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Virginia is for craft beer lovers.
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FEBRUARY 2015
NEW YEAR.
NEW LOOK.
NEW VA MARKETS.
O’Connor Brewing Co. is proudly stepping out onto shelves with a bold new look! And we’ll be making new waves in Northern Virginia and Charlottesville! So look out for your favorite O’Connor brews in their brand new packaging at your local grocery stores and bottle shops by early spring. Plus, our Lil S.I.P.A. Session IPA, a brewery customer favorite, will make its debut in six-packs as our new seasonal! O’CONNOR BREWING CO. | 211 W 24TH ST, NORFOLK, VA 23517 | 757.623.BEER (2337) | OCONNORBREWING.COM TASTING ROOM HOURS: TUESDAY-THURSDAY 4-8PM, FRIDAY 4-9PM, SATURDAY NOON-9PM, SUNDAY NOON-6PM VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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ingredients PUBLISHER/EDITOR Jeff Maisey ADVERTISING/MARKETING Jennifer McDonald CREATIVE DIRECTOR Brenda Mihalko
20 6: Hops 8: Champion and more 10: Portner Mug Returns Home 12: Treaty of Ghent Brew 20: Love Virginia Craft Beer 22: Chuck Triplett’s Epic Brewery Adventure 24: Women in Beer 28: Old Bust Head 32: Beach Brewing 35: Garden Grove 36: Stone Brewing Co. 38: Blue Bee Cider 42: Reviews 44: Keepin’ Tabs 47: Brewery Guide -4-
FEBRUARY 2015
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Diane Catanzaro Diane Flynt Jeff Evans Lee Graves Chris Jones Kim Kirk Robey Martin Joshua Rapp Learn Wade Reynolds Mark Thompson Chuck Triplett Michael Wingfield Dan Yarnall Allen Young CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Kathy Keeney WEBMASTER Giorgio Valentini Copyright 2015 Ghent Media, Inc. Virginia Craft Beer Magazine is published bi-monthly by Ghent Media, Inc. PO Box 11147 Norfolk, VA 23517 For advertising and subscription inquiries: 757.403.5852 jennifer.mcdonald@hotmail.com For editorial inquiries: 757.237.2762 jeffmaisey@yahoo.com virginiacraftbeer.com
Photo taken at Cogans North
publisher’sNOTE When you think of February, what comes to mind? Cold
weather? Super Bowl? President’s Day? All are good and accurate. But, I think LOVE in honor of Valentine’s Day. For us at VCB, it made us also think about what we love about beers brewed from our local Virginia craft breweries and how we wanted to share the love with you. We decided to ask you (the readers, our Facebook fans, our friends) to name your favorite Virginia craft beer and tell us why you love it. We have compiled the list and feature it in this issue. Take a look. You might discover your new crush! One VCB writer who really loves Virginia craft beer is Chuck Triplett. Last year, Chuck made it his goal to visit every brewery located in the state of Virginia. Chuck shares his adventure with us in this issue. Next, Elizabeth Erschens and Diane Catanzaro prove that the beer business isn’t just for men anymore. They travel around the state to visit with many of the women who have embraced a career in the beer industry. From brewers to public relations and marketing directors to tap room managers to senior executives and owners, women are making their mark in this once male dominated industry. In the Hampton Roads region, Jeff Maisey talks to Norfolk’s Kevin O’Connor (O’Connor Brewing Co.) and Porter Hardy (Smartmouth Brewing Company) about their collaboration beer to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. And, Elizabeth Erschens and Diane Catanzaro learn about Beach Brewing Company’s Justin MacDonald’s journey into the world of sour beers and his quest to cultivate his own wild yeasts and microbes right in his own backyard. Also, in this issue, Jeff Evans and Chuck Triplett tell the journey of a rare Portner Brewing stein and its return home to Alexandria. They also take a look at Old Bust Head Brewing Company in Warrenton. Allen Young gives us an update on the hop crops. Robey Martin tells us about the new Garden Grove Brewery opening in Carytown in RVA. And, Steve Deason takes a look at the buzz surrounding Richmond’s Blue Bee Cidery. All this plus the latest brew news and beer reviews . Lastly, I hope one of your New Year’s resolutions was to drink more Virginia craft beer! We’ve made it easy for you with our Events Calendar and Brewery Guide. Take a look, make plans, and go warm up with a beer or two! Then, let us know which ones you love!
Beer is your art. Label design is ours.
DesignByWatermark.com (434) 295-5625
Cheers! Jennifer
Jennifer McDonald Jennifer.McDonald@hotmail.com Jeff Maisey JeffMaisey@yahoo.com Follow us on Facebook - facebook.com/virginiacraftbeer, Instagram @ VirginiaCraftBeerMagazine, and Twitter @VACraftBeerMag VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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brewNEWS
Flower Power
Popularity of craft beer has created potential hop shortage BY ALLEN YOUNG
T“Where have all the flowers gone?”
o borrow my theme this month from the hippie anthem,
The answer my friend is brewing craft beers! Hops are the hot topic on the brewers’ minds and how to get a-hold of enough to fuel the growing thirst for hoppy beers. Now that more breweries have opened than anytime in US history, brewers are using more hops per barrel than ever in brewing as well. The stark contrast is that hop farming has not kept pace with the craft breweries demand for this very labor intensive crop. I had visited the epicenter of hop production, Yakima Washington, during the 2014 harvest to attend a hop school for craft brewers that BSG puts on. The overview on the hop farms is alarming, and put in a historical perspective it gives me cause for concern. Hops for brewing were brought over and grown in the US by immigrants that brewed ales and lagers in the New World and by 1855 New York State boasted 3 million pounds. By the time Prohibition shut down the breweries, a powdery mildew nearly finished off the Eastern hop growing that went from Virginia to New York. Most production that survived had relocated to the drier and less humid climates of the Pacific Northwest -- from California to Washington – where farmers grew hops mostly as a long family tradition. By 1980 we had
Well, now…
about 250 growers in the Pacific Northwest and hopping rates in beers averaged around 11 bitterness units. Dry hopped West Coast IPA had yet to come along. As of 2014, we now have IPAs as the number one selling beer style in craft brewing with bitterness units easily at 40 and above, however, now there are less than 60 hop farms remaining, with 10 percent in Idaho, 15 percent in Oregon, and 75 percent in Washington State. I don’t even factor-in the small start-up farms -6-
FEBRUARY 2015
Hallertau hops
that have begun in Virginia and other states as they make up under-one percent of the hops, and most are “fresh” hops, not dried, and pelletized for long term storage and use. Hops are next to the Saffron spice as one of the world’s most labor intensive plants to grow. Pressure for the migrant labor force in the Yakima Valley from higher paying Honey Crisp apple and blueberry farms have impacted hop farmers from expanding acreage, as well as, the shortage of specialized equipment used for harvesting that is run 24 hours a day for about 40 days of the year and then idled the rest of the year. An acre of hops requires about 60 poles 18-feet-high to be cemented 5 feet into the soil. The rows are 3-½ feet apart and each rhizome is hand-planted with a coconut husk twine hand-tied to a cross trellis. Each shoot is then trained by the farm hands to grow clockwise around the twine. Throughout the season the plants are irrigated, checked for parasites and mildew. Once the sun reaches the highest point in the summer, the vines produce blooms of hop cones. Aroma hops, which IPA brewers demand, are all early blooming and put a huge demand on the farmers to harvest at the peak of oil production. Bottom-vine is cut from the root, followed by a top cutter, which lays the long vines in truck beds till piled high as possible. The trucks are unloaded at the farms’ mechanized picking stations, which still require each vine to be hand hung upside down onto an overhead conveyor through a metal finger system that pulls the cones off the vines. Next to a kiln drier to remove moisture, then baled and or pelletized and stored at 31 degrees until the brewer calls for them. “Where have all the flowers gone?” Allen Young is the Southeast sales manager for BSG Craftbrewing. Young is a former brewmaster at Gordon Biersch in Virginia Beach.
VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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brewNEWS Debuting in 2015 at Starr Hill
Starr Hill Brewery rang in the New Year with the launch of their limited-release Debut Series of 2015 and the introduction of its first beer, a Belgian Tripel. “We’ve had tremendous success recently with our limited-release beers, such as the All Access Series, where we’ve been able to experiment with an extensive array of beer styles,” said Robbie O’Cain, Manager of Brewery Operations. “The Debut Series is another opportunity for the Starr Hill team to get creative with the brewing process, broaden our knowledge of new and established beer styles, and showcase our ability to brew excellent beers.” The Debut Series features six exciting styles of beer that will be released throughout 2015. These beers will be available exclusively on draft at select retailers throughout Starr Hill’s distribution footprint. Each new addition to the series will be released every other month. The Tripel is Starr Hill’s own take on the classic ale made famous by the Trappist breweries in Belgium. Brewed with crushed coriander, fruit and citrus notes compliment the spicy yeast character and create a deep and complex flavor. At 9.5% alcohol by volume, the Tripel is incredibly well balanced with the perfect touch sweetness as well as a slight bitterness from US Saaz hops.
Chapel of Apple Mini Doc The story of Bold Rock cidery has been condensed into an enjoyable 2:44 mini-documentary produced by Mountain High Media. The video captures the beautiful mountain scenery surrounding the big, red Shenandoah-barn facility as well as the people behind the hard apple cider, including cofounders Brian Shanks and John Washburn as well as Henry Chiles of Crown Orchard. See for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=eo1-8ZgGj3E
COMPILED BY STAFF
Champion Unveils New Bottle Series
Champion Brewing Company worked in tandem with Watermark Design to release a new label series exclusively for their taproom. As Champion gains notoriety across the East Coast by expanding distribution to four states, these limited release bottles were designed with the intention of creating intrigue for prospective visitors to the brewery as well as drumming up enthusiasm from Champion’s passionate Virginia following. Each 22 ounce bottle was individually labeled, waxed, and numbered by hand in the Champion Missile Factory production facility. Head Brewer and President Hunter Smith has collaborated with breweries across the US, from New Holland to Breckenridge, and recently expanded production by installing a new automated canning line from Wild Goose Canning that has the capacity for 12, 16, and 24-ounce cans. Megalodon is an Imperial Porter made with coffee brewed locally by Shark Mountain (Charlottesville, VA). This batch was patiently aged in bourbon barrels most recently used for port wine. (10.0% ABV) Violent Trubulence is an American Triple IPA brewed with a recklessly large volume of hops, including Cascade, Summit, and Magnum. Boasting a gigantic 100 IBU, Violent Trubulence is not for the faint of palate. (10.5% ABV, 100 IBU) Head in a Jar is Champion’s Solipsist Saison fermented with Brett brux in Chardonnay and Muscat barrels from Afton Mountain Vineyards. Super fruity aromas and flavors of citrus zest dance with lively carbonation for an out of body experience. (6.0% ABV, 27 IBU) Fruitbasket is a West Coast Double IPA hopped exclusively with the elusive Mosaic hop. Known for its fruity, earthy and herbal notes, this hop interacts delightfully with the peel and juices of blood oranges and red grapefruits. Intensity. (8.0% ABV, 70 IBU)
Devils Backbone Launches Collaboration Sampler
Beginning in March, Devils Backbone will showcase its dynamic Eight Point IPA along with three joint venture beers packaged as the Collaboration Sampler 12-pack. Brewmaster Jason Oliver shared the following details about the collaboration beers: Devils Tale Black IPA (with Coronado Brewing Co.) – We decided to switch it up a bit and brew the east coast version of Devils Tale as a Black IPA! We thought it would be cool to do two different versions of the same beer, adding some additional black malt. The Devil Went Down to Oregon Dark Rye Ale (with Ninkasi Brewing Co.) – The Devil Went Down to Georgia is a style defying dark, multi-grain, rye ale which took inspiration from many schools of thought. A blend of malts, including rye, wheat, oat, and barley create a malty backbone for a blend of German and west coast hops to play. Double Gooch Imperial International Pale Ale (with Fat Heads Brewery) – Double Gooch Imperial International Pale Ale uses distinctive Southern Hemisphere hops from Australia and New Zealand alongside some bright and juicy US hops. Fat Heads Brewery brewed a Gooch Pale Ale using Southern Hemisphere hops this summer and we decided to brew a bigger danker version.
Got brew news? Send it our way to jeffmaisey@yahoo.com. -8-
FEBRUARY 2015
VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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brewNEWS
A Piece of Virginia Beer History Returns Home BY JEFFERSON EVANS AND CHUCK TRIPLETT
BPortner Brewing Company, also known as the Tivoli Brewery, was ack in the span of years running from 1869 to 1916, the Robert
headquartered in Olde Town Alexandria, VA and achieved the status of being the South’s largest pre-Prohibition brewery, with more rail cars than Anheuser-Busch. Robert Portner pioneered rail car refrigeration (his home – Annaberg still stands in Manassas, VA and was possibly the first air-conditioned home in the USA) and was the first President of the United States Brewers Association. Today, as we begin 2015, we find Catherine and Margaret Portner, two of Robert Portner’s great-great granddaughters, closing in on the realization of their dream of opening the Portner Brewhouse and continuing a proud family tradition, and in the process creating new breweriana such as their handmade and individually numbered ceramic beer steins limited to a run of only 250 and modeled after the original Robert Portner Brewing Company steins. Cinde Waller of Grand Junction, Colorado is also a woman with family steeped in Virginia history. “Robert Henderson Angell [1868-1933] was my great-great uncle’s name,” she explained. “He practically built Roanoke. He was a member of the Virginia House of Representatives, President of the Shenandoah Life Insurance Co., coowner of the Central Manufacturing Co., owner of the Virginia Lumber Co., Roanoke Ironworks, and affiliated with many other businesses. Edgar J. Hoover and the Gov. of Virginia were his friends! He also helped to establish Ground Hog Day.” The Robert Portner Brewing Company was active in Roanoke, and at some point a Portner Brewery stein entered the possession of Robert Angell, or that of his brother John Albert, Cinde’s great-grandfather. From there the stein passed through the hands of grandfather, Eugene Angell, born 1892 in Franklin County, VA, to Cinde’s mother, Nedra Angell Fields, and finally to Cinde herself. The path taken by the stein wasn’t a straight line. During World War II the mug made the trip from Roanoke to Washington, D.C. before moving with Cinde’s grandparents to Richmond for a time and then on to Denver in the late 1950s. The next decade saw the stein make moves to Phoenix, AZ and Deming, NM. When Cinde’s grandfather passed away, it was brought to Cinde’s mother’s home in Quemado, TX; then later back to Deming in the 1980s, and finally to Cinde’s home in Grand Junction, CO in 2008. In 2013 Cinde started some research into the stein, its history and value. That started a chain that led to Chuck Triplett, and finally to me, Jeff Evans. In 2013 the stein made the long journey back to Virginia, joining my collection in my Alexandria home, just a few miles from the original Olde Town Alexandria location of the Robert Portner Brewery, and just within the last couple of months the stein, in a last wonderful bit of irony, was held in Catherine Portner’s hands. Then it took its place in my collection next to my new Portner Stein, #26 made in 2012. And thus a 100-plus year journey ends. Welcome home, mug. You are among friends. One of the joys of breweriana is the history behind the items and the community that springs up in the process of preserving and collecting historical beer items. The Robert Portner Brewery was not the most prolific in terms of grand scale advertising. As Portner collector Chuck Triplett tells me, “There are a fair number of items out there such as
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FEBRUARY 2015
Northern Virginia’s Favorite Brewpub Award-winning handcrafted beer with a menu to match, appealing to craft beer aficionados and foodies alike. Upscale, but informal, always family-friendly.
