LFD 50th Maduro & German Chocolate Cake Lager

I've been eyeing a couple large vitola cigars in my humidor, waiting for the time to enjoy them. With no trips planned, no major errands lined up, and (sadly) no shooting last weekend, the opportunity arose to spend some time with some of those more time consuming smokes.

I kicked off the weekend with a La Flor Dominicana TAA 2019 50th Anniversary Maduro. The cigar is a limited-edition release available only to retailers who are part of the Tobacconists' Association of America (TAA). I obtained it a couple months ago as part of a LFD sample from a local shop. This 6½ x 54 stick features an extreme rectangular box press shape. The dark Mexican San Andrés Maduro wrapper encases a Dominican binder and Dominican Criollo filler. The two large gold bands give the cigar a striking appearance. 

The beverage of choice this evening was Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery German Chocolate Cake Lager. This flavorfully-named beer starts life as a traditional German-style Doppelbock. The classic German-style lager is then conditioned over cocoa nibs, toasted coconut, vanilla, and pecans. The aroma is dark chocolate, vanilla, and a hint of coconut. The base dopplebock is the predominate flavor with a mild caramel sweetness. The added cocoa and nuttiness that come through are a pleasing addition. The vanilla aspect is on the mild side. The 8% ABV is muted with little alcohol presence in the flavor.

When I first saw this bottle I assumed it was a stout, and was intrigued to read the label further to find otherwise. The LCCB variation of the style was done very well. Oft times augmented beers tend to come off cloying or candy-like, especially went comes to vanilla additions. 

The 50th Anniversary Maduro was a medium-bodied smoke. The tightly packed stick gave off notes of cocoa, coffee, and earth. The flavor profile has a creamy, sweet aspect to it as well. The box-press presented some issues with the burn, requiring several touchups to keep it even, though that was not unexpected. The flavor profiles of the beer and the cigar were quite compatible and played well together. This large stick burned for a long two hours and 15 minutes. The bottle of beer I split with Colleen gave out well before that. Fortunately, the beer fridge offered many more options, all stories for later.

Virginia Winners at GABF

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.

From West to East - An Evening of Great Beer

Each month Capital Ale House taps a special beer that's been aged for the past year. The December "Ales From the Crypt" selection was Stone Brewing 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale. It seemed as good a reason as any for an evening out. I don't recall that I ever had release in the Stone Vertical Series, and the beer could only have gotten better with time.

I always enjoy the appearance of a beer, and the Belgian Strong Ale looked quite appetizing in the snifters. Served a touch too cold for my tastes, I admired the beer and let it come up to temperature as we perused the dinner menu, and Colleen arranged the social media photo shoot.

Stone 12.12.12 had a surprisingly mild aroma. We picked up molasses, vanilla, ginger, along with some Belgian yeast. The flavors came out much the same with a stronger presence. Some dark coffee and roasted notes are added as well. The mouthfeel is thick with a long-lingering, dry finish. The beer was quit enjoyable and the well-blended flavors I suspect were only enhanced by the year spent waiting in the cellar.

On a serendipitous note, a friend of Colleen's on FaceBook saw the above picture posted, and inquired back, "Bottle or draft?" Colleen answered and the reply back was "We're our way!" A bit later in the evening we were joined by another couple. As it turns out, the husband is a craft beer fan AND shooting enthusiast. Any guesses what we talked about most of the evening?

As I looked over the row of tap handles, trying to decide on my next beer, I spied a Blue Mountain Barrel House handle, and learned that Dark Hollow Imperial Stout was behind that lever. Dark Hollow is a Bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stout. That aging treatment is apparent in the aroma, as the sweet bourbon and dark coffee notes waft from the glass. The beer is not overly boozy, but neither is the alcohol masked. Tastes of dark chocolate, coffee, molasses and vanilla are also present. The mouthfeel is thick and smooth. This is an exceptional Bourbon barrel stout.

Since we were now joined by friends, it was only sociable that I enjoyed another beer. Also sighted on the tap row was Lickinghole Creek Brewery. I posted on this new new Virginia brewery last year, but have never had the opportunity to enjoy their beers. The beer being poured was Gentleman Farmer Estate Hop Ale. I think this is the first beer from the Goochland brewery to make it to Fredericksburg, so my evening of good beer would conclude with another Virginia-brewed libation.

Gentleman Farmer Estate Hop Ale is an Amber Ale brewed with Cascade, Columbus, Nugget and Chinook hops grown on the brewery's farm. The beer has a thick viscous appearance, and the bubbles seem to rise slowly in the glass. The aroma was very mild, with subtle bready malt and citrus fruit notes. The flavor, and mouthfeel, followed the sights and aromas. I found the beer to have a very clean and refreshing taste. I savored the subtle flavors, especially following the big and bold of the previous beers. I'm looking forward to trying this one again, as well as some of the other Lickinghole Creek beers.

It was a fun evening, filled with good beer and conversation. I enjoyed the California-brewed Stone Epic Ale, but I remain partial to the beers of Virginia. The evening's treats from Blue Mountain and Lickinghole Creek breweries are just two of the reasons for that preference.

And Another! Ajax Aleworks

Yep, it's another new Virginia brewery! It's hard to keep up, but I'm certainly not complaining. Richmond BizSense brings the news of new brewery planned in the Richmond area.

Another pair of backyard brewers want to make a splash in Richmond’s craft beer market. 

Coleman Stump and Josh Bennett are in the process of launching Ajax Aleworks, a craft microbrewery that will make 15 to 20 brews on a rotating, seasonal basis.

The two are in talks to lease a 1,300-square-foot space in Manchester, about five blocks from the Legend Brewery at the corner of 2nd and Decatur streets. Ajax plans to set up a four-barrel brewing system, enough to make eight kegs at a time.

Stump and Bennett say they have optimistic plans to launch by the end of the year. Ajax Aleworks will make its beer available only on draft, both to local bars and onsite at the brewery.

For  a long time it seemed as if I was regularly reporting on new breweries launching in southwest Virginia. The only discouraging part of that is finding time to visit those distant locations is hard to do. Recently it seems that the Richmond area is getting the attention of brewers looking to start on their dreams. The proximity of Richmond to my home is especially encouraging for planning visits.

Other new Richmond breweries previously covered here include Lickinghole Creek, Center of the Universe, Midnight and Hardywood Park. It's all just one more reason the Travel Channel named Virginia a top beer destination.

See "A brewery that could excite even Eeyore" for more information on Ajax Aleworks including the unique story behind the name and logo.

New Virginia Brewery Planting Hops

Another upcoming addition to the roster of Virginia breweries is "digging in" in a big way.

The latest entrant into Richmond’s growing craft beer scene hopes its name is one people will remember. 

Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery, a fledgling farm brewery about seven miles west of the Goochland County Courthouse, hopes to open early next year. 

Founder Sean-Thomas Pumphrey is working to get the brewery up and running on his family’s 221-acre farm. After he gets through the county zoning process and all the other state and federal hoops and red tape, he plans to build a 4,100-square-foot building and model the brewery after a Virginia-style horse farm.

Pumphrey is busy planting a hops field at his farm. Eventually he'll have an acre of hops planted, which he'll be able to use in his beers in about three years.

Photo from brewery Facebook page

You can view more pictures of the hops field at the brewery's Facebook page.
See "Brewery hopes to fill a hole in the market" for more information.

H/T to @VA_Beergeek.