The Great American Beer Festival was held this week in Denver, and as usual, Virginia breweries walked away with numerous awards. There are some familiar beers on this list, as well as some new beers we're just going to have to try.
Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Port City Brewing Co., Alexandria, VA Port City Brewing Team
Category: 8 Chili Beer - 79 Entries
Silver: Heir Apparent, Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery, Goochland, VA
Category: 22 American-Belgo-Style Ale - 71 Entries
Bronze: Salad Days American Saison, Pale Fire Brewing Co., Harrisonburg, VA
Category: 34 Bohemian-Style Pilsener - 62 Entries
Gold: Shower Beer, Champion Brewing Co., Charlottesville, VA
Category: 39 Vienna-Style Lager - 46 Entries
Gold: Vienna Lager, Devils Backbone Brewing Co. - Outpost, Lexington, VA
Category: 52 English-Style India Pale Ale - 42 Entries
Silver: Monumental IPA, Port City Brewing Co., Alexandria, VA
Category: 61 English-Style Mild Ale - 40 Entries
Gold: Mild, Brothers Craft Brewing, Harrisonburg, VA
Category: 74 Belgian-Style Witbier - 82 Entries
Bronze: Optimal Wit, Port City Brewing Co., Alexandria, VA
Category: 75 French- and Belgian-Style Saison - 132 Entries
Gold: Siren’s Lure, Fair Winds Brewing Co., Lorton, VA
Coincidently, Colleen enjoyed this one last week at Capital Ale House. I'll need to go back and order a pint for myself!
Category: 83 Robust Porter - 102 Entries
Silver: Porter, Port City Brewing Co., Alexandria, VA
Congratulations to these fine Virginia breweries, and to all the brewers across the country who walked away with medals. We appreciate your hard work and dedication. View the complete awards list here.
Showing posts with label Champion Brewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Champion Brewing. Show all posts
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Three Kinds of Fun
I've been having a craving for mussels recently, and for several weeks have been teased by the Capital Ale House Facebook postings about "all you can eat" mussels on Thursdays. Alas, my schedule didn't allow me to take advantage of that special, until this week. When "Checkered Flag" and I hit Capital Ale House for dinner this week, my menu selection was predetermined.
In addition to the two regular mussel selections, Garlic and Herb, and Smoked Gouda and Bacon, the chef had created a spicy version, with a sauce prepared with Orkney Skull Splitter Scotch Ale, Duck Rabbit Stout, and copious red pepper flakes. I started out with a large bowl of these spicy mussels and enjoyed them immensely. The dark sauce was smoky and sweet at the same time. (And I brought home plenty of it down the front of my shirt too.) Despite the robust sauce, the flavor of the mussels still came through. It wasn't long before had good burn going in my mouth from the red pepper.
Fortunately I had a good beer to cool my palate. Not only is August Virginia Craft Beer Month, Thursday was also being promoted as National IPA Day. (What's next, craft beer Hallmark cards?) Keeping with the theme, I ordered a Missile IPA from Champion Brewing in Charlottesville, VA.
I don't recall having tried any Champion Brewing beers, so it was also good to try out another Virginia brewery. Missile IPA is a bright orange color with a thin white head. The aroma is full of citrus goodness. The flavorful hops leaned towards the bitter, with grapefruit rind and pine leading the way. The bitterness was balance by a sweet caramel malt. I rather enjoyed this one.
In keeping with the Virginia beer theme, "Checkered Flag" stuck with his favorite style and ordered a Starr Hill The Love Hefeweizen.
Eventually, both my bowl of mussels and my glass of beer were empty. But, it's "all you can eat" so I opted this time for the Smoked Gouda and Bacon Mussels. These were covered in a thick, smoky cheese sauce with lots of bacon thrown in. I enjoyed this version too, but the heavy cheese sauce did mask the mussel flavor a bit too much for my tastes. I ordered another Virginia beer, Starr Hill Grateful Pale Ale to accompany this batch of mussels. I was sorely tempted to call for a bowl of the Garlic and Herb version as well, but decided to save that for another day
Mussels ✔
Virginia Craft Beer ✔
IPA ✔
Yea, it was a fun evening.
In addition to the two regular mussel selections, Garlic and Herb, and Smoked Gouda and Bacon, the chef had created a spicy version, with a sauce prepared with Orkney Skull Splitter Scotch Ale, Duck Rabbit Stout, and copious red pepper flakes. I started out with a large bowl of these spicy mussels and enjoyed them immensely. The dark sauce was smoky and sweet at the same time. (And I brought home plenty of it down the front of my shirt too.) Despite the robust sauce, the flavor of the mussels still came through. It wasn't long before had good burn going in my mouth from the red pepper.
Fortunately I had a good beer to cool my palate. Not only is August Virginia Craft Beer Month, Thursday was also being promoted as National IPA Day. (What's next, craft beer Hallmark cards?) Keeping with the theme, I ordered a Missile IPA from Champion Brewing in Charlottesville, VA.
I don't recall having tried any Champion Brewing beers, so it was also good to try out another Virginia brewery. Missile IPA is a bright orange color with a thin white head. The aroma is full of citrus goodness. The flavorful hops leaned towards the bitter, with grapefruit rind and pine leading the way. The bitterness was balance by a sweet caramel malt. I rather enjoyed this one.
In keeping with the Virginia beer theme, "Checkered Flag" stuck with his favorite style and ordered a Starr Hill The Love Hefeweizen.
Eventually, both my bowl of mussels and my glass of beer were empty. But, it's "all you can eat" so I opted this time for the Smoked Gouda and Bacon Mussels. These were covered in a thick, smoky cheese sauce with lots of bacon thrown in. I enjoyed this version too, but the heavy cheese sauce did mask the mussel flavor a bit too much for my tastes. I ordered another Virginia beer, Starr Hill Grateful Pale Ale to accompany this batch of mussels. I was sorely tempted to call for a bowl of the Garlic and Herb version as well, but decided to save that for another day
Mussels ✔
Virginia Craft Beer ✔
IPA ✔
Yea, it was a fun evening.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)