Quick Notes: Apocalypse Ale Works

Apocalypse Ale Works has been on my radar for a bit now; solid beers with great names...Lustful Maiden being the first to come to mind- great taste, only need one or two, and a great name. Their artwork is also incredibly badass. I mean, seriously?! Look at that logo! Their can art is so good that craftcans.com did an interview with the artist!

   So, I wanted to make some notes about their Golden Censer Honey Wheat Ale. This beer looks great when it is poured- nice and clear, not too much head, and some great smells coming out of that glass.

I know they are in Forest, VA...but I don't have a glass for that.

There is a good amount of honey flavor without the beer being overwhelmed with any kind of sweetness. I did taste more hops than I usually would expect from a honey wheat ale, but maybe it is there to contrast the honey? Either way, great flavors without too much hoppiness and some great underlying flavors. I think I tasted some lemongrass, maybe some citrus added late in the brewing process even.

As a side note, I had a couple of these with my Thanksgiving dinner and they really worked well with cranberry sauce and the hickory-smoked turkey I made.

Yeahhhhhhhh I cooked that bird. 

The smokiness of the turkey and the sweet/ tart combo of the sauce really brought out some extra flavors in this beer.

I can't say this is my favorite beer from them but I won't shy away from it either. Definitely worth trying!

Aluminium Session!

So, I've been drinking beer. A good deal of beer. I'm sure anyone who finds themselves at this blog, looking at beer writing focused on Virginia, is also doing a lot of beer drinking. I recently hit my local grocery store and bought a few brews in cans. I drink these beers in a sitting, and I call it an aluminium session.

I think beer from a can is tasty and refreshing. I don't drink the beer directly from the can. I find that doing so adds a metallic taste to the beer. I pour the beer into a beer glass, and enjoy my beer with my olfactory organs as well as taste buds.

In this session I drank three beautiful Virginia beers. I have pics!!! Pardon the filters on some of the pictures, I got a little crazy on my phone after a few beers.

Hardywood's CREAM Ale ya'll! Beer Advocate
This beer tastes pretty good out of the can! Hardywood tells a good story with this cream ale in a can. Apparently, the first can beer sold came out of Richmond, VA! It was brewed and canned by Krueger brewing with technology from American Can Co. in 1935. Link to cool blip about it on Wired: CLICKY!

I like the smoothness of this ale. It's light and has a fairly light body. The malts and hops are mellow, and it's overall refreshing. The elements are there, but there's something I can't put my finger on that is missing.

Lost Rhino's Rhino Chasers Pilsner Beer Advocate

Lost Rhino is a very surprising brewery. The brewery is in a weird office park area in Ashburn, VA, but they are crazy about brewing great beer. The Rhin O' fest is a great tasting Märzen (it has a gold medal from the Great American Beer fest!), and their Face Plant IPA is a home staple at this point.

Rhino Chasers is now one of my favorite pilsners. Actually, I've been a little down on the style for the last few years. This beer changes the pilsner game for me. On Untappd I wrote, "Deliciously crisp and bitter. Light body and golden color with thin micro bubble head. One of the most surprising pilsners I've had." I would take further about it, but I'd had a few at this point, and I don't remember it so well... I better go get some more...for science!

Sunken City Dam Lager Beer Advocate

The Dam Lager is Sunken City's flagship beer, and it shows. I have to be honest and say I haven't had Sunken City beer before. Fans will be screaming at the screen right now, but I didn't eschew this brewery! I'm glad I finally noticed what's happening up on Smith Mountain Lake!

It's a great easy drinking lager. A good balance of malt and bitterness feels great in my mouth! This lager has light body and pours to a beautiful gold with light head.

Well there's my aluminium session. I had a lot of fun picking out three canned beers, and I hope to get a good variety next time. I like to roller coaster between flavors when drinking beer. I know a lot of people like to start light and build up to heavier, darker beers. I enjoy the contrast between the two, and I usually like to drink them back to back. I like to bookend my sessions with drastically different beers or the same one, to see where I've started and to where I've ended up. How do you select which beer you drink first and last? Do you like canned beer?

