Chimay Beer and Cheese Tasting at Kybecca

I stopped by Kybecca this afternoon for the Chimay beer and cheese tasting being held at the Plank Road store. It was nice to see the cheese offering, so often we only see cheese (or food in general) being offered at wine tastings. Cheese is an excellent accompaniment to beer as well, some might say it's even more appropriate. Matt was pouring both Chimay Première, a Dubbel, and Chimay Grande Réserve, a Belgian Strong Ale. The cheese is labeled "Chimay with beer". It's a semi-soft cow's milk cheese that's washed in Chimay beer, giving the rind a golden color. The aroma is slightly pungent. The cheese has a mild flavor; I'd describe it as woody and a bit nutty. It went well with both beers, though I personally preferred the Dubbel.

I didn't leave with any Chimay beers, but did bring home some of the Chimay cheese. Oh yea, and a couple of other beers that I couldn't resist.

(Yet Another) Brewpub and Beer Garden for Fredericksburg

The Blue & Gray Brewing Company has plans to open a 30-seat brewpub and an outdoor beer garden this Fall, if all goes to according to plan. The Free Lance-Star posted details this morning:

[Owner Jeff] Fitzpatrick said the move would be a "natural evolution" for his business, one that would allow customers to have a Blue & Gray beer while eating what he describes as "high-quality pub fare." He would likely open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday, and could expand the restaurant if all goes well. He'd also hold special events and parties.

The brewery would continue to offer retail sales of its beer on site. The brewpub would likely offer the main product lines and some smaller-batch beers not available at other bars and restaurants.

The new site, which is on 20 acres and has parking for more than 100 cars, would allow Fitzpatrick to increase the size of the brewery's St. Patrick's Day and Oktoberfest events. The latter is scheduled for Sept. 26-28.

I know this has been in the works for some time and it appears plans are now moving forward. Jeff has filed a special use permit application with the Fredericksburg Planning Commission to operate the brewpub in the Fredericksburg Battlefield Industrial Park. Blue & Gray would move their current brewing operations to the new site. Jeff has spoken previously about the possibility that the popular outdoor festivals he holds would be unable to continue at the current site. This new home would allow those to continue, and even grow in size.

Beer lovers in the area have much to look forward to. We recently were told of plans for another brewpub for Fredericksburg. Also expected this Fall is the opening of the Capital Ale House in downtown Fredericksburg. Exciting times indeed!

Blue & Gray Virginia Hefeweizen

"Sic Semper Fermentue Terribilis"

The slogan on the label translates to “Death to Bad Beer Always”. Virginia Hefeweizen from Blue & Gray Brewing Company is the Summer seasonal from the Fredericksburg brewery. The brewery uses German Weihenstephan Weizen yeast and American Wheat to produce their version of a classic Hefeweizen. The beer was released over the Memorial Day weekend, but I just picked some up this week. Colleen and I decided to enjoy it as an appetizer while our dinner was cooking.

Poured from a half-growler into an official Blue & Gray Weizen glass, a short lived head white head forms over the cloudy, straw-yellow beer. Immediately the banana and fruit aromas are noticeable. A slight peppery spice is also noted in the aroma as well. The taste is refreshing with the expected strong banana and clove flavors. There are nice spicy, peppery notes present as well. Virginia Hefewiezen also has a surprisingly strong, but pleasant hop profile. The mouthfeel is moderately thick and creamy, with low carbonation. The finish is somewhat astringent and the hop bitterness lingers on the palate.

We found the Blue & Gray Virginia Hefeweizen to be a very enjoyable start to dinner on a very hot day. We've enjoyed the Virginia Hefeweizen in past years but Colleen remarked that this year it seemed exceptionally nice. The beer will be available all Summer long so I'll surely be back for more growler fills.

Tasting Opportunities This Weekend

In addition to the tastings this weekend, there's a Clipper City tasting at Total Wine on Thursday, July 3. Tom Cizauskas from Clipper City will be on hand to pour and talk about these excellent beers. I'll post more details as I get them. I'm also looking forward to the Chimay beer and cheese tasting on Saturday at the Plank Rd. Kybecca. (That's the one by Ukrops.)

Update: Details on Thursday's Clipper City tasting here.

