The Beer Road

American Craft Beer Week is just around the corner (May 13 through 19), and a few events are beginning to take shape in Roanoke to help celebrate the occasion.  Local Roots Restaurant is holding three separate events during the week, starting with a Devils Backbone night on Tuesday.  The first 25 guests receive brewery logo glasses, and the restaurant will be featuring a rye Pilsner called Beggars & Theives, a collaboration beer Devils Backbone helped create for the recent Craft Brewers Conference which was held in Washington DC.  (Check out thebeerroad’s last post about that very beer!  Told you it was coming.)  Wednesday, the restaurant will have a three course beer dinner with each course paired with a Brewery Ommegang beer.  Featured beers for the dinner are Ommegang’s Fleur de Houblon, Rare Vos, Three Philosophers, and Gnomegang.  Thursday night, Local Roots will be serving up specially priced Foothills Irish Red 20 oz drafts for just $2.

On Friday, local distributor P.A. Short will be celebrating American Craft Beer Week by featuring several Virginia brews at First Friday’s at Five in downtown Roanoke.  Among the breweries that will be represented are Devils Backbone, Starr Hill, Apocalypse Ale Works, Bold Rock Hard Cider, and most notably, our area’s newest brewery Sunken City Brewing, who is holding their grand opening this weekend, May 10^th and 11^th!  Cheers to them, and good luck.

Other events are likely as the week gets a bit closer.  (If not, and these events aren’t enough, you could simply get out and visit one of our growing numbers of fine area breweries, you know….)  But at any rate, I’ll try to update any new events as Monday nears!  Cheers, all!

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Devils Backbone and DC Brau Beggars & Thieves Rye Lager

Want to get the motor running of most any craft beer fan or geek?  Mention three words: new, beer, and release.  Of course, just how much his or her excitement gets revved up will be solely based upon how worthy the beer promises to be.  The sheer build up around some beers can make them attractive enough to camp out overnight in the freezing cold for.  Others are potentially worth driving across five different state lines, waiting in line for a few hours, and then plunking down a considerable portion of that week’s paycheck for.  (You hope.) These, of course, are for the most highly anticipated and sought after.  Even beer slated for possible year round, flagship style availability usually achieves a slight lift of an eyebrow, and perhaps a mental checkmark, especially if it’s from a local or well known brewery.  But try sticking one additional word into the equation – lager – and watch just how quickly you can snap the timing belt on that craft beer fan’s engine.  Not that there aren’t some tasty styles out there, thanks primarily to those Germans and Czechs.  But let’s face it.  After talking up new beer possibilities to most craft fans and geeks, and then mentioning the “L” word, and you tend to get a reaction akin to opening up your birthday present only to find a neck tie.

While many lagers may not offer the same kind of adventurous, taste bud bending trip that a huge ipa or a barrel aged stout might provide, lagers can offer plenty for the palate.  One style in particular, the one sitting over in the corner unable to talk over the Imperial IPAs in the room, is the venerable Pilsner.  Sure, this is common ground for most craft drinkers – a clean, crisp tasting experience, with plenty of room for the typical style of hops used in them, noble varieties, to shine through.  Light citrus and plenty of floral aromas and tastes, and maybe the slightest current of sweetness perhaps, are all by the book.  Some Pilsners nail the definition to the letter, and are very good while doing so.  But add another layer to the mix, perhaps some rye malt for example, and you begin to add an alternate ending to that book of Pilsners.  And while you may not be able to get the hop head with his face buried in the tulip glass to come up for air for more than a split second, there is reason to give such a beer a try, at the very least.