5th annual barleywine festival February 21 & 22 Taste more than 30 special and limited edition barleywines from around the region and across the country at the Mid-Atlantic’s largest event. Free admission.
444 West Broad street, Falls ChurCh, Va 22046 703.942.6840 | madfoxbrewing.com | follow us on free parking garage | Metro accessible
There is an active community of Portner breweriana collectors in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. metro area. openers, glasses, bottles, and lots of paper items such as letterheads and business cards. The more rare items would include crates. I once owned the only-known porcelain sign.” There is an active community of Portner breweriana collectors in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. metro area. In addition to Chuck, they include people such as Ray Johnson (longtime organizer of the Blue Gray Breweriana Show in Fredericksburg, VA), Bill Madden (head brewer and co-owner of Mad Fox Brewpub in Falls Church, VA), Jack Blush, Dave Hagberg, Mike Ciancosi, and of course members of the Portner family such as Peggy and Catherine Portner. The past meets the present meets fine people meets good beer = excellent. To learn more about breweriana and beer related collecting check the BCCA website (Brewery Collectibles Club of America) at bcca.com and the local Capitol City Chapter at capitolcitychapter.com. VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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brewNEWS
SHAKE ON IT: Porter Hardy of Smartmouth and Kevin O’Connor
Treaty of Ghent Brewing O’Connor and Smartmouth Collaborate on a Belgian Dubbel for 200th Anniversary of Event BY JEFF MAISEY
Tand Smartmouth has been brewing beneath the
and I thought it’d be fun to showcase not only Ghent but the city of Norfolk as a whole.” “I really appreciated that Kevin thought of us,” surface for some time. While each of these Norfolk-based craft said Porter Hardy. “People have asked us forever breweries have collaborated multiple times on oneabout a collaboration between us and O’Connor. I think we’ve each just been so busy growing our own off, specialty beers with other local breweries as A classic Belgian dubbel businesses we haven’t ever done it, so it was a good well as outsiders like Green Flash, the question has opportunity.” been asked, “Why not these two”? Some folks have speculated that these breweries The historic Treaty of Ghent was signed on on the opposite fringes of Ghent view themselves as December 24, 1814 in the Belgian (then Flemish) cross-town rivals. Others believe there is a friendly, yet city of Ghent. It wasn’t ratified by the US Senate until February 18, 2015, and that is what the Norfolk serious sense of competition. At least, that is the rumor both Kevin O’Connor and Smartmouth Brewing Company commemoration is timed for. The Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and president Porter Hardy have heard repeatedly. Perhaps fittingly, the occasion to finally dispel such Great Britain. It also formally established the geographic nonsense has presented itself in conjunction with the 200th boundary between the US and Canada. O’Connor and Smartmouth have appropriately chosen a Anniversary of the Treaty of Ghent. Belgian-style beer for their collaboration. They are adamant the “The Ghent Business Association contacted me about either beer reflects the true essence of the style. holding an event or making a beer, and I wanted to “We’re putting together a traditional style Belgian bring in Smartmouth to collaborate with us,” said Kevin O’Connor. “We’re both technically Ghent breweries dubbel,” O’Connor said. “We’re not trying to over-hop he idea of a collaboration between O’Connor
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FEBRUARY 2015
it. We’re not trying to do something weird. We want the visiting Belgian contingent to recognize it and enjoy it.” A traditional Belgian dubbel is characterized as being a strong (6-8% ABV) brown ale with full body and subtle fruitiness. The Trappist Abbey of Westmalle (1856) is credited as the originator of the style. The monks at Westmalle continue to produce the beer today, which is popular throughout Belgium and amongst beer enthusiasts in America. The brewing teams of both Smartmouth and O’Connor separately developed recipes and then compared notes. To everyone’s surprise they were nearly identical. “It was 90 percent the same,” said Hardy. “It was really a very easy, trouble-free process” The beer is being brewed at O’Connor Brewing Company.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
O’Connor and Smartmouth have appropriately chosen a Belgian-style beer for their collaboration.
SIGNING OF THE TREATY OF GHENT: Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier is shaking hands with the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, John Quincy Adams. Also, the British Undersecretary of State for War and the Colonies, Henry Goulburn, is carrying a red folder.
The brewers will be using authentic ingredients: a Belgian ale yeast strain, Pilsner, dark continental European malts, and dark Belgian candy sugar. They’ll use mild German Magnum hops as well as Tillicum. The ABV is anticipated to be 7.5%. The O’Connor/Smartmouth beer will be called the Treaty of Ghent Belgian Dubbel. It’ll be packaged in 22-ounce bottles with a label full of symbolism that is designed to be look authentic to the 1800s era. The dubbel will also be available on tap, though sold exclusively at Ghent-area restaurants. With a Smartmouth-O’Connor collaboration finally realized, what’ll they do for an encore? “I’m just excited to finally be doing something together,” said Porter Hardy. “Kevin and I have been friends forever. Smartmouth owes a lot of its success to O’Connor Brewing Company.” “People have wanted to build things up to where its Smartmouth verses O’Connor,” said Kevin O’Connor. “There’s none of that. There’s not at cross-town rivalry. We’re going to do our own Treaty of Ghent. And I can guarantee this is not the last beer we’re going to collaborate on together.” VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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mugSHOTS
Cogans North Friends & Family Event Norfolk
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FEBRUARY 2015
Since 1953
Awarded Top 20 Event of April 2015 by the Southeast Tourism Society
Downtown Norfolk, April 2015 Friday, April 24 5:00pm NorFolk NATo FesTivAl FlAg rAisiNg scope Plaza, Norfolk Free & Open tO the public
Three Brothers Brewing Resolute Release Harrisonburg
Friday, April 24 7:30pm NATO Night at the Virginia International Tattoo Scope Arena, Norfolk TickeTs: www.vafest.org Saturday, April 25 10:00am 62nd AnnuAl PArAde of nAtionS downtown norfolk Free & Open tO the public Saturday, April 25 11:30am-3:30pm NATOFeST Town Point Park, Norfolk Free & Open tO the public For more information, visit natofestival.org.
VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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mugSHOTS
DoG Street Pub Big Bold Beer Festival Williamsburg
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APRIL 2014 2015 FEBRUARY
VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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Are you game? The maker of this mini beer pong table certainly is! It’s adaptable so you can also play quarters, skee-ball, cup stack, flip cup, and it will even hold your K-Cups in preparation for the morning after! $34.95
Mason Meals & More, Roanoke etsy.com/shop/MasonMealsMore
beer CRAFT These talented Virginians are getting their craft on in celebration of the beer lover in all of us!
shine on!
brace yourself Suffolk artist Teresa Walter makes custom jewelry such as this beer bottle cap set featuring Virginia breweries (O’Connor, Devils Backbone, Starr Hill, Parkway Brewing & St. George). Don’t see your favorite? She does custom orders! Bracelets from $15, earrings from $8.
Teresa Walter, Bee Artsy Suffolk facebook.com/ BeeArtsyCreations Beeartsy.teresa@gmail.com - 18 -
FEBRUARY 2015
The skies may be cloudy and gray, but you can pack your own sunshine with one or several of these brilliantly colored growlers from Shine Craft Vessel Company. Starting at $59.
Shine Craft Vessel Company, Henrico shinevessels.com
VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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Love
Virginia Craft Beer
STAFF REPORT
We
frequent bars and restaurants across the Commonwealth ranging from the celebrated Mekong (Richmond) and Birch Bar (Norfolk), both considered among the best in the USA, to such places as World of Beer (Arlington, Charlottesville, & Reston), Westover Market’s beer garden (Arlington), Capital Ale House (Richmond, Fredericksburg, & Harrisonburg), Lynnhaven Pub (Virginia Beach), Saison (Richmond), Corner Stone Bar & Grill (Roanoke), TheBier Garden (Portsmouth) and The Artful Dodger (Harrisonburg). These are great locations for people watching as well as asking folks what their favorite Virginia-brewed craft beer might be. Seems everyone is passionate about beer. Recently we expanded the conversations to our friends on Facebook. The question was straight forward: What’s your favorite Virginia craft beer? Here’s what we learned.
Lost Rhino Brewing Company
Old Bust Head Brewing
I’ll go with one that I don’t think is available right now, but which I loved – Lost Rhino Birth of Ace Brett IPA which did a wonderful job of combining a well-balanced big IPA with the tropical fruit notes and bit of tartness and funk you can get from Brett. It was outstanding.
English Pale Ale
Bourbon Barrel DIPA
Smooth, drinkable, yet flavorful with just the right compliment of malt and hops.
It just warms the soul regardless of the ever changing weather in Virginia.
Mark Townsend, Manassas
Woody Elliott, Richmond
Birth of Ace Brett IPA
Legend Brewing Company
Brown Ale
I’m not big on super-hoppy beers. This has just a hint, but is more malty, with a nice nut flavor. Goes down easy but with a lot of character.
Hardywood Brewery
Jeff Evans, Falls Church
Tom Robotham, Norfolk
O’Connor Brewing Company
Great Dismal Black IPA
Alewerks
Lovers Greed
Strangeways Brewing Company
Kiss Off! Cherry Sour
My wife and I are both big fans of sour beers, especially sour beers made with Raspberries or Cherries. Strangeways used lactobacillus to make an interesting sour beer then aged it over sweet cherries. The result is a tart beer with a complex depth of fruit flavor that is unique in this area. My wish for the New Year is that more Virginia brewers will add sour beers to their mix. Steve Deason, Richmond - 20 -
FEBRUARY 2015
Sometimes a thing of beauty can’t be explained, but rather just enjoyed.
Great head retention and a smoky flavor with chocolate notes. Hopped well with a very good aroma. Matthew Hinson, Norfolk
Devils Backbone
Vienna Lager
I don’t want chocolate, nuts, pumpkins or fruit in a beer. Most craft beers taste a bit too hoppy for me but this beer is just so smooth. Paul Johnson, Northern Virginia
Jason Johnson, Norfolk
Chaos Mountain Brewery
Strangeways
Albino Monkey
Because it’s just damn good David Loranger, Richmond
Agents of Chaos Belgian Special Dark Ale Rich flavors balanced for sharing and savoring. Great example of a Belgian beer. Wendy Hallock, Boones Mill
Adventure Brewing Company
wicked Nymph Imperial Stout
Roasted, chocolaty greatness. And smooth as could be for a high gravity beer. Kevin Spaulding, Fredericksburg
Wolf Hills Brewery
St. George Brewing Company
English IPA
It has that slight diacetal character which gives it a little butterscotch twang. Rob Pettus, Bon Air
Bow Chicka Brown Ale Is creamy and rich with no bitter taste, PLUS not too sweet like other breweries’ brown ales. Kari Kemper Tudor, Newport News
Smartmouth
Cowcatcher Milk Stout Incredible flavor and so very smooth. And the rich aroma has you tasting it before it hits your lips. I’m also proud to be the man who named this one. Eric Worden, Norfolk
Old Ox Brewing Company
Black Ox
Blue Mountain Brewery
Dark Hollow
It is one of my favorite beers. After moving down from New York a few years ago, I have never been disappointed with any beer that Blue Mountain has put out and is one of, if not, my favorite brewery in Virginia. The craft beer scene in Virginia is exploding and rapidly becoming one of the best states for craft beers, which is why I am a co-founder of the Lake Anna Brewfest. I find it very important and fun helping to educate people on the great craft beer that Virginia offers!
I love Old Ox’s Black Ox because it’s so malty and flavorful. Robin Schuh, Bristow
Back Bay Brewing Company
I love Blue Mountain Brewery’s Dark Hollow Imperial stout aged in bourbon casks. The flavor is warm, complex, yet not overwhelming. It’s almost like having a very good Imperial stout and a bourbon chaser at the same time. A definite star, not just among Virginia beers, but among anything being brewed from sea to shining sea.
O’Connor
El Guapo
El Guapo lives up to its name. When I see that sombrero on tap over the bar, I know he’s got my back! My go-to cerveza.
Hands down my favorite. Also, Geoff Logan (brewmaster) is as good, if not better on guitar as he is behind the brew kettle. Music and beer! Ultra talented Luke Taylor, Virginia Beach
Soldiers of Fortune This is one kick-ass, take no prisoners brown ale. Jon Smithson, Leesburg
Jose Fin Roman, Norfolk
Devils Backbone
Trail Angel
It is awesome and I’m glad to have them among many other breweries in the 757.
