Cooling Pond Brewery & Winery

I stopped by around 4 PM and was surprised to see only two cars in the lot. I tried the cider, which was completely forgettable. What really bothered me, though, was the customer service. The place was practically empty, yet the staff acted like I was an inconvenience rather than a guest. No effort to engage, no interest in sharing what they offered — it honestly felt like they wanted me to leave. Extremely disappointing experience.

We stopped in on a Sunday around 12:30 and found the place empty. Turns out all the folks in the area are enjoying Lake Anna and don't come out till they're done with the sun. The bartender was very nice, poured us a nice flight of their beers and let us chill for a bit. We didn't try any of the food. None of the beers jumped out at me as extra special but everything was drinkable and they have a nice variety of styles, so something for everyone. The tasting room is nice, and there's a nice amount of outdoor space as well. We live visiting breweries around VA so we're glad we stopped in.

Had a good juicy IPA. Band outside was pretty good. AC was nice inside.

Very nice relaxed place. Huge variety of beer and wines.

Great place and atmosphere. The beer is awesome and always something going on.

I visited at about 1 in the afternoon on Mother's Day Sunday. I was looking to get some lunch and a beer, I found a great beer, but there was no menu in sight. The bartender seemed to only care about putting me the beer and starting my tab, while i didn't ask, he also didn't mention food. I kinda wanted a second beer, but the service was so slow, even though they were not busy, I finally just paid my tab and left.

Great food, drinks, and atmosphere. Got some food with the family for Mother’s Day. Staff were friendly and professional. Joanna and Jason were great!

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.

Best beer on Lake Anna, with solid wine options and a cider too. Brewery has recently added great menu (not your typical bar food). it's a good place to meet up with friends and enjoy breakfast or do tastings. It's got a low-key, friendly atmosphere.

We visited for the first time today. It seemed as though there were 4 people at the front that worked there. No one greeted us when we walked in. We walked up to the bar to look at the menu and drink options. The lady behind the bar said she would be right with us and after about 5 minutes or so another lady walked over to the bar and helped a man that came up to the bar after us. After she got him what he wanted. She asked what we wanted. we ordered our food. She didn't know the menu or the prices. I ordered something off the daily special menu and she didn't know that menu either. ( maybe she was new and didn't know these things, but not once did she smile or make us feel welcome) I asked if I could taste their wine. She said I would have to pay $7 for a 5 oz pour. My husband suggested that I order a Barboursville wine, since we know we like their wine. The lady helping us left and came back and and put a glass in front of me with a taste their wine in it. It was ok so I ordered a glass. While we waited for our food to come we noticed several couples come and and they were greeted. It seemed as if they were regulars. This added to the feeling of unwelcomeness. The food came it was ok. My husband and I were talking about our experience and we came to the conclusion that if the staff had been more welcoming when we came in, ordered, and when we got our food it would have taken the experience from mediocre with very little chance of a return trip to good with the possibility of returning with friends and family.

Beer is always great! Love their current Italian Lago Di Amore- ask the Brewer the story of this special brew. Their Fissionel is a pleasant surprise for all the non-beer drinkers out there. And the fall
Menu is a “Can’t miss!!” Pretzel rods with beer cheese and Poutine fries are great!! Check out the fall menu!

Fabulous selection of beer and snacks. The brewer is super friendly and welcoming and answered all of my random questions about the brewery. If you love a beer that isn’t canned they’ll do it on demand so you can take it home.

It’s a gorgeous venue! Great place!

Can’t wait to go back!

Yikes where to start. We went in the front entrance which was congested with I am guessing band members setting up literally at the inside of the front door. We had to weave around equipment and people to get to the counter. We got there I am guess before 2 pm. We were the only patrons inside the building there was another 4 people outside. I ordered a flight which consists of as many as you want. Anyhow, I asked if the beers listed on the board were grouped from light to dark or something. The gal helping did not know. I asked what the fig and honey beer was she stated they just put figs and honey in it and "he" didn't taste either. No clue what any of that was supposed to mean. There was no explanation of any of the beers and I had to make an educated guess as to what some were. I ordered 4 beers for the flight grabbed chips but noted a food truck. No clue if that was there to service patrons at this place or the driver was just parked there no clue. We asked if we could sit at the area where a comfy couch, and chairs were. We were told a bunco group was coming in and they had that spot. All the table we so masked together I have no clue how any other customers would be able to get around. We noted that they were getting ready to block the main entrance to the brewery for this band. Well that is frightening. I do believe and hey I may be wrong, but I do believe an establishment needs at least two exists out incase of a fire. The beer was not to my liking at all, so that didn't help matters. We have been to several breweries in Virginia and this place needs help. We won't be back. Oh the whole time we were there the bunco crew wasn't there yet and only one small group of 3 came i after us and they sat outside. I hope the bunco group enjoyed the couch.

Overall, this brewery just seems to be very young and is in need of some refinement. I did not find a beer here that I liked. It was a pretty location with a nice outdoor area, but the inside had a slightly gaughty beer club only seating area, which no one was sitting in. The woman behind the counter, unfortunately, was not the most friendly and she came around quickly to grab the glasses as I was done each individual tasting.

Bad experience, they have no clue. We were scheduled to play there for a 3 hour set, we skipped a birthday dinner, had to get dog sitters etc, after packing up a full drum kit, pa system, guitars, a bunch of other equipment and an hour drive out to the venue they hand no clue about anything, total lack of internal communication, and didn't even have the decency to compensate us for our gas or time.