Friday, June 27 - 5:00 - 8:00pm
Total Wine
Friday 5 @ 5 Beer Tasting:
Pete’s Wicked Strawberry Blonde, Troegs Nut Brown Ale, Leffe Blonde, Fuller’s London Pride, and Bartles & Jaymes Fuzzy Navel

Friday, June 27 - 5:30 - 8:00pm
Virginia Wine Experience, Fredericksburg
Beer Tasting:
Tröegs Sunshine Pils, Wyder's Dry Pear Cider

Saturday, June 28 - 12:00 - 5:00 pm
Kybecca
Beer Tastings in 2 Locations:
William Street (Downtown):
Kulmbacher Schwarzbier, Kulmbacher Eisbock, plus 1 customer choice
Plank Road (Next to Ukrops)
Beer and cheese pairing. Two Chimay Trappist beers will be paired with the Chimay cheese made by the same monastery in Belgium. Plus, as usual, 1st customer in gets to pick the 3rd beer.

Every Saturday, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
Blue & Gray Brewery
Beer samples and brewery tours

Please support the folks who bring us these events. Let them know there is an active craft beer community in the area. When you attend any of these events, tell us about it in the comments, and be sure to let the proprietor know you heard about it here.
Have something to add? Let me know, my contact information is here.

Bringing Back Hard Cider, and Promoting Agri-tourism in Virginia

The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star is running a story on the comeback of hard cider production in Virginia entitled Hard cider's second act:

In early America, the undisputed beverage of choice was hard apple cider--even more so than water.

Thomas Jefferson brewed champagne-like cider out of Virginia Hewe's Crab apples at Monticello.

John Adams guzzled a pitcher each morning with his breakfast, citing its positive health benefits.

Yet, these days, hard apple cider has largely fallen out of favor in the United States. Only a few brands, mostly imported from England, remain widely available.

Now, however, an Albemarle County apple orchard is aiming to spark a cider comeback.

"Cider was the libation of choice in Colonial America," said Chuck Shelton of Vintage Virginia Apples on U.S. 29 south of Charlottesville. "We're going to bring cider back."

Vintage Virginia Apples has received site plan approval from the Albemarle County Planning Commission to build both a cidery and a tasting room. Cider production is expected to begin this Fall, with the tasting room opening in the Spring.

Interesting news indeed, but the most interesting part of the article to me was the tie-in to tourism in Virginia:

Charlotte Shelton, also an owner of Vintage Virginia Apples, said the company is hoping to tap into Central Virginia's growing agritourism market. With dozens of wineries in the region, it seems only natural that thirsty tourists and Charlottesville food lovers would want to check out the complex flavors of high-end cider, she said.

The same thing could be said of the growing Virginia brewing industry. As I noted in a previous post, the time is right to focus in the tourism aspect of Virginia beer. Why let the wineries get all the agri-tourism dollars? Virginia has long been associated with hop growing. Already Blue Mountain Brewery in Nelson County has started a hop farm, with over 200 rhizomes planted. Looking beyond hops, I recently spoke with one Virginia brewery owner who is working to obtain high grade, Virginia-grown barley for his beer. I look forward to the day I'm following hop-emblazoned signs through the Virginia countryside.

Read the entire cider article here.

Denver Trip - Rock Bottom Brewpub

During my recent trip to Denver I realized there was a Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery right around the corner from my downtown hotel. The closest Rock Bottom to my home is in Arlington, and although the various locations have gotten good reviews from local beer drinkers, but I've never gotten around to visiting. I decided this would be a good time to correct that.

The Denver brewpub is located in pedestrian mall setting among quite a few bars and restaurants. On my walk over I decided to stop in one of the other establishments and check out their beer list. Neither the hostess, the waitress she asked, nor the posted menu could inform me what was on tap. I decided it wasn't even worth a walk back to the bar, and continued on my way to Rock Bottom. (Was walking out rude?)

When I arrived the place was pretty crowded for a week night I thought. I found one of the few empty seats at the bar, and surveyed the beer list and the surroundings. The fermentation tanks are behind a glass wall behind the long bar. There was no activity in the brewing area during my evening visit. Very quickly one of the bartenders arrived to take my order. I selected the brewery's Falcon Pale Ale. The beer is a copper-orange color with a thin head. I detected a slight hop aroma backed by bready malts. The dominant flavor is the biscuit malt with some bitter hops at the finish. A very drinkable beer, it has an "east-coast" profile rather than the zesty, citrus hop flavors more typical of west coast pale ales.