Devils Backbone
Chengdu Weizenbock
A glass of unfiltered hefe with a hinf of peppercorn. Delicious!
Chris Denkers, Mineral
Coffee House Stout
Adroit Theory Brewing Company
Beach Cruiser Pale Ale Kyle Curran, Chesapeake
Alewerks
Bryan Ruth, Virginia Beach
I like Trail Angel by Devil’s Backbone; easy-drinking with high banana and clove. All hefe with a medium body, it reminds me and killer sunsets. Robey Martin, Richmond \
Port City
Optimal Wit
Starr Hill Brewing
Chelsea Drake, Alexandria
I always choose to support my local. Plus I just love The Love. My boyfriend and I pack a sixpack when we visit the Outer Banks on summer weekends.
I’ll never drink another Hoegaarden thanks to my discovery of Port City’s Optimal Wit. Fresh and refreshing. Say, Who? Ha ha.
Jeff Fitzgerald, Roanoke Without question, Blue Mountain Dark Hollow. This bourbon barrel aged imperial stout is perfectly smooth, and intense. The notes of vanilla, caramel, andwhiskey are distinct and yet not overpowering. Everything a good stout should be.
Smartmouth Brewing Company
David Brown, Norfolk
Chris Jones, Norfolk
Alter Ego Saison
A fine farmhouse fun, cool and cantastic, chills fast, thrills faster.
The Love
Sunken City
Dam Lager
Because it’s a beer that tastes like a beer. It’s easy to drink and finishes very clean. I also really enjoy the Center of the Universe brewery’s Main Street Virginia Pale Ale. It’s not overly hoppy and is very crisp. Chrissy Covington, Norfolk
Sissy Price, Charlottesville
Mad Fox Brewing Company
Kellerbier Kolsch
Can’t beat this for a sessional brew when the Skins game is on TV at the brew pub. Jennifer Jones, Vienna VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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Holy Grail of Brewery Tours Chuck Triplett & Friends complete quest to visit all of Virginia’s breweries in a single year BY CHUCK TRIPLETT WITH JEFFERSON EVANS
W
hat seemed like a fun challenge amongst a group of fellow craft beer drinkers and travelers at the end of 2013 ended up being a substantial and difficult, yet certainly rewarding and enjoyable quest. Rayner Johnson, Robert Fondren, Erik Benedict and Chuck Triplett were discussing and comparing their yearly brewery visits and Chuck made the boast that he would visit every open brewery in Virginia during 2014. Chuck, having visited every brewery in the state previously, with the exception of Damascus and Miller Coors, thought it wouldn’t be that hard to do them all in a single year. This group, who routinely travels the country and the world visiting breweries every year, was up for the challenge. After all, they were veteran beer travelers who visit more than 300 breweries a year each. In fact, Rayner holds the record of 615 in one year. The group has long been breweriana collectors, and most of them began touring breweries back in the 1970s. Chuck has visited breweries in 45 states and 28 countries. The others have similar histories. The challenge began near the first day of January 2014 with the group visiting Forge Brewery in Lorton and ended in late December with Rayner and Chuck visiting the newly opened Belly Love in Purcelleville. Completing the challenge was much harder than they had expected; mostly because there were not complete listings of the breweries in Virginia, and due to the sheer number of new breweries that were popping up over the course of the year. Raynor and Chuck now maintain what they believe is the most current list of VA breweries that is out there. It includes not only open breweries but those that are rumored, are in planning, are in build-out and permitting or that are very close to actually opening. They also share the list with others and accept tips and contributions from anyone that has any information on new breweries in the state. Many trips were made to regions where the brewery count was high and they could knock out clusters of open breweries in a day or weekend, but other breweries were remote and spread out. Plus, many of the newer breweries were opening at a time after they had visited an area so they had to schedule return visits. This was complicated by the fact that most breweries have limited visiting or tap room hours when they are open. If they couldn’t get inside a brewery it did not count as a visit. Just pulling into the parking lot did not count. They found out just how geographically large the state of Virginia is as there are now breweries in every corner it seems. One of the breweries, Seven Arrows, actually had their official opening on December 31, the last day of the year. However, Chuck and Ray were able to get in a little early so they could check it off the list. The quest was exhaustive, but rewarding. Rayner and Chuck managed to hit 101 breweries missing only one – Anheuser Busch in Williamsburg. Erik and Robert got very close
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(Left to Right) Chuck Triplett, Charlie Buettner (Mad Fox Head Brewer), Rayner Johnson.
with brewery counts in the low 90s. The current open brewery count in Virginia is 97. The reason Chuck and Rayner were able to exceed that number is because several of the breweries moved and changed locations this year so they actually visited both the old and new locations. Also, a couple of the breweries are no longer brewing. Chuck and Rayner often travelled together and sometimes Robert and /or Erik joined them. Robert and Erik, though, often travelled solo and at times different members were ahead for awhile which made for good natured razzing and bragging but also served as inspiration to those who were behind. The end of year rush to completion was challenging to say the least. All and all, it was a great time and adventure that took the group all over the state and back again. They saw and tasted just how great Virginia beer is and how interesting, diverse and different the breweries can be. They visited the giant Miller Coors Brewery in Elkton down to a few one barrel nanos. They were able to enjoy all of the different areas of our beautiful state from the Atlantic Ocean to the lovely western mountains. But just as important as the beer for them was the meeting the folks who actually brew it and those who had the love and gumption to open the breweries in the first place. They met many new friends along the way and visited many old friends as well and that is actually the most rewarding part of the quest. The brewing community is awesome. None of the group will try for a repeat in 2015, however. It was daunting and much harder than they all had anticipated but they all intend to revisit favorites and, of course, any new ones that will open in our fair state this year. There are no regrets and the group would love to challenge others to try and do the same this year. They know you would find it interesting, rewarding and tasty. Are you up for it?
Chuck Triplett & Friends 2014 Brewery Tour 1 Abingdon Wolf Hills Brewing Company 2 Afton Blue Mountain Brewery 3-4 Alexandria Hops Grill & Brewery • Port City Brewing Company 5-6 Arlington Capitol City Brewing Company • Rock Bottom Restaurant-Brewery 7 Arrington Blue Mountain Barrel House 8-9 Ashburn Lost Rhino Brewing Company • Old Ox Brewing Company 10 Ashland Center of the Universe Brewing Company 11 Barboursville Beer Hound Brewery (Old location) 12 Blacksburg Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill 13-14 Callaway Callaway Brewing Company • Chaos Mountain Brewing Company 15 Centreville Sweetwater Tavern 16-21 Charlottesville Champion Brewing Company • Champion Brewing Company Production • C’vill-ian Brewing Company • South Street Brewery • South Street Brewery/ Blue Mountain • Three Notch’d Brewing Company 22 Crozet Starr Hill Brewing Company 23 Culpeper Beer Hound Brewery (New lo-
cation) 24 Damascus Damascus
Brewery 25 Danville 2 Witches Winery & Brewery 26 Edinburg Swover Creek Brewing Com-
pany 27 Elkton Coors/Miller
Brewing Company 28-29 Falls Church Mad Fox Brewing Company • Sweetwater Tavern 30 For-
est Apocalypse Ale Works 31-
32 Fredericksburg Battlefield Brewing Company at The Pub • Blue & Gray Brewing Company
33 Gainesville Tin Cannon
Brewing Company 34 Galax Creek Bottom Brewing Company 35 Glade Spring Old Glade Brew-
ing Company 36 Goochland
Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery 37 Hampton St George Brewing Company 38 Hardy Sunk-
en City Brewing Company
39-40 Harrisonburg Three Brothers Brewing Company • Three Notch’d Brewing Company
41 Ladysmith Rusty Beaver
Brewery 42-46 Leesburg Barnhouse Brewery • Beer Joint Brewery (New Name) • Crooked
Run Brewing Company •
Mud Hound Brewing Company • Vintage 50 Restaurant & Brewery 47-48 Lexington Blue
Lab Brewing Company
• Devils Backbone Brewing Company 49 Lorton Forge Brew Works 50 Lovettsville
Mad Horse Brewpub 51
Lynchburg Jefferson Street Brewery 52-53 Manassas Bad Wolf Brewing Company
• Heritage Brewing
Company 54 McLean Gordon Biersch Restaurant Brewery 55 Middletown Backroom
Brewery 56 Midlo-
thian Extra Billy’s Smokehouse & Brewery 57 Nellysford Wild Wolf Brewing Com-
pany 58-60 Norfolk
O’Connor Brewing Company (Old location) • O’Connor Brewing Company (New loca-
tion) • Smartmouth
Brewing Company 61-64 Purcellville Adroit Theory Brewing Company • Belly Love
• Corcoran Brewing
Company • Old 690 Brewing Company 65 Radford River Company 66-72 Richmond
Ardent Craft Ales •
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery • Isley Brewing Company • Legend Brewing Com-
pany • Rock Bottom
Restaurant-Brewery • Strangeways Brewing Company • Triple Crossing Brew Com-
pany 73-75 Roanoke
Big Lick Brewing Company • Roanoke Railhouse Brewery • Soaring Ridge Brewers 76-
77 Rockville Midnight
Brewery (Old location) • Midnight Brewery (New location) 78 Roseland Devils Back-
bone Brewing Company
79 Salem Parkway Brewing Company 80 Scottsville James River Brewing Company 81
Sperryville
Ordinary Ale Works 82-83 Stafford Adventure Brewing Company • Wild Run Brew-
ing Company 84-86
Staunton Queen City Brewing Company • Redbeard Brewing Company • Shenandoah
Valley Brewing Compa-
Hopkins
ny 87-88 Sterling Beltway Brewing Company • Sweetwater Tavern 89 Toano Brass Cannon Brewing Company 90 Troutville Flying Mouse Brewing Company 91 Vienna Caboose Brewing Company 92 Vint Hill Old Busthead Brewing Company 93-98 Virginia Beach Back Bay Brewing Company • Beach Brewing Company • Gordon Biersch Restaurant Brewery • Home Republic Brewing Company • Pleasure House Brewing Company • Young Veterans Brewing Company 99 Williamsburg Aleworks Brewing Company 100 Winchester Picadilly’s Public House VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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Capitol City Brewing Company brewer Kristi Griner
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w men in
beer
BY ELIZABETH ERSCHENS AND DIANE CATANZARO
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and women have discovered hrough the front the world of craft beer is window of her fun, flavorful, and friendly. At store, the owner least three homebrew clubs of a homebrew in Virginia and the Virginia shop watched as a young Homebrewer’s Guild have couple, engrossed in banter, approached the door. As soon women Presidents, and women lead beer appreciation clubs as the man reached for the with names like Barley’s Angels door, everything changed. and River City Beer Betties. He walked in, head held Women are drinking craft beer high, and made a beeline to the beer order station like a and discovering that there are man on a mission, while the styles they love that they didn’t know existed a few years ago. woman lowered her head But it’s not just all fun and and slunk toward the couch games. Beer is big business, in the corner. The shop and more women are choosing owner asked if she had any questions, but like most women beer-related careers. As brewers, sales reps, quality who entered the homebrew Lisa Pumphrey from Lickinghole Creek assurance managers, lab shop a few years ago, she just technicians, public relations and marketing directors, distribution mumbled something inaudible as she pointed to her mate. Beer was managers, senior executives and brewery owners, women are all too often perceived as a ‘guy thing’, partly thanks to marketing making strides in this recession-proof industry. While women are still featuring Swedish bikini teams, flatulent horses, and fist-bumping bro buddies. Also, to be honest, the beer monoculture America under-represented in many areas of the brewing industry, this is likely to change as more women become more aware of the opportunities wallowed in prior to the craft beer revolution led to boring beers that for a “beer career”! most women had the good taste to eschew. Fast forward to today, continued VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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e asked several women who have leadership roles in Virginia’s craft brewing industry about their experiences in what has traditionally been a predominantly male career field. April Anderson is the only female senior brewer at Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company’s production brewery in Lexington. DBBC is Virginia’s leading craft brewery based on the number of awards they’ve received at GABF and other prestigious competitions. The interview was delayed because Anderson was working as shift leader that day, in charge of brewing operations. As we toured the brewery, Anderson’s authority was obvious. She stopped to check brewing calculations, review reports, and critique beers that required her approval in the brewing process. It was refreshing to see that Anderson, in a position with serious authority, had great rapport with the other brewers and a complete lack of arrogance. She is easily approachable by coworkers, yet you could tell they hold her in high regard. This can be a delicate balance for women leaders in workplaces populated mostly by men, but Anderson seemed to pull it off with ease. When asked if she felt like she is treated differently by the other brewers, she admitted she was. With a smile, she said she felt as if they were her brothers, looking out for her, and protecting her when they do events as a brewery. Anderson said, “They don’t treat me any differently, and they make sure no one else does either.” This apparent contradiction illustrates that gender roles may at times have a benign or even positive impact on women in the beer workplace. Mary Wolf is president and owner of Wild Wolf Brewing Company in Nellysford. To our knowledge Wolf is the only female brewery founder and president in Virginia. As a former product marketing VP for a technology company, AOL, Mary’s previous business
Heidi Crandall of Devils Backbone
experience was in a field where men predominate, so a male-oriented industry isn’t new to her. She believes that being female hasn’t hindered her as an entrepreneur and brewery owner. “People have welcomed me; I’m just another business owner.” Based on Wild Wolf’s rapid growth and success since they began operations in 2011, we’d have to agree! Elizabeth Shifflett, a co-owner of Three Brothers Brewing in Harrisonburg, chooses to stay in the background. She explained, - 26 -
