Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Puglia Italy - Matera
Italy • 8 days, 7 nights
Southern Italy: Castles, Caves & Coastal Treasures in Puglia
from
Turkmenistan Gates of Hell Darvaza crater
Turkmenistan • 10 days, 9 nights
Turkmenistan & the Gates of Hell
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Pinal Airpark
Note the chrysanthemum crests.
Hachiman Bridge
Clarendon War Memorial.
Clarendon War Memorial
This fried chicken is one of Bangkok’s most famous.
Gai Tord Jae Kee
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Everything at Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe is served in takeout containers.
Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe
The fried green tomato sandwich comes on jalapeño cornbread toast.
Café Reconcile
BBQ shrimp braised in beer are a popular menu item.
High Hat Cafe
The pastries at Lagniappe Bakehouse are worth waking up for.
Lagniappe Bakehouse
Peter Vazquez has been quietly making a name for himself for years.
The Appetite Repair Shop
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Haleakalā National Park’s summit region, shrouded in the pre-dawn fog.
Beware the Legends Behind These National Park Souvenirs
13 days ago
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
14 days ago
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
15 days ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
16 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Virginia Pamplin Steins Unlimited
Gastro Obscura

Steins Unlimited

One man's lifelong collection of 10,000 rare steins tells the story of beer drinking from 1350 to today.

Pamplin, Virginia

Added By
Eric J. Wallace
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Steins Unlimited   Jill Nance
Steins Unlimited   Jill Nance
Steins Unlimited   Jill Nance
Steins Unlimited   Jill Nance
Steins Unlimited   Jill Nance
Steins Unlimited   Jill Nance
Steins Unlimited   Jill Nance
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Located just outside a tiny 200-person village along an isolated stretch of Virginia’s U.S. 460, the Steins Unlimited home-museum is about as obscure as it gets. Sans a website, it is advertised by two hand-painted signs—one hanging from the mailbox, the other rising from the edge of the yard.

But inside, a world of fascination awaits. Stepping into a large two-room outdoor shed, visitors are greeted by an array of floor-to-ceiling shelves brimming with some of the most ornate and historically significant drinking vessels ever made. The collection of 10,000-plus rare beer steins is the product of George Adams’s lifelong obsession, and took more than 50 years to compile. 

Adams uses his extraordinary collection to tell the story of beer drinking from 1350 to today. Rising from a corner workbench, Adams is quick to offer museum-goers a “bottomless pint” of America’s oldest beer, Yuengling, from an onsite kegerator. (Beer and admission are free, though donations are welcomed.)

For the next hour, he will guide guests down a rabbit hole of German and American beer history. A tour includes the institutionalization of the stein via 15th-century sanitation laws inducted after the Black Death, the ensuing “golden era” of European beer drinking, the rise of beautifully crafted steins as status symbols, American prohibition, the drinking habits of the Third Reich, and much more.

Adams’s finest treasures are displayed within his home, a four-bedroom brick rancher. The keystone of the collection is a room containing about 500 vessels that include hand-carved wooden steins, silver steins, and even gold-lidded steins, many of which are hundreds of years old.

Related Tags

Beer Alcohol Museums And Collections Museums Food Collections

Know Before You Go

From the road, the museum couldn’t be more nondescript: Be sure to plug the address into your GPS. Although technically open every day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., as Adams is a one man show, do call ahead.

Community Contributors

Added By

drericjwallace

Edited By

Meg

  • Meg

Published

August 3, 2018

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/beer-stein-museum
Steins Unlimited
616 Swan Rd
Pamplin, Virginia
United States
37.274251, -78.679662
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Joel Sweeney's Grave

Appomattox, Virginia

miles away

The Light Of Truth Universal Shrine

Buckingham, Virginia

miles away

Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum

Lynchburg, Virginia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Virginia

Virginia

United States

Places 315
Stories 34

Nearby Places

Joel Sweeney's Grave

Appomattox, Virginia

miles away

The Light Of Truth Universal Shrine

Buckingham, Virginia

miles away

Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum

Lynchburg, Virginia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Virginia

Virginia

United States

Places 315
Stories 34

Related Stories and Lists

Drink Up at the Home-Museum Displaying Over 10,000 Beer Steins

museums

By Eric J. Wallace

Related Places

  • Auvers-sur-Oise, France

    Musée de l'Absinthe

    One woman's decades-long obsession with the "La Fée Verte."

  • Every tour begins in the basement, featuring a bar decorated in Russian vodka labels.

    Staten Island, New York

    Booze History Museum

    Crammed into several rooms of a Staten Island home, this museum is a vodka-soaked paean to the pleasures of drinking.

  • Seguin, Texas

    Pape’s Nutcracker Museum

    One nutty businessman’s unique tribute to an ancient tool.

  • The National Cookie Cutter Museum.

    Joplin, Missouri

    National Cookie Cutter Historical Museum

    A small museum dedicated to the whimsical tool that turns sugar cookies into works of art.

  • The “pet ham” is 119 years old.

    Smithfield, Virginia

    World’s Oldest Edible Ham

    The nearly 120-year-old piece of pork wears a brass collar and was once a man's "pet ham."

  • Unusually shaped apple green veilleuses-theieres (Berne).

    Trenton, Tennessee

    Trenton Teapot Museum

    The world's largest collection of porcelain "veilleuses-theiere," or night light teapots, includes four that belonged to Napoleon.

  • The Gurkenmuseum.

    Lübbenau/Spreewald, Germany

    Gurkenmuseum (Cucumber Museum)

    A museum honoring Germany’s cucumber mecca offers a great dill of gherkin history.

  • Mmmm

    Hurricane, Utah

    Pioneer Heritage Museum

    A museum has some wedding cake dating to the Teddy Roosevelt administration, and some bacon from FDR's.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.