The Beer Road

Somewhere within all the expense, likely red tape, and contractual obligations that surround the business of growing the barley, hops, and other ingredients that end up in most of our craft beer, a particular charm over that beer being a product mostly of the earth begins to get lost.  Now, perhaps you’re not the kind of person to really care much about how the craft beer in your glass is made but only in its aroma and taste, and of course that’s perfectly fine.  After all, in the end, that equates into whether you care for a beer or not, and we’re all on the same level there.  But for some – including myself – the thought of beer being produced from natural resources, however stuck in the history books it might seem, is a fairly endearing one.  So for these people, the idea of the farm brewery is one that can be very appealing.  In late 2013, such a brewery opened on 220 acres of farmland just outside Richmond, and began growing hops as well as other items to be used in their beer.  At this year’s Microfestivus, they will be bringing a couple of those very beers to try.

Lickinghole Creek Farm Brewery had been in the planning for roughly three years, and had already been working on growing their own hops by the time they opened last year.  Some of those hops ended up being used in their Gentleman Farmer “Estate Hop Ale”, a seasonal release which the brewery states on their website they had been wanting to make since they began planning the brewery.  In addition, Lickinghole Creek has been growing their own blackberries and pumpkins, the latter of which were used in a fall seasonal called Pumpkin Ain’t Easy.

Since then, the brewery has planted its own barley seedlings, and hopes to brew a beer in 2014 made entirely of ingredients grown on the farm.  They also have plans to grow an herb garden, blueberries, fig trees (to be used in some of their many Belgian style ales), as well as orange trees (to be perhaps used in a saison).  The brewery has also experimented with barrel aging their beers, resulting in beers such as their Bourbon Barrel Three Chopt Tripel, a bourbon barrel aged Russian Imperial Stout called Enlightened Despot, and more recently, “Bachelors Delight”, a rum barrel aged Quad.  IPAs have not been lost on Lickinghole Creek, as the brewery also recently produced an Imperial IPA called Nuclear Nugget, made with local honey, as well as a session style IPA called Til’ Sunset.

Many breweries have grown their own ingredients to be used in their beers for some time, even including larger, well known operations such as Rogue Ales.  Many more strive to purchase local or regional products for their beers as well.  On a somewhat smaller scale, Blue Mountain comes to mind, as they use some of their own hops in at least one seasonally released beer each year.  Richmond’s Hardywood produces their RVA IPA by inviting local fans of the brewery to grow hops for use in the beer.  Some say there is a small revolution “brewing” in Virginia for farm breweries though, encouraged by the passing of recent legislation that provides true licenses for such breweries and protects them from what can seem as over regulation of the farm sites by their local governments.

Lickinghole Creek may be right on the edge of such a revolution as they continue to grow their farm brewery, an idea that still provides that “old world” brewing kind of charm.  Make sure you make it by their tent at Microfestivus this year!

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I’ll readily admit the first social media item I saw about Richmond’s Isley Brewing was about their newly constructed patio.  Of course, it was merely the first tweet I happened to read, but never the one to discount the importance of not just good beer, but a great place to drink it, it definitely grabbed my attention.  Immediately, I made a mental note to check out their beer the next time I was in town.

I guess it’s a good thing that when I searched out reviews of Isley’s beer, I found them to be quite favorable too.

As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one curious about Isley’s beer.  In early January, Tood and Jason Alström, founders of BeerAdvocate.com, took a brief tour of a few Richmond beer hotspots and stopped by the brewery, samping six beers and giving them scores ranging from 80 to 90 on their website.  But it looks like Richmonders didn’t necessarily need the BeerAdvocate brothers to let them know about Isley and their good beer.  Since opening in October of last year, the brewery seems to be a hit among the craft beer curious in the city, as they have just increased their brewing capacity in the last month.

Among the standouts from Isley is their Oatmeal Porter, called “The Bribe”, which many reviews note for its flavors of rich coffee, some chocolate, and of course oats or cereal grains.  Other favorites seem to be their Blueberry infused Hefeweizen, and their “Choosy Mother” Peanut Butter Porter.  They also have recently introduced an IPA called “Scott’s Addition”, referencing of course the district in which the brewery is located.

Without a doubt, I still plan on visiting that patio someday.  But for the time being, the addition of Isley to the Microfestivus line up is definitely a welcome one from the ever growing Richmond beer scene.

Take a look at their website here!

