Quick Question. Why do we like best the festivals that serve both beer and wine? Obvious, right? More choices for everyone. Well now our friends at Corcorcan Vineyards, Waterford Virginia, have brought that concept to their winery by opening Corcoran Brewing. Want to taste wine, turn right; taste beer, turn left. It's that easy. Now the new operation is a true nano brewery; that means its small, very small. They brew just once a week in an old barn next to the winery. Yet for such a small operation they are crafting a large selection of beers. Six beers in total - supplying beers from the entire rainbow of styles: Wheat, American Ale, English Ale, Irish Red, IPA, & Stout. Proprietor Jim Corcoran hopes to eventually have an all Virginia range of beers using Virginia grown barley and hops from their farm. Commendable since he has to ship the Virginia grown barley to a facility in the Midwest to have it processed into malt, then re-shipped back to the brewery. Brewer Kevin Bills has been home brewing for over a decade. Now's his chance to brew professionally.
Now the brewery is not officially open since their inventory is understandably in low supply. Yet on May 19th at 7:00 pm, smack in the middle of Craft Beer Week (May 16-22, 2011), they are providing an opportunity to sample these beers paired with the excellent culinary dishes from Magnolia's of the Mill in Purcellville Virginia. Five courses of food paired with the Corcoran Brewing beers for $80 - all inclusive.