The Beer Road

Only Stone Brewing could come up with this.  The Escondido based craft brewery certainly does brew styles other than IPAs, but as I saw in a recent internet discussion group, IPAs are “just what they do”, and often do best.  IPAs and other hopcentric beers such as their highly coveted “Enjoy By” series, Ruination Double IPA, and certainly even their more straightforward Stone IPA have all reached legendary status in the contemporary craft beer era, having led many a craft beer fan down the road to hop devotee.  So it only seems fitting that Stone should have come up with a contest for “Most Bitter Bar”, a competition to see which bar which could sell the most hop forward beers over roughly a week long period (specifically, of course, their own), which technically begins at midnight tonight and runs until just before midnight on the 30th.  Well over a hundred bars are participating in this year’s contest, and Roanoke will not be left out of the fun.  Three bars in the Star City – Blue 5, Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint, and the Wasena City Tap House – are among those in the hunt for the tongue scathingly based title.

At the end of the week, a national winner will be announced, along with one from each state in which a bar is participating, and one from each region.  Five Stone beers appear to be in play – their Sublimely Self Righteous Black Ale (Black IPA), Stone IPA, Belgian tinged Cali-Belgique IPA, and the Stone Ruination Double IPA.  The fifth, “RuinTen”, technically Stone’s re-release of last year’s 10th anniversary version of Ruination, has already been generating plenty of nationwide buzz as it was just released last week.  For those of you who can’t get enough hop based brews (like myself), and are likely fans of Stone’s beers, not only does this contest mean that the first four beers listed above should be available at the three participating Roanoke locations during the week, but a slightly different version of one of them just might show up as well, for those of you on the hunt for the rarer releases (Did someone say Ruination with fiery peppers and mangoes?).   As for RuinTen, this highly sought after beer is a fairly limited release nationwide, particularly in keg form.  All I can say is that if you do fall into any of these categories, be it Stone fan, hop fan, rare beer lover, or all of the above, you should keep an eye out for forthcoming news on such beers at these locations.

This is going to be a fun weekend…and week.  Come out and support one of the places participating in the contest, and enjoy some great Stone brews.  Cheers!

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Virginia will welcome another craft brewery to its quickly growing stable this Friday as Redbeard Brewing opens its doors for business in Staunton.  If the brewery’s facebook page is any indication, the brewery looks as if it has been attracting a fair amount of attention, as it has already reached over 1,100 followers.  Redbeard has consistently used the page to update followers and fans throughout the entire process of building the brewery, from its inception to the purchasing of equipment, through a kickstarter campaign which helped fund the brewery, and finally to some information about the beers on which the brewery will begin to build its reputation on.  If the brewery’s catchy motto and tagline, “Small Batches of Big Beers” is evident in the taste of their beers, Redbeard will definitely be worth a stop along I-81 to sample them for travelers, and supply beer lovers in Staunton a local spot to surely be proud of.  Since Redbeard owner and Head Brewer Jonathan Wright has been perfecting the brewery’s flagship beers by homebrewing test batches for the last few years, chances are that anyone who stops by to try them out will be glad they did.

A soft opening was held roughly a week ago at Redbeard’s tasting room, at which most, if not all, of the brewery’s promised beers were available.  Activity on the beer app Untappd showed folks checking in the following beers:

A dry stout by the name of OG Stout, a West Coast style IPA, a Black Rye IPA, Mycroft (an English Bitter or Mild Ale), and 221B Baker (an English Brown Ale or Porter).

Make your way up (or down) to Staunton soon and visit Redbeard Brewing, Virginia craft fans, and give their beers a try! 

Cheers to Redbeard Brewing!

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Normally, the Weekend Tap Update post attempts to point out some of the newest craft beers that have just arrived on draft in time for the weekend around Roanoke.  Without a doubt, the “usual suspects”, the restaurants which devote their selections to craft beer will likely have a few surprises over the next couple days, as they do most any weekend.  But considering that Big Lick Beertopia is tomorrow, the post today will point out at least a couple beers not to miss should you be heading out to the festival. (And you should, of course – plenty of great craft beer, on the grounds of a baseball stadium, and for a good cause – yes, you should.)

