The Beer Road

I can’t help it.  You could call it simple curiosity I guess, but I know better.  Leading up to any beer festival, I try to become as well informed and acquainted with the beer list as possible.  I simply want to know what I can try that I haven’t had before, or at the least, what favorite I’ll have a chance to revisit.   I simply can’t wait for the list to be handed to me at the gate.  Days before, I’m on the event’s website, seeing what’s what.  The night before a major beer fest?  I can be found poring over the list, forming a plan of action.  It just may be the craft-beer-nerdiest thing I do.

So, with Roanoke’s Microfestivus craft beer festival just a few days away (Saturday, August 8^th), I figured a quick look at some of the beers that will be making an appearance was called for.  Of particular note are some well known breweries that, as far as I can remember, are making a first appearance at Microfestivus.  There are also some smaller breweries which are new to our area that will be represented as well.  With the disclaimer that pre-festival beer lists can always change at the last moment, and often do, here are a few possibilities to consider:

Alpine Beer Company – Alpine, CA. 

Makers of several highly rated beers, including many IPAs, such as Nelson and Duet.  Due to a recent agreement with Green Flash, who of course will be opening up a Virginia facility in 2016, a handful of Alpine’s beers have begun showing up at tap events in the state, including very recently at Blue 5.

Possible beers at Microfestivus:  Alpine Pale Ale, Duet IPA, McIlhenneys Irish Red Ale.

Ballast Point Brewing Company – San Diego, CA.

Another brewery making their first (I think!) appearance at Microfestivus, but with beers such as Sculpin and Victory at Sea, Ballast Point needs no introduction.

Possible beers:  Grunion Pale Ale, a beer that can redefine what you think of most ‘run of the mill’ pales ales with its dank aroma and taste, Even Keel, their ‘session ipa’, with a slight chance we’ll also see the Thai Chili version of the brewery’s Wahoo White Ale.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company – Paso Robles, CA.

(Notice a certain pattern?  And some wonder why the West Coast still carries that certain sense of revered craft beer nobility.)

Possible beers:  Easy Jack IPA – easily one of the best low ‘session’ ipas on the market, and Pivo Pilsner.

Green Flash – San Diego, CA (and in 2016, Virginia Beach!)

Possible beers:  Jibe session ipa, their Soul Style ipa, and Le Freak.

….and here are a couple of breweries that you might not know of yet that will be in attendance, again, with possible beers representing them:

The Civil Life – St. Louis, MO.

Beers appearing:  Rye Pale Ale and their American Brown ale.

Monocacy Brewing Company – Frederick, MD.

Beers appearing:  Riot Rye Pale Ale, and their HL Rex Session Pale Ale.

Brewers Alley – Frederick MD.

Beers appearing:  An English style IPA and a Kolsch.

This is merely just a start to some of the beers that will likely be at this year’s Microfestivus.  I hope to post a few more in the coming days…!

~ by thebeerroad on August 3, 2015.

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