A Better Way to Do Lime & Beer

We spent a relaxing Saturday afternoon enjoying a few tasty beers over at Strangeways Brewing. As they do on many weekends, the brewery had a number of new releases on tap, which we specifically went to try out. Besides the new beers, there were a few other beers that sounded interesting, so we tasted a few samples to start.

The folks at Strangeways are very open to giving a taste of a beer before you order. If you are debating between two, they offer small tastes of each. This is good business in my opinion, especially with their large, diverse, and sometimes strange, selections. I've been in other local breweries that charge for even a sample. After a few sips and discussion, we decided on our first, and second beers.

We started with two very different beers, but both of which included lime in the ingredient list. Colleen opted for Everlasting Light Lime Kölsch while I chose the darker Key Lime Cantilever Dark Ale.

The Kölsch was a very crisp and refreshing beverage. The added limes and kaffir lime leaf added a tart pop of flavor to the beer. It was not overly sour and quite quaffable. My Dark Ale went down easily as well. The beer blends the malt sweetness of a brown ale with the roasted malt and hop bitterness of a Black IPA. The touch of lime in the finish further enhances the unique flavor.

I also tried a sample of the regular Cantilever Dark Ale. This too was a tasty beer, and I briefly debated between the two. I chose the Key Lime version for the slightly unusual enhanced flavor profile. I've often said that the only reason to add a lime to a beer (I'm looking at you Corona fans) is to kill the skunked flavor of the beer. In the case of the Strangeways beers, the tropical citrus served as a flavorful addition, not as a coverup.

We continued our fruity exploration with Nana Jeanne's Peach Cobbler Belgian Strong Dark Ale in Colleen's glass and Comfortably Plum American Sour in mine. The Belgian Dark Ale offered, again, a twist on the classic style. The peach was subdued, adding just a hint of fruit sweetness. The Plum Sour treated with a blast of tart fruit flavor. It went surprisingly well with my spicy quesadilla lunch.

I am an unabashed fan of strongly hopped beers, but at Strangeways I tend toward the fruit and sour beers in my pursuit of robust flavors. However, intrigued by the descriptors of "dark aroma notes of pineapple, mint and mango" I concluded my visit with a glass of another new release, Work Jorts IPA. The beer had a some bitter citrus notes and a hint of green leafiness. I added this one to our "to go" list we had in the works.

And what's flavorful beer without flavorful food to match? The Phat Yummies food truck was on hand to satisfy the food cravings. A couple of tasty quesadillas made the perfect accompaniment to the liquid libations.

Before we left, we had a few more decisions to make. It's a holiday week, so we grabbed a few 32 ounce crowlers to go. Our list included three of the aforementioned beers, Everlasting Light Lime Kölsch, Key Lime Cantilever Dark Ale, Work Jorts IPA, and one more we had only sampled, Orange Cream Banana Clipper Hefeweizen. Those cans will keep for a while, but we'll get to them soon. Real soon.

Local Craft Beer Cup Winners

The Virginia Craft Brewers Guild announced the 2018 Virginia Craft Beer Cup Winners earlier this week. The result of judging 375 beers, the winners list includes many old favorites, as well as some new additions to my "must try" list.

Of particular interest to me, a few Fredericksburg area breweries took home medals.

European Dark and Strong Lager Category
Third Place: Beer Hound Brewery for Zoeie

Dark and Strong British Beer Category
Second Place: Adventure Brewing Company for Black Sail Scotch Ale

European Sour Ale Category
First Place: Red Dragon Brewery for Here Be Dragons
Third Place: Strangeways Brewing for Uberlin

Pale American Ale Category
First Place: 6 Bears and a Goat for Mae West

Of course, you'll want to check out the entire Virginia Craft Beer Cup Winners here to see how your favorite Virginia breweries fared.

Congratulations to all the medal winners. There are some great beers coming out of Virginia!

