Have you ever been dragged to a pumpkin patch or fall festival? Pretty often right? Well check out Great Country Farms in Bluemont Virginia. You may have heard about the farm's relationship to Bluemont Vineyard and have already seen the spectacular view from that mountain top winery. Yet there is more. A furlong down the rode lies the newly opened Dirt Farm Brewing with similar views and plenty of craft beer. They need the volume based on the crowd I joined. In downtown Bluemont, Wild Hare Cider offers unique hard ciders from apples grown throughout the Winchester area. And across Route 7, Twin Oaks Tavern Winery has a cozy setting.
Last weekend I dropped the family off at the farm and ventured straight to Wild Hare. The small tasting room was filled, but turnover moved quickly; Blu and I were at the tasting bar in short time. Yes, dogs are allowed inside. There were six ciders available for tasting and I chose a flight of 3 for $12. I started with the Hatch ($15.50), their classic dry cider that is light and clean with a slightly tart and acidic finish. The Hopscotch ($16) is a dry cider fermented with ale yeast and then dry hopped with Citra hops. You can image the aroma that greeted me. This is a very nice cider. Love the style. The final cider was the Windrush ($16), another dry cider - this time aged with wood staves. The treatment is minimalist -yes it's there but not overwhelming. And I brought home a bottle of their Coppertail ($21.75), an heirloom cider aged in used Kentucky bourbon barrels. Looking forward to sharing this one and will update this post at that time. In the meantime, this cider house is highly recommenced.
We then drove closer to the farm and up the steep mountain road to the farm brewery - Dirt Farm Brewing. Parking was somewhat difficult as I had to navigate through three parking assistants but somehow was directed back to a spot next to the brewery. The grounds are spacious, which are needed, as I suspect there were close to 500 people mingling on the grounds. I parked Blu at a picnic bench close to the entrance and stood in line to grab a pint. Not flights today, just straight ordering. I chose the Beeracrat Election Golden Ale, their lowest abv offering at 4.3%. It was light but surprisingly flavorful with a slightly sweet tail. Refreshing in the unseasonably hot day. My companions at the communal table were content with the Boots Off IPA - a rather low abv option at 6.5%. I lingered longer than expected because their musical playlist and mountain views were outstanding. Did I mention that an eagle soared over the valley. Yea. Great company too.
After collecting the family we headed straight out the farm exit and up to Bluemont Vineyard. As expected, the winery was crowded but we found a table quickly and order our favorite from this facility, their Viognier The Goat ($30) and Tasters Platter. I also noticed that they now offer wine flights, three reds or whites and a five glass Farmhand flight. Great idea, don't waste time sampling, just grab the flight and enjoy the live music and view. In hindsight I should have ordered the white flight of Albarino, Petit Manseng, and Vidal Blanc. Next time. And remember, theCompass Winery, Brewery, Distillery Locator Mobile App can guide to all these locations. Cheers.
After a long day at the magnificent San Diego Zoo, I noticed on theCompass app that South Park Brewing was only a few miles away.. Yes immediately I thought of the Comedy Central show, but the brewery is named for the community that lies southeast of Balboa Park. It is owned by Hamiltons Tavern and Monkey Paw Brewing Company proprietor Scot Blair, with award-winning brewer Cosimo Sorrentino responsible for the taps. On this night, there were plenty of beer on tap - particularly the C.R.E.A.M. Ale (my Father's choice) and the Who Tarted? Vol 1, Cherry Edition. How could I pass that beer up? It was light, and tart with the sour cherries enveloping the palette. Well down. The Cream Ale was also very nice, less vanilla than at The Beer Company and more refreshing. 
My son discovered Pokemon Go this month so as the price for using my phone and a two hour meander through the Gaslamp District, Southport, and the Pier we concluded with a stop at The Local - home to Resident Brewing. I'm not sure if it was due to finally sipping a beer after walking all morning but these beers were fantastic. Particularly when there are two gose beers such as the Die Gose and Die Gose - Raspberry/Backberry. The latter is even more tart with a slight fruit sweetness and the original tart and salty. The Perky Blonde also carried some minerals and the Oatmeal Stout and Back Alley Porter nailed their respective styles.But the meisterstuck was the Vacation Coconut IPA - completely balanced with ample malts, coconuts, and Citra and Amarillo hops. Is there time for a third? 
