and then he would have to let then sit and wait for the foam to sizzle down. All that time waisted and not to mention the product. Kept thinking, seriously your a beer distillery, invest in the product!! read more

We've had the opportunity to visit a couple of times now and they keep improving the space. The taps have both mild for me and hoppy for my husband so we're both happy. We have found on all visits the folks tending to the counter are friendly and helpful. This location is also DOG FRIENDLY and since we've added two pups to our family, we'll be hanging out on the patio more often. read more

Before our first visit I tried emailing and messaging them to ask about what food trucks they'd have, etc. Of the three messages I sent, not a single one was ever answered. Why bother having the option to contact if they won't respond?! I thought the beer was pretty good but there could definitely be some improvement in the area of decor. It's plain and boring and the landscaping desperately needs help. The guy pouring the beer was friendly enough but I've been in there twice now and the woman that works there is less than friendly. Part of running a successful business is your customer service and friendliness. I would grade her friendliness as an F and his as a B. I'll probably go back because I'm local and I love to hang out and have beer with my friends but there's a lot that needs to be improved on still. read more

In response to LV, I am in the brewing industry but have no connection to this brewery. I was in a couple of weeks ago and don't remember their exact pricing but it was definitely not higher than average for craft beer. They did not have any pouring issues when I was there but Murphy's Law is definitely true for breweries when they first open. Any number of things could have caused pouring issues that day. Their pouring equipment leaned near the high end and while I didn't see the brewing equipment, I didn't get the impression they went bargain bin. This brewery is good for a seasoned place and very impressive for a place that's only a couple months old. They have a focus on traditional styles (with an occasional twist) leaning British based on the menu during my visit and they have a beautiful location. I've never written a Yelp review but noticed this business wasn't yet set up to defend themselves on Yelp so felt compelled to reply. read more