Exploring Virginia Beer at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion

After a couple years off we attended the 2021 Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival which is one of the liveliest festivals. Held in the Birthplace of Country Music the festival showcases music on venues located on both the Virginia and Tennessee sides of State Street. COVID definitely affected this year's lineup but the organizers were still able to schedule fantastic artists over the three days. The festival targets local and national artists with special attention to Texas musicians. We heard great performances by Yarn, The Steel Wheels, Folk Soul Revival, Big Daddy Love, Town Mountain, and Blackberry Smoke. In addition, John Anderson and Hayes Carll represented Texas and we loved that Carll covered Ray Wylie Hubbard's Drunken Poet's Dream.

We acted like drunken poets at two Bristol breweries located within the festival's parameter. State Street Brewing Company is a relatively new brewery with outside seating accessible to hear the Country Music Mural stage or the continuous music at the Delta Blues BBQ.  The brewery opened a few years ago in the former Hayes Furniture building on the Commonwealth side of State Street and utilizes the 20,000-square-foot building to its fullest. Expect a spacious seating area and a long bar that runs parallel to the brewing equipment. There's enough diversity in their portfolio for all types of tastes - and for morning music we went with the Long Tom Peanut Butter Porter. In the afternoon we transitioned to their Dad Hat Kolsh and Splash Berliner Weiss before ending the evenings with the Cosmos Imperial IPA. 

We've visited Bristol Station Brews & Taproom a few times and it was great to see the brewery within the festival adjacent to the Piedmont stage.  Folk Soul Revival paired with the Piedmont Pilsner as fans are slightly bitter to their breakup and that matched the beer's profile. The Bristol Helle Raiser fit the Hayes Carll set and would have worked with 49 Winchester if we weren't late. It wasn't the Blue Mountain Steel Wheels ESB but the Bearded Goat Bock hit similar notes as the band's Rain in The Valley. And in the evening, give us the Wil's Lucky Dunkelweisen. 

 The BRRR will be back in our regular rotation. Look forward to visiting these and other area winery and breweries until then with theCompass Craft Beverage Finder. Cheers. 

The Infamous Stringdusters - Laws Of Gravity & Devils Backbone Brewing Company

Grammy nominated The Infamous Stringdusters (Andy Hall - dobro, Andy Falco - guitar, Chris Pandolfi - banjo, Jeremy Garrett - fiddle, and Travis Book - upright bass) -- are synonymous to good music and good beer. Their music is a fusion of what I would call campfire dancing music and contemporary newgrass. As for beer, think the Charlottesville beer scene and Devils Backbone Brewing Company - the former host venue for The Festy Experience music festival. Here's a video of Travis discussing both beer and music at the inaugural Festy many years ago. And if you plan to attend the 2017 Festy (October 5-8 and now located at the Nelson County Preserve) expect to hear plenty of music from Laws Of Gravity, The Stringdusters latest release which dropped January 13th.

In this release the band returns to their.progressive bluegrass roots with a theme of the freedom as a result of life on the road. Something they should know rather well.  Rotating lead vocals, solos, and tight harmonies provide an expected and consistent bouquet. But there's also a touch of soulful blues with This Ol’ Building and Back Home, which in addition to Soul Searching and Sirens, lift the mid palette and are the strongest section of the album. The tail finishes with high energy effervescence with Let Me Know and I Run To You. Classic Stringdusters.

The one problem with this release, and for that matter all the Stringdusters' seven studio releases, is that it can never capture the spirit of their live performance. Case in point is Sirens. The instrumentals are tight - but I'm sure the band blows away audiences performing this song live. Fortunately there are plenty of upcoming tour dates to experience a fantastic live show. I'm targeting the January 27th show at the 9:30 Club.

My favorite pairing option for Laws of Gravity is this DBBC Adventure sampler twelve pack. It includesthe Flor De Luna Belgium Blonde Ale, Berliner Metro Weiss, Smokehouse Porter, and Single Hop IPA. I hit all cylinders when fueled with a Berliner Weiss or Smoked Porter - as do the Stringdusters often in Laws of Gravity. Cheers.