Saturday, Part 2: The Brewery

After I returned from very fun morning at the range, we headed over to Strangeway's Brewing to relax with some good beer and food. Colleen had noted an announcement on Facebook earlier in the week about some new releases on Saturday which sounded too good to pass up.

One of the new beers, and the one that grabbed her attention was Basic Honey B Bourbon/Port Barrel Imperial Honey Ale. The beer is brewed with Virginia honey and Copper Fox Distillery’s applewood smoked malt, and aged in A. Smith Bowman barrels that had been used to age bourbon and port. It was a truly Virginia-bred beer. The ale brought forth caramel, dark fruit, with a smoky bourbon punch. Colleen's short review, "Oh, I like this."

As tempting as this one sounded, another release Aardvarks for Math! Coffee IPA, grabbed my interest. The beer is flavored with local Dier House Coffee Roasters Burundi Blend coffee. This "juicy roast" with notes of raspberry and cherry compliments the citrus hops very nicely. I've been intrigued by the use of coffee in hoppy beers like Pale Ales and IPA's, instead of the typical dark Stouts. Unlike the very strong coffee flavors found in Cocka Doodle Brew Coffee Ale from Parkway Brewing, this one still had the bitter citrus flavor of an IPA. The coffee influence came out in the finish with hints of dark chocolate and bitter tea. I very much enjoyed it.

Of course, we were there for food too. The Zesty Adventurer food truck was on hand supplying tasty Mediterranean influenced dishes. We started off with a Hummus platter with carrots, celery and warm pita bread. For our main course, Colleen decided on the Chicken Gyro Sandwich, while my palate had a craving for Mediterranean Quesadilla. 

The food was very flavorful and freshly made. Not only was the food delicious, it was a great value for the money. Convenient ordering was handled inside and the food was delivered right to our seats at the bar — no need to venture outside and then carry the food back in. We'll definitely watch for more local visits from The Zesty Adventurer.

A couple more beers were needed to linger over and enjoy with our meal. Picking beer at Strangeway's is always a challenge, with nearly 50 taps too choose from. I eventually decided on La’ Agora Oak Fermented Farmhouse Ale. Colleen opted for Mango Magma Mango Milkshake IPA. Interestingly, those style selections are totally reversed from our usual preferences; we're good influences one another it seems. Tasty selections on both accounts.

Strangeway's Debut and Steal the Glass Event

Earlier this week, Capital Ale House in Fredericksburg hosted a Strangeways Brewing "Steal the Glass" event. As reported recently, Strangeways recently entered into an agreement to begin local distribution of their beers. Tuesday's event marked the first Fredericksburg appearance of the beers outside of the brewery. Colleen and I decided to stop in and enjoy a few good beers and some tasty food.

Four Strangeways beers were being poured this evening; Überlin Berliner Weisse, Helles Frozen Over, Tirami’Zu Brew Rum Barrel Aged Porter and Home for the Holidays Spiced Cranberry Sour.

I've been enjoying some sour beer styles of late, so I chose the Home for the Holidays Spiced Cranberry Sour. The attractive red beer has a refreshing tart fruit flavor with a hint of spice. The low 4.2% ABV was welcome as I emptied my glass quite quickly.

Colleen started with Tirami’Zu Brew Barrel Aged Porter. I stole only a brief sip, not wanting to disturb my soured tastebuds, but I think I'll check that one out at the brewery soon. It was full of creamy dark chocolate aroma and flavor.

We've enjoyed several visits to the nearby Strangeways Fredericksburg location, where they keep around 40 unique beers on tap, so having just four options from which to choose made for an easier than usual decision process. For our next round, to accompany our meal, we simply ordered "the other two."

This time I sipped the Helles Frozen Lager and Colleen claimed the Überlin Berliner Weisse. The Helles had a nice crisp, grassy bitterness. A lighter bodied beer than I typically drink, it went well with my French Dip Steak and Havarti sandwich.

While we were enjoying our dinner I noticed that Capital Ale House owner Chris Holder and Neil Burton, the Strangeways Brewery owner, were also in attendance to help celebrate the new distribution status. I hadn't seen either of them for some time so took the chance say hello and enjoy a quick chat about beer in Fredericksburg.

