Head over to Mekong for a Green Flash tap takeover tonight Wednesday January 30th starting at 5pm. Brewmaster Chuck Silva will be around to discuss the beers.
Here is the lineup for the night:
West Coast IPA
Imperial IPA
Green Bullets — 9th anniversary DIPA
Palate Wrecker
Belgian Red Rye
30th St Pale — normally limited to San Diego!
Double Stout
Hopheads rejoice, Tuesday January 29th is your day. Bell’s Hopslam goes on sale in the morning at a few place around town. Here are the places you will be able to find it:
Bottles
Whole Foods Short Pump — 25 cases available; ETA Tues morning 2pm 10am? Hearing truck was delayed. SOLD OUT 11:30am
Libbie Market (Libbie Ave) — ETA midday Tues; check Libbie Market Beerpage for updates SOLD OUT 12:15pm
Total Wine (West Broad) — Watch @RVABeerMan for updates
Total Wine (Robious Rd) — Watch @RVABeerMan for updates
Once Upon A Vine North — ETA unknown In Stock as of 4:40pm
Ellwoods — ETA Wedsneday 1/30
Fine Foods in Oregon Hill — as of 3:15pm
On Tap
821 Cafe — On deck Friday Feb 1st 5pm
The Camel — Feb 3rd 6pm — As part of their Super Bowl of Beers.
Cary Street Cafe — On deck tap NOW 2:20pm
Others soon…
I will update with more places as well as keg tappings as I hear more.
Earlier today the Brewers Association announced the breweries to participate in Savor: Craft Beer & Food Experience in New York City June 14 – 15, 2013. You can see the complete list here but Virginians can be proud to be represented by lottery winners: Legend and Starr Hill as well as supporting partner Devils Backbone.
Cheers!
This Sunday January 27th, your mission should you choose to accept it…
Secco January Beer Brunch
Secco Wine Bar’s monthly beer brunch is back for it’s first installment of 2013.
JANUARY BEER BRUNCH MENU
available 11AM – 3PM
House-made biscuits & gravy (add a fried egg)
Nutella & banana panino
Heuvos rancheros with cilantro crema (add braised pork)
House-made brioche & perserves with whipped honey butter
Bacon, egg and cheddar sandwich with mustard-tomato jam
“All the way” hash browns (add a fried egg)
House-made everything bagel with smoked salmon spread & greens
French toast w/ pear compote & whipped butter, house-made bacon & hashbrowns
Grilled lamb burger on a house-made bun with date relish and gorgonzola cheese
Featured Beers
Hardywood Sidamo Stout – an imperial stout brewed with Lamplighter coffee
Center of the Universe Brewery Kolsch – crisp and refreshing
Einbecker Winter Bock – uber-drinkable but cold weather-ready
This is a non-ticketed event and all items are served a la carte. Seating will be done on a first come, first served basis. Email info@seccowinebar.com or call (804) 353-0670 to get reservations for parties of five to eight. Keep in mind that Secco’s size means the smaller your party, the quicker they will be able accommodate you.
Secco Wine Bar
2933 W. Cary St.
Richmond, VA 23221
(804) 353-0670
PS. Check out the upcoming events at The Room at Secco sure to excite local beer geeks and the wine-curious alike Beer & Charcuterie pairing class on Feb 19th, and Wine 101 this Tuesday .
Legend Brewing vs. Camden’s Dogtown Beer Dinner Smackdown
Camden’s has a much more humorous explanation of this event than anything I could come up with:
In a most unlikely turn of events, Camden’s Dogtown Market has been sanctioned to STEAL BUSINESS from its neighbor, Legend Brew Pub by serving a menu of fantastic food with beer pairings for one night only! This was a feat of great détente, with a team of negotiators working into the wee hours to placate two sides with monster egos and little common ground. But in the end, an accord was reached and the people shall be the victors!
Actually, Legend’s Sales Manager Kevin Timme stopped into Camden’s for some toothpaste and asked if we might ever be interested in hosting a beer dinner with him, to which we shrugged and said “Sure.” But from that small exchange a dinner of epic proportions has emerged and we’re going to make it sound BIGGER THAN IT IS!
There will be informative banter from Kevin, incoherent slurring from Chef Andy, and possibly some dirty jokes from Legend’s Head Brewer…for which no price can be properly levied.