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“I don’t feel I am treated differently as a woman. In fact, my wanting to stay in the background is a personal choice, and I think people want to interact with the three brothers because of the name of our brewery.” She works behind the scenes in all aspects of managing this growing business and if you meet her at their tasting room or a beer festival you will find her beer chops are finely honed. Next was a conversation with Mary Morgan, considered one of Virginia’s elite female brewers, and the first female resident brewer at Three Notch’d Brewing’s Harrisonburg brewpub. Mary is a self-taught brewer and defies stereotypes in the industry. A quick study, it took her only five years between opening her first book about brewing and landing this sought-after position. Morgan describes the position of brewer as her dream job. The owners of Three Notch’d have so much confidence in her that they give her free range when it comes to creating and selecting recipes. Morgan said, “If I have sweet potatoes growing in my garden and want to make a sweet potato-curry beer, the owners are all for it.” Morgan acknowledged that some jobs, such as working on the kegging line in a production brewery, do require a level of physical strength that could pose a challenge for her even though she is an athlete, but overall she does not perceive any limitations as a female brewer. The next stop across the state was to meet with Lisa Pumphrey, co-owner and CEO of Lickinghole Creek Brewery in Goochland. If the title of CEO caught your attention, then you know women’s roles have drastically changed in the brewing world. Even today it is more common to see women in sales and marketing roles while males are more likely to handle the finance and business operations. Pumphrey and her husband, Sean-Thomas Pumphrey,
April Anderson of Devils Backbone
have flipped that stereotype on its head. While she is CEO and handles the majority of the business duties, he prefers to focus on sales and marketing. Pumphrey’s leadership doesn’t end at the brewery. She and her husband were instrumental in passing SB 430, a bill allowing for farm breweries in Virginia, so that Lickinghole Creek would become the first farm brewery in the state. Kristi Griner is one of the few women brewmasters in the nation. Griner said she has always felt welcomed and encouraged in the
craft beer community and hopes to see This article could include many other more women become brewers. women who are leaders in the business of “I believe this is our heritage as Virginia craft beer. Robin Ray, the Chairman women,” said Griner. “We were most of the Board of Hoffman Beverage, is likely the ones who invented beer. arguably the most powerful woman in the There are many cultures that attribute beer business in Virginia. Penny O’Connor beer to a goddess. It was probably a puts her business degree to work as vice woman managing a food stock trying president of O’Connor Brewing Company in to make a soup that didn’t get it on the Norfolk. Kristen MacDonald is co-founder of stove in time. I feel very passionate that Beach Brewing and significantly contributes this is our birthright. When I am talking to their success. Mandi Smack’s marketing to women who are interested in getting and business background serves her well into the field, I encourage them. It’s very as CFO and Marketing Manager of Blue rewarding, and you can have a creative Mountain Brewery, Blue Mountain Barrel outlet with it.” House, and the newly opened South Street Kristi Griner, a mother of two, had been Brewery. Others include Heidi Crandall an experienced kitchen manager in a (Marketing Director, Devils Backbone), variety of restaurants before landing a Hannah Serrano (marketing, O’Connor job, in 2007, at Hops Grill and Brewery Brewing), Kim Hardy and Christine Neikirk Mandi Smack proves that three is a charm as CFO and in Alexandria. It was at Hops that she (marketing, Smartmouth Brewing), Julie Marketing Manager of Blue Mountain Brewery, Blue was given her first opportunity to brew Brown (Two Witches Brewery), and Lee Mountain Barrel House and South Street Brewery. beer. She then moved over to Vintage John at Apocalypse Ale Works. There are 50, in Leesburg, and created 15 new hundreds, possibly thousands of women beer recipes and revitalized its bar scene. She was a 2009 recipient who have careers in many aspects of the beer business in Virginia; we of the AB Vickers Scholarship for the Concise Course in Brewing have only focused on a few of these beer pioneers. These leaders are Technology at Siebel Institute of Technology, America’s oldest paving a path for more women to consider careers in beer. brewing school, followed by Siebel’s Draft Master program, in 2012, Some day articles like this will seem quaint and anachronistic. the same year she was hired as brewmaster at
Mary Wolf of Wild Wolf Brewing celebrates with
her brewers
Capitol City Brewing Company. For Griner, it was a steep, yet exciting learning curve. “The volume really floored me at first,” she said, regarding her position at Cap City. “At Hops, I was doing about 400 barrels a year. At Vintage 50, we were doing 500 barrels. At Cap City, we do 2,500 barrels per year. So it was like, ‘Wait a minute, we just filled that tank up yesterday and now it’s a quarter of the way empty.’ So it was a big ramp-up in scale.”
Mary Morgan of Three Notch’d in Harrisonburg
Women who own a brewery or brew beer will no longer be seen as ‘incredible’ or ‘amazing’ simply for owning a brewery or brewing beer. Would a man in the same role be seen as “incredible” and “amazing”? Not likely. Does beer taste differently based on the gender of the brewer or brewery owner? Of course not. But, the beer industry in Virginia, like much of the country, is ready for more women to step into leadership roles and reap the satisfaction and remuneration that can happen when, in the footsteps of pioneers like Kim Jordan and Carol Stoudt, you follow your folly. If yours is beer. VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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(L-R) Anthony Dejohn, Assistant Brewer Owen Bitas, Neil Beazley, and Walter Stein
Fauquier and Joy Strong –atLoss Old Bust Head BY JEFFERSON EVANS AND CHUCK TRIPLETT
J
ulie and Ike Broaddus know something about running a large business with an extended dynamic footprint in Northern Virginia, having opened a real estate company in Centreville – Century 21 New Millennium – and growing it into a business that includes mortgage and title companies, with 11 real estate offices in NoVa and MD, making it the largest Century 21 in the region at the time. Ever since moving into Fauquier County, in 1996, and purchasing a home on Old Bust Head Road, as it happens, Julie and Ike have been very involved in the community. Julie tells me that after selling their real estate business they had even more time available and that Ike was appointed to the County’s PDR (Purchase of Development Rights) committee – preserving farmland – as well as to the Vint Hill Economic Development Authority. Julie was appointed to the Fauquier County ARB (Architectural Review Board) working on history and preservation as well as to the board of a citizen group called CFFC (Citizens for Fauquier County). “By 2010, we were ready to reinvest the proceeds from the real estate company into our next venture,” she said. “This coincided with Charles Kling, our brewmaster, walking into Ike’s office at the Vint Hill EDA (Economic Development Authority) asking for space and money to open a brew
pub on the Vint Hill army base. The EDA was not prepared to invest, but Ike was. Charles had developed business plans for both a brew pub and microbrewery to pitch to get an investor; so much thought had already been done when he approached us to invest. About 1-1/2 years, and much research later, Ike (and Charles) had convinced me it was a good idea as well. We decided to open a micro-brewery instead of a brew pub (mostly to suit Ike’s and my personalities) and our partnership of three was formed. We are selffunded and did not need to deal with banks or other investors.” It turns out the group initially looked for space in Gainesville, but when a deal there fell through just as a large military contractor was vacating space at Vint Hill, it proved quite fortuitous. “The Gainesville deal falling through was a low, but turned into a much, much better opportunity at Vint Hill. Being very loyal Fauquier A fine County people, it was a great bonus to be able to bring pour this business to our home county. The county offered us at Old Bust a great tax incentive program.” Head The high of obtaining space in their home county was tempered by what proved to be a very slow buildout process and then a much more personal pain – the news that their daughter, Finley, had been diagnosed with a rare liver cancer.
Old Bust Head Brewing Company | 7134 Lineweaver Road, Warrenton, VA 20187 | 540.347.4777 | Oldbusthead.com - 28 -
FEBRUARY 2015
“I spent the whole startup phase (through June 2014) working from John’s Hopkins inpatient cancer floor. We lost Finley on June 2, 2014. Packaging and interior finish for the taproom was all developed there. Our label printer and tap handle manufacturer were both based out of Baltimore and sent samples to and from the hospital.” Elizabeth Finley Broaddus, age 18 at the time of her passing, established Finley’s “Green Leap Forward” fund to “support local and global efforts that have a positive impact on the environment, moving us forward towards a healthy, sustainable planet.” The fund raised over $100,000 by Earth Day, when Finley’s “Green Leap Forward” fund awarded its first two grants of $5,000 each to The Green Belt Movement in Nairobi, Kenya and the Cacapon Institute in High View, WV. Finley set
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February 20, 8 PM
Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, VA Tickets start at $23, Student Tickets Start at $18 Call 877-741-2787 or visit vafest.org
Tasting room
up the perpetual fund to enable her to achieve her lifelong mission with responsiveness to a changing environment, and to encourage others to continue the work of caring for our planet. https://www.facebook.com/ FinleysGreenLeapForward Assistant brewer Owen Bitas’ path to Old Bust Head was one of good luck and fast action. His father’s old college roommate was at a dinner party attended by Ike Broaddus and heard Ike mention possible plans to start a brewery. Owen was already trying to get into the craft beer industry and when word got back to him, he immediately e-mailed Ike to express his strong interest. Charles began his brewing career at Abita Brewing in Abita Springs, LA before moving on to Diamond Bear Brewing in North Little Rock, AK, making a stop at the United States Patent & Trademark Office, and then finally walking through the door of Ike’s office after deciding he wanted to get back into brewing. Charles and Owen began working on a brewery featuring a 30-bbl brewhouse, six 60 bbl tanks, one 120-bbl bright tank. They have has since added one more 60-bbl tank, and twelve more 120-bbl tanks, not to mention two Grundy tanks. And more are on the way. The brewing, bottling, and kegging equipment are all new and everything is done on site. The first beer was an English Pale Ale brewed January 10, 2014. Two of the newest beers are dry hopped versions of Covert h’Ops Black IPA and represent the brewers having some fun with the aforementioned Grundy tanks. To date the brewery has made use of two ale yeast strains and one lager strain, but a Belgian strain is being added to the mix, and one of the first beers brewed with the new yeast will be a saison featuring a 24 hour sour mash. The brewery’s taproom officially opened August 15, 2014 and roughly 3,500 people showed up that first weekend, creating a line that sometimes extended out to and across the parking lot. “Our taproom sales exceeded expectation – double what we thought it would be,” said Julie. She also mentions that their distributor, Premium, has been wonderful and that their beers should soon be available across the state of Virginia and in D.C. within a few months. In 2014 they brewed 3,000 barrels and fully expect to hit 7,500 in 2015. Owen says “our Bust Head English Pale Ale, Wildcat IPA, and
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Owen Brews Old School… REALLY Old School Owen Bitas of Old Bust Head Brewing on brewing beer in 2012-2014 based on a suspected Middle Bronze Age era kiln unearthed on the southwest coast of Cypress in 2007: “The project was run through HARP (Heritage and Archeological Practice) and was centered around applying experimental archeological practices to a suspected Middle Bronze Age era kiln that was unearthed on the Southwestern coast of Cyprus. The project was run in three parts. Part one involved creating a reconstruction of the kiln using as close to ancient techniques as possible, and then using the kiln to handfire our own pale malts. The second part of the project was focused on attempting to brew wild ales, using both control and ancient techniques, and to produce our own malt, using a few suspected ancient techniques. The final part of the project was practicing excavation techniques on previous kiln reconstructions. The project ran for just over 3 weeks, and in the end we were successful in brewing three wild ales, one modern ale, and producing our own pale malt using our reconstructed kiln. We also produced pale
malt using sun-drying techniques (it was around 98-100 degrees every day!). “All-in-all we attempted to produce six beers: one control, two modern wild ales, and three ancient wild ales. Our control beer was fermented successfully, and came in as a malty (we didn’t hop it) pale ale around 5%. Our two modern wild ales (mashed on a stove, with one pitched into a plastic “coolship” and the other pitched into pottery) unfortunately did not inoculate with yeast quickly, and instead went completely sour right away and then grew quite a bit of mold. These beers were allowed to cool in a very arid, dirt heavy environment, which I suspect had something to do with why they picked up so much bacteria and no yeast. Our last three wild ales were mashed directly in the pottery we allowed them to ferment in, by lighting fire pits beneath the pottery. Surprisingly, the pits kept the perfect mash temperature the entire time! There are theories that ancient brewers did not remove the grain post-mash (based on illustrations of people drinking beer out of pottery with straws), so we did the same. After removing the pots from the fire pits, we simply let the
pottery and wort sit out in our second “base camp,” which was located close to a natural spring and was a much more green area. We had planned on allowing one pot to go completely wild, one pot to have smashed pomegranate pitched into it, and one pot to have smashed grapes pitched into it (we assumed we could pull wild yeast cultures from local wild fruit). However, all three beers began fermenting so quickly that we decided against tampering with them. In the end, we had three very funky, barnyardy wild ales, with low ABVs. While it wasn’t the greatest sour beer I’ve ever tasted, it was drinkable, and gave some weight to the idea that Bronze Age Cypriots were producing beer.” For more information on the project, please see the following website, it goes a bit more in-depth: http://www.harparchaeology.co.uk/ field-schools/experimental-archaeologybeer-production-1
Cypress
continued
Chukker Czech Pilsner have done the best for us out in the market this past year. Our Vixen Irish Red has also done amazing in our taproom, and is our #2 best-selling beer.” Also well received has been the Gold Cup Imperial Stout, including a version aged on chipotle peppers and cacao nibs, with a toasted coconut version in the works. Owen is quite excited about the new Farmhouse ale series is a 7.5%, 75 IBU West Coast IPA with mosaic and cascade hops. A fun twist to the Old Bust Head location is the fact it is located on the grounds of what used to be Vint Hill Farms Station, utilized by the US Army and National Security Agency (NSA) for signals intelligence and electronic warfare. Established in 1942 during WWII by the Army’s Signals Intelligence Service, the station had the designation MS-1 and played a very important role during WWII and through the Cold War, serving as a “giant ear” operated by the NSA, before finally being closed in September of 1997. The new beer Covert h’Ops pays tribute to secrets past and what secrets might remain behind doors and in dark corners of the buildings of Vint Hill. What is definitely there, is very good beer, and it ain’t no secret at all. oldbusthead.com.