Besides two more glasses to add to our glassware collection, we obtained a bunch of Strangeways swag as well. We enjoyed a pleasant event talking, eating, and drinking. I'm can now look forward to seeing even more Strangeways beer variety at my favorite local establishments.

Strangeways Brewing Expands Local Distribution

This is great news for craft beer fans in the area. I look forward to seeing more Strangeways Brewing beer in my fridge and in my glass.

(Fredericksburg, VA) – Virginia Eagle Distributing Company (VED) — is pleased to announce that a formal distribution agreement has been signed with Strangeways Brewing (Strangeways). The distribution area will include all markets that VED covers.

“A very important decision for a craft brewer in the state of Virginia is aligning with the right distribution partner,” says Neil Burton, Founder Strangeways Brewing. “Brown Distributing, in our home market of Richmond, has worked with us from day one and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results. Partnering with VED was the next logical step to our expansion plans. They simply build brands in Virginia and we want to be part of that story.”

Known for producing “Virginia Craft beer for the intrepid palate,” Strangeways has developed a cult following. Albino Monkey (a 5% ABV Belgian White) leads their flagship brands, while Woodbooger (a 6% Belgian Brown) and Überlin (a 4.75% Berliner Weisse) round out the year round choices. Their Richmond and Fredericksburg taprooms always feature 36+ unique beers and they have been recognized by RateBeer as Virginia’s Best Brewery Taproom for three straight years, listed as one of ten U.S. breweries to watch from D.C. to California by bon appétit, as well as one of the South’s Best Breweries by Southern Living.

“For about two years, VED has not opened distribution from new suppliers,” states Scott Heinz, COO of Virginia Eagle Distributing. “We (VED) simply could not find a partner that aligned with our company’s goals and vision…until now. Neil and his team at Strangeways have done a great job growing their base business in Richmond and we believe that they are ready to advance their footprint. This is the right partner for us.”

Immediate distribution areas will include Fredericksburg city, as well as Prince William, King George and Spotsylvania counties. Expansion into the Northern Virginia and Charlottesville markets will follow.

“Most successful brands have used a targeted approach to growth.” states Scott Heinz, COO of Virginia Eagle Distributing. “We (VED and Strangeways) believe that local consumers in the Fredericksburg/Northern Virginia markets are looking for a quality craft beer option. We want to satisfy those consumers before considering expanding to other markets within the state.”

About Virginia Eagle Distributing
Virginia Eagle Distributing is the largest Anheuser-Busch beverage distributor in the state. We service over four million Virginia residents, 22,000 square miles and more than 60 counties, independent cities and towns. Our estimated 7,500 on and off-premise accounts, including local grocery and convenience stores, restaurants, clubs and bars, are offered a wide selection of products consisting of the Anheuser-Busch family of beers & imports, the best in local craft beers, ciders and select non-alcoholic offerings.

VED has built a reputation of excellence through their expert team of salesman, warehouseman, drivers and a professional marketing department. Each of these invaluable employees is asked to uphold the company’s mission to be the most professional and customer focused company within our industry.

Hat tip to BeerPulse.com.

Enjoying the Outdoors at Strangeways Brewing

After our beer exploration at Highmark Brewery, we headed over to Strangeways Brewing to continue our Saturday flavor journey. Since the Strangeways location was (sort of) on our way home it seemed silly not to. As with our previous visit, this was also a "release day" at the brewery so there was another new beer to try.

The weather was quite pleasant this afternoon so we took seats at one of the outdoor tables. Strangeways' patio is dog-friendly and we enjoyed watching the antics of visitors' furry companions. There were also quite a few families taking advantage of the weather and beer. Having made many brewery visits with our son in tow as he was growing up, we always appreciate breweries that accommodate kids, and the parents who bring them.

