Tag Archives: VA Beer

Bucket Trade Hosts Mini Three Brothers Tap Takeover For Fans Of Virginia Craft Breweries Meet & Greet

Members of the Facebook group, Fans of VA Craft Breweries will be heading down to Chester this afternoon Wednesday September 10th for a “Meet & Greet” at The Bucket Trade. For their part, Bucket Trade will tap four beers from Harrisonburg, VA’s Three Brothers Brewing including their latest rum barrel aged beer, Fierce Blonde.

Here is the complete list to be tapped at 5:30pm:

Hoptimization
Admiral IPA
PilsNerd
Fierce Blonde

Head over to the Facebook event for more information and updates.

The Bucket Trade
13131 Rivers Bend Blvd
Chester, VA 23836

Stepping Outside Richmond Dining For Fire, Flour, & Fork Culinary Tracks: Friday

Fire Flour Fork 2014

Ever since Fire, Flour, & Fork was announced, I have been struggling to choose a schedule from the culinary and cultural tracks.  With so many great choices, the task of narrowing down each time slot to a single talk became very overwhelming.  If you look at my printout of the schedule, there are several check marks all over the place.  Finally, I came up with a selection method that I thought would work that would satisfy my desire to learn new stuff and be in line with the goals of the event.

First I needed some rules:

  1. As much as I love our local dining talent, I will look for speakers coming from out of town.
  2. The topic needs to be of personal interest to me, in that maybe I could learn techniques to put into practice in my own kitchen.
  3. No beer. Yep, I said it. Yes, I could listen to our local breweries talk about beer all day long and sometimes I do.

Today, we will look to navigate a schedule for Friday October 31st.

10AM

My Pick
Relish Fork — I’ve always wanted to learn more about pickling and possibly get into canning so I thought this demo from Paul Virant of Vie would be a great choice.

Runner-up
Budino with Bereika — Do you have any idea how much I hate choosing against learning from Tim Bereika?!

11:15AM

My Pick
Pie for Breakfast — Um…I like pie! I like making them and eating them.  Maybe Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar will share her secrets for making Crack Pie. I hear it’s addictive.

Runners-up

  • Chocolate Packing Heat — Yes, I could eat chocolate all day but somehow pies won out.  Maybe because my favorite pie is a Kentucky Pecan Pie with chocolate and bourbon.
  • Meat Fork — Jason Alley will teach you how ham is made. Have you had the ham cured ribs at Pasture? Delicious!

2PM

My Pick
Professor Pitmaster — I have been working on my barbecue skills but still have a long way to go before I’m ready for competition.  Help me Tuffy Stone, you’re my only hope.

Runners-up

  • Rise of Richmond Brewing — Did you really think beer wouldn’t be mentioned here? Mike Gorman will make you love the history behind our growing beer town.
  • Oyster Fork —  Did you hear about the Virginia Oyster Trail? Now is the time to fall in love with them.
  • Pickle Fork — Who knew you could pickle things other than cucumbers?  David Schulz of Pickled Silly, that’s who.

3:15PM

My Pick
From Farm to Fork — Ok, I might be breaking rule #1 with this one. Nicole Lang is local but Craig Rogers of Border Springs Farm is not. Lamb is also one of my favorite things to cook.

Runners-up

  • Charred Ordinary — Yes, Richmond has a local cidery!
  • Fork Tender — Kendra Bailey Morris will change your perception of the slow cooker.  I have used my slow cooker a lot more since buying her book.

That’s one possible plan for get through Friday’s culinary tracks for Fire, Flour & Fork. Use my plan or make your own rules then pick out a schedule.  Tickets are $70 for one-day Friday or Saturday tracks or $130 for both Friday and Saturday tracks. Get your tickets here.

Come back later this week to see what I pick for Saturday.

Hardywood & Starr Hill Collaboration Amped Up Ale Only At Fall Line Fest This Weekend

Fall Line Fest Amped Up AleFall Line Fest rolls back into town Friday and Saturday nights with 50+ bands at six local venues turning the weekend into musical insanity.  You’re going, right? I had a blast last year.  Head over to RVA Playlist’s Fall Line Fest Beginners Guide to get started.  I’m working on my schedule as I type this — so many choices!

Building on the success of last year’s exclusive Fall Line Fest ale from Hardywood, organizers have raised the bar by teaming with Hardywood and Starr Hill breweries to collaborate on this year’s beer.  Aptly named by RVA’s own Page Hayes, “Fall Line Fest Amped Up Ale” is a Farmhouse ale, dry-hopped with Sorachi Ace and Mandarina Bavaria hops and spiced with fresh local ginger. I’m hearing from multiple sources that it is quite delicious. The beer debuted for a short time in Starr Hill’s taproom but will be served exclusively at Fall Line Fest venues as well as key accounts involved with the festival.