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VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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Justin MacDonald and the coolship
Get Ready to Savor the Sour at Beach Brewing BY ELIZABETH ERCHENS & DIANE CATANZARO
P
ucker up people. Sour power will transform your mind as it tantalizes your tongue, as Beach Brewing enters the third dimension of brewing. While most people think of beers as one-dimensional (that dimension being bitter), and stout lovers recognize the second dimension (roasted flavors), Beach Brewing is exploring where no Southside Hampton Roads brewery has gone before, diving headfirst into the third dimension of beer flavor and that is sour. Yes, in our very own Virginia Beach spring break edition of “Beers Gone Wild,” Beach Brewing will be debuting several “sours” in 2015 with more to come in 2016 and beyond. Justin MacDonald, Beach Brewing Company’s founder, owner, and brewmaster said “We plan to release about five sours in addition to some of the other barrel-aged stuff we have coming up.” What is extra special is they plan to produce some of their sour beers spontaneously with 100 percent local microflora instead of pitching a prepackaged culture. Sour beers have been a huge trend in craft beer American in recent - 32 -
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years, yet they are anything but new. In fact, most beers were originally sour beers, fermented with wild yeast. Nobody really knew exactly what it was that made beer ferment, so was assumed to be either an act of God, magical luck, or trial and error success based on using certain wooden barrels, a special wooden mash rake, or some of the previous batch as a ‘starter’ they had success in brewing beer. What the brewers didn’t know was that the “magic” was wild yeast embedded in the wooden equipment or brewery microflora environment, and that is why the barley porridge the brewers of yore cooked up later turned into alcohol. Yeast had not yet been discovered and isolated. Once Louis Pasteur and Emil Hansen identified, tamed and cultivated the lager yeast cell, saccharomyces carlsbergensis, in the 1880s, beer no longer turned sour. Almost everyone was excited about this! The nice folks at Carlsburg shared their yeast freely and just about every brewer in the world started using this clean-fermenting lager yeast to make beers that were
At a decent craft beer bar today you may see an entire sour section of the menu with beers from all over the world. predictable and entirely un-sour. The major exception to this was a small number of Belgian brewers in the Senne Valley region near Brussels who kept creating traditional sour lambics and gueuzes using yeast that spontaneously landed in the cooling wort to start munching the sugars and creating alcohol. Only a handful of small family brewers and blenders in Belgium have clung to the tradition of brewing and blending these spontaneously fermented sour beers. However, as craft brewers in America and elsewhere “discovered” these beers in the past decade or so they begun to brew a wide range of sours. At a decent craft beer bar today you may see an entire sour section of the menu with beers from all over the world. And, like a wave that finally reaches our distant shore, this trend has finally come ashore in Hampton Roads. It’s about time! Here’s the thing: Today, these wild yeasts and microbes have been cultivated and packaged and you can buy them and pitch them into your wort to create a sour beer. These microbes have names like lactobacillis, pediococcus, and brettanomyces. However, Beach Brewing is going to do several of their sour beers with 100% spontaneous fermentation from wild yeast and microbes in their very own backyard. Kind of like the difference between farm-raised salmon and going out and catching your own salmon in your backyard. Of course, there are no salmon in Beach Brewing Company’s backyard, but there is still a bit of Virginia Beach nature off Horse Pasture Road, with wild yeasts and microbes floating around the green landscape, and Justin MacDonald is going to entice them with a siren song to come for a late-night swim in his coolship. His WHAT? MacDonald installed a 200 gallon “coolship” (the Dutch/Flemish word is koelschip) behind the brewery. This is a flat, open vessel, sort of like a shallow child’s swimming pool, with a large surface area that allows for quick cooling and an enticing environment for yeast and microflora to stop by to grab some sustenance. To make a sour beer you boil your malted and/or unmalted grains, add some aged hops (you don’t want hops flavor or bitterness in your sour beer), then pump this concoction, called wort, into the coolship to cool overnight. While the brew is cooling you pray that the fairy yeast-mother and her microbial disciples take a late night dip in the pool, gorge themselves on the barley sugars, and have flagrant delecto as if they were teenagers in a private hot tub at an Oceanfront hotel on prom night. A telltale foam will rise on the surface of the brew indicting the yeast have had a happy evening. The next day you transfer the concoction into either a stainless steel fermentor or one of the veritable flotilla of oak barrels MacDonald has been collecting; forty-year-old sherry casks from Portugal, French wine barrels, 500 liter puncheons, Bowman Distillery bourbon barrels, former cognac barrels. The beer will age in these barrels for a minimum of one year, but some will age even longer. Then different age batches may be blended, similar to wine, to create a balance of flavors. Hey, the barrels sound cool. But back up a minute. Did he say he plans to purposely infect his beer with wild yeast and bacteria. How is he going to keep that mess from souring his normal beers? “That’s the first question most people ask” according to MacDonald. Don’t worry, MacDonald will practice safe suds. His coolship is housed in an outdoor white oak shed with screens that will keep out larger continued VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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Barrel-aged beer at Beach Brewing Company
life-forms. All of this wild late night skinny dipping takes place OUTSIDE the brewery, in the “cool shack” that houses the coolship. You definitely must prevent any cross-contamination of wild yeasts with the brewing equipment you are using to brew your beers that are not sour. The Ghost Ship Pale Ale, the Hoptopus Double IPA, the Kraken Tripel IPA, the Hurricane American Wheat, and so forth must be protected, they should never, ever meet Lola Lactobacillis, Pete Pediococcus, or Brett Anomyces. What other steps does MacDonald take to prevent an accidental infection of his regular beers? He explains, “We keep a clean side in the brewery, in that all equipment used for sour beer, even the pumps, hoses, and bright tank are never used for the non-sour beers.” McDonald continued, “We are all covered in wild yeast and bacteria ourselves, so it really isn’t any different than the sanitation measures you always used when brewing beer.” MacDonald also plans to use separate kegs once the beer has been in the coolship for about 12 to 16 hours, or when the boiling wort pumped into the cool ship reaches 70 degrees. The process is all controlled by the outside temperature. He said he would be brewing the last coolship batch until spring in early January, as the temperatures will be so low that there won’t be as much natural micro-flora visiting the Beach. He could always hope for some hardy Canadian yeasts to visit in the dead of winter and jump into the coolship wearing their little microbial Speedos. Now just how long are we going to have to wait to try this sour beer? McDonald said, “I can’t answer that. Most likely about a year and a half, - 34 -
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or until it is finished and matured. I won’t even bother evaluating it for at least a year to allow the yeast and bacteria to interact with the small amount of oxygen allowed in by the barrels.” To keep the oxidation level lower, he will use larger barrels (called “puncheons”) so there won’t be as much surface area per liter of beer. When we learned that after a year or so the beer in the various barrels will be evaluated and blended, both of us quickly raised our hands to volunteer as tasters. After all, it is the least we can do for the first brewer trying his hand at sour beer on the Southside of Hampton Roads. If you were starting to fret about having to wait a year and a half for Beach Brewing’s sour beers, you can relax. Along with his other barrel-aged beers, McDonald is producing other sour beers with pitched culture combinations—or “cocktail,” as he calls it—of specific cultures along with a little of the beer from the cool ship. This way, all of his sours will contain unique brewery character created by natural local micro-flora. The first release of a Beach Brewing sour was slated on January 16, 2015. It is a Raspberry Berliner Weisse, called “A1 Chemical REM.” McDonald describes it as “ale refermented in oak barrels with raspberries,” and it will weigh in at 5.8% ABV. This will be a limited release of only two half barrels, so with the exception of a few bottles going to Lynnhaven Pub and Grape & Gourmet, you will have to stop by Beach Brewing’s tasting room to enjoy it. We can’t wait to savor the sour!
Photos courtesy of Garden Grove Brewing Company
Brewing day
Brewing system
Garden Grove to Focus on Belgian and English Style Beers BY ROBEY MARTIN
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hen Ryan Mitchell got laid off from Dominion Virginia Power, he was thinking about beer. He didn’t realize that his layoff would birth a brewery a year and half later. But standing in an almost fully-realized brew operation, he is grateful. The Garden Grove Brewery space is shiny - the floors polished to a glow and recently buffed tables are big and hexagonal. Jar chandeliers flicker high in the ceiling. Taps are visible as soon as you walk in the door. One hundred people can fit in the two adjacent rooms. Mitchell and his co-owner, Mike Brandt, are expecting that number of people and more. Brandt is the second owner to come onboard with Garden Grove. The first has faded silently into a memory. Mitchell found Brandt on probrewer.com. His background is primarily in wine and horticulture. He has worked with some leading winemakers in the area learning about grapes and their idiosyncratic nature at Linden Vineyards and as the Head Winemaker at Naked Mountain Winery. His vision is to integrate some of the fermentation of grapes and sorghum varieties into his high-quality beers. Garden Grove will focus primarily on English and Belgian style beers. “I am more interested in those styles. We won’t be a lager or IPA house,” Brandt stated. When the two met, they were pleasantly surprised at how their styles meshed. “We needed to meet,” Mitchell says. “Mike was really concerned about keeping the quality and inventiveness in his process. I was on board. I
want to create something I value and believe in. And I think we are.” They are brewing on a Stout Tank and Kettle System - built primarily for small brewers. This system will allow them to be exceedingly innovative. A Solera Stout is planned as one of the first offerings. The apportioned process of
Garden Grove’s exterior on Cary St.
“Solera” is used for aging liquids such as beer, wine, and vinegar. The end product is a mixture of ages that continually gets lengthier over the many year practice. They are hoping to have their first stout of this kind in glass in the next
few weeks. A red wine barrel Quad is in the works as well. With Brandt’s connections in the wine community, Garden Grove has procured some French Oak wine barrels. They are anticipating a beautiful Belgian Quad to come out of this venture. They have named it ‘Death.’ When asked when this will be available, they merely state that art takes time. They’ll offer some new things to the craft market as well. A “sparkler” will be offered for the gluten-free to intolerant set. Using a recipe that Brandt is holding close to the vest, it will be a cross between beer and sparkling white wine, but that is all he will say about the drink. “It is necessary that we be a destination. I want everyone to be able to come and enjoy something, regardless of dietary restriction. We will serve pre-packaged food for those that might get hungry but we also want to support the local restaurants. So if you want to belly up with a pizza or a sandwich from nearby - we will be happy to supply the plates, napkins and a beverage that will compliment the food.” The process hasn’t been without its lumps. The Carytown area of Richmond, Virginia is known for its boutiques shops and posh restaurants. This would be the first enterprise of this sort here and getting the space ready has taken longer than they expected. Permits have been slow coming and additional electricity for the operation has taken longer than expected. “We want everything to be right. And we are getting there. We expect to open with excellent beer in February,” Brandt says.
Garden Grove Brewing | 3445 West Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23221 | gardengrovebrewing.com VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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The Stone site plan for Richmond
Yes, Virginia,
There is Another Craft Brewery RVA brewers weigh-in on Stone’s impending arrival BY WADE REYNOLDS
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ith the growth in the past year or two of the local beer scene, day. Richmond has suddenly become a prime beer destination. Gott views the coming of Stone as a positive step, both for the city Craft breweries and tap houses are opening faster than any sane in general and the beer scene specifically. The expected increase person can keep track of. There is, in fact, a good possibility that if a in tourism should be good for all local parties concerned. On the specific number were given on this page, it would change before its negative side, he mentioned increased competition for shelf space and publication date. With the coming of the new Stone east coast facility floor space in local stores selling the local products. He expects it to scheduled to begin construction early this year, it’s interesting to note be tougher competition with only a finite, limited amount of space to go how some of the established craft breweries in Richmond perceive the around. upcoming arrival of a major new player. Over at The Center of the Universe in nearby Ashland, Chris Ray There’s no question the arrival of San Diego-based Stone, the and his brother, Phil, have created one of the staples of Richmond craft nation’s tenth-largest craft brewery, will change the beer in just a little more than two years. Ray voiced beer landscape, not only for Richmond, but for a similar concern about shelf space, though he Virginia and, to a lesser extent, the entire east was quick to add that “it boils down to the liquid. coast. Most recently, Virginia craft breweries If your beer is selling well, it will continue. If not, have produced 130,000 barrels of beer per it would have been replaced anyway.” Citing a year. Stone, which expects to be able to begin good relationship already forged with Stone, production in early 2016, projects 120,000 Ray allowed that “they do bring a good beer” barrels in its first year. Early projections also which he expects will create a good buzz while have that amount increasing significantly over raising the bar for local breweries. With more the next few years. locals open to craft beers once they get hooked, Celebrating its 21st birthday this spring, Ray expects a positive upward trend, even as Big beers Legend Brewing Co. is the “wise old sage” of he points out that current local breweries may lose from Stone Richmond craft beers. “We’ve been training craft beer market shares with only a limited number of tap lines are on the palettes since 1994,” says Dave Gott, Vice President of available. He can also envision that tourists who come way to RVA Operations, referencing Legend as the only place to Richmond for Stone may choose to stay and to get a locally crafted beer in Richmond for sample/experience many of the other options. many years. Gott noted that the rules were different In downtown Richmond, Triple Crossing Brewing in those days, requiring “restaurants” to sell food as well as alcohol. is one of the city’s newest and smallest breweries, having just opened The result of this was the Legend deck, still, in many opinions, the best within the last year. Co-owner Adam Worcester also hopes to gain place to relax, have a beer, and view the downtown skyline just across traffic when Stone opens, allowing that it is just good luck that Triple the river. For all of the small breweries that have sprung up recently, Crossing may be geographically closer to Stone than any other it’s hard to match the Legend deck experience on a mild weathered current brewery. He projects an “upward trajectory” for Richmond
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TOUR BREWERIES & WINERIES craft beers. With increased media exposure for Stone, Worcester hopes for a situation similar to Asheville, NC where, with 21 local craft breweries (roughly 1 for every 4100 residents), the development of new breweries has been good for the myriad of older, previously established local breweries. He noted that Stone has been very collaborative with other San Diego breweries with taps in their west coast restaurant and sees the probability of that happening here. As a first-year brewery, the next year’s expansion plan involves getting more visibility throughout the city—the same plan with or without Stone’s impending arrival. Like many of his fellow brewers, Worcester referred to the limited number of local tap lines, many of which will no doubt be taken by Stone. While allowing that this “might hurt us a little,” he is taking a “we’ll see” attitude for the long run while anticipating that the positives will overshadow the negatives. On West Broad Street at The Answer Brewpub we have a “fledgling brewery with old guard beer.” This unique situation is the creation of An Bui, owner of the nationally recognized Mekong Restaurant and the just-opened Answer. To be exact, although it opened as a tap house just last year, The Answer is not scheduled to go on line with its own beer until sometime early this year. General Manager April Herrington realizes that the full effect of Stone’s arrival won’t be known until it gets here. Even with Stone on the other side of the city she still expects new beer traffic for all of Richmond, and that “couldn’t possibly be a bad thing. It’s awesome they picked Richmond. They saw something here with a lot going on.” Lindsay Wood, Events Coordinator added “They have a brand all their own, and people like a difference.” With no plans to distribute even locally, people will have to come to The Answer if they want Answer beers. Herrington and Wood were also quick to point out that Stone personnel have already established connections with local brewers. “They’re fun to hang out with.” Along with Answer head brewer Brandon Tolbert, they hope to collaborate with Stone’s brewers in the future, thus building better beer expectations among Richmonders and a win-win situation for everybody. Strangeways Brewing founder Neil Burton also embraces Stone’s coming, calling it “exciting news for Richmond, Virginia and the local craft beer community. The more variety and diversity we can bring to the area as an industry, the more we have a chance to pique the interest of folks on quality products which craft beer strives to represent.” Not a surprising attitude for a brewery that prides itself on diversity and uniqueness. “Stone is one of the good guys. We will welcome them to our area with beers in our hands and smiles on our faces.” Burton cited a commonality with other craft brewers in their goal to provide a quality product that massed produced beers made with cheaper ingredients cannot. “These mass producers are local craft’s real competition, not a craft brewery expanding into this area from another state.” He expects Stone’s arrival to solidify the perception of Richmond and Virginia as a craft beer town and state, respectively. “We are making strong moves to propel us to be on par with other craft beer centric states such as Oregon and Colorado.” Although the actual reality will no doubt be different from the anticipated expectation, it appears that Stone’s arrival will begin with a favorable vibe from local craft brewers. After that, we’ll just all have to wait and see, but it would seem that a higher level of visibility brought on by Stone would bring more tourists into the Richmond area and more drinkers into the craft beer culture. Aside from that, there’s also the anticipated increase in variety of local beers to choose from. “Variety is the spice of life, and that is what makes craft beer so intriguing,” says Burton. “We are just elated to be a part of this wonderful, ever-changing culture.” To which I would add, channeling one of Kurt Vonnegut’s characters, “As are we all.”
