Loudoun Welcomes Two More Breweries to the "Dulles Corridor"

With the opening of two more breweries this summer, Virginia's Loudoun County now has 23 breweries with eight forming a pseudo beer trail that I labelled the Dulles Corridor. The trail starts on the east with contract brewer Beltway Brewing Company and the new Sterling location for Crooked Run Brewing. Before this new location Crooked Run had utilized Beltway's services, but now they have their own capacity to brew excellent beers such as the Cruise Control Pilsner or the Dulce De Leche Imperial Milk Stout. As for Beltway, they have a couple of their own recipes, but the incentive to visit is driven by tasting beers brewed for other markets such as New York's Grimm Artisanal Ales or Georgia's Brackish Beer Company.


Twinpanzee Brewing Co. forms the center of this beer trail as the new brewery celebrated their Grand Opening this past Saturday.  Waves of beer lovers arrived throughout the day enjoying four beers on tap, food trucks, and a ribbon cutting ceremony with Loudoun officials. As I savored their Coconut Brown Ale I was left wondering why Fairfax County alienates brewery entrepreneurs while Loudoun County welcomes them.

Not far down Old Ox Road lies the very consistent Ocelot Brewing Company. Beer lovers can always expect a large array of craft beers from a few IPAs to lagers and sours. During my last visit I went the low abv route with the 5.6% Craft AF Lager - a collaboration with Breiss Malting, a Wisconsin malting company. A very European beer. But if you love IPAs, then this is your spot as of August 12th there were seven on tap.

Solace Brewing Company is the other newly opened brewery founded by entrepreneurs who met and gained valuable experience working at Beltway Brewing. When opening Solace they planned big regarding the tasting room, production equipment, and portfolio. There's plenty of room indoors and out to enjoy a plethora of craft beer styles. Once again I stayed low abv with the Sun’s Out Hops Out Session IPA, 2 Legit 2 Wit, and BeachBod Watermelon Summer Ale. The later makes a great beach beer, with just a slight watermelon character. And my beer drinking partner was all about the Patiently Waiting IPL collaboration with Ocelot Brewing.

Lost Rhino Retreat sets the western boundary to the trail and sadly I've yet to visit despite the fact that I've visited the original Lost Rhino Brewing Co. Ashburn location more than any other brewery. In addition to the expanded food menu there are more beer options as well including some brewed just at the Brambleton location, collaborations, and guest taps. And either location will have the Virginia Craft Gold Medal for Czech Lager Rhino Chasers.

Also establishing the northern boundary with Lost Rhino Ashburn is award winning and WO&D Trail favorite Old Ox Brewery. The last time I visited was during a rain soaked ride over Memorial Weekend in order to purchase bombers of their Funky Face sour. I don't visit as often since their core lineup of Virginia Craft Gold Medal Black Ox Porter, Alpha Ox Pale Ale, and Golden Ox Ale are well established in area restaurants and beer stores.

And as always, theCompass Craft Beverage Finder will guide you to these breweries. Cheers.

An Intimate Tasting of Spanish Wine at #WBC15 with Finca Hispana & El Muro del Vino

The beauty of each year's Wine Bloggers Conference is you never know what type of wine you will discover, whether from the year's host region, New York's Finger Lakes in 2015, or from another region. This year I tasted wine made in Lebanon, Brazil, Vermont, Maryland, Virginia, British Columbia, along with more traditional wine making regions in Germany, Austria, Italy, Chile, and Argentina. But it was tasting wines from Spain where I had the most memorial experience.

Late to the Friday afternoon lunch, I settled down at the first open table and was soon accompanied by Carl Giavanti of Carl Giavanti Consulting. We were seated across from who we would later learn to be Peter Deutsch and José A Hidalgo (El Muro del Vino). After listening to their conversation we remarked about Peter's English accent but impeccable Spanish. He then explained his negociant background and the launch of his new brand Finca Hispana which focuses on small producers throughout Spain. At the end of our conversation he invited us to his conference after party to taste these wines. I was intrigued.