Hardywood’s head brewer, Brian Nelson, had this to say about the beer:

I think for us, collaborating with Starr Hill was probably long overdue. When the idea was proposed to create a beer together for Fall Line Fest, you could see and hear the excitement building as we all discussed what was possible…In the end, I think we captured the brewing styles and concepts of both breweries in the Fall Line Fest Amped Up Ale. Cheers to Robbie O’Cain and the Starr Hill crew for helping to make this beer excellent—the only thing left to do now is bring on the music!

Robbie O’Cain, Starr Hill’s Manager of Brewery Operations, relayed:

It is always great to work with Virginia brewers, especially when it involves new ingredients and new processes. One of the great things about the industry, especially in Virginia, is that we share ideas and process knowledge while maintaining our own unique way of doing things…Brian Nelson and the brewing team at Hardywood did a great job with the pilot batch, which allowed us to hone in on the final recipe. We are excited to present this beer in collaboration with our good friends at Hardywood, and we hope Fall Line Fest patrons will enjoy this brew while listening to some awesome music.

Get you tickets here, drink the beer, and have an awesome time!

Two Years In The Making: Hardywood First Wild Ale, Snapdragon Soars Next Saturday

Remember some two years ago when we were enjoying our first sips of Virginia Blackberry? Well, Hardywood had been secretly and quietly planning their first wild ale.

Maybe you remember this photo of head brewer Brian at Barboursville Vineyards steam sanitizing two of their wine barrels.

There was no indication what was going into those barrels but now I know that the first batch of Blackberry found a resting place in these red wine barrels. We are so used to instant gratification these days, it is hard to imagine waiting two years to release a beer.

I know a lot of you have been waiting for Hardywood to release just such a beer.  It will just be a little while longer now.  Hardywood Snapdragon will be released next Saturday September 6th starting at 2pm with 375-ml bottle sales for on and off premises consumption. Only about 1000 bottles were produced so sales will be limited to 4/guest.

Credit: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Credit: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Spurred by the natural flora of our region, the beautifully tart character of Hardywood Snapdragon is achieved through extended interplay with wild yeasts and acid forming bacteria for over a year of conditioning in Virginia red wine barrels.

Enjoy music from Exebelle & The Rusted Cavalcade as they fill the last moments of summer with country-rock inspired by Virginia’s folk tradition starting at 6pm.

Head over to the Facebook event for more information and updates.

Strangeways Presents The Fruits of Their Labor With Mekong Today

Strangeways Fruits of LaborJust in time for Labor Day, Strangeways is releasing two brand new beers, Still Life With Peaches Saison and Eternal Youth Biére d’Abricot,  today Thursday August 28th starting at 4pm. Along with their new beers, Strangeways will re-release two of their most popular beers, Wampus Cat Triple IPA and Überlin Berliner Weiss. There will also be bountiful fruit-inspired Curiosities emerging through the weekend.

Still Life With Peaches Saison
This is the story of a brewer who walks into the National Gallery of Art while in Washington D.C. for SAVOR to gain inspirational ideas for new beers to brew. As he admires the bountiful works of art, he settles into a calming bliss that leads effortlessly into a trance-like state of utter tranquility. His mind expands as he strolls and peruses the masterpieces before him. In time, he is lured to a painting that quietly yet assuredly speaks to him and, posthaste, he becomes infatuated with its display of simplicity coexisting with great detail. What better artist to settle on but one whose vision evoked the same response from great masters such as Matisse and Picasso, who remarked that Paul Cézanne “is the father of us all”. Still life artwork was prevalent in this French Post-Impressionist painter’s repertoire. The result of this inspiration is a Saison that blends a classic Saison DuPont yeast with yellow peaches added during fermentation. The elixir is then aged in oak barrels to enhance its complexity. “A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art”. -Cézanne
4.3% ABV~15 IBU

Eternal Youth Bière d’Abricot
In search of healing waters and gold, 16th century Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon traveled to what is now Florida. Many have followed in his footsteps, as human kind perpetually seeks out magical potions to restore their youth. While consuming fresh, local beers such as Eternal Youth Bière d’Abricot will not turn time eternal, it may help one more effectively reflect on the good times experienced throughout life. And within these encapsulated memories, one can live in a certain utopia of Eternal Youth. This French farmhouse style incorporates a bière de grade yeast as well as apricots, which are purported to promote health and long life. Then this elixir of life is garded in oak barrels to execute complexity in this sessionable, late-summer delectation. Bathe in this fountain of juvenescence, and discover your Eternal Youth.
5.2% ABV~15 IBU

But wait, there’s more!  In addition to the releases at Strangeways, Mekong will have their own selection of Strange curiousities.