And such a beer just might be making its way to a couple taps around Roanoke soon.  It’s from a Virginia brewery as well, to add some always welcome homespun flavor.  Created for the recent Craft Brewers Conference that was held in Washington DC, Devils Backbone collaborated with DC Brau to create Beggars & Thieves, a rye lager (the Devils Backbone web site more specifically calls it a rye Pilsner) that was pretty well received as it made the rounds in the capital that week.  I had the opportunity to get a taste while up there, and was pleasantly surprised at first sip.  I jotted down some notes: “clean tasting, lightly hopped, tad sweet, plenty of light bread, rye spiciness, very drinkable”.  Of course, the rye spiciness is an additional layer added to the more typical Pilsner line up of qualities, and it made plenty of difference.  I usually liken the spiciness rye is supposed to add to a beer to the taste white pepper gives food.  It’s a bit hot, but not in an in your face, quick snap sort of way.  At any rate, Beggars  Thieves was all you might want from a lager – a clean, crisp tasting experience, but with enough layers to keep it interesting.  No, it might not be the 1000 IBU IPA that you’ve been on the hunt for, but there’s plenty of room in craft beer for a tasty lager like Beggars & Thieves.  So if you happen to see it soon around town, I recommend giving it a shot.  I promise, there’s no tie in the box.

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Thanks to everyone who responded to today’s earlier post about the Big Lick Beertopia ticket giveaway.  I do have a winner for that ticket, and have contacted them already.  If you didn’t win the ticket, please keep watching the blog, I plan on having another couple giveaways for upcoming area events in the near future.  Thanks for checking out the giveaway and the blog!  Cheers!

-Jeff

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***So, as usual with the ticket giveaways to festivals, the correct response to the trivia question was received pretty quickly.  I’ll be emailing the winner shortly.  Keep a watch on the blog here for other upcoming ticket giveaways to festivals in the Roanoke area!***

Here’s a quick follow up post from TheBeerRoad’s festival run down from earlier in the week.  Better yet, this one is offering a ticket giveaway for Salem’s Big Lick Beertopia festival happening on June 8!  First off, thank you once again to the Roanoke Jaycees for putting on this festival, and allowing me to offer this ticket giveaway each year.

Up for grabs is a 10 tasting admission ticket to this year’s event.  All you have to do is answer a quick and (fairly) simple trivia question, which hopefully will keep things a little interesting.  This year, the festival is happy to welcome several new breweries to the line-up.  The question is this – which brewery listed on the Beertopia new to 2013 line-up page recently announced expansion plans to build a production brewery in Virginia Beach?  I’ll provide a link to that festival page HERE.

Leave your answer by clicking on the “Leave A Comment” link at the top of this post.  Answer with the brewery name.  The first correct answer will win the ticket.  I will email you directly to let you know, and also update this post that a winner has been selected.  I will make every attempt to respond to the answers by this evening, but please allow me until tomorrow to get back to you.

Thanks, and cheers!

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Part social event, part reason to spend a nice spring or summer day outdoors with friends, part easy way to try lots of great beer in one place – whatever the reasons you attend craft beer festivals, it always adds up to a fun time.  Technically, you can find events throughout the country happening just about any time of year.  Personally, I enjoy outdoor festivals during warm weather.  Little compares to the simple enjoyment of tasting good beer on a (hopefully) clear and sunny day.  Add to that the chance of uncovering some new beer you haven’t had before, especially if it impresses enough to become a new favorite, and you have one quite memorable day to be sure.   With that in mind, below is a list of craft beer festivals which are coming up the next few months in Virginia, listed by date.  I’ve also included, to the best of my knowledge, some basic ticket information as well.  Mainly I’ve included what types of tickets are available, and what they include in terms of number of tastings.

May 11 2013 – The Virginia Hops and Barley Festival, Midlothian VA (Ticket includes unlimited tastings)

May 18 & 19 – Virginia Beer Festival, Norfolk, VA (Two ticket tiers, it’s a little unclear on event website about number of tastings for each)

June 8 2013 – Big Lick Beertopia, Salem, VA (Two tiers, one for 10 tastings, the second for 20 tastings)

June 22 & 23 – Northern Virginia Summer Brewfest, Leesburg, VA (Last year, I believe admission included 4 tasting tickets, additional tickets available for extra charge)

August 10 – Microfestivus, Roanoke, VA (Two ticket tiers, one for 10 tastings, a second for 20)