2016 SAVOR Preview - IPAs, Sours, Stouts, Saisons, and Porters

It's officially SAVOR week as the annual American craft beer and food experience occurs Friday and Saturday nights June 3rd and 4th. The event is sponsored by the Brewers Association and consists of 76 breweries pouring two beers each. The breweries represent 28 states and Washington DC,  70% were not at least year's event, and 50% have never poured at SAVOR before. This year Wyoming seems to have an over supply with Black Tooth Brewing Co., Melvin Brewing, and Roadhouse Brewing Company representing the Cowboy State. Melvin was the GABF 15 Small Brewpub of the Year so check them out. Along with a sample of beer there is a food pairing developed by Chef Adam Dulye, executive chef at the Brewers Association and Chef Kyle Mendenhall, BA chef consultant and executive chef at  Bolder Colorado's The Kitchen. 

As usual there is a plethora of beer styles and IPAs dominate the tasting again with 33 versions ranging from low abv sessions to high octane imperials. In tune with the sour beer trend there are about two dozen sour or tart beers with a vast majority binging Sour/Wild/Brett but including four Gose and three Berliner Weisse beers (The Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Seaquenchale is included in both the Gose and Berliner Weisse totals). The latter two styles are my sweet spot right now so I've listed these beers below. I'm also a Porter fan and there will be ten versions with a few sweeter Baltic styles, a smoked from Quest Brewing Company, the Flying Dog Brewery barrel aged Notorious B.A.G., and several Imperial Porters - see Stone Brewing Co. Encore: 6th Anniversary Porter. Similarly there will be 16 Stouts from a silky smooth milk stout like the Saugatuck Brewing Co. Neapolitan to several heavy imperial and barrel aged versions. Saisons as well as a few other Belgium inspired Dubbel, Tripel, and Quad ales are also well represented. See Virginia's Center of the Universe Brewing Co.and their IV Barrel-Aged Quad & Monkey's Uncle Tripel and Florida's Marker 48 Brewing Diepolder Dubbel & Meet The Heat Saison. And finally, I've listed a few notable and interesting brews that I plan to checkout. Cheers.

Notable and Interesting
Lewis and Clark Brewing Company - Helena, MT: Prickly Pear Pale Ale
Great Raft Brewing - Shreveport, LA: Oceans Between Us Brett IPA
Service Brewing Company - Savannah, GA: Old Guard Biere de Garde.
Urban Chestnut Brewing Company - St. Louis, MO: Schnickelfritz Weissbier
Black Tooth Brewing Co. - Sheridan, WY: '1314' Strong Ale
Adroit Theory Brewing - Purcellville, VA: Ortolan Bunting Strong Ale
Melvin Brewing - Alpine, WY: Chchch-cherry bomb

Gose
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - Milton, DE: Seaquenchale - Kolsch/Gose/Berliner Weisse Hybrid
Flying Dog Brewery - Frederick, MD: GoseFace Killah
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. - Chico, CA: Otra Vez
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown, PA: Kirsch Gose

Berliner Weisse
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - Milton, DE: Seaquenchale - Kolsch/Gose/Berliner Weisse Hybrid
Right Proper Brewing Company - Washington, DC: Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne
Bear Republic Brewing Co. - Cloverdale, CA: Tartare

#VABreweryChallenge #36 - Arlington's Sehkraft Brewing

Saturday I made my second visit to Sehkraft Brewing and this time they had five of their house brewed beer. This brewery, restaurant, butcher shop, and music venue also carries an impressive list of Virginia and National beers to augment their house brews. First though, the food is unique and outstanding as Chef Jay Jenc melds Eastern Europe and Piedmont/Low Country cuisine - at very reasonable prices. On both my visits I went with the wild burger, the first bison, the second camel. And there's plenty of sausage and kielbasa straight from the butcher shop. Actually, all the meats come from the adjacent butcher shop.

As for the beer I was quite satisfied with four out of five. Their Amber Ale had a nice balance of malt to hops and not overly sweet as tends the style. It also was the best to pair with the camel burger.  The Good To Go Session IPA was both flavorful and aromatic; a low abv session without tasting watery. The Hoptastic IPA was fuller, hoppier, and not over the top. Then there's the Wicked Weiss, a fresh and mildly tart Berliner Weisse - seems like a great beer for their patio and post bike ride. (And Sehkraft isn't too far from the W&OD Trail)  The final beer was the Uber-Awesome IPL which just didn't suit me. I liked the individual aspects of the lager and IPA, but they just didn't seem to meld together and were fighting each other. Otherwise a talented lineup. Go visit soon - theCompass Winery Brewery Distillery Locator app will help. Cheers.