Here is what they will be tapping:

  • Überlin Berliner Weiss
  • To Peach His An — fresh Virginia peach Berliner Weisse
  • What Is Peach in German? — Strangeways sour peach variant
  • Heiss Señorita — Mango Tango Style; spicy mango Berliner Weiss
  • Still Life with Peaches — Wood Aged Belgian Style Saison with Peach
  • Put Some Peach on that Peach — amped up peach variant
  • Eternal Youth Biére d’Abricot — Wood Aged Biere de Garde with Apricot
  • Vaassup I’m Bruno! — Sour apricot blend
  • Wampus Cat Triple IPA

So head out and taste what An Mekong, Brandon Tolbert, and Mike Hiller have concocted in the lab.  Strangeways will have special hours of Noon to 9pm  Sunday and Monday for Labor Day weekend and will close out the “steal the vessel” special they’ve been running all month on Labor Day. 

Check for updates at Facebook events at both Strangeways and Mekong, here and here, respectively.

Social 52 Celebrating One Year With Backyard Virginia Beer Party Tomorrow

Social 52 AnnivHead out and celebrate one year with Social 52 tomorrow Saturday August 23rd from noon to 6pm:

Can you believe we’ve been here for almost a year now? Thank you for being so supportive of us Richmond!

We wanted to invite all of RVA out to our 1 year anniversary party in hopes that you’ll come celebrate with us!

And what better way to celebrate our 1 Year Anniversary and Virginia Craft Beer Month than to come and drink some local brews with us?!

We’ve just confirmed two additional breweries!! We are now partnering with 8 local VA breweries (listed below) that will be on scene at the event offering pints and samples of their most popular brews.

1) Bold Rock Hard Cider
2) Isley Brewery Company
3) Lost Rhino Brewing Company
4) Devils Backbone Brewery
5) Blue Mountain Brewery
6) Parkway Brewing Company
7) Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
8) Strangeways Brewing

The event will feature live music from local bands and DJs, to include Kung Pao Quartet and DJ MassFX (check them out on FB).

We’ll have some of your favorite Social52 food and sign-ups for our First Annual CORNHOLE Tournament will start around noon.

We will also be giving away prizes all day and our Summmer Gas Grill Giveaway winner will be announced as well! (must be present to win)

The event is 21 and up and doors open at noon!

–$5 entry gets you 2 free samples and a commemorative souvenir Social52 cup!

***Entrance to the backyard party will be through the FRONT DOOR of Social52 and we’ll have one of our employees at the back door ready to let you into the backyard party once you pay your way! We look forward to seeing everyone on August 23rd!

Eat local. Drink local. Be SOCIAL Richmond!

Head over to the Facebook event for more information and updates..

Social 52
2619 W Main St
Richmond, Virginia 23220

Celebrate The Virginia Oyster Trail With Farmhouse & Wild Virginia Ales At Rappahannock Thursday

Credit: Andrew Cothern

Credit: Andrew Cothern

Earlier today Governor McAuliffe named Virginia as the oyster capital of the east coast with seven flavors of oysters found in seven different regions.  These regions make up the newly named Virginia Oyster Trail along the Chesapeake Bay.  The trail will serve as a major tourism development project to connect travelers to Virginia oyster purveyors, raw bars, and restaurants, and the watermen culture throughout Coastal Virginia, the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula and Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

“Virginia produces the best oysters in the world and as the oyster industry continues to grow, we want to let it be known that Virginia is also the Oyster Capital of the East Coast,” said Governor McAuliffe.  “In addition to growing, harvesting and selling the best oysters, our watermen are providing good jobs in their communities, generating revenue and tax dollars throughout their region, and helping improve the environment of the Chesapeake Bay as their oysters filter millions of gallons of water each day.”

Credit: Virginia Tourism

Credit: Virginia Tourism

Rappahannock River Oyster Co farms four different varieties of oysters, each from a different region:

  • Rappahannocks (the 1899 original) from Topping, VA — sweet, buttery full bodied taste with a refreshingly clean, crisp finish
  • Stingrays from Ware Neck, VA — sweet and mildly briny with a clean, crisp finish
  • Olde Salts from Chincoteague Bay, VA — bold sea-side brininess with a smooth, clean follow-through
  • Yorks from the York River — sweet and buttery with a mild brininess

McAuliffe also declared November as Virginia Oyster Month.

If you are like me, you can’t wait over two months to celebrate (read: devour) Virginia oysters. And you won’t have to!

Head over to Rappahannock Restaurant Thursday August 21st starting at 4pm as they tap some Virginia farmhouse and wild ales.

Here are a few of the beers to be tapped:

  • Ardent Craft Ales Saison
  • Lickinghole Creek Rosemary Saison
  • Strangeways Wild Wallonian Dawn Saison
  • Three Brothers Virginia Wild Blend
  • Triple Crossing Single Hop Saison

There will be some other surprises in store so grab a beer and down a dozen oysters or two.

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