Campos Reales Tempranillo

After the Rockwell Museum visit I hurried over to the designated room just as José was propping up a large vertical display sign to prop open the door. There weren't that many visitors the first night, so this evening started with just me and José tasting two of his wines, the easy drinking Campos Reales Tempranillo ($10) and the more complex Darcio Rioja Reserva ($20).  The grapes for the first wine were grown in D.O. La Mancha and José opened Google Maps on his phone and we spent an entire glass zooming to the specific vineyards. Can't get more intimate than that.  Plus the wine was fantastic - very easy drinking and heavy on the blackberry. As for the Rioja,  I'll let Aurelio Montes, of Kaiken Wines, describe: "It is a wine with great fruit expression, where the wood is well integrated with the wine. The palate is elegant, soft tannins, good volume".

By this time, Carl and Todd Trzaskos, author of the newly released Wines of Vermont, joined me and we turned our attention to Peter and the Finca Hispana brand. The first item to note is that almost all these wines retail for less than $15. Second, they come with attractive packaging. The label consists of a photo of the winemaker(s) providing a personal connection between consumer and producer. And being a small group Peter was had time to discuss each winemaker, each region, and each grape. Finally, the wines are simply delicious with ridiculous values. 

Garnacha/Cariñena 

Roble

Garnacha/Carignan/Syrah

One of the early favorites was the Finca Hispana Garnacha/Cariñena Roble, 2011 ($15, 13.5% ABV) produced by the Cristobal family. The wine itself is a 50-50 blend of Garnacha and Cariñena, made grapes harvested from 80+ year old vines in DO Cariñena, located in northern Spain. It is a full bodied wine, with a juicy and chewy texture, finishing with plenty of spicy tannins.

Another wine I returned to was the Finca Hispana Garnacha/Carignan/Syrah DO Monsant ($10, 13.5% ABV). The blend consists of 40% Garnacha, 40% Carignan, 20% Syrah all from vines aged between 30-60 years old in DO Monsant - the center of Catalonia and surrounding DOQ Priorat. This is a juicy fruit forward wine produced by the label model Eugènia Guasch López.

Pedro Ximenez, NV

Eventually the tasting turned to three sherries and the true love affair began. Two of these had graduated from the traditional Solera system, 36 years in all, and are of course comprised of 100% Pedro Ximenez. The clear attraction was the Finca Hispana Pedro Ximenez, NV ($15, 15% ABV) produced by Marta Leiva Vilchez in the D.O. Montilla Moriles appellation. The wine is luscious, with a jammy fig and tobacco profile, and a lingering dry finish. We would have continued yet the hotel security threatened Police action, so off to bed. But they promised to re-open the next evening.

And obviously news about the wine had spread. The next evening I arrived a little late after tasting some cider and could barely fit through the door. I had promised to share some local cider and beer and found myself pouring Maryland's Millstone Cellars Farmgate cider to both José and Aurelio Montes. What a treat discussing the cider and having them compare the cider's qualities to wine faults.  Over time we switched over to Virginia's Old Ox Brewery Kristin’s Passion, a Mexican Hot Chocolate Porter, and a couple from O'Connor Brewing Co.. Once again the evening ended with sherry and the hotel security. Finca Hispana hits is available in most other East coast markets and Chicago and hits the Virginia market later this year. Can't wait. Cheers.

#VABreweryChallenge - a Return to Ashburn

Our first stop on the #VABreweryChallenge was to Ashburn's Lost Rhino Brewing Co. and this weekend we returned to visit two area breweries: Beltway Brewing Company and Old Ox Brewery.  Beltway is a contract brewery that opens it's doors on Friday evening and pours the latest contracted beers. This evening they were pouring a couple high octanes brews from Virginia's Adroit Theory Brewing Company, but I started with the Cahaba Brewing Company American Blonde. Perfect for summer or southern drinking. We also learned there's a new brewery opening in Upper Marlboro, Maryland - Calvert Brewing Company - and they contracted out their Good Company Pale Ale. More malt then hops, this was a popular offering on the low alcohol front. Looking forward to visiting Calvert Brewing soon.