This day's release was the Gourd of Thunder Imperial Pumpkin Porter. I'm not a huge fan of the ubiquitous "pumpkin beer" so many breweries release this time of year. However, when I do enjoy them, it's typically one of the "imperial" versions, so I was most anxious to try this one.

Gourd of Thunder pours a deep red-brown color, with a moderate off-white head. Aromas of nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove overlay the rich malt hitting the nose. Sipping the beer, the spices hit the palate first, but are actually muted and well-balanced. A malt base and hint of pumpkin flesh carry through in the finish. There's a touch of sweet caramel and vanilla also to be found. At 9.2% ABV, this is a pleasing sipper. I enjoyed the seasonal release very much, and regret not thinking to get a bottle, or two, to bring home. A return trip might be in order.

For her selection, Colleen opted for Gingerbread Boodwooger India Brown Ale. I got a little tongue-tied trying to order this one; the name is a variation of the brewery's popular Woodbooger Belgian Brown Ale. The spicy gingerbread spice flavoring of the beer was the prevalent, capped with a mild hop bitterness, along with hints of pepper and vanilla.

Since this was our second food truck-less stop of the day, we grabbed a bag of tortilla chips and a container of smoky salsa from the cooler. The corn chips and the hot and smoky dip went quite well with both of the beers. It made for a flavorful, if decadent, meal.

Strangeways Brewing & Sugar Shack Donuts

Last Saturday was the release day for Sugar Shack Samoa Porter at Strangeways Brewing in Fredericksburg. This beer is inspired by the Tastes Like A Samoa™donut from Sugar Shack Donuts. To compliment the beers, a "donut hole" Samoa donut was given out with each glass of beer. Colleen and I headed over early and enjoyed a late "breakfast" of a donut and beer.

Sugar Shack Samoa Porter pours a deep black color with a thin beige head. The aroma is sweet chocolate and molasses. The chocolate theme carries into the flavor, adding a hint of bitterness. The mouthfeel is smooth and moderately thick. We both enjoyed the beer, and the Samoa donut hole, though we agreed that having full sized examples of the donut available for sale would have added to the pleasure.

Since we were bringing a couple bottles of the Samoa Porter home, we opted to try a few more beers from Strangeway's extensive tap list. Colleen opted for the Strangways classic, Woodbooger Belgian Brown Ale. I selected Always Forward New England Pale Ale.

Of course, one does not survive on breakfast alone. So as we sipped our beers we also enjoyed some delicious Puerto Rican food from the Will's Place food truck. We started with Nachones, a dish of fried plantains with slow roasted pork, lettuce, tomato and Coqui Sauce. A couple of "Zeke" empanadas, made with jalapenos and pimento cheese, rounded out the meal. The food was very flavorful and reasonably priced. Will's is a regular visitor at many of the local craft breweries, but this was our first chance to try out their food. We'll definitely keep an eye out for Will's mobile food in the future.

The weather was extremely pleasant and we were enjoying our outside table. With no other plans for the afternoon, I opted to try Strangeways Nottingham Striker English Mild. We also could not resist ordering a couple more of those tasty empanadas from Will's. The English Mild was not as strongly flavored as the prior beers, as expected, but was well done. At just 3.8% ABV is was a fitting finish to a most relaxing Saturday afternoon.

Strangeways Brewing Fredericksburg

Last Monday when heading out for an early dinner, Colleen, "Checkered Flag," and I decided to check out Strangeways Brewing. The brewery's new Fredericksburg location has only been open for a couple weeks, and we'd been looking forward to visiting.

We were immediately impressed by how big the place was. In comparison, the Richmond location is relatively small, but the open warehouse setting in Fredericksburg has copious seating. There's also an outdoor seating area, with its own taps. We opted for a table inside.

There were over thirty beers being poured, so our decision making was bit tough. Actually, it wasn't that bad, we just grabbed a flight order mat and started listing beers to try in 5.5 ounce tasters. After eight picks we decided we had a good start.

