National Beer Expo announces participating breweries!

We have been patiently awaiting the release of what brewers will be participating in next month highly anticipated National Beer Expo in Richmond. Today, we are happy to announce that the wait is over! Feast you eyes on the full list by clicking the link below. Get excited Virginia; the national (and international) spotlight will be on our craft brewers the week of July 16 and we here at Virginia Beer Blog could not be more proud of what the Commonwealth has to offer. We hope to see you there!

http://www.nationalbeerexpo.com/exhibitors

This Saturday!

A Friendly Reminder that the Carytown Beer Festival is this Saturday, June 7th at the Diamond (yes, I know, not Carytown)
Noon to 6pm (with VIP access starting at 11am) 
Visit http://www.carytownrva.com/events/craft-beer-festival.php for more details

VBB Brewery Spotlight: Isley Brewing Company

An amazing day for amazing beer. 

Sam and I recently had the immense pleasure of stopping by Isley Brewing in the Scott's Addition neighborhood of Richmond. What started as an impromptu beer sampling turned into an educational experience.

Sam and the Flight

As Isley newbies, we started with the recommended flight (a choice made easier by their excellent variety and price). All of the brews were excellent, but once again the "Choosy Mother" Peanut Butter Oatmeal Porter stole the show. 

Six Samples of Heaven

A description of the days offerings

The back door of the brewery will serve as access to the new deck. 

During the tour, we were informed that the brewery is currently working at 50% capacity. With the planned addition of more brew houses, Mr. Isley hopes to increase the brewery's capacity to 100% soon.

Waiting to be filled with perfection.

The future home of Isley's second bar. Drink and watch the brewers work their magic. 

During the day, Mr. Isley works with Winter Plumbing. The company did the original plumbing work for the building when it was built in 1920 and again when it was updated for the brewery opening.

Mr. Isley was kind enough to let us sample some of his private stock. This included a Bourbon Porter and a Bourbon Ginger that knocked our socks off. Brewed as an experiment but ultimately too high for legal sale (16%), these two brews were a treat but far above the 14% sellable ABV limit.  

If you're like us and drool at the thought of Isley Brewing Company's Peanut Butter Oatmeal Porter, make sure you get out and Grab a Choosey Mother while it lasts (if you are reading this, it may already be too late) because the next batch wont be around until October. 

Looking for delicious taste for a good cause? 100% of Conundrumheller's proceeds go to Bon Secours Hospitals in honor of  Mr. Drumheller. A longtime friend of the Isley family, he tragically passed away from cancer. After the loss, the idea of using the brew to raise money for research was developed.

So much room for activities!

Beer and burgers.....it's a beautiful thing. 

Before we left we took a tour of Isley's new deck. A welcome addition to the neighborhood, patrons will now be able to enjoy the beautiful Spring weather with a cold beer (not to mention an excellent view of fireworks being launched at the Diamond after Flying Squirrels games.) We were also very excited to hear that Mr. Isley and company are planning a second location coming to the Woodlake area of Chesterfield (county red tape permitting.) After you leave the Diamond's Carytown Beer Festival this Saturday, you can enjoy the newly completed deck and have a delicious Isley Brew at their Luau! We hope to see you there! 

Finally, we would like to extend a huge thank you to Mr. Mike Isley for taking the time to give us a tour of his beautiful facility, samples of his brews, and filling us in on the Isley Brewing story. We can't wait for this weekends Luau and to see what Isley Brewing has in store for us next!

The work in progress

My TOP 5 Craft Beers from RVA ROCK$ OnTap!

Here's my TOP 5 list of craft brews from the RVA ROCK$ OnTap! event. This list was diffcult to make because almost all of the beer I tasted at this event was great. Regardless of the difficulty there were 5 craft beers that stood out.

1. Isley Choosy Mother Peanut Butter Porter

This oatmeal porter is one of my favorite beers of all time now. The peanut butter, chocolate, and oats give more than enough reasons for loving this brew. An amazing feature of this beer is its distinctive aroma. When tasting, my nose basked in velvety peanut butter and chocolate. The volume is turned way up on the peanut butter aroma, but when tasting the malty sweetness, peanut butter, and chocolate are deceptively balanced. Having such a distinctive aroma and balanced taste was so fun to experience! I was actually giddy while tasting this brew.

2. Lickinghole Creek Magic Beaver

This delicious Belgian-style Pale Ale is interesting, balanced, and easy to drink. A spicy aroma plays nice along side subtle malts. Definitely a joy to drink such a balanced and well-crafted PA.

3. Hardywood Singel

Do I need to write much about this Abbey-style Blonde bombshell? Almost everyone who tastes this beer enjoys it. A beautiful golden pour topped with cloud-fluffy head distinctively marks this beer's look. The aroma is a balancing act of spiciness and fruitiness. It's a daily drinker that's easy on the palate and the head.

4. Midnight Not My Job Brown Ale

This ale is a dark brown Southern English Brown Ale. This was my first Southern English Brown Ale. I've had English Brown Ale, but according to some smart people, Southern or London English Brown Ale isn't brewed much in the US. After tasting this ale I have to say, it's a crime this style isn't brewed more here. A malty chocolate aroma is met by a deliciously smooth ale with a good story!

5. Center of the Universe Barrel Aged Scotchtown Scotch Ale

COTU really brought it with this barrel aged Scottish Ale. I'm not even going to pretend I understand what's going on in my mouth with this one, but you can believe it's all good. This ale is aged in whiskey barrels and has all of the complexity you can handle. 

Virginia Beer Blog Team at Triple Crossing Brewing Grand Opening!

Photo credit: James Bernard