I've visited Old Ox several times based on their immediate proximity to the W&OD bike trail. They also have expanded hours on Fridays and the brewery was packed - interesting with a food truck and Frisbee golf in the production area. We also wanted to support the brewery while in the mist of a frivolous dispute with Red Bull who claims the Old Ox brand would somehow confuse consumers with the energy drink. Really? I recommend reading the brewery's open letter to Red Bull, who you would think has more important problems like losing a class action suit where consumers of their drink are entitled to a $10 refund. In any event, I loved Old Ox's Kristin's Passion Mexican Hot Chocolate Porter - just how I enjoy a porter - chocolate base with a soothing milky hoppy finish.


We wish Old Ox good luck in solving this dispute and safe travels to all who try to complete the  #VABreweryChallenge or who are using theCompass Winery Brewery Distillery locator app. Cheers.

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W&OD Bike Trail: Old Ox Brewery

Yesterday I had a free afternoon so I battled major headwinds to visit Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn, Virginia. It had been since my last visit and the brewery has settled in nicely. With the new sign on the bike path there's really no need to depend on theCompass and there was constant traffic from the W&OD path to the brewery. Many of these riders camped in the brewing area in front of the projection screen -- watching football; I think I need to return for a Redskins game. There was also a larger selection of beer with the Golden Ox Belgium Golden Ale (6.5% abv) and Alpha Ox Session IPA (4.5% abv) now accompanied with the Black Ox Rye Porter (6.0% abv), The Oxorcist Pumpkin Brown Ale (6.0% abv), and the Saison d'Ox French Farmhouse Ale (5.7% abv). This farmhouse ale is fantastic, it's refreshing after a bike ride with orange flavors and subtle spices on the tail. Nicely done. I also enjoyed the rye porter; there was symmetry between the rye spice and chocolate notes with a slightly hoppy finish. Looking forward to a brewery - brewery ride when Caboose Brewing Company opens later this year. Cheers and safe riding.

Cruising for Beer & Wine Along the W&OD Bike Trail: Ashburn to Leesburg

After publishing Cruising for Beer & Wine Along the W&OD Bike Trail: Falls Church to Ashburn, I learned that Old Ox Brewery was planning to open adjacent to the trail in Ashburn, so another trip. This time I started at the W&OD parking lot near mile marker 24 and didn't have to pedal long (or need theCompass Winery Brewery Distillery Locator mobile app) before seeing the Old Ox sign on that trail (between markers 25 & 25.5). The brewery's official opening celebration is Saturday July 19th, but they are open for visitors Thursday and Friday evenings and all day on weekends. The currently plan on having four everyday beers, but at the time of my visit the two choices were a Belgium Golden Ale and IPA Session - both low alcohol and suitable for a bike ride. I chose the session beer and it had a strong citrus aroma and a refreshing tail - nicely done. Old Ox's brewer is an ex Old Dominion brewer - so expect more good beer in the future. For food, Jennifer's Pastries from next door delivers or stop by Carolina Brothers BBQ at mile marker 27.5. 


Heading west, you could turn on Smith Switch Road and head to Lost Rhino Brewing Co. or continue to Leesburg. And practically nine miles from Old Ox near mile marker 34 head up the hill on Harrison Street for the Leesburg beer quad. Ya got craft beer centric restaurants in Tuskies and Fireworks Pizza; German flavor with the Döner Bistro; and a somewhat brewpub - Mud Hound Brewing Company at MacDowell Brew Kitchen. I say a somewhat brewpub because they brew one beer and this day - none was available.But for me, turn left just before Tuskies for Crooked Run Brewing. This is a small operation, excluding the Shadow of Truth - which is brewed at Beltway Brewing Company for a larger distribution. Today, there were five beers on tap; all approachable - with my favorites being the Hopsail Pale Ale and Commando Imperial Classic American Pilsner. The former is lighter - but full of flavor and aromas with a low abv; whereas the Commando is a big beer - tons of flavor balanced nicely with plenty of hops - with neither overwhelming the palette. With such a small operation, available beer styles change often - weekly in fact - and don't miss their one year anniversary, also on July 19th.

Update: I've been asked to include area bike shops available for emergency repairs. In Leesburg, Transition Triathlon is closest to the Trail with Bicycle Outfitters not too far away. The latter also has a store in Ahsburn, but it's not close to the Trail.