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Manuel Garcia, Courtney Mailey, and Brian Ahnmark in Blue Bee Tasting Room
Blue Bee Cider Falls Far from the Tree in RVA WORDS AND PHOTOS BY STEVE DEASON
H
ave you ever tasted a smoked cider? Smoked beers are quite common but it’s unlikely that you have heard of smoked cider. If you want to be on the “cutting edge” you had better hurry! The creative (and hardworking) folks at Blue Bee Cider smoked one small batch of Winesap apples after another for three days in late 2014 using a blend of wood that included hickory and apple. These apples were then fermented to produce approximately fifty gallons of a very unique cider called Orchard Potluck: Smoked Winesap. The folks at Blue Bee say they plan to release “Smokey” on tap around February. Such creative craft cider may be relatively new to Virginia but cider consumption isn’t. The earliest settlers from Europe brought with them a tradition of making and drinking fermented apple juice they called cider. Luckily they knew how to grow apple trees too, as only crab apples were native to the U.S. Orchards were planted throughout Virginia to support this home crafted product but many were later burned or cut down. It is unclear how much destruction was due to prohibition and how much was due to a period where chopping down your orchard was a sign of piety. Many of the Virginia apple orchards now producing were started by soldiers returning from World War II, with help from the GI Bill. At some point the term cider changed in the U.S. and Canada to include
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juice that was not fermented. Therefore fermented apple juice in the U.S. is now often referred to as hard cider or apple wine. Virginia commercial apple production now ranks sixth among the U.S. States according to the USDA. Washington State is ranked first and produces approximately seventy percent of the U.S. production. According to virginiaapples.org, “An average of 5-6 million bushels of apples is produced annually by Virginia growers.” The mountain region of Virginia provides a cool climate that apples prefer. This is where you will find most orchards and cider makers. Courtney Mailey was well aware of this when she opened Blue Bee Cider as Virginia’s first and only urban cidery in late 2013. Blue Bee Cider is located in the Manchester area of Richmond near Legend Brewery. The name for Blue Bee comes from the wild and native Virginia “blue orchard bees” which are more efficient than honeybees at pollinating apple blossoms. Before opening Blue Bee Cider, Mailey was an Economic Development Professional despite a career assessment suggesting her best fit was as a farmer. She had enjoyed previous jobs that gave her a chance to be outside and ultimately the dislike of being inside all the time motivated her to explore a change. She knew she wanted to do something with agriculture but she had neither land nor skills. Mailey discussed winemaking with an uncle who
Many of the Virginia apple orchards now producing were started by soldiers returning from World War II, with help from the GI Bill. has a winery in Washington but after further research realized craft cider was an “untapped” market in Virginia despite the local apple production. Mailey studied cider making at Cornell University and then apprenticed at Albemarle CiderWorks. Brian Ahnmark, whose title at Blue Bee is Cider Evangelist (sales / marketing), recalls they sold out of their production of Aragon 1904 in 750ml bottles in less than three months after opening. When they offered customers the 500ml size instead, customers would often respond that they would just come back later for the bigger size. The tasting room staff would then have to explain that they may be waiting a long time. The vast majority of cider apples are at their peak when harvested. Blue Bee receives and presses apples primarily from August to November. They use just a few varieties of apples that peak after holding such as the Arkansas Black which Blue Bee presses in March or April. Mailey explains that “some batches are larger than others, so they last longer but we only make each product once during the year.” Blue Bee uses rare and heirloom apples primarily from Virginia orchards. Mailey has experienced other cider makers lose their critical supply due to a bad harvest. To avoid such a plight, she is creating new ciders to expand the varieties of apples she uses and establishing relations with new suppliers outside of Virginia. The biggest surprise for Mailey has been “just how much cider Richmond wants out of us. I had a five year plan and I expected to be producing and selling at the end of five years what we are producing and selling now.” Ahnmark shared that this success has allowed the team to create a “small batch series now, I figured that would be like a year three to four initiative that we are now producing in the middle of year two.” Blue Bee has a Cider Club with benefits similar to clubs at many wineries. Members get four shipments of cider a year, free tastings at Blue Bee, invites to pre-release parties, Cider Club glasses, and special discounts. Ahnmark says one of the great things about the Blue Bee Cider Club is “members get early access to the limited stuff and sometimes exclusive access to such ciders as their barrel aged batches.” A recent exclusive addition to the Cider Club benefits is a small to go “growler”. Selling cider by the keg (and growler) became legal in Virginia for all cider producers in 2014 due to a bill submitted by State Delegate Betsy Carr at Mailey’s request. Currently Blue Bee Cider offers eight bottled ciders plus the micro-batches that are sold at the cidery or on tap at other locations. Mailey refers to their Charred Ordinary as the “most challenging cider of their bottled products.” It’s a little sour and very dry with only .5% residual sugar. She says “it’s one of the ciders we make the most of because there is a market for it especially in Richmond where …. there is already a desire for sour beers”. Another cider that might catch the eye of a craft beer drinker is Hopsap Shandy which is the first hopped cider produced commercially in Virginia. Mailey dry hopped Hopsap Shandy with Cascade and Citra hops to accent and balance the grapefruit like tastes in Winesap Apples. Ahnmark cautions “most people’s experience with hops is bittering from an IPA. This (Hopsap Shandy) is not bitter, it’s actually very citrusy.” During the summer of 2014 the Blue Bee team foraged VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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two hundred pounds of wild black and white mulberries in Richmond to produce Fanfare. This rose’ cider blend with Stayman, Pink Lady and Gold Rush apples was featured at their one year anniversary celebration. Mailey and her Assistant Cidermaker Manual Garcia have produced several collaborations recently with Richmond breweries. Because these products are technically a malt beverage, the collaborations can only be sold by the breweries. Michael Isley owner of Isley Brewing Company says he and Mailey had been talking about collaborating since they first met at an “end of prohibition” party in 2013. Late in 2014 Josh Stamp, Head Brewer at Isley Brewing, set out to produce a beer that tasted similar to apple pie. Mailey suggested the juice of Gold Rush apples to provide the desired sweetness. Stamp added this juice to his brew both before and after fermentation. The resulting Apple Brown Betty English Brown Ale also has a - 40 -
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taste of cinnamon. Mailey supplied the name for the collaboration and Isley points out she also provided the name for their most popular beer, Choosey Mother Peanut Butter Oatmeal Porter. Nick Walthall, brewer at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery said “Garcia and I had been talking awhile about some sort of collaboration… I didn’t just want to blend cider with our (current beers) I wanted to make it something special. “ In November Walthall decided to build the collaboration on a Saison Hardywood Park had brewed in August using Brettanomyces yeast in the second fermentation. Brettanomyces is often used in Belgian Style beers to add complexity and sourness. Walthall, a lover of funky ciders from the Basque region, blended unpasteurized and unfiltered juice from Blue Bee Cider into the Saison and started a third fermentation in white wine barrels. Walthall plans to bottle the beer in early 2015. Perhaps the heirloom apple
trees the Blue Bee team gifted to Hardywood Park to mark this first collaboration will be in bloom by release time. Blue Bee Cider partners with Scott and Becky Harris, owners of Catoctin Creek Distilling in Purcellville, Virginia, to produce their desert ciders. Each year the first five hundred gallons of cider Blue Bee produces is shipped to Catoctin Creek. Scott Harris says “… after distilling they end up with about sixty gallons of almost pure alcohol which is split between the two companies fifty/fifty.” Blue Bee ages the distilled product for eight months and then uses it to fortify their desert ciders to their legal maximum of 18%. Catoctin Creek ages their share of the cider to produce apple brandy. The first offering of their Quarter Branch Virginia Apple Brandy should be in early February according to Harris. Due to this partnership, Harris mentioned they provided Blue Bee with some coveted Peach Brandy barrels that Blue Bee used to produce Rocky Ridge Reserve in late 2014. Mailey reveals “eighty percent of our visitors have never been here before. The vast majority has never had craft cider before.” What most people have experienced is mass produced cider which “bottoms out at 5% residual sugar and can go up as high as 12%. We are not a sweet product when sweet is the expectation. So people who work our tasting room have to be excellent story tellers and they have to be patient with people who have misconceptions about what we make. Sweetest thing you’ll get from us, other than the desert products, is 2.5% to 3% residual sugar.” Seems the lack of knowledge about craft cider versus mass produced cider also leads to some gender bias. Mailey explains “There is a misconception that craft cider is a female-oriented beverage. Our customers are 50/50 and the CrossFit guys who buy our ciders are about as manly as they come. If I had a dollar for every conversation with a man that began with, “I’m a beer guy, but my wife/girlfriend/mother/sister loves cider.” As if he shouldn’t be at a cidery just to learn and explore the beverage of choice for multiple generations of Virginia men. At a national level, the gender breakdown of cider making is the same for beer and wine, about 85% male and 15% female. Consumption is 50/50. As a female cider maker, I am still in the minority and I make some challenging ciders. Fellas, you do not have to apologize for liking something that I make! “
DISTINCTLY NORFOLK.
Good times are always on tap in Norfolk. From signature brews to seasonal offerings, O’Connor Brewing Company and Smartmouth Brewery are serving up something for every enthusiast to savor. Hop into one of Norfolk’s many bars and gastropubs and enjoy a cold pint paired with fresh local fare. With a group of four or more, take a gastronomic adventure on Norfolk’s Beer and Wine Tour. Get a taste of our flavor at visitnorfolktoday.com.
1-800-368-3097
VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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brewREVIEWS KINGS MOUNTAIN SCOTCH ALE
Heritage Brewing Company • Manassas First impression when pouring from the can into a pint glass: Wow, look at that sensational head. There’s plenty of malt and a hazy, amber color. This strong Scottish-inspired ale (7.4% ABV) is a fine example of the style. Wee hints of chocolate, caramel and raisin. We also love the artwork on the can: red bearded Scottish-American highlanders on foot and horseback ready for battle, pitting loyalists against patriots during the American Revolution. The freedom fighters won the day. Celebrate 12-ounces at a time.
RAGGED MOUNTAIN
BRAVO FOUR POINT SESSION IPA Devils Backbone • Lexington If you’re hunting for a quality IPA with full bitterness, but light on the belly and easy on the head (only 4.4% ABV) this is your trophy catch. Characteristics: crisp, golden color, refreshing. Bravo hops used for nice citrus notes. To borrow a famous advertising tagline: Tastes great, less filling. Finally a beer that lives up to that billing. Available in 12-ounce cans.