It was easy to see that our early dinner plans were going to be delayed, but we were already hungry. We grabbed a few packages of chips and nuts from the display cooler to tide us over. Strangeways offers a selection of snacks, cured meats, cheeses and salsas to go along with your beer. Food truck scheduling is also in the works I am told.

The beers we selected, in order:

Sour Cherry Cobbler
Albino Monkey White Ale
Unpretentious IPA
The Homecoming Belgian Farmhouse Saison
The Hinterlander Wild Barleywine
Hawaii Five-O Coconut Porter
Gelati Celesti Chocolate Decadence Ice Cream Stout
Ape Armageddon Imperial Stout (Rye Whiskey Barrel, Brandy Barrel, Bourbon Barrel aged)

We took our time working through the tasting flight. The beers were all very enjoyable, though we all had our own opinions and favorites. The Cherry Cobbler Berliner Weisse was particularly enjoyed by my companions. I was alone in favoring the Unpretentious IPA. The Hinterlander Wild Barleywine gets its unique flavor from the addition of Brett and aging in oak barrels. I found it very tasty, although the Brett funk was a bit odd in the finish. Gelati Celesti Chocolate Decadence Ice Cream Stout evoked a few "oohs" and "ahs." Ape Armageddon Imperial Stout is a bold beer with a strong aroma and flavor, having been aged in Rye, Brandy, and Bourbon barrels. At 11% ABV it's one I'd return to linger over, perhaps with some smoked meat and cheese.

After our flight, it was time for a conversation about food. Since we were making the serendipitous outing into an event, we decided to try out a local Italian restaurant, Orofino, that has been getting great reviews. We managed to make a reservation online, but this also meant we had a bit more time to kill. To pass the time, we ordered one more round, all sticking with some lower ABV offerings; Sour Cherry Cobbler for Checkered Flag, Albino Monkey White Ale for Colleen, and I went for the Homecoming Belgian Farmhouse Saison.

Eventually we headed out to enjoy an absolutely amazing dinner, which is a story for another day. I obviously didn't get to try all the beers I wanted at Strangeways. With 96 draft lines, and 36 or more beers on tap, that's probably that's a desire that will likely remain unfulfilled. I am however, looking forward to working towards it.

Date Day Part 2 - Strangeways and Legend Breweries

After we finished up a fun-filled hour at the range, Colleen and I headed over to our next planned stop, Strangeways Brewing. We don't get down to Richmond often, and this place has been on my "need to do" list for sometime. Strangeways has 36 beers on tap, so deciding where to start was an issue. The friendly bartender suggested we start with the "Nucleus Flight" consisting of six of the brewery's core beers.

The beers on the flight are Albino Monkey White Ale, Woodbooger Belgian Style Brown Ale, GWAR Blood Red Ale, Phantasmic Belgian IPA, Hop Howler, and Überlin Berliner Weisse. We enjoyed the entire flight. Interestingly, Colleen and I were in agreement in picking Albino Monkey, Woodbooger, and Phantasmic as our favorites, but it was quite difficult to actually rank the six beers in order of preference.

The 3.5 ounce servings were enough for us to share but not so big that we couldn't try out more beers. So after the flight we grabbed a bag of tortilla chips and some salsa from the cooler, and tried a couple more 5.5 ounce tasters.

Colleen selected the Tirami'zu Brew Rum Barrel Aged Porter. This porter is brewed with coffee, cocoa nibs, vanilla beans and aged for 3 months in rum barrels. How could one go wrong with that? The beer did justice to its namesake with flavors of rum, chocolate and coffee. The mouthfeel was thick and creamy. My next selection was Legalize It Come Togther Hoppy Wheat Ale. The juicy citrus hops were joined by a nice wheat flavor that for a unique flavor profile.

The beers at Strangeways are as unique as their names. As we prepared to leave for our next stop, I still was curious about a few other beers on the list. One that had been tempting me the whole time was Virginia Stingo Red Wine Barrel-Aged English Strong Ale. At 10% ABV, I couldn't add it to my tasting list, but the bartender offered me a small taste. The Old Ale was aged for nine months in oak barrels that previously held red wine. And what a fantastic flavor that created! Boozy, with lots of dark fruit with caramel sweetness. In retrospect, I should have brought a bottle home.

