Monthly Archives: January 2012

The Devils Comes to Richmond

The Devil may have went down to Georgia for a song but Devils Backbone has come back to Richmond to stay starting today! That’s right, fresh off the completion of their outpost brewery in Lexington, VA, Devil’s Backbone is ready to kick off their entry into the Richmond market with with a few special events. I’ve got them all right here.

Devils Backbone Steal the Glass Night — Tuesday Jan 31st
4pm-the glasses are gone
Location:All Capital Ale House Locations

Pretty simple concept here. Go to Capital Ale closest to you, drink a Devils Backbone beer and keep the DB glass.

Featured beers: 8 Point IPA, Vienna Lager, and limited quantities Kilt Flasher, Ale of Fergus, and Schwartzbier.

The Devils Crawl — Wednesday Feb 1st
6pm-10pm
Head out on a pub crawl in the Fan with a different small batch beer at each location.

Commercial Tap House (6pm)
Beers: Vienna Lager; English Mild

Secco Wine Bar (7pm)
Beers: Vienna Lager; Schwartzbier

Caliente (8pm)
Beers: 8 Point IPA; Kilt Flasher Wee Heavy

The Night of Funky Devils — Friday February 3rd
First Friday Kickoff Party at Gallery 5
7pm-11pm
Free entry

Come enjoy the beer and shake your backbone at the official kickoff party at Gallery 5. It’s simple; come out on First Friday (Feb 3rd) support your local art galleries downtown on their opening nights, stop into a great local restaurant (Comfort, Pasture, Bistro 27, Tarrant’s Cafe, Belvidere at Broad, …Popkins), then come by Gallery 5 and party it up with local funk band Chicken & Corn and turntable stylings of DJ Williams. Take the opportunity to meet the crew from Devils Backbone and have some great beer including 8 Point IPA, Vienna Lager, and a very special pin of “Spike,” a single hop varietal American-style red ale using an experimental hop called HBC342!
Gallery 5
200 W. Marshall St
Richmond, VA 23220

Devils Backbone Beer Dinner — Thursday February 9th
TJ’s at the Jefferson is back for 2012 with a very special beer dinner with Devil’s Backbone! Come out and enjoy some delicious VA beers paired up with seasonal cuisine at TJ’s inside the Jefferson Hotel!  Dinner starts at 7pm and is $50 per person plus tax and gratuity. Please call 804.649.4672 or email at kibiloski@jeffersonhotel.com for more information.

DEVIL’S BACKBONE
“WELCOME TO RICHMOND”

Thursday, February 9th at 7pm
TJ’s at the Jefferson

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Salad of Winter Baby Roots with 8 Point IPA
Composed Greens, Pumper-Nut Soil, Malted Barley Vinaigrette

Hay Smoked Duck Breast with Vienna Lager
Braised Escarole and Leeks, Duck Confit & Yukon Potato Cake

Schwartz Braised Lamb Osso Bucco with Schwartzbier
Chestnut Spaetzle, Charred Brussels Sprouts and Pearl Onions, Natural Jus and Toasted Cream

Winter Fruit Compote Financier with Scotch Ale
Brown Butter Ice Cream, Maple Crumble

$50.00 Per Person
Plus Tax and Gratuity

Please contact Jonathan Kibiloski at 804.649.4672
or by email at kibiloski@jeffersonhotel.com

BREAKING: Hardywood Park Going to SAVOR!

The Brewer’s Association  has released the breweries selected to attend SAVOR for 2012.  Congratulations go out to Hardywood Park Craft Brewery for being selected to attend SAVOR this coming June in Washington, DC!  Richmond, you should be very proud to have Hardywood represent us at the premier food and craft beer event in our nation’s capital.  Other Virginia breweries selected to attend include Devils Backbone (Supporting Brewery), Capitol City Brewing, and Port City Brewing.  View the full list of breweries here and read up on my experience at last year’s SAVOR here.  Once again, congrats Hardywood on the well deserved selection!  I hope to be joining you up there this year! 

Empress Tastes Dark Beers for January

In their last Tuesday Tasting of the month, The Empress will take diners on a tour of five dark beers and exciting food pairings.  Aaron Hoskin’s first pairing gives me something I’ve been waiting to see in Richmond for a long time, DUCK FAT FRIES!

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Unlike most of their tastings this one is not gluten-free and there will not be gluten-free options available. However, there will be vegetarian options available for the tasting.  The tasting is $25 and starts at 7pm sharp and reservations are strongly recommended.  See more over at the Facebook event here.

The Empress
2043 West Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 592-4000

Whole Foods Short Pump Had Hopslam

Update: Well, that was quick! As of 10:30am, Whole Foods Short Pump was SOLD OUT of Hopslam!  In what must be a record, they sold 16 cases in 90 minutes.  To those of you that got some, congrats! To those that didn’t, better luck next time or find someone who did and see if they’ll share.

Debated as the king of all hoppy beers, Bell’s Hopslam is now available at Whole Foods Short Pump.  Even though blurry, you can tell by the picture that they have a lot of it. However, there’s no telling how long it will last.  So if you want some, you better stop your squinting and go get some.

Stay up to date with beer at Whole Foods Short Pump on their Facebook page here.

Year’s of the DRAG-AN at Mekong

This just came to my attention for tonight.  Mekong celebrates the year of the dragon the only way they know how — the tapping of dragon themed beers. What’s more, if you loved any of Hardywood’s milk stouts (and I know you did), you need to be there to get the first taste of Hardywood’s Bourbon Barrel Milk Stout cleverly named Enter the Dragon! But wait there’s more! Tonight will be the first time Gulden Draak 9000 Quad is available in Richmond.  Here’s current list of beers with more sure to be tapped. 