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Albemarle CiderWorks North Garden Named for the chain of small mountains southwest of Charlottesville, Ragged Mountain is a blend of Albemarle Pippin, Winesap, Stayman, Goldrush, Pink Lady, and Virginia Gold apples, all of which flourish around the Ragged Mountains. It is also named for Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “A Tale of Ragged Mountains,” inspired by the intrigue and mystery of the region. This refreshing, crisp cider is light yellow in color and reminiscent of a Champagne feel. Enjoy with cheeses, spicy, and ethnic foods. 8.2% ABV
COCOBOREALIS
EVIL 8 BELGIAN-ABBEY-STYLE DUBBEL
Chaos Mountain Calloway This Valentine’s Day, give your sweetheart chocolate – Chaos Mountain’s CocoBorealis that is! This decadent triple chocolate stout is made with three types of chocolate – two chocolate roasted malts, rich cocoa powder, and organic cocao nibs. Described as “Liquid of the Gods,” this chocolatey, coffee creation is a must for chocolate lovers! ABV 6%
Blue Mountain Brewery Afton This dark copper colored ale is brewed in the Belgian Abbey style using caramelized Biscuit malt, Goldings hops, and a unique strain of brewer’s yeast. Enjoy now because Evil 8 is part of Blue Mountain Brewery’s seasonal series and will only be available for a limited time! ABV 7.7%
EXQUISITELY EVIL ALE
LITTLE RED ROOSTARR COFFEE CREAM STOUT
Starr Hill Brewery Crozet Rise and Shine! Recently re-released, Little Red Roostarr Coffee Cream Stout, part of Starr Hill’s All Access Series, is a fullbodied milk stout brewed with coffee from Red Rooster Coffee Roasters in Floyd, VA. Flavors of chocolate and caramel prevail while hints of coffee add balance and round out the aroma. This could replace my morning cup of coffee! ABV 5.8%
Wild Wolf Brewing Company Nellysford Leave it to the brewers at Wild Wolf to push the envelope. This is one delightfully serious double IPA. Unique is the addition of honey, lemon and spice – a combination that dazzles the taste buds. Flavor, flavor, flavor. We can’t say enough about the pleasurable combination of semisweetness and citrus. Over 55 pounds of hops were used, making this a hophead’s dream come true. In fact, we’d have to say this is Wild Wolf’s finest beer to date. 8% ABV. Enjoy in 22-oz bottles. Sin-sational. VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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Virginia Craft Beer has an eye on the upcoming beer related events and festivals throughout the state CENTRAL VIRGINIA $2 Tuesdays at South Street Brewery Every Tuesday until 9pm 106 South Street Charlottesville 434.293.6550 southstreetbrewery.com Cheers for Charity Fri., Feb. 6, 1pm We will donate $1 from every pint sold to a local charity. Starr Hill Brewery Tap Room 5391 Three Notch’D Road Crozet starrhill.com Mango Habanero Brown Ale Release Sat., Feb. 7 Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery 4100 Knolls Point Dr. Goochland 23063 804.314.4380 Welcome to Hoonah Sun., Feb. 8 A fusion of folk, indie & 60’s rock, old country and americana music, with definitive front porch flavor and a touch of urban verve. Starr Hill Brewery Tap Room 5391 Three Notch’D Road Crozet starrhill.com
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Appalachia
Blue Ridge Highlands
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Shenandoah Valley
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Northern Virginia
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Chesapeake Bay
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Eastern Shore
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Central Virgnia
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Southern Virginia
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Hampton Roads
Valentine’s Dinner at Wild Wolf Brewing Company Wed., Feb. 11, 7-9pm Enjoy a special 4-course dinner paired with Wild Wolf Brewing Co. seasonal brews. 2461 Rockfish Valley Highway Nellysford 434.361.0088 wildwolfbeer.com Valentine’s Beer Dinner at Blue Mountain Brewery Thurs., Feb. 12, 7-10pm. 5 courses and Blue Mountain beers. Hosted by Brewmaster, Taylor Smack. $55 per person plus tax & gratuity. 9519 Critzer Shop Rd. Afton 540.456.8020 bmbbeerdinner.com
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Burger Blast at Virginia Wine Expo Fri., Feb. 20, 5:30-9:30pm 15+ artisan burgers, 30+ local & seasonal craft beers, 30+ premium Virginia wines, and live music. 403 N. 3rd Street Richmond virginiawineexpo.com
Mardi Gras at Devils Backbone Basecamp Tues., Feb 17, 4-9pm Celebrate Mardi Gras & Fat Tuesday with Basecamp Brewpub’s Jambalaya and King Cake! 200 Mosbys Run Roseland 434.361.1001 dbbrewingcompany.com
Ladies Night at Starr Hill Thurs., Feb. 26, 7pm Enjoy beer specials while local band Supervixen plays awesome 90s girl rock! Starr Hill Brewery Tap Room 5391 Three Notch’D Road Crozet starrhill.com
Mardi Gras at Wild Wolf Brewing Company Tues., Feb. 17, 5-10pm Celebrate Fat Tuesday with creole inspired specials and festivities! A special glass will be awarded to the best costume of the night! 2461 Rockfish Valley Highway Nellysford 434.361.0088 wildwolfbeer.com
La Calavera Catrina is back! Sat., Feb. 14 La Calavera Catrina – Tequila Barrel & Lime Zest Three Chopt Tripel Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery 4100 Knolls Point Dr. Goochland 23063 804.314.4380 Valentine’s Day at Devils Backbone Basecamp Sat., Feb. 14, 5pm We are offering special dessert selections to all in honor of this special day! 200 Mosbys Run Roseland 434.361.1001 dbbrewingcompany.com
Tap Takeover at Station 2 Thurs., Feb. 19, 5pm Starr Hill tap takeover featuring Grateful, Little Red Rooster, Reviver Red IPA, and more. Station 2 2016 East Main Street Richmond starrhill.com
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Live Music at Starr Hill Sun., Feb. 15 Enjoy live music by Matthew McAllister and food from Wing It food truck. Starr Hill Brewery Tap Room 5391 Three Notch’D Road Crozet starrhill.com
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Redneck Soap Opera Bottle Release Sat., Feb. 28 Redneck Soap Opera – Rum Barrel Spiced Quad Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery 4100 Knolls Point Dr. Goochland 23063 804.314.4380 Despot Day! Sat., March 7 Releasing bottles of Enlightened Despot and a Coffee Version called Awaken the Despot. Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery 4100 Knolls Point Dr. Goochland 23063 804.314.4380 St. Patrick’s Day at Devils Backbone Basecamp Tues., March 17, 5pm Enjoy special brisket sandwiches in honor of this day! 200 Mosbys Run Roseland 434.361.1001 dbbrewingcompany.com
Easter Brunch at Blue Mountain Brewery Sun., April 5, 11am-2pm 9519 Critzer Shop Rd. Afton 540.456.8020 bluemountainbrewery.com
HAMPTON ROADS Pint Nights at Whiskey Kitchen Every Tuesday Tap takeover by a local brewery. Enjoy a beer with the featured brewery’s Brewmaster or representative. Whiskey Kitchen 2149 General Booth Blvd. Virginia Beach 757.689.8860 thewhiskeykitchen.com Trivia Night at Home Republic Every Tuesday, 7pm Featuring Smartmouth Live TriviaLive Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per customer)!Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per custome9 Home Republic 328 Laskin Rd. Virginia Beach 757.226.9593 homerepublicvabeach.com Vinyl Night at O’Connor Every Wednesday Bring in a record or just jam to the great tunes in the tap room. O’Connor Brewing Company 211 W. 24th Street Norfolk 757.623.2337 oconnorbrewing.com Burger Night at O’Connor Every Thursday Burger Night with CXB BBQ & Eats and draft specials all night. O’Connor Brewing Company 211 W. 24th Street Norfolk 757.623.2337 oconnorbrewing.com Virginia Craft Beer Thursday Every Thursday, all night Enjoy local Virginia brewed beers for $3 a pint. Tapped Gastropub 1550 Laskin Road Virginia Beach 757.965.5585 tappedgastropub.com
Firkin & Food Truck Friday at O’Connor Every Friday Featuring two special casked beers and food from a local food truck. O’Connor Brewing Company 211 W. 24th Street Norfolk 757.623.2337 oconnorbrewing.com Wild Wolf & Heritage Brewing Tap Takeover & Pint Night Thurs., Feb. 5 Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per customer)!Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per customer)! Home Republic 328 Laskin Rd. Virginia Beach 757.226.9593 homerepublicvabeach.com Veer Magazine’s Local Music Awards Presented by Starr Hill Wed., Feb., 11, 7-9pm Recognizing the talents of musicians in Hampton Roads, the show will be produced in fashion similar to the Grammys and awards will be given in more than 30 categories. Tickets: $10, proceeds benefit Hope House Foundation The Attucks Theatre 1010 Church Street Norfolk veermag.com Young Veterans Brewing Company Tap Takeover Thurs., Feb. 12 Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per customer)!Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per customer)! Home Republic 328 Laskin Rd. Virginia Beach 757.226.9593 homerepublicvabeach.com St. George Tap Takeover & Pint Night Thurs., Feb. 19 Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per customer)!Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per custome9 Home Republic 328 Laskin Rd. Virginia Beach 757.226.9593 homerepublicvabeach.com
Treaty of Ghent Belgian Dubbel Release Fri., Feb. 20, 4-9pm O’Connor Brewing Co. & Smartmouth Brewing Company’s first collaboration to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. O’Connor Brewing Company 211 W. 24th Street Norfolk 757.623.2337 oconnorbrewing.com
Kiss My Cask presented by Back Bay Brewing Sat., March 7, 2pm 20 breweries and 20 casks, wild game provided by Hashi food truck & friends, and live bluegrass music. Tickets: $20 Back Bay Brewing Company 614 Norfolk Ave. Virginia Beach 757-531-7750 backbaybrewingco.com
Port City Tap Takeover & Pint Night Thurs., Feb. 26Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per customer)!Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per custome9 Home Republic 328 Laskin Rd. Virginia Beach 757.226.9593 homerepublicvabeach.com
O’Connor Takeover & Pint Night Thurs., March 12 Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per customer)!Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per custome9 Home Republic 328 Laskin Rd. Virginia Beach 757.226.9593 homerepublicvabeach.com
“From Grain to Growler” Wed., March 4 A screening of “From Grain to Growler,” a documentary about the Virginia Craft Beer movement. Movie starts at 7:30pm. Pre-screening tasting event at 6pm at Hair of the DoG Bottle Shop. Merchants Square, Duke of Gloucester Street Williamsburg dogstreetpub.com Starr Hill Tap Takeover & Pint Night Thurs., March 5 Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per customer)!Live Music on the patio and Devils Backbone on tap (buy a pint of Devils Backbone beer and keep the glass, limit one per custome9 Home Republic 328 Laskin Rd. Virginia Beach 757.226.9593 homerepublicvabeach.com Brew HaHa Tours Sat., March 7 A private party bus takes you to exclusive brewery tours (south side locations TBD) with plenty of samples. Hosted by an established comedian. Top off the tour at a relaxing venue with a hot meal! brewhahatours.com
Shamrockin’ in Ghent Fri., March 13, 6-10pm Hope House Foundation’s annual St. Patrick’s Day block party includes live music from The Fighting Jamesons, delicious food from Belmont House of Smoke, and festive adult beverages. Colley Avenue in Ghent Norfolk hope-house.org Brew HaHa Tours Sat., March 14 A private party bus takes you to exclusive brewery tours (Brass Cannon, Alewerks) with plenty of samples. Hosted by an established comedian. Top off the tour at a relaxing venue with a hot meal! brewhahatours.com 5th Anniversary & St. Patrick’s Day Party at O’Connor Sat., March 14 All-day celebration with live music, food trucks, bounce house for the kids and special St. Patty’s Day inspired brews! O’Connor Brewing Company 211 W. 24th Street Norfolk 757.623.2337 oconnorbrewing.com
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NORTHERN VIRGINIA Beer Yoga at Port City Tues, Feb. 3 & 17, 7pm Yoga at the brewery and post-yoga pint! $15 per person Port City Brewing Company 3950 Wheeler Ave. Alexandria 703.797.2739 portcitybrewing.com First Saturday Brewery Open House at Mad Fox Sat., Feb. 7 Take a free brewery tour with your friends scheduled for noon, 2:00pm and 4:00pm. Onsite registration required. 444 West Broad Street Falls Church madfoxbrewing.com Detox/Retox Yoga in the Taproom Sun, Feb. 8 & March 22, 10-11:15am “Flow Yoga” style classes to get you moving and enjoy a beer after class. Old Bust Head Brewing Company 7134 Lineweaver Rd. Warrenton 540-347-4777 oldbusthead.com Valentine’s Day Chocolate & Beer Pairing Sat., Feb. 14, 12-8pm Locally made chocolate truffles will be available for sale to pair with each beer. Old Bust Head Brewing Company 7134 Lineweaver Rd. Warrenton 540-347-4777 oldbusthead.com Lundi Gras Celebration Mon., Feb. 16, 12-8pm Celebrate Mardi Gras a day early! Enjoy Cajun cuisine by Okra’s of Manassas paired with OBH beer. Old Bust Head Brewing Company 7134 Lineweaver Rd. Warrenton 540-347-4777 oldbusthead.com
5th Annual Barleywine Festival Sat. & Sun., Feb. 21 & 22 Showcasing an impressive selection of 30 special and limited-edition barleywine beers from across the region and country. Beers will rotate through the two-day festival, on draught and cask, while supplies last. Enjoy some festival-specific specials along with our usual menu and a limited-edition festival t-shirt for sale. Mad Fox Brewing Company 444 West Broad Street Falls Church madfoxbrewing.com Brewery Tour at Capital City Brewing Company Sat., Feb. 28 & March 28, 1:00 & 3:00pm $10 gets you the tour of the brewery, two pints, and a souvenir glass! Capital City Brewing Company 2700 S. Quincy St. Arlington 22206 capcitybrew.com
SHENANDOAH VALLEY Live Music at Devils Backbone Outpost Fri., Feb. 6, 5:30pm Live music by Matthew McAllister (acoustic) 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com Growler Girls at Devils Backbone Outpost Thurs., Feb. 12, 6pm Ladies Night Out Valentine’s Day games & beer cocktails 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com Big Cheesy Valentine’s Bash Sat., Feb. 14 Parkway Brewing Co. 739 Kessler Mill Road Salem parkwaybrewing.com Mug Club Night at Devils Backbone Outpost Tues., Feb. 17, 6:30pm Tours of the facility with special tasting. 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com
Cask Day at Devils Backbone Outpost Thurs., Feb. 19 Enjoy Schwartz Bier with strawberries and walnuts 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com Live Music at Devils Backbone Outpost Fri., Feb. 20, 5:30pm Live music by David Tewksburg (acoustic) 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com Trivia Night at Devils Backbone Outpost Thurs., Feb. 26, 6-8pm Test your knowledge as DB team member Ann leads Trivia Night in the Tap Room. Enter as individual or team up for a great night of beers and friendly competition! 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com Live Music at Devils Backbone Outpost Fri., March 6, 5:30pm Live music by Project Blue Band (blues) 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com Irish Spring Festival Sat., March 7, 10am-6pm St. Patrick’s Day Celebration featuring face painting, Irish music, Irish dancers, 50 food & craft vendors, and beer garden with souvenir mug. Holiday Inn/Blue Ridge Shadows 111 Hospitality Drive Front Royal 22630 irishspringfest.com
Growler Girls at Devils Backbone Outpost Thurs., March. 12, 6pm Karaoke Night with the Girls! 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com Mug Club Night at Devils Backbone Outpost Tues., March. 17, 6:30pm St. Patty’s Day Social! Bring your favorite Irish dish to share, wear your best shade of green and meet other local mug clubbers! 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com Cask Day at Devils Backbone Outpost Thurs., March 19 Enjoy Azrael with apricot, lychee, lemon zest, and clove 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com Live Music at Devils Backbone Outpost Fri., March 20, 5:30pm Live music by Jacob Allen (acoustic country Americana) 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com St. Patty’s Day Party at Devils Backbone Outpost Sat., March. 21, 4:30pm St. Patty’s Day Party with music by Marla Palma Band – wear green! 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com
Taste of Downtown Restaurant Week March 9-15 More than 25 restaurants & eateries in downtown Harrisonburg showcasing their creative dishes and offering specials that will please your palate and your wallet. 212 South Main Street, Harrisonburg downtownharrisonburg.org/ tasteofdowntown
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FEBRUARY 2015
Tom Daly
“South Street Brewery serves up 12 beers on tap daily.”