Howard County Maryland's newest brewery, Black Flag Brewing Company, opened July 27th with a large inventory of beers. Ten beers in fact, brewed in "direct opposition to the established norms - crafting beers that focus heavily on
flavors and aromas without concern for fitting any given category". I'd say that marketing-brewing strategy is valid as the lineup includes an IPA, DIPA, Saison, Dark Farmhouse, Kentucky Common, Smoked Porter, Blonde and a special blend. The Prozack Morris Blonde was a popular choice with our group as was the Mambo Sauce DIPA, Barnwood Dark Farmhouse, Chase the Grain Kentucky Common, and Belgian Waffle Blend (75% Belgie Belgian Saison - 25% Brunch Breakfast Stout). Top honors, however, goes to the Mother of Dragons Smoked Porter. This beer teeters between mocha chocolate and subtle bits of smoked cherrywood. Nicely done. Cheers and as always theCompass Winery, Brewery, Distillery Locator Mobile App will guide you to Black Flag and other Maryland breweries. 
San Diego is craft beer heaven. I know there are other awesome craft beer cities like Portland and Denver but combine the weather, the beaches, and an accommodating baseball stadium and you get America's Finest City. First, let's look at the numbers. There are approximately 80 tasting rooms within city limits and a few of these are giants like Ballast Point Brewing Company and Stone Brewing. Others, like Pizza Port and the Karl Strauss Brewing Company, have numerous venues scattered throughout the city. Second, there's Petco Park stadium which embraces craft beer - not just tolerates it. See the Ballpark & Brews post. And finally, the beer is unique, interesting, and delicious. 
On our arrival and quick hotel check in across from Petco Park we headed over to the Stone Brewing Tap Room located conveniently just outside the stadium. The tap room provides a host of Stone brews, most very IPA-centric, but enough options for our heavily weighted Miller Lite group. I choose the Citrusy Wit and finished my Father's Smoked Porter before heading to the Tilted Kilt for lunch. Both solid beers for their respective styles. At the Kilt I went overboard with local beer starting with the AleSmith Brewing Pale Ale .394, then moving on to the the Coronado Brewing Company Berry The Hatchet, and finishing with the Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin. The later was slightly sweeter than the Grapefruit Sculpin, the Coronado fruit ale tasty, and the AleSmith my favorite of the trio. 
After putting the padre to bed for a nap, I ventured ahead to Half Door Brewing Company, named in honor of the Irish pubs and farmhouses where half doors were a way to let fresh air in and keep the nosy farm animals out. The brewery sits in an eccentric historic house with a large front porch and divided second floor seating. Great architecture. I started with a favorite style, the Bearleener Berliner Weisse and it was tart and fruity as expected. When the crew eventually caught up most of us turned to the Half Door Pale Ale - a beer that found common ground between the IPA and lite beer drinkers. This beer left us in a cheerful state heading into the stadium.
Day 2 started with an Uber to Ocean Beach to visit relatives, walk in the ocean, and stroll the pier. Afterwards Pizza Port Ocean Beach was a short walk away for lunch and we came away impressed with the food and the beer. My favorite was the No Surf Cream Ale - a refreshing summer ale, while my brother looked favorably upon the Swami's IPA and my father stuck to his porter - the Tube Time Porter. 
Our return Uber ride detoured into the Ballast Point Tasting Room & Kitchen Restaurant, a satellite venue in Little Italy. I knew it was a wise decision when we met Bob Carpenter, the MASN TV voice of the Washington Nationals, coming out. I selected three different beers for my sampler and fell in love with the Tart Lady a Wild Ale exuding juicy and tart apricots. The other two experimental ales just weren't for me. The Hop Trois IPA was funky but seemed unbalanced and the When Doves Crye Rye Wine was tense and spicy - too much for my palate. But a sifter of the Tart Lady quickly it washed away. And once again I finished my Father's porter, this one the malty Black Marlin.