MENU
Poached Jumbo Shrimp with Orange Tainted Salsa
Winter White
Prince Edward Island Mussels in Smoked Tomato Broth
Porter
Braised Lamb Leg Shepherd’s Pie
Golden IPA
Open Faced House Made Pastrami Sandwich with Mustard Cream
Pale Ale
Rhubarb Crumble with Warm Bleu Cheese Sauce
Vintage Quad
The cost for the dinner will be $45/person excluding tax and tip. Head over to the Facebook event for more information or email camdensdogtown@gmail.com to RSVP.
Camden’s Dogtown Market
201 W 7th St
Richmond, VA 23224
(804) 745-6488
Local Suds has been doing a great job exposing new and old craft beer lovers to Virginia breweries through their series of brew tours. They have upped their game by going bigger and more creative with the tour offerings. Capital City Brew Tour, this Saturday January 26th, is their biggest tour to date encompassing the four breweries in the greater Richmond area: Hardywood, Legend, Center of the Universe and Midnight.
The tour will pick up from Captial Ale House downtown at 1:30pm and dropping off just in time for the start of the Great Hopocalypse where Capital will be tapping these special hoppy beers:
Sierra Nevada Hoptimum
Dogfish Head 120 Minute
Hardywood Bourbon Barrel DIPA
Bells This One Goes to 11 Ale
Bear Republic Racer X
The cost for the tour is $45 with a portion of the proceeds going to 2BNB. Go to the Eventbrite page to purchase tickets. Check out their Facebook page for more information on Local Suds and their future events, like their Lord of The Rings themed brew tour and burlesque.
Now that we’ve gotten the first snow out of the way, it is time for the first pub crawl of the new year. Virginia’s newest brewery out of Harrisonburg, Three Brothers Brewing comes to town Thursday January 24th with three intriguing firkins. Sadly, I will miss out due to a prior commitment. Hickory syrup?! Ok, maybe I can make try to make one stop.
Here are the stops on the crawl:
5:30PM — Commercial Taphouse — Coffee Breath Brown with w/ Hickory Syrup and organic dates.
6:30PM — Weezie’s Kitchen — Great Outdoors Pale with Blueberries
7:30PM — Burger Bach — Hoptimization IPA w/ pearwood chips, cinnamon, and vanilla bean
Never thought I’d be saying this but it looks like I’ll be attending the Virginia Wine Expo for the first time this year. In their great wisdom, the Expo has added Burger Blast to their schedule Friday February 22nd from 5 – 10pm. Burger Blast will feature artisan burgers with samplings of Virginia beer and wine.
UPDATE:
Tickets include the following:
Restaurants
Carytown Burgers and Fries
Rowland’s Fine Dining
Arcadia
Bistro Bobette
J Sargeant Reynolds
Salt Pork
Selba
India K’Raja
Popkin Tavern
On The Rox
Burgerworks
Sam Snead’s Tavern at The Homestead
Culinard Culinary Institute of Virginia – Richmond
MORE TO COME!
Virginia Breweries
Hardywood: Singel & Small Batch
Devils Backbone: Vienna Lager & Dark Abbey
Starr Hill Saison
Center of the Universe Pocahoptus
Legend Hopfest
O’Connor Great Dismal Black IPA
Roanoke Railhouse Track 1 Amber Lager
Apocalypse Lustful Maiden Belgian Dark
Midnight Brewery- Midnight Special
Bold Rock Virginia Draft Cider
Bull and Bones Maroon Effect Brown Ale
Big Daddy Black IPA
James River Green Eyed Lady
Smartmouth Saison
Blue Mountain: Full Nelson Pale Ale & Dark Hollow
National Breweries
New Belgium: Seasonal (Dig Pale Ale) & Ranger IPA
Allagash: White & Black
Duvel/Ommegang: Duvel & Ommegang Rare Vos
Dogfish Head: 60min IPA & Raison d’ Etre
Brooklyn: Lager & Brown
Smuttynose: IPA & Brown Dog
Crispin: Original Apple & Foxbarrel Pear
Left Hand: Polestar Pilsner & Nitro Milk Stout
(beers could change dependent on availability of limited release beers)
Burger Blast will be held in the Ballroom of the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Tickets for the event are $35 (advance) or $48 (at the door if available). For more information and to purchase tickets, head over to the Virginia Wine Expo event schedule here.