I ordered a Brewer’s Club sandwich to go with my beer. The turkey, ham, and bacon sandwich on focaccia bread arrived quickly and was quite tasty. I enjoyed it while wondering how it would be rated by my turkey-aficionado friends. I hung out for a while watching the Celtics take the NBA championship. I knew that my buddy Frank, an avid Boston sports fan, would be watching the game where ever he was. I sent him a text message telling him I was watching the game from a bar in Denver. Sure enough a few minutes later I got a reply. He was indeed watching the game - from a bar in Naples, FL!

The food and beer at this Rock Bottom was tasty and served in a pleasant atmosphere. The service at Rock Bottom was quite attentive, at least from my observation post at the bar, no one sat with an empty glass, unless by choice. I wouldn't hesitate to visit another Rock Bottom brewpub given the opportunity. In fact, I'd probably search one out and try a few more of their beers.

Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest

The Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest was held June 21-22 in Leesburg, Virginia. Colleen and I attended the festival on Sunday. Arriving a couple hours after the event opened for the day, the crowds were still small, but gradually grew as the day went on. We enjoyed quite a few new beers during the course of the day.

We arrived at lunch time and headed directly for the Hard Times Cafe chili stand, stopping only to fill our glasses at Williamsburg AleWerks. I opted for a Drake Tail Ale IPA, while Colleen selected their Red Marker Ale. The IPA was a nice match for my spicy chili. Now refreshed after the drive, we were ready to explore the festival grounds.

Our first stop was Hook & Ladder Brewing Company of Silver Spring. I've never had the chance to try their beers. Backdraft Brown is a smooth brown ale with an easy caramel malt and hop balance. This beer was the 2008 Washington Post Beer Madness winner. I inquired about the brewery's distribution and was told that Hook & Ladder beers are expected to be available in Fredericksburg in the coming months.

Next we moved on to the Vintage 50 booth for some of Bill Madden's creations. I had hoped to chat with Bill about his plans for The Mad Fox Brewing Company but every time I saw him he was in motion. As the driving force behind the beer festival he was obviously quite busy. I enjoyed a red ale they had on tap, though I didn't catch the official name. There was a hint of cinnamon in the aroma. The flavor was slightly bitter with some caramel malt. It was very tasty and went down easily.

Another notable stop was the Clipper City Brewing Company tent were they had a cask of Oxford Class Organic Amber Ale hooked to a hand pump. This was the only cask beer being served at the festival. Brewery representative Tom Cizauskas rigged the cask in an upright position rather than on its side as is usual, and covered it with ice to keep the beer fresh in the heat. The beer was easily enjoyed at "proper" temperature after just a brief moment in the glass. The beer has a smooth creamy mouth feel, and caramel malt taste with a bit of hop bitterness in the finish.

I also enjoyed a Brooklynator Dopplebock from Brooklyn Brewery. I arrived in time to get some of last beer being poured from a pitcher that had been filled before the keg kicked. I heard that folks were coming back multiple times for samples. This beer is not bottled, but is only available on draft. Enjoying hard to find beers is one of the benefits of attending these festivals. My pour was a bit flat, but had a creamy texture and a clean malt and dark fruit flavor.

The oddly named Hairy Eyeball Ale from Lagunitas Brewing Company was another memorable beer. This strong ale had notes of sweet caramel and dark fruits, a faint smokiness, and also a noticeable alcohol warmth. One might consider it to be an English style barleywine.

We also paid a couple of visits to the Cabot Cheese booth. We've often enjoyed the cheeses from this Vermont creamery. They have a new cheese now coming on the market. Their "Three Year Cheddar" has a rich, sharp flavor and literally melts in your mouth. We were told it's available in our area in Giant Food stores and at Costco. My prediction is that we'll be bringing some home very soon.

Besides enjoying the beer, these events provide an opportunity to meet people and talk about a mutual love of beer. Colleen and I had a nice visit with Tom Cizauskas, who also blogs at Yours For Good Fermentables. I also talked to Jim Justice of Virginia Brewing Company and met head brewer John Hovermale. Jim tells me that the brewery will be going online soon, and they hope to have beer to pour in August. I ran into Ray Johnson who organizes the long-running Blue Gray Breweriana show held in Fredericksburg each February. Ray was relaxing under the Dogfish Head tent. Ray sure knows how to pick a seat. :-) Ray's been battling some serious health issues lately, but he's in his usual good spirits. Our prayers are with him for a speedy and full recovery.