August 24 – Virginia Craft Brewer’s Festival, Nelson County/Roseland, VA – Held on the grounds at the Devils Backbone “Basecamp” Brewpub (Last year, I believe the ticket included a certain number of tastings, additional, larger sized offerings were available for an extra charge)

September (Date currently to be decided upon, according to the website) – Top Of The Hops, Charlottesville, VA (Ticket usually includes unlimited tastings)

August 19 & 20 – Virginia Beach Craft Beer Festival, Virginia Beach, VA

Of course, I’m positive there are other festivals out there, and if you know of any, please add them through the Leave A Comment link at the top of this post.  Also, it goes without saying that there are plenty of weekly events throughout our state to keep an eye and ear out for – tap takeovers, special release days, weekly beer tastings, and the like.  As craft beer interest continues to grow in Virginia, opportunities to expand one’s beer curiosity seem to be popping up everywhere.  Keep a lookout, and I hope you find a new favorite soon!  Cheers!

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Wednesday night, the beer curious of Roanoke will get a chance to taste beers from one of the newest breweries in Virginia, from right up the road in Forest, Apocalypse Ale Works.  After roughly a year of planning and getting the brewery up and running , husband and wife team Lee and Doug John are finally brewing, centering their efforts around two flagship brews, a wheat ale called Golden Censor and an imperial red ale, Hoppocalypse.  A few seasonal offerings have also made appearances at the brewery’s tasting room and deck in Forest.  Tomorrow night, Lee will be on hand at Blue 5 in downtown Roanoke showing off at least three of their beers, including the wheat and red ale.

I had a chance to stop by their tasting room just a few days ago and try both of these beers as well as a stout and Belgian dubbel style beer.  All were extremely good in their own right.  Golden Censor was what you’d hope for in such a beer, easy to drink and not a challenge for the taste buds to comprehend, but without sacrificing flavor.  Apocalypse adds orange peel during brewing for an added layer of taste.  Calling Hoppocalypse a contrasting work, however, would be no small understatement.  It is a big beer, with plenty of citrusy hop flavor riding on top of a somewhat rich, sweet malt wave, with ample bitterness, and a bit of alcoholic heat.  Both of these beers are good selections for showing off the spectrum of what the brewery is capable of, and are definitely worth a taste.

The event gets underway at 5 pm, and a limited number of folks will receive glassware with the brewery’s logo.  No matter how many beers are available, it will be certainly be another great example to celebrate and toast Virginia’s ever growing craft beer legacy.  This time, it will be with the tasty ales from one of the state’s newest breweries, and for those of us in Roanoke, one of the closest as well.  Cheers to Apocalypse Brewing!

Visit their facebook page here!

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You know there has to be a special reason for TheBeerRoad to change the focus of this Friday’s Weekend Tap Update post to something other than, well, new beer on tap.  But this is important, and more than worth noting.  Over the last few days, bottles of Salem’s Parkway Brewing have begun hitting the shelves in a few spots around Roanoke.  From different Facebook posts, it looks like the brewery’s porter, Ravens Roost, was the first to show up in places like Tinnell’s Foods on Crystal Spring Avenue. And according to a post from Tinnell’s from just a couple hours ago, bottles of Parkway’s tasty Get Bent Mountain IPA have also reached the shelves there as well. 

Sure, there is new beer showing up on draft around town.  If you’re an IPA fan, stops at Lucky, Local Roots, and Blue 5 Restaurants might make your weekend.  Founders Brewing’s Centennial (an old favorite), Highland Brewing’s new Devils Britches, and New Belgium’s new Rampant, all ipas, are going on tap at those locations, listed respectively.

Parkway’s tasting room, while open only a couple months, has become a popular place for its fans to gather on the weekends.  I’m sure it will continue to be so.  But now, their beer is being bottled and is beginning to be distributed throughout the area, letting us enjoy it without having to wait for the Thursday through Saturday stretch, certainly a positive for those fans.  Another positive sign of Parkway’s success and good beer?  Our newest brewery is growing up fast. Cheers.

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