A Perfect Match: An All Virginia Beer For An All Virginia Craft Event.
A few days ago, I wrote about the upcoming Virginia Craft Brewer’s Fest happening this Saturday on the grounds of Devils Backbone (basecamp) in Nelson County. Well over thirty Virginia craft breweries will be attending, and I imagine many will be offering more limited release type of beers considering the special nature of this all Virginia event.
A full beer listing might be hard to come by prior to the event, but one beer in particular will likely make one heck of a splash at the festival. Lost Rhino Brewing will apparently be bringing a beer which has been brewed using ingredients grown only in the state of Virginia. This is likely the first time in history (perhaps since the colonial era?) that a beer has been created using only hops, malt, and water sourced from in state. The malt came from both Sperryville and Heathsville, the hops from Leesburg, and the yeast from Ashburn. As mentioned in a wonderful and detailed article on dcbeer.com, the yeast is a wild strain which has given the beer a decidedly unique taste profile: “The yeast, somewhere between American and Belgian in its profile, really adds depth of flavor. “ The article goes on to say “the beer straddles the Belgian Pale/Amber and Bière De Garde styles.” (Check out the full dcbeer.com article here.) An all Virginia beer at an all Virginia craft beer event not only make a perfect match on their own, but give us two more reasons to attend the Virginia Craft Brewers Fest, a celebration of the growth of craft beer in the state!
According to the website for the event, tickets are still available. Cheers to Virginia craft beer!
A couple other notes worthy of mention:
On the 26th, Jack Brown’s in downtown Roanoke will be having a steal the pint event featuring New Zealand’s MOA Brewing. Beers from the brewery were available at Microfestivus, but in case you missed tasting them, three beers will be available to try at this event, their “Hoppit” Imperial IPA, St. Joseph’s Tripel, and Evolution Pilsner. Also seek out in local stores their Pinot Noir barrel aged Imperial Stout as well!
Also, it looks like Roanoke Railhouse’s IPA will get a more formal name, as this label recently came across the new beer section on beerpulse.com.
The Beer Road 
That’s correct, the Roanoke Railhouse IPA is working on a name change to RR Broken Knuckle IPA. The beer will not change, just the name.
Apparently the lack of a formal name was causing a problem with customers attempting to order at the watering hole.
Thom Bradley Head Brewer, Roanoke Railhouse Brewing said this on August 22, 2013 at 11:12 am |