brewery GUIDE BLUE RIDGE HIGHLANDS Bull & Bones Brewhaus 1470 S Main St., #120 Blacksburg 540.953.2855 bullandbones.com Callaway Brewing Company 21 Woodwinds Road Callaway 540.267.6733 callawaybrewingco.com Chaos Mountain Brewing Company 3135 Dillons Mill Rd. Calloway 540.334.1600 chaosmountainbrewing.com
Creek Bottom Brews 307 Meadow Street Galax 276.236.BEER (2337) cbbrew.com The Damascus Brewery 32173 Government Road Damascus 540.314.2782 thedamascusbrewery.com Old Glade Brewery 217 Town Square St. Glade Spring, VA 24340 Oldgladebrewery.com River Company Brewery 6633 Viscoe Rd. Radford (Fairlawn) 540.633.3940 therivercompanybrewery.com
Sunken City Brewery 40 Brewery Dr. Hardy 540.420.0476 sunkencitybeer.com Wolf Hills Brewing Company 350 Park St. Abingdon 303.5508762 wolfhillsbrewing.com
CENTRAL VIRGINIA Apocalypse Ale Works 1257 Burnbridge Rd Forest 434.258.8761 endofbadbeer.com
Ardent Craft Ales 3200 W. Leigh Street Richmond 804.359.1605 ardentcraftales.com Beer Hound Brewery 201 Waters Place Culpeper 22701 540-317-5327 beerhoundbrewery.com Blue Mountain Brewery 9519 Critzer Shop Rd. Afton 540.456.8020 bluemountainbrewery.com Blue Mountain Barrel House 495 Cooperative Way Arrington 434.263.4002 bluemountainbarrel.com VIRGINIACRAFTBEER.COM
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C’ville-ian Brewing Company 705 W. Main Street Charlottesville 434.328.2252 cvillebrewco.com Center of the Universe Brewing Company 11293 Air Park Rd. Ashland 804.368.0299 cotubrewing.com Champion Brewing Company 324 6th St SE Charlottesville 434.295.2739 championbrewingcompany.com Devils Backbone Brewing Company Basecamp 200 Mosbys Run Roseland 434.361.1001 dbbrewingcompany.com Double Dizzy Brewery Amelia Court House 804.505.0109 doubledizzy.net Extra Billy’s 1110 Alverser Dr. Midlothian 804.379.8727 extrabillys.com/ ExtraBillysBarBQ2.htm Hardywood Park Craft Brewery 2408 Ownby Ln. Richmond 804.420.2420 hardywood.com Isley Brewing Company 1715 Summit Avenue Richmond 804.499.0721 isleybrewingcompany.com James River Brewing Company 561 Valley St. Scottsville 434.286.7837 jamesriverbrewing.com
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FEBRUARY 2015 DECEMBER 2014
Jefferson Street Brewery 1309 Jefferson St Lynchburg 434.455.1514 jeffersonstreetbrewery.com
Triple Crossing Brewing Company 113 S. Foushee St. Richmond triplecrossingbeer.com
Legend Brewing Company 321 W. Seventh St. Richmond 804.232.3446 legendbrewing.com
Wild Wolf Brewing Company 2461 Rockfish Valley Highway Nellysford 434.361.0088 wildwolfbeer.com
Licking Hole Creek Farm Brewery 4100 Knolls Point Dr. Goochland 804.314.4380 lickingholecreek.com
HAMPTON ROADS
Midnight Brewery 2410 Granite Ridge Rd. Rockville 804.356.9379 midnight-brewery.com Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery 11800 W. Broad Street Richmond 23233 804-237-1684 rockbottom.com South Street Brewery 106 South Street Charlottesville 434.293.6550 southstreetbrewery.com Starr Hill Brewery 5391 Three Notch’d Rd. Crozet 434.823.5671 starrhill.com Strangeways Brewing 2277 Dabney Rd. Richmond 804.303.4336 strangewaysbrewing.com The Answer Brewpub 6008 West Broad St. Richmond facebook.com theanswerbrewpub.com Three Notch’d Brewing Company 946 Grady Ave Charlottesville 434.293.0610 threenotchdbrewing.com
Alewerks 189-B Ewell Rd. Williamsburg 757.220.3670 williamsburgalewerks.com Back Bay Brewing Company 614 Norfolk Ave. Virginia Beach 757.531.7750 backbaybrewco.com Beach Brewing Company 2585 Horse Pasture Rd., #204 Virginia Beach 757.563.2337 beachbrewingcompany.com Brass Cannon Brewing Company 8105 Richmond Rd., #105 Toano 757.566.0001 brasscannonbrewing.com Gordon Biersch 4561 Virginia Beach Blvd. Virginia Beach 757.490.2739 Home Republic Brew Pub 328 Laskin Road Virginia Beach 757.226.9593 O’Connor Brewing Company 211 W. 24th Street Norfolk 757.623.2337 oconnorbrewing.com Pleasure House Brewing 3025 Shore Dr. Virginia Beach, VA 23451 757.647.8597 pleasurehousebrewing.com
Smartmouth Brewing Company 1309 Raleigh Ave., #300 Norfolk 757.624.3939 smartmouthbrewing.com St. George Brewing Company 204 Challenger Way Hampton 757.865.7781 stgeorgebrewingco.com Young Veterans Brewing Company 2505 Horse Pasture Road, Ste. 104 Virginia Beach 757.689.4021 yvbc.com
NORTHERN VIRGINIA Adroit Theory Brewing Company 404 Browing Ct., Unit C Purcellville 703.722.3144 adroit-theory.com Adventure Brewing Co. 33 Perchwood Dr. Fredericksburg 540.242.8876 adventurebrewing.com BadWolf Brewing Company 9776 Center St. Manassas 571.208.1064 badwolfbrewingcompany.com Barnhouse Brewery 13840 Barnhouse Pl. Leesburg 703.675.8480 barnhousebrewery.com Battlefield Brewing Company 4187 Plank Rd Fredericksburg 540.785.2164 chancellorpub@msn.com The Beer Joint 50 Catoctin Circle NE, Ste. 100 Leesburg 703-777-2169 go2thebeerjoint.com
Beltway Brewing Company 22620 Davis Dr. #110 Sterling 571.989.2739 beltwaybrewco.com Blue & Gray Brewing Company 3300 Dill Smith Dr. Fredericksburg 540.371.7799 blueandgraybrewingco.com Caboose Brewing Company 520 Mill Street NE Vienna 703-865-8580 caboosebrewing.com Capitol City Brewing Company 4001 Campbell Ave. Arlington 703.578.3888 capcitybrew.com Corcoran Brewing Company 205 E. Hirst Road, Suite 105 Purcellville 540.441.3102 corcoranbrewing.com Crooked Run Brewing 205 Harrison St. Leesburg 571.978.4446 crookedrunbrewing.com Forge Brew Works 8532 Terminal Rd., Ste. L Lorton 703.372.2979 forgebrewworks.com Gordon Biersch Tyson’s Corner Mall McLean 703.388.5454 gordonbiersch.com
Heritage Brewing Co. 9436 Center Point Lane Manassas 800.432.1792 heritagebrewing.com
ciderGUIDE
Hops Grill Brewery 3625 Jefferson Davis Hwy. Alexandria 703.837.9107 hopsonline.com
BLUE RIDGE HIGHLANDS
Lost Rhino Brewing Company 21730 Red Rum Dr., Ste. 142 Ashburn 571.291.2083 lostrhino.com Mad Fox Brewing Company 444 West Broad St., Ste. I Falls Church 703.942.6840 madfoxbrewing.com
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Appalachia
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Blue Ridge Highlands
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Shenandoah Valley
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Northern Virginia
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Chesapeake Bay
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Eastern Shore
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Central Virgnia
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Southern Virginia
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Hampton Roads
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Potter’s Craft Cider Charlottesville potterscraftcider.com
Old Hill Cider 17768 Honeyville Rd. Timberville 540.896.7582 oldhillcider.com
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Castle Hill Cider 6065 Turkey Sag Rd. Keswick 434.296.0047 castlehillcider.com
SHENANDOAH VALLEY
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Albemarle CiderWorks 2545 Rural Ridge Ln. North Garden 434.297.2326 albemarleciderworks.com
Bold Rock Hard Cider 1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy. Nellysford 434.361.1030 boldrock.com
Old Bust Head Brewing Company 7134 Lineweaver Rd. Warrenton 540.347.4777 oldbusthead.com
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CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Blue Bee Cider 212 W. 6th St. Richmond 804.231.0280 bluebeecider.com
Mad Horse Brew Pub 34 E Broad Way Lovettsville 540.436.0669 madhorsebrewpub.com
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Foggy Ridge Cider 1328 Pineview Rd. Dugspur 276.398.2337 foggyridgecider.com
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Winchester Ciderworks 2502 N. Frederick Pike Winchester 540.550.3800 WinchesterCiderworks.com
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FEBRUARY 2015 DECEMBER 2014
Old 690 Brewing Company 15670 Ashbury Church Road Purcellville old690.com
visit us online for up-to-date news, info and more
virginiacraftbeer.com - 50 -
Wild Run Brewing Company 3071 Jefferson Davis Hwy Stafford 540.659.3447 wildrunbrewing.com
Old Ox Brewery 44652 Guilford Dr Unit 114 Ashburn 703.729.8375 oldoxbrewery.com
Port City Brewing Company 3950 Wheeler Ave. Alexandria 703.797.2739 portcitybrewing.com Rock Bottom Brewery 4238 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 1256 Arlington 703.516.7688 rockbottom.com/arlington Rusty Beaver Brewery 18043 Jefferson Davis Hwy Ruther Glen (Ladysmith Exit off I-95) 855.478.7892 rustybeaverbrewery.com Sweetwater Tavern 14250 Sweetwater Ln. Centreville 703.449.1100 greatamericanrestaurants. com Sweetwater Tavern 45980 Waterview Plaza Sterling 571.434.6500 greatamericanrestaurants. com Sweetwater Tavern 3066 Gate House Plaza Falls Church 703.645.8100 greatamericanrestaurants.com
SHENANDOAH VALLEY Backroom Brewery 150 Ridgemont Rd. Middletown 540.869.8482 facebook.com/ BackroomBrewery
Parkway Brewing 739 Kessler Mill Rd. Salem parkwaybrewing.com Queen City Brewing 834 Springhill Road Staunton 540.213.8014 qcbrewing.com Redbeard Brewing 120 South Lewis St. Staunton 804.641.9340 redbeardbrews.com
Big Lick Brewing Company 135 Salem Ave. Roanoke, VA 24011 540-562-8383 biglickbrewingco.com
Roanoke Railhouse Brewery 3106 Franklin Road Roanoke 540-293-2423 roanokerailhouse.com
Blue Lab Brewing Company 123 S. Randolph St. Lexington 540.458.0146 bluelabbrewing.com
Shenandoah Valley Brewing Company 17 Middlebrook Ave. Staunton 540.887.2337 shenvalbrew.com/
Devils Backbone Brewing Company - Outpost 50 Northwind Lane Lexington 540.462.6200 dbbrewingcompany.com
Soaring Ridge Craft Brewers 523 Shenandoah Avenue Roanoke 540.529.2140 soaringridge.com
Flying Mouse Brewery 221 Precast Way Troutville 540.992.1288 flyingmousebrewery.com
Three Brothers Brewing 800 N Main Street Harrisonburg 540.432.8940 threebrosbrew.com
Piccadilly’s Brew Pub 125 E Piccadilly St. Winchester 540.535.1899 piccadillysbrewpub.net
Three Notch’d Brewing Co. Harrisonburg Taproom 241 E. Market Street Harrisonburg 540.217.5939
Is there someone we’re missing?
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA 2 Witches Winery & Brewing Company 209 Trade St. Danville 434-549-BREW (2739)
Email Jennifer.McDonald@hotmail.com with any additions or corrections
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