The Beer Road

American Craft Beer Week 2014 continues tonight at Local Roots Restaurant in Roanoke with a tap event featuring Chaos Mountain Brewing Company.  Expect to see the brewery’s Cheeky Monkey Belgian Blonde, Squatch Scotch Ale, Mad Hopper IPA, and Cocoborealis Chocolate Stout.  This week promises to be an interesting one from the newly opened, Callaway based brewery, as bottles of the fan favorite Squatch Ale should be hitting store shelves for the first time soon.  Also, the brewery has announced that a new beer, a Biere de Garde style ale, will also be available later this week in the tasting room at the brewery.

Tomorrow night, Local Roots will have another tap event featuring Parkway Brewing.  Beers on schedule for this one include the Salem brewery’s Bridge Builder Blonde Ale, Majestic Mullet Kolsch, Raven’s Roost Porter, and a barrel aged Dubbel as well.

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I’ll be the first to admit that my father in law knows a thing or two about beer.  Having worked for a local beer distributor for close to twenty years, he is not what you’d call a newbie to the beverage.  Though he is pretty in tune with all things pale lager, is familiar with most German styles, can spot a wheat in a second, and certainly knows that when it comes to beer, those Belgians are a crazy bunch, he tends to shy away from most things involving the word “ale” and beers that feature a healthy dose of hops.  That is, until recently.

Now, I’d like to think that I had a hand in a recent observation he had.  I’ll admit, with no small amount of pride I’ll add, that it’s hard to hang around me much without being exposed to the variety of styles that are commonplace in the world of craft beer.  My wife can surely attest to that.  Not too much for the varying styles of beer that craft inevitably exposes you to when we first met, recently, she has begun to exit bottle shops with more beer in hand than I, something that caught me a little off guard the first time it happened, and I believe to be cause for no small amount of alarm.  (Actually, I think it’s great, dear.  Really!)  But on a recent visit to our apartment, my father in law went looking for a beer in the beer fridge, and with very little thought, asked if he could grab one of my Lagunitas Sucks.  Yeah.  That Lagunitas Sucks – the one and only, a deliciously hopped up IPA from one of the best purveyors of IPAs in the land.  I admit that unfortunately I wasn’t present at the time, but I understand my wife was slightly stunned at the selection – a feeling I also felt later when I heard the story – but of course gladly grabbed it for him.  If memory serves me, it wasn’t the first taste of Sucks he had ever had, but I’m pretty sure it was the first he perhaps had directly asked for.  After a couple sips, an explanation that went something like this was uttered:  “I don’t like every IPA, but at the same time, they just all taste…so different from one to another.”  Yep.  Isn’t beer wonderful?

I remember my own first IPA revelation, which came to me over a pint of Heavy Seas’ flagship Loose Cannon.  I even remember where I was.  It was right around the time I had begun using the mobile beer check-in app Untappd, and for kicks, I recently went back to those early beers.  After Loose Cannon came a variety of styles, but there were clearly long streaks of all IPA curiosity.  Nectar, Snake Dog, Racer 5, Centennial, Two Hearted, and I remember thinking the same thing.  They are all very different.  Some were fine, others are absolute go-to’s today, and I still seek out most any IPA I can get my hands on.  They are still all so different.  Yes, isn’t beer wonderful.

There are plenty of moments that bring me great joy when it comes to craft beer.  One of them is definitely when someone who isn’t all that familiar with craft asks for a taste of whatever is in my glass, which is of course, typically a craft beer, at which point I absolutely will be glad to oblige.  With any luck, it can lead to one of those simple but sweet moments which consists both of introducing something you find immensely enjoyable to someone who is curious about it and hopefully finds it good as well, if not outright delicious, which then triggers a split second of sweet nostalgia from one’s own road of discovery.  I’d like to think that something like this happened, although somewhat indirectly, the night my father in law asked for a Lagunitas Sucks.  Without a doubt, life is richer when it consists of moments such as these.

Very simply, here during American Craft Beer Week, what better way to celebrate all that is great about craft beer than to have as many of these moments as possible.  Share something good, and remember how it all got started.  Cheers.

