Ballast Point to Build Virginia Brewery

Somehow I missed this announcement the other day. Perhaps so many breweries are starting call Virginia home that the news doesn't stand out any more. Ballast Point Brewing, the makers of the popular Sculpin IPA series, like the Habanero Sculpin reviewed earlier, is planning to build a new east coast brewery in Virginia. Brewbound has the information...

The Commonwealth of Virginia is quickly becoming the San Diego of the East.

Ballast Point today confirmed plans to purchase a massive 259,000 sq. ft. building in Botetourt County, Virginia, where it will build its first East Coast production facility.

According to a press release from the office of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the company plans to spend $48 million to build the new outpost. Ballast Point spokeswoman Hilary Cocalis told Brewbound the new location will include a large-scale production brewery, distribution warehouse and retail taproom. The company — which was acquired by Constellation Brands for $1 billion last November — is also considering a restaurant component, she added.

The exact timeline and production details are not finalized, but construction is expected to begin later this year. I'm looking forward to visiting, and I hope the restaurant component comes through as well.

See "Ballast Point to Build $48 Million Brewery in Virginia" for more information.

Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin

A friend included this bottle of Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin as part of a Christmas goodie bag. I've been anxiously waiting for the chance to try it out. One of the benefits of a "staycation," besides not shaving everyday, is having the chance to relax with some good beer. I grabbed the bottle to try out before dinner one evening.

Habanero Sculpin has an aroma of fruit and citrus, with only a faint note of habanero. I was concerned as I had been told the heat level is variable. Would this bottle live up to the name? I need not have worried. The initial flavor is that of a nice, citrusy IPA, and then it hits — Habanero alert! The pepper heat comes in strong and unmistakable. It's exactly what one would experience from fresh habaneros. But it's a tasty, not destructive flavor. Interestingly, the heat does not linger long. After a minute or two, the habanero heat diminishes leaving the palate is ready for another sip.

I'm a fan of spicy food. If the top of my head doesn't sweat just a bit, I don't consider the food to be spicy. While I didn't break out in a sweat from the beer, I did get the impression of eating a habanero-laced dish. It was just a couple weeks ago I enjoyed another habanero-enhanced beer, Starr Hill Mango Genius. That beer had a more subtle heat, and was a perfect accompaniment to a spicy food dish. I enjoyed the Habanero Sculpin on it's own, and I think I prefer it that way. It's a novelty beer, and probably not one I'd drink several of in a sitting. That said, it's quite flavorful and enjoyable. I wouldn't hesitate to pick up a six pack if I see it in the store in the future.

Sedona Taphouse

Sedona Taphouse opened in downtown Fredericksburg a few weeks ago. Never wanting to go right away when a new place opens, we waited and finally stopped in for dinner this week. Colleen and I generally prefer to sit at the bar when we visit a pub, but the bar seating was full. Fortunately we waited only about 10 minutes until I received a text message our table was ready. We were seated and quickly approached by server for our drink orders.

I didn’t count precisely, but estimated we had about 50 draft selections and 250 500 [Ed., new count from other reports] bottled beers to choose from. We stuck with draft this time, but the bottle list had quite a range of styles and breweries giving us even more great optons. Happily we noticed that the bottled beers were being poured into glasses as they were served at the table, to be enjoyed as the brewer intended! Settling on Three Stars Peppercorn Saison and Ballast Point Grunion Pale Ale, we perused the extensive food menu in-depth.

Sedona Taphouse offers a variety of dining options; salads, pasta, tacos, flatbread pizza, sandwiches as well full dinner entrées. It’s great to see such a varied menu, especially one that includes lighter “pub” options. We ordered a Mediterranean Hummus appetizer, with marinated peppers and feta and served with warm flatbreads. The appetizer was very flavorful. The marinated peppers topping the hummus added bit of extra flavor to the generously sized appetizer plate. The flatbread was warm and wood-grilled.

For the main course, Colleen chose the wood-grilled Crab & Shrimp-Topped Tilapia drizzled with lemon caper butter, served with garlic whipped potatoes and asparagus. I opted for Fontina Marsala Pork Chop, topped with melted fontina cheese and house-made Marsala sauce with sautéed mushrooms, and garlic whipped potatoes. Our dinner entrées arrived in a timely manner after we finished the starter course. In fact, the service at Sedona was noticeably efficient. One of our laments about some of our favorite local haunts is that the food service is often quite slow, sometimes annoyingly so. Sedona seems to have the kitchen processes down, and we remarked on that several times during the evening.

Our dinners were well prepared and quite tasty. My pork chop was moist and the marsala sauce hit nice bite to it. Colleen enjoyed her tilapia plate as well. After enjoying our dinner, we convinced ourselves that we needed dessert; in order to do a proper review. We opted to split the featured Salted Caramel Cheesecake, a NY cheesecake topped with warm caramel, fresh ground sea salt and toasted walnuts. I am not typically a fan of cheesecake, but I took one for the team. Truth be told, I had no trouble devouring my half of the large slice. It was that good.

We had a wonderful experience at Sedona Taphouse. It was quite busy and a bit noisy. But not in a bad way; a lot of people out enjoying good food and beer in pleasant conversations. The service was efficient and friendly. The food was excellent. The beer list is extensive and demands further exploration in the future, and I look forward to doing that in the near future.