After Strangeways, our original plans were to grab a quick bite to eat and head home. However, we decided to get food, and more beer, at another area mainstay, Legend Brewing Company.

We opted for a couple of starter plates for an early dinner; the Munich platter with Bratwurst, Kielbasa or and Andouille, (we upgraded to all three) a soft pretzel, sauerkraut, havarti cheese and spicy mustard, and the Smoked Salmon platter with honey smoked salmon, avocado, roasted red pepper, Fuji apple, dill cream cheese and grilled pita. The two plates contained more than enough tasty food for us to share.

As for the beer, I had a Golden IPA and Colleen enjoyed the seasonal Winter White. Both beers were fine accompaniments to the food, over which we lingered for quite a while. We also enjoyed a sample of the just released Ütebier. This struck me as a cross between an American Pale Ale and a very crisp Pilsener. It was an interesting flavor, and one I might seek out in a bottle locally.

Believe it or not, after all the food and beer enjoyed in the long day, we debated a bit about the next stop in our adventure. We'd already made it a longer day than planned, but as noted, we don't make it down to Richmond all that often and debated extending the road trip. In the end, we opted to start the long drive home, vowing we'd be back soon.

Strangeways Brewing Expanding to Fredericksburg

Big news! Strangeways Brewing posted this exciting announcement to their Facebook page...

Strangeways Brewing Opening Production Brewery and Taproom in Fredericksburg 

Richmond, VA, September 29th, 2016 - Strangeways Brewing, a three year old business based in Richmond, announces today the opening of a second production brewery and taproom at 350 Lansdowne Road, Fredericksburg, VA.  The facility is located near the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds.

The 10,100-square foot building sitting on almost 3 acres will feature a 10-barrel brewhouse, a large taproom, live event space, private event space, retail shop, arcade, and outdoor beer garden.

As a native of Virginia who was born and raised in Fredericksburg, it has always been part of owner Neil Burton's plan to expand into his hometown.  The chosen location has personal meaning for Burton, a James Monroe High School graduate. "This is the exact same building where we previously headquartered my families’ clothing operation, Burton’s Menswear, which I helped operate for nearly twenty years.  That just makes this even more special and personal."

Strangeways was twice rated Virginia’s Best Brewery Taproom by RateBeer.com users, listed by bon appétit magazine as one of “10 New U.S. Breweries to Watch, from D.C. to California”, and noted in Southern Living magazine as one of the “South’s Best Breweries”.

Burton is excited to bring his passion for craft beer and Strangeways’ signature array of beer styles to Fredericksburg.  He anticipates the tasting room being a community gathering place for folks to meet and socialize, as well as be a tourist destination.

More than 100,000 Virginians and tourists from around the world visit Strangeways in Richmond each year.  The Richmond location opened on May 29, 2013 with two flagship beers that remain on tap today, Albino Monkey Belgian White Ale and Woodbooger Belgian Brown Ale.  The brewery quickly grew into a fan favorite with its large variety of options, including Überlin Berliner Weisse Sour, which took a gold medal in the Sour European Ale category at the 2016 Virginia Craft Brewers Cup Awards.

The Fredericksburg taproom plans to feature nearly 50 Strangeways draft beers, making it the production brewery tasting room with the most taps in Virginia.  The 10-barrel brewhouse is half the size of the Richmond system, giving the brewery the ability to produce a large variety of smaller batch offerings.  In its three years, Strangeways has always been the largest producer of sour and wild beers in the Commonwealth.  The Fredericksburg facility will continue this tradition, including aging beers in wooden barrels that previously were used in the production of bourbon, rum, tequila, scotch, gin, red wine, white wine, sherry, grappa, bourbon maple syrup, etc.