Dragon’s Milk 2008
Gulden Draak
Gulden Draak 9000 Quad
Hardywood Park Bourbon Barrel Milkstout aka Enter the Dragon

Head over to the Facebook event to see more.

One More Reason to Attend RVANews Beer Dinner

The RVANews Beer Dinner is this coming Sunday at The Roosevelt.  If you haven’t gotten your tickets, you better hurry cause time is running out fast.  Once again here’s the menu.

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Welcome Beer: Kostritzer Schwarzbier

Ettaler Helles
Roasted NC trout w/ smoked trout, apple, fennel, and celery salad, herbed creme fraiche

Uerige Classic
Local sausage and braised pork cheek, champange braised sauerkraut, grainy mustard potato puree

Porticus Leipziger Doppel Porter
Short rib sauerbraten, braised cabbage puree, caraway spaetzle

Alvinne Podge (Belgian Barley Wine)
Gingerbread panna cotta, toasted walnuts, red wine pear compote

If those tasty morsels were not enough to convince you, here’s another reason for you to attend. I WILL BE THERE!  Personally, I think it could be the best reason of all. So go ahead and get your tickets here.

Secco Has Beer for Breakfast

This Sunday Secco Wine Bar is doing something a little out of the ordinary for them. Breakfast! Celebrating the arrival of a sixtel keg of Founders Breakfast Stout, they will be getting up a couple hours early to provide four a la carte breakfast selections. 

Beer Breakfast Menu (available Sunday, January 15, 10AM – 2PM)

Malted Cocoa French Toast w/ Vanilla Butter, Maple Syrup, House-made Bacon and Fingerling Hash

Heuvos Rancheros: Cranberry Beans w/ Soft Egg, Tomatillo Pico de Gallo, Mexican Crema and Fresh Corn Tortilla

Spiced Apple Coffee Cake w/ House-made Cherry – Walnut Granola and Cardamom Yogurt

Oyster and Pork Sausage Gravy over Butter Biscuits w/ Poached Oysters and a Poached Egg

Everything sounds quite delicious especially that French toast. I wonder if we can get them to use some of the stout in the batter.  Sounds like a foodgasm in the making.  Bell’s Expedition will be on deck for when the 41 pints of Founder’s is gone. Get more information here.

Secco Wine Bar
2933 West Cary Street
Richmond, VA 23221-3515
(804) 353-0670

Happy 10th Capital Ale House!

It’s hard to believe it has been 10 short years since Capital Ale House first opened their doors in downtown Richmond. In those 10 years, Capital has extended its reach by adding locations in Midlothian,  Innsbrook, and as well as distant Fredericksburg.

Never ones to think small, Cap Ale has big plans on the agenda. We’re talking year long big. First, how do you feel about a special beer? How about 12 of them? Well, that’s what they’ve done. Capital Ale House has contracted with 12 breweries for special anniversary beers to be tapped each month.

The first brewery to contribute a beer to this celebration will be Starr Hill Brewing with their “Doppelbock, an extra-strong dark lager with a massive caramel aroma and a gentle toasty bittersweet finish”. Before you groan and ask why Starr Hill, consider that Starr Hill for a long time had their own music hall in Charlottesville. I will openly admit that I have not been the biggest fan of Starr Hill’s beers, but a recent visit to the brewery has me changing my mind. After receiving a six pack of dopplebock for Christmas, I said I needed to try more of the style.  So I guess I will be starting with their Doppelbock and hope you will give Starr Hill a second try. I think you will be surprised.

The tapping will begin at 6pm at the Downtown location. Read more at the Facebook event page.

Oh and that’s not all! Apparently, there will be a second special beer from Starr Hill tonight as well.  According to this tweet from the brewery, their All Access Wee Heavy will also be on tap.

So what else done Capital Ale have planned for this milestone year.  Wait and see!

Remember it all starts at 6pm!

623 E Main St.
Richmond, VA 23219-2405

Capital Ale Starts Year with Dogfish Heads and Randalls

Welcome dear readers to 2012.  I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season.  It took me a bit longer to recover from all the drinking celebrating than I thought it would. I thought I’d have another week before any cool beer events would show up in the calendar.  Capital Ale House has proven me wrong with events exclusively at their Downtown and Innsbrook locations.

Downtown Dogfish Head Tapping

The Dogfish Head Tapping event started New Years Day and continues until Saturday, Jan 7th. Namaste, Theobroma, Midas Touch, and My Antonia were tapped in the last two days.  There’s a good chance you may still be able to get some of these today.  Here’s what you can expect for the rest of the week.  Tappings will start at 4pm Tues – Fri and 7pm Sat

Tuesday January 3rd
Palo Santo Marron
Chicory Stout

Wednesday January 4th
Chateau Jiahu
Sah-Tea

Thursday January 5th
Black & Blue
Immort

Friday January 6th
Burton Baton
120 Minute

Saturday January 7th
Miles Davis Bitch’s Brew
Hellhound
Fort

Innsbrook Single Randall Nights

Starting 5pm this and every other Friday in January, the Innsbrook location will be running a much beloved IPA through a randall of hops as an experimentation in taste. Hopheads this is an event for you.  Go out and experience it for yourself and make sure to give your feedback. Capital Ale has carefully selected the hops paired with each beer and wants you to judge on how well they work.  Servers or bartenders will have comment sheets so you can tell them what you think.

January 6th: Bear Republic Racer 5 run through Chinook hops
January 13th: Founders Centennial run through Columbus hops
January 20th: Stone IPA run through Fuggle hops
January 27th: Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA run through Nugget hops

If anyone had a resolution of cutting down on beer, I predict you will be breaking it this week. I’m sure there is a lot of other stuff you can resolve to change.

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