P.S. I drank a bottle of Highland Oatmeal Porter while I wrote this. So good! Beer Advocate

Lars and the Real Beer Enthusiast

When you visit Strangeways, you might find yourself wondering if you've already met this guy and just forgot his name. That's how welcome he makes you feel. The moment I realized that, no, I don't know Lars, is when it hit me - this is the first time I've ever been treated like a beer enthusiast instead of just someone's wife. To my partner and close friends who run Virginia Beer Blog, it's apparent that I know what I'm talking about and truly enjoy the craft. Frequently, however, I'm the object of disbelieving stares during tasting discussions and the receiver of mixed-up drink orders at restaurants (because surely I ordered the lighter, more "feminine" beer). Bartenders have even gone so far as to recommend less intense brews to me. So I've been a novelty in the beer world for a while and never really noticed it until Lars, Strangeway's ambassador, engaged me in serious conversation about their work. I won't forget the regard or my favorite taps that day: Caramel Woodbooger Belgian-Style Brown Ale, Delightfully Immoral Grisette, and Wild Wallonian Dawn Honey Saison. If the first one (a Curiosities offering) ever comes back, I've got plans for it. Lars, I hope you like bread pudding.

Credit: Jess Owen Day

Stone Brewing is coming to Richmond. It’s official.

First, I’d like to say that I am extremely proud of the beer community across Virginia. I believe a huge draw that Richmond had on Stone was the rich and welcoming environment that our local breweries have been able cultivate and have absolutely no concern that Stone coming to Richmond will hurt our local breweries. 

And now Stone is Virginia Beer.

For Virginians, drinking local will soon include enjoying some of the most widely celebrated and respected brews offered. I attribute my current love for beer to Stone Brewing. Double Bastard was the first beer that truly caught my attention and sparked my interest in craft beer. Ruination was the first beer that blew my mind after ordering it for dinner, leaving me unable to taste anything but the beer for the next two hours and inspiring me to get my hop cone tattoo (oh, do you not have a beer tattoo?). The first time I visited LA my first stop was Stone Brewery (which, for those of you who don't know, is in Escondido, over 2 hours south of LA). 

With the recent outpouring of collaboration beers between Stone and other amazing breweries, along with their pride in using local ingredients, I can’t wait to see what Stone has in store for us. We will continue to update as the process progresses, but until it opens late 2015/early 2016 go celebrate by drinking tasty beer at your local spot and don’t forget to update your résumé! 

Proposed plans attached to official media release.

The Answer Brewpub: The Visit!

Let me begin by stating that I love Mekong. They have great food (in my opinion) and an even greater offering of craft and Belgian beers. As far as I'm concerned, they can do no wrong...now thats out of the way, The Answer Brewpub is a perfect addition to the strip mall that houses Mekong. If you haven't been you may be thinking, "You say they are both good, but don't they both serve beer? Don't they both serve food? Isn't having two restaurants next door to each other potentially bad for business?" To answer those questions I would say "Yes, yes, I seriously doubt it. Also, don't ask so many questions all at once, give me a chance to respond to one and then ask another one. Don't you understand how a conversation works? Dick."

Yes, both Mekong and The Answer Brewpub serve beer but this isn't like you are going from one bar to another where you may find a different configuration of the same domestic beers. Instead both places offer beer but from vastly different points of view. Mekong is where you would go if you are looking for a wide variety of Belgian beers with a healthy mix of local craft beers and the occasional tap-takeover from some amazing brewery. The Answer Brewpub serves up an array of hard-to-find/ obtain craft beers as well as some great collaborative beers with some local favorites. To see some of those collaborative beers refer back to this post!

 Happy people drinking.

Other side of The Answer Brewpub.

Yes, both offer food as well, but once again the food selections are totally different. Mekong= Vietnamese food. Wait, no- delicious Vietnamese food. The Answer Brewpub serves up, if you can imagine this, Vietnamese pub food- so you have your fries to enjoy while you drink or you can venture out and get some shrimp crackers or if you are feeling hungry grab a Banh Mi! They offer some different ones, but I had the house special (chicken, fish, and beef) and it was fantastic. Sorry that I don't have pictures to offer, I was busy eating. While both Vietnamese based in cuisine the offerings couldn't be farther from each other.

Third question- I doubt it. Like I stated before, I don't think that Mekong will lose business by having The Answer Brewpub next door. The Answer Brewpub is exactly that, a brewpub; people go there looking to enjoy a few pints, maybe grab a light snack, and then leave...or stay for a while and enjoy a lot of beer, more food, and then have someone drive them home...either way, a good time. There is a stage set up inside of the main area, so I assume there will be bands and/or DJs in the future. In the background they played some dancy remixes of jazz, radio-friendly hip hop, and other genres that lend themselves to bass-heavy background music...somehow it all fit. The space is large- I would imagine the same size as Mekong, but without all of the walls and tables that separate Mekong's various dining areas. All in all, a great space with lots of room for people and their beers!

Apparently "dancy" isn't a word.