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One beer festival and at least a couple new beers on draft around Roanoke should definitely be considered when making your plans for the weekend.  At Local Roots Restaurant, a Scotch style ale from newcomer to the scene Chaos Mountain has just made its way onto the draft list.  Featuring a slight bitterness and earthiness from a larger than you might expect hop presence in the beer, Squatch Scotch Ale is fast making it a favorite so far among the brewery’s beers.  One of Flying Dog Brewing’s (MD) single hop Imperial IPAs is also new to Local Roots, and features the Amarillo hop variety.  Amarillo is said to impart a very “orangey” or even tangerine like flavor, along with other possible citrusy tastes (and aromas), and even a possible spice like (think muted heat) like aspect.  Also, let’s not forget that next week is American Craft Beer week, and Local Roots is celebrating with three nights of tap takeovers on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, featuring Apocalypse Ale Works, Chaos Mountain Brewing Company, and Parkway Brewing respectively.

The Virginia Beer & Wine Festival is tomorrow, May 10, and the event website is currently listing 19 breweries which will be in attendance.  All are, as you might expect, Virginia breweries, so make it out to the festival to celebrate what has lined up as a display of all in state beer.  Among those listed are several Roanoke area breweries, such as Chaos Mountain, Flying Mouse, Soaring Ridge Craft Brewers, Sunken City, Parkway, and Roanoke Railhouse.  Advance tickets have sold out but of course will be available at the gate, and seem comparable to other festivals held in the area.

Don’t forget that both Chaos Mountain and Soaring Ridge Breweries have just recently opened their doors, so a brewery visit might seem like a good way to enjoy the warmer weather as well.

Cheers to the weekend, and to whichever beers you happen to find along the way!

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As I write this, I have the windows wide open and a beer in hand.  The evening is cooling off from a day during which temperatures nearly reached eighty, there was plenty of sunshine, and quite frankly, I couldn’t wait to get home to pour something – anything – into a glass, breathe in a little fresh air, and enjoy whatever daylight remained from the day.  I had known that I wanted to sit down and collect a few dates for upcoming beer festivals happening in Virginia this evening, but I had been oblivious as to just how closely the subject matter and how I would be enjoying the time I spent typing it out would be related.  And while it might seem like a far leap between sitting in an apartment with a single beer to attending a beer festival with dozens available, really, the two aren’t that far apart, at least in one respect.  Yes, there are plenty of great festivals held in the non summer months.  But quite simply, I’ll never stop saying that there’s nothing like enjoying a a great craft beer on a beautiful warm day, something that I’m doing now, and something that I hope to be doing while attending at least a couple of the many Virginia craft beer festivals in the coming months.

Of course, the main attraction is the beer.  We all love events such as tap takeovers and tastings at bars and restaurants.  But festivals, obviously, potentially offer the best chance to try beers you have never had the chance to taste before.  There will hopefully be styles you’ve never experienced, yet wanted to try, and individual beers that you won’t forget.   This is, after all, possibly the best opportunity to answer questions you’ve had about kinds of beers you might not have ever had a chance to try.  And best of all, perhaps you will try a beer or two that will set you off to find similar ones in the weeks or months after the festival, a singular experience which will continue to pay dividends long after you leave the festival grounds.

Oh, and chances are, you’ll attend one or more of these festivals with similar craft beer loving friends, and basically, have a blast.

Some of these are coming up this weekend, while others are later in the summer and even reach into the fall.  Check out ones nearby, or make a road trip out of one or two.  One in particular to watch and check out is the National Beer Expo in Richmond, notable for being a multi-day event with plenty to take in every single day.

Now, here a just a few festivals upcoming in our state….

Virginia Hops and Barley Midlothian VA May 10

The Virginia Beer & Wine Festival, Daleville, VA May 10

The Natural Bridge Beer Festival, Natural Bridge VA May 17

Virginia Beer Festival, Norfolk VA May 17 & 18

Lake Anna Brewfest, Mineral VA May 17

Valley Fest Beer and Wine Festival, McGaheysville, VA (Massanutten Resort) May 24

Big Lick Beertopia, Salem, VA (Lewis Gale Field) June 7

Hops & Howlers Craft Brew Fest, Abingdon VA June 14

Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest, Leesburg VA  June 21 & 22

Beer Festival at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA June 28

Summer BrewFest, Norfolk VA July 11

The Capital Ale House National Beer Expo, Richmond VA July 15 thru 20

Microfestivus, Roanoke VA August 9

Rocktown Fall Beer Festival, Harrisonburg VA September 20

Brew Do, Blacksburg VA October 25

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