With this in mind, and using the information which has been pushed out on the Big Lick Beertopia Facebook page over the last few days (a listing of beers from many of the breweries, plus a map), here’s a couple brews not to miss:

Just to the right of the centerfield wall will be located both Richmond’s Legend Brewing Company and Baltimore’s Heavy Seas.  Legend will be featuring their Hopfest IPA, a newer beer to the Virginia brewery’s lineup.  Plenty of citrusy hop aroma and flavor dominate Hopfest, and just about the moment you begin to decide that it is a fairly well balanced out IPA, the prickly grapefruit tastes remind you who’s in control, and then makes sure you remember with a dry-ish finish and a decent amount of lasting bitterness – which all may sound like the last month you spent with that particular ex boyfriend or girlfriend – but trust me, this is a beer you’ll want to continue to spend some time with.  On the other hand, you may want to make your way over to the Heavy Seas tent, where apparently a firkin (small cask) of their English Pale Ale Powder Monkey will be available.  It’s not terribly often that cask ales make their way to the Roanoke/Salem area (although a nod must be given to Billy’s in downtown Roanoke, for regularly having one), so if you’re still getting your feet wet on what cask conditioning can do for a beer or beer style, this is an opportunity to do just that.

Of course, they’ll be plenty of Virginia breweries at the event to help promote the interest of craft beer from the state, including our own area’s Parkway Brewing, Sunken City Brewing, and Roanoke Railhouse.  Others include Devils Backbone, Blue Mountain, Lost Rhino, Dominion, Blacksburg’s Bull & Bones, Bold Rock Cidery, Apocalypse Ale Works, and Wild Wolf to name a few.  One other individual beer with a bit of a limited release status but worth checking out will be Victory Brewing’s Swing Saison.  Also, one particular out of state brewery making an appearance is South Carolina’s Skull Coast, worth noting since (if memory serves me right) it will be the first time their beers have been represented at an area event.

There are plenty of great craft beers to be found this weekend, and all in one place at Big Lick Beertopia, so make your way out, Roanoke area craft fans!  If you don’t have tickets yet, today (Friday) is the last day to purchase them at a discounted rate, and plenty of spots around town are selling them, check out the event’s Facebook page for a full listing.  Cheers!

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Saturday’s Big Lick Beertopia festival is growing closer, so Local Roots Restaurant has prepared a way for you to officially start getting ready.  Tomorrow night, the restaurant will be holding a pre party for the craft beer festival, and will be featuring beers on draft from breweries that will be represented at the festival.  Included will be brews from Legend (VA), Salem’s own Parkway, Brewery Ommegang (NY), Bell’s (MI), Dogfish Head (DE), and Lagunitas (CA).  Also on hand will be members of the Jaycees, which organizes Beertopia each year, who will be holding raffles for two VIP tickets to the festival as well as Beertopia merchandise and Local Roots Beer Club memberships.

The event also coincides with the restaurant’s regular draft tasting event, which occurs on the first Wednesday of every month.  A sampling of every beer on tap is only $5, and of course for this festival related event, includes the brews from the breweries listed above.  Likely beers for tomorrow night will be Legend’s Hopfest IPA, Parkway Brewing’s Raven’s Roost Porter, Lagunitas’ Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ (deliciously hopped) pale wheat beer, Bell’s Midwestern Pale Ale, Dogfish Head’s Positive Contact, and two from Ommegang, Rare Vos and their Quadruple Three Philosophers.

It’s mid week, and we’re just a few days away from this year’s Big Lick Beertopia to boot.  Time to start counting down, so come out to Local Roots tomorrow night and do it properly, with a good, craft beer.  (You might just win tickets too!)

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