Caboose to Beltway Berliner Weisse on the W&OD

theCompass view of
the W&OD between
Sterling and Vienna

Beltway's selection on 4/23/2016

On Friday afternoons and Saturday, take a moderate bike ride from Vienna's Caboose Brewing Company to Sterling's Beltway Brewing Company and quench your thirst with a low abv Berliner Weisse. The tasting room at Beltway is only open during this period so plan accordingly. The brewery provides samples of their contracted brews plus two house offerings - one being the Berliner Weisse Sour Ale (4% abv). This is a refreshing ale, light, very fruity, and tart. Approximately 11 miles to the east, Caboose has been pouring their The "Zoo" Berliner Weisse (3.4%) since their inception last year. The latest iteration is a little less fruity and comes across dry and effervescent- but with a dose of sour and tartness. And as always, theCompass Winery, Brewery, Distillery Locator Mobile App can guide you to all the breweries and wineries off the W&OD Bike Trail and beyond.

Integrating Beer & Cheese at Right Proper Brewing Company

This weekend I returned to Right Proper Brewing Company - in reality the legacy Shaw Brewpub & Kitchen as the brewery has also opened a  larger brewing facility and tasting room in  Brookland. Good for you Catholic University folks. The occasion of my visit was to introduce Finca Hispana owner Peter Deutsch to the DC beer scene and Right Proper's "Beer for the Soul" seemed a good choice. I'm attracted to the brewery because of their portfolio of low abv funky and tart Belgium and French Farmhouse ales. A perfect example is their Ornithology Grisette (3.9% abv) fermented using a house mixed-culture of wild yeasts in 45 hl French oak foudres. This Saison-like beer was originally designed to server to miners as opposed to the farmhand target of Saison. Right Proper's includes a wheat based wort and the final product is light with funky flavors. I'm a Berliner Weisse fan and their Kick Kick Snare Berliner Weisse (3.5% abv) is solid with sharp tartness

After our Southern Fried Chick-Filet, Peter was interested in the numerous cheese offerings which I never realized was that expansive. We choose a sampling of three, one Caromont Red Row (raw cow’s milk) from Virginia, Spring Brook Reading (raw cow's milk) from Vermont, and a cheese to be named later. I paired these with the NABI Farmhouse Ale (4.5% abv) and an unwittingly excellent choice. The funky and yeasty ale paired well with each of these cheeses.  And for now the NABI is my favorite Right Proper beer.

Next stop, the Brookland location.

Montgomery County's First Farm Brewery: Waredaca Brewing Company

In December Waredaca Brewing Company (Laytonsville) opened becoming Montgomery County's First Farm Brewery - that is, they utilize some crops from the property in their beer production. In Waredaca's case they use Cascade hops, honey, lemon verbena, and well water for that purpose. The brewery is an extension of Waredaca Farm which was once called Camp Waredaca (WAshington REceational DAy CAmp) when it was a residential camp. Today the farm is an equestrian center and is one of only 20 horse farms in Maryland to receive Maryland Farm Stewardship Certification and Assessment Program (FSCAP) certification.

The Butts family decided to open the brewery in order to utilize an unused building on the farm. Keith Kohr is a partner\brewer with brewing experience gained through working four years at Flying Dog Brewery. Their 10-barrel system has been operating in over drive in order to produce the six beers currently available.  These beers were quite good, all hitting the style except the Little Dam Honey Wheat which had a higher hop profile than expected. The Cabin 3 Berliner Weiss was only slightly tart and fortunately coffee didn't overwhelm the Reveille Coffee Stout. These were my two favorites followed by the Bunkhouse Saison, Darkhorse Saison, and Beecher IPA. The later had a large lemon citrus profile with the addition of lemon verbena in the mash. Waredaca also offers 32 ounce crowlers so you don't need to worry about rushing to finish a growler. Singles are priced at $10 but they provide a 3 for $25 special. That was our choice. As a working equestrian center there are plenty of horses to admire while sipping a beer. And live music starts this coming Saturday night. Cheers to that and check out theCompass Winery, Brewery, Distillery Locator Mobile App for directions.