I heard that there were around 5000 people in attendance on Saturday. Sunday, even though the crowd was slightly smaller, looked to be a success as well. I'm confident the festival will continue to grow and become even more successful. One suggestion would be to provide more shaded areas where folks can enjoy their beer and visit with friends. Given the number of attendees, the heat, the beer, and the many food vendors, having ample shaded sitting areas is essential. The BrewFest is a family event and there were plenty of activities for kids as well. The crowd was well-behaved, it was easy to get your beer and to chat with the vendors.

There were some ominous looking clouds moving in as we decided to head home. We stopped for some fresh-popped kettle corn to enjoy on the way home and headed out after a very enjoyable afternoon at the BrewFest. There were plenty of good beers to be enjoyed, along with a variety of foods. I'm looking forward to the next Northern Virginia BrewFest to be held this October in Centreville.

I've put some pictures from the BrewFest here.
Update: Tom has posted his pictures from the weekend.

Denver Trip - Beer Dinner at Duo Restaurant

My visit to Denver coincided with a beer dinner held at Duo Restaurant, a small restaurant in the Highlands section of the city. I attended the dinner with Josh Mishell from Flying Dog Brewery. Josh also writes the BeerDinners.com blog so I knew I was in good company for the event.

The three course dinner featured six beers, three from Tommyknocker Brewery and three from Breckenridge Brewery. As a welcome beer we were served Tommyknocker Ornery Amber Lager. A nice American Amber Lager, it had a mild sweet caramel flavor and a light hop presence. We sipped on this while folks were getting settled and the first course was being set out.

Our first course was a spicy Seafood Curry consisting of shrimp, mussels and calamari over rice. I'd probably pick this as my favorite dish of the evening, although all the food served was absolutely delicious. Two beers were paired with the dish, Tommyknocker Jack Whacker Wheat and Breckenridge Avalanche Ale. I thought the two-beer pairing was an interesting way to show the diversity of beer-food pairing possibilities. Jack Wacker is a spicy American Pale Wheat Ale with a strong lemon grass flavor and a mild hop bitterness. The beer worked very well with the dish and calmed the spiciness but did not overpower or wash it away. The Breckenridge Avalanche Ale had a mild caramel malt flavor that did not stand up as well to the strong flavors of the curry and seafood.

The second course of the evening was maple glazed Prime Rib with a shallot jus, served with crispy potato skins and a horseradish sauce on the side. The beer selected was Breckenridge 471 Extra Special Bitter. The ESB had a strong sweet malt flavor, along with a slight alcohol warmth. It seemed more like an English Barleywine than an ESB. The Breckenridge web site describes the 471 ESB as having a "complex hopiness balanced with traditional English Ale maltiness." I did not note much in the way of hoppiness. Unfortunately, even though it was a tasty beer, I found it much too sweet for the steak dish. Perhaps a traditional ESB might have fared better. The prime rib itself was nicely prepared.

For the third and final course we were served Panna Cotta with a strawberry compote. Two beers were chosen for pairing with this dish as well, Tommyknocker Tundraberry and Breckenridge Vanilla Porter. I've never been a fan of fruit beers, so I was not expecting to find this pairing particularly attractive. The Tundraberry has a strong fruity aroma and the dominant flavor is a sweet berry blend. It's not a flavor profile that I search out in a beer. However, the creamy dessert had the effect of moderating the fruitiness of the beer and I found the combination to be very pleasing. This particular pairing truly shined. The other beer offered with the dish not work as well for my taste. The Vanilla Porter had very prominent vanilla flavor which I found too strong. I left the rest of the porter in my glass and went back to enjoying, to my surprise, the fruit beer with my dessert.

I enjoyed this beer dinner very much. The event was the last of a series of three small beer dinners the restaurant hosted this Spring. The dinners were well-attended and the restaurant will be holding more. The small dinner concept works very well. Having just three courses keeps the cost reasonable and pairing multiple beers with a dish helps to exhibit the diversity of choices when matching beer and food. It also offers options for different preferences in beer that folks may have. All of the food was extremely well-prepared and I look forward to returning to Duo again, even if it isn't for a beer dinner.