Surprisingly, tickets are still available for Popkin Tavern’s Goose Island Beer Dinner this Wednesday January 23rd at 7pm. This dinner boast seven great Goose Island beers with three of their most limited stouts from the Borubon County line for dessert.
MENU
First Course
Crostini, burrata, clementine chutney, lavender, basil
312 Urban Wheat Ale
Second Course
Beer Cheese Tots, naughty cheddar beer cheese, grilled scallion, house bacon
Naughty Goose Brown Ale
Third Course
Porchetta, citrus and herb roasted pork, crispy cracklins, braised greens
Matilda Belgian Ale
Fourth Course
Boar Pops, peppercorn crusted boar, smoked root vegetables, cognac cream sauce
Pepe Nero Black Saison
Fifth Course
Bacon Chocolate Cupcake, house bacon, dark chocolate, peanut butter frosting
Nightstalker, Big John, Bourbon County Coffee
The all inclusive tickets for the dinner are $45/person and can be purchased here.
Taste The Local posted this declaration to their Facebook page this afternoon proclaiming the great abundance of local beer to be available in Richmond this year. Check it out:
By the end of 2013 there will be 30 VA Breweries available in the city of RICHMOND, VA (including festivals etc). At least 6 will be in the Richmond Metro Area (*). Whether you are a fan of all, or just some of these locals, not too many cities in the country can boast that kind of number. Cheers RVA! Its going to be a great year for local beer.
1. Apocalypse
2. Beach
3. Big Daddy
4. Blue Mountain
5. Brass Cannon
6. Bull and Bones
7. Center of The Universe*
8. Champion
9. Corcoran
10. Devils Backbone
11. Extra Billy’s*
12. Hardywood Park*
13. James River
14. Legend*
15. Lickinghole Creek*
16. Lost Rhino
17. Mad Fox
18. Midnight Brewing*
19. O’Connor Brewing
20. Parkway
21. Port City Brewing
22. Roanoke Railhouse
23. Smartmouth
24. St George
25. Starr Hill
26. Strangeways*
27. Three Brothers
28. Wild Wolf
29. Williamsburg Alewerks
30. Wolf Hills(*) Brewing in the Richmond metro area
DRINK LOCAL RVA!
Hardywood is releasing their Sidamo Coffee Stout this Saturday January 5th starting at 11am. I caught up with co-founder Eric McKay to inquire about decision to replace Mocha Belgique. In his reply, he confirms the replacement but leaves the door ajar for a possible revamp plus hints at the next barrel series beer:
Sidamo Coffee Stout is going to replace Mocha Belgique. We really enjoyed working with the guys from Black Hand on that beer last year, and did receive some great feedback on it. That said, we also reviewed a lot of the negative feedback and our own perceptions of the beer and felt that the use of chocolate and particularly our choice of a Belgian yeast strain created some complex flavors that distracted from the coffee. Ultimately, with our Reserve Series, we want to showcase the local ingredients we use, not mask them, and have done a fair amount of brainstorming on reinventing a coffee beer in a way that would highlight the signature ingredient.
Through our team members frequent visits to Lamplighter and its Kickstand counterpart right around the corner in Scott’s Addition, we’ve built a good relationship with them and explored some ideas with them through a cupping. Ultimately, we came out of it in love with the unique flavor and aroma of their Sidamo coffee and decided to blend it with a Russian Imperial Stout recipe (no lactose in this one!) that keeps the focus squarely on the coffee.We may bring back Mocha Belgique on a smaller pilot scale at some point, or do a variation of the base beer without chocolate or coffee, but in the meantime, we’re feeling really good about this new Sidamo Coffee Stout and are planning to age some in freshly dumped Maker’s Mark barrels (due to limited supply of Bowman barrels).The only other beer from our commercial releases that will go into retirement this year due to customer feedback is Virginia Strawberry. Not only did the strawberries create some unusual flavors, they were obscenely labor intensive to process. Fortunately, we’ll be brewing more Virginia Blackberry this year with berries from the same local farmer, Agriberry.
Richmond Beermeister 