“Brown Distributing has done an excellent job of distributing Strangeways beer in Central Virginia,” stated Burton, “and we’ve learned that our tasting room is an integral part of effectively sharing the Strangeways story, which then translates to demand for our products at our retail partner accounts.  This is a blueprint we hope to emulate in Fredericksburg.”

The new event space will host happenings such as live music shows, festivals, and holiday celebrations, and the private event space will be available for meetings, receptions, and other special occasions.

Light fare, including snack flights and locally sourced charcuterie will be served, and menus from local restaurants will be available for patrons to order delivery.

The new Fredericksburg location will create 27 new jobs for the local economy. Opening for the new Strangeways facility is anticipated for the first half of 2017.

Needless to say, I'm excited and looking forward to visiting the new taproom next year.

See also this review of a Strangeways event in Fredericksburg a couple years ago.

Strangeways Tap Takeover and STG

Up until Tuesday evening, I'd never had the opportunity to try the beers from this Richmond, VA brewery. I had been looking forward to the Strangeways Brewing Tap Takeover and Steal the Glass event at Capital Ale House for some time. The anticipation made even greater since the event had already been postponed once.

During the drive downtown Colleen and I wondered, how crowded would it be? Would we be able to get a seat at the bar? Walking in, I was shocked to see a large, and noisy crowd. And then I saw that Brazil and Germany were engaged in some sort of kickball tournament, and folks were watching the action on the TVs behind the bar. We found what may have been the last two seats at the bar and ordered our flights of six Strangeways beers.

First up was Strangeways Albino Monkey, a Belgian-style Witbier. Slightly cloudy, the flavor was mild and wheat-rich. The second beer in the the flight was B-Sides Honey Bock. The sweetness of honey was noted in both the aroma and the taste. The honey flavor gave way to sweet malt and hint of bitter hops. This was probably my favorite of the group. Soon the small glass was empty and we moved on to the next, interesting beer.

Strangeways O.T.I.S. is described as a Cucumber Melon Sour. I was very intrigued to try this, but didn't know what to expect. The American Wild Ale is brewed with cucumbers, honeydew, juniper berries, and tangerines. I got a hint of the cucumber and melon only briefly, and the tartness took over. Wow, that was good. Another sip... A refreshing and palate cleansing drink. I'd have it again, but I think one glass would suffice in a sitting.

Phantasmic East Coast IPA was next in line. The malt-heavy IPA had fruit notes mixed in with the piney hops. Clean finishing, it left little bitterness behind. Strangeways Woodbooger is described as a Belgian-style Brown Ale. The aroma was caramel, chocolate, brown sugar and roasted malt. The dark roasted malt flavors were offest by a rich mocha sweetness, the sweet and bitter aspects of the beer taking turns at dominance.

Finally, we arrived at Strangeways Freeze Ray, a 10.24% ABV Eisbock. I was looking forward to this one as Eisbocks are uncommon, especially among the US craft breweries. Freeze Ray is a rich, dark dobblebock with a creamy mouthfeel and a smooth chocolate and malt flavor profile. The high alcohol level is completely masked, with no alcohol burn. This one could be dangerous!

Neil Burton, the owner of Strangeways, and Chris Holder, one of the owners of Capital Ale House travelled up from Richmond to attend the event. Neil is a native of Fredericksburg, so this was a homecoming of sorts for him. It was great to meet him and hear his story on how he came to own a brewery. I hadn't seen Chris since before the Fredericksburg CAH location opened, though we've emailed back and forth often. I was good to catch up and talk beer for a bit.

The drama on the TV ended not too long after our arrival. The bar emptied for a short time before more folks started arriving for the Strangeways event. Colleen and I enjoyed our dinner while discussing the beers and current life events. We enjoyed all of the beers and I look forward to trying more from this brewery. Perhaps an extended visit to the brewery is in order. They keep 25 house beers on tap! After a couple hours, we noted that severe weather was building in the area, so I opted to not order a full pint of one of the Strangeways beers, and we headed home. Of course, that did relieve me of having to make a tough choice; B-Sides Honey Bock, or O.T.I.S. Sour, or ...