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In a matter of a few months, there will be seven craft breweries operating in and around the Roanoke area, six of which have opened in the last year or so.  Even without considering the weekly craft beer events at restaurants and bars, the opening of The Barrel Chest, a new beer (and wine) store on Franklin Road, and the addition of at least one new festival at Smith Mountain Lake this year, you’d be hard pressed to argue the growth of the craft beer scene in Roanoke.  But just in case you do want to take up that point, Larry Landolt would like to show you otherwise.  As a matter of fact, he’ll even drive you to the breweries himself.

Landolt, the founder of “Discover Roanoke Food Tours” will soon be introducing a craft beer tour to his company’s repertoire.  Likely beginning in September, up to fourteen craft beer curious folks will board Landolt’s newly acquired tour bus and visit some of the breweries in and around Roanoke, with tastings planned at each stop.  After a bit of information about the Star City’s brewing history, each tour group will head out to visit a few of the breweries, with the included locations varying from one tour to another.

So far, Landolt has talked to nearly all of the area breweries and states that everyone has been very receptive.  After all, it’s clearly a win-win situation, as Landolt offers the tours to interested patrons, and breweries get to show off their beers to folks who might not otherwise visit the brewery for one reason or another.  As with his company’s food tours, he expects that tourists to Roanoke may be interested in finding out just what the area has to offer, beer wise.  And with the growing popularity of the “beer-cation”, a planned vacation for the beer curious to areas with solid craft beer cultures, Landolt may begin to see more and more of those folks who are seeking Roanoke out strictly for its own craft beer culture, especially as it continues to grow.

Recent legislation has allowed Landolt to more easily begin planning his craft beer tours.  Virginia Senate Bill 178 allows for operators of such tours to include the cost of the tastings with the tour price.

Private as well as public tours are planned to be offered, giving groups of friends the chance to visit the breweries together, perhaps as part of a family gathering or bachelor/bachelorette party.  But in general, the tours will last roughly three hours and visit three breweries, including ones within Roanoke and Salem, such as Parkway, but also include breweries more on the periphery, such as Smith Mountain Lake’s Sunken City.  Landolt expects the tours to begin operating in late September.

Visit the company’s Facebook page here, and its website here.

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As this year’s Microfestivus craft beer festival is now less than two weeks away, I figured I’d take a look at some of the breweries planned to be represented at the festival.  For the next several days, I hope to write up a few quick looks at some of these breweries, with more of an eye towards the ones that are new to the festival this year.  Of course, as often with beer festivals, last minute changes are somewhat the rule of thumb, so keep in mind breweries (and beers) can be announced and then drop out, but for the moment, St. Louis’ Perennial Ales is on the list.  Here’s a (super) quick look.

Perennial Artisan Ales, St. Louis MO

“Thin Mint!” came the exclamation from across the bar.  Having seemingly little to do with any of the other subjects of conversation at the time, and well, since most everyone tends to enjoy the occasional surprise appearance of Thin Mints, it grabbed my attention.  Of course, none of the tiny dark chocolate treats had suddenly appeared before the patrons at Blue 5’s “Christmas In July” celebration of dark beers Friday night.  But a stout that tasted like one apparently had.  A few minutes later, I was tasting the same beer, Perennial Ales’ “17” Imperial Stout, made with mint leaves and cocoa nibs.  Yep.  Thin Mints.  And it was good.

Still relatively new to the Roanoke area, the St. Louis based brewery has had a few of its ales show up on tap in the Roanoke area, “17” being the latest.  At the least, an “Imperial” Saison called Regalia and their Aria Belgian Ale have made appearances at spots around the Roanoke, and bottles of a few others have shown up on store shelves as well.  On August 9^th, the brewery will be represented – for the first time if memory serves – at Roanoke’s Microfestivus.

The brewery creates a wide range of styles, and their Abraxas Imperial Stout might be the most coveted among folks who are more familiar with the brewery’s beers.  Arguably more known for their Belgian style beers however, their “flagships” include the Aria, a Belgian style Saison brewed with chamomile leaves called Saison de Lis, and Hommel Bier, a dry hopped Belgian Pale.  But the entire line up does include several styles, from more limited released IPAs to acclaimed Stouts like the Abraxas and another called “Sump”, to German styles, like their Black Walnut Dunkel.  Often, their beers feature added local, organic, and seasonal ingredients to deepen their complexity, as with the mint leaves in 17, or with the local honey used in their Tripel “Woodside”.  Perennial also produces several barrel aged beers, as their Brewmaster, Phil Wymore was once the cellar manager at Goose Island, and oversaw the Chicago brewery’s well known barrel aging program.

Microfestivus ’14 features at least a handful of breweries which are new to the festival this year, of which Perennial is just one.  If you haven’t had a chance to taste any of their beers yet, stop by and see what the St. Louis brewery has to offer!

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