I attended SAVOR 2016 on
Friday June 3rd and this Brewers Association sponsored event was splendid. 76 breweries poured two beers each and represented a mix of styles from IPAs, Stouts, Porters, Saisons, and sours. Many sours in fact and that's how I started off the evening. Out of the two dozen or so, there were a few that clearly stood out above the noise. Same for the many excellent barrel aged stouts and porters. And in both categories top honors goes to Crux Fermentation Project. One caveat, I didn't sample many IPAs - just ran out of time trying to sample 152 beers. Cheers.
In recent festivals the organizers have expanded the festival grounds to include Cumberland Square Park where Studio Brew (#34) is now located. Their motto is "Beer is an Art" and is filled with an art - photo studio theme. The beer styles are more aggressive and experimental but I started with a basic - the Das Pils. This is a nicely made beer - one of my favorites - with balanced minerals, salt, and hops. My sampler also included the Mexican Backfire, a lager augmented with agave, but the agave is very subtle - wishing there was a little more. The King's Porter is a standard light toffee porter and the IRA Hop Bomb a clean hoppy IPA. The most aggressive beer was the Dancing Monk Barrel, a Belgium Specialty Ale aged in used bourbon barrels. The bourbon's presence is noticeable throughout from the aroma to the burn at the finish. This is easily the most bourbon infused beer I've tasted - drink last because all other beers will taste weak and dull afterwards. Cheers to Beer as Art.
Building off our previous #VABreweryChallenge post,
#VABreweryChallenge - Four Breweries Along Northern I-95, here are two more breweries located off I-95 in Stafford.
Although Adventure Brewing is a relatively young brewery, owners Tim Bornholtz, John Viarella, and Stan Johnson having been brewing beer since the 1990s. In 2010 they began brewing together and formed the Stafford Brewers Club. Adventure is just the next step forward. The tasting area is a lively and comfortable environment to enjoy their four year round beers and plethora of seasonal\specialty beers. One of these is the Hop Hash IPA which is hopped using "two experimental hops from Oregon
Valley and a special “hop hash” that is a gooey, resinous and super
concentrated lupulin punch". Still not sure what I think of this one, but it is worth trying. I stuck with the year round lineup in my canoe sampler consisting of the Backpack Wheat, Super Power Pale Ale, Expedition IPA, and Stiletto Stout. These were all solid beers, particularly the stout. Looking forward to the next couple weeks when the Backpack Sour is released. 
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.
A family wedding lead me to Wilmington North Carolina where I found a thriving beer culture. Not only were their several excellent beer bars, a local bookstore (Old Books on Front St.) served beer, wine, and mead. And this port city is home to several breweries, most of which I was able to visit or at a minimum sample a beer. Regrets to BroomTail Craft Brews as the one brewery I completely missed.
We started the weekend with lunch at Front Street Brewery, a brewpub located in a 1865 era building and serving microbrews and southern styled pub food . And don't leave without trying the 'Beers'wick Stew or Low Country Grit Cakes. Front Street is also the Granddaddy of the local beer movement having opened a decade ago. Year round they provide eight beers on tap, augmented by a couple seasonals. I thought the Coastal Kolsch was spot on with the Dram Tree Scottish Ale a decent wee heavy, although a bit on the sweeter side. The brewery also houses the largest whiskey selection I've ever seen, 300+, that made my eyes water in temptation. Wow. 
The bride and groom judiciously provided guests with a goody bag when checking into their hotel room and each bag contained a crowler of Wilmington Brewing Company Sneaky Goose Double IPA. Yes a crowler -- a 32 ounce canned container. Once the city's premier brewing supply store, the operation now includes a 3bbl brewery and tasting room. And good beer if the Sneaky Goose is any indication as it was heavy, but with a smooth backbone and plenty of aromatics. The brewery also offers a Kolsch, Stout, Saison, and Porter -- next trip.
It's not a beer trip unless we visit an aquarium or zoo and fortunately for the little one, there's one of each in the beaches south of Wilmington. And along the route theCompass alerted us to Good Hops Brewing in Carolina Beach. The brewery is the companion to Lookout Brewing Company in Black Mountain and brews daily on a 3 barrel system and provide a wide range of ales. A seasonal Saison and the Donna Golden Ale were nice starts to the session, but the clear favorites were the Flip Hop IPA and Bravehop Scotch Ale. The former is a clean IPA, big but refreshing on the palate. The later is currently a sour that requires a few sips to penetrate into the wee heavy flavors. A fantastic beer.
