A Visit to Old Trade Farm Brewery

As we sat on the porch Saturday morning, sipping our coffee, and discussing what to do for the day's adventure, Colleen and I were in agreement; we did not want to deal with traffic or spend a lot of time on the road. I remembered reading an article in the local paper recently about a new brewery that opened just a few weeks ago, near Culpeper. Old Trade Brewery is a farm brewery located in Brandy Station, Virginia. Decision made.

After a quick lunch at Grill 309 in Culpeper, we headed over to the brewery. (If you haven't been to Grill 309, I highly recommend it.) The brewery and tasting room is located in a farm building. We were immediately impressed by the welcoming and comfortable atmosphere, with both indoor and outdoor seating. There is wood stove inside, as well as multiple fire pits outdoors, for cool weather visits. A kids activity area and an outdoor playground complete the family-friendly setting. As an added treat, there's even a free popcorn machine!

We took seats at the bar, and ordered a flight of the four beers on tap that day; Windy Pale Ale, Sarah Berliner Weisse, Tri-Corner Nut Brown Ale, and Thayer's Porter. The Pale Ale had a pleasing bitterness, with a hint of citrus. The Berliner Wiesse was refreshingly tart and fruity. The Brown Ale was quite enjoyable as well, with a crisp nutty flavor. These first three beers were listed as having a mild, ABV around 5%, perfect for an afternoon of relaxing and sipping. The "big" beer of the bunch was the Porter, which checked in at 8.7%. The boldly flavored beer would be quite enjoyable by the fire pit on a cool evening.

As we sipped our flight, brewer and co-owner with his wife, Garrett stopped by to chat. It was interesting to hear his plans for the future of Old Trade, including more beers, a cidery and events. We're definitely looking forward watching the young brewery grow, and being regular visitors.

We found all the beers to well-done and quite tasty. That made our next decisions all the more challenging. Eventually I decided on a glass of the Pale Ale, while Colleen chose the Nut Brown Ale. We took our beers outside to enjoy the view of the corn fields and the mountains to the west.

As we sipped, a few friends showed up and joined us. That led to much interesting conversation about our favorite topics — beer and local breweries. Soon my glass was empty, so I opted to enjoy the Berliner Weisse as we continued our relaxing afternoon.

When we returned home later in the day, I realized that I had been enjoying the beer, the scenery, and the conversation so much that I had neglected to take any pictures of the setting, indoors or out. I will correct that oversight on another visit. I am confident that visit will occur in the very near future.

Fär Göhn Brewing

In Culpeper, VA, a new craft brewery has been quietly serving beer for just a few weekends. Fär Göhn Brewing opened its doors with little fanfare. Owner Steve Gohn told me he wanted to make sure he could properly serve his beer to visitors, without a long line at the bar or the need to turn folks away. Most of the publicity so far has been through the brewery's Facebook page.

It was via Facebook that I discovered the brewery doors were open, so I made plans to visit this weekend. When I arrived Saturday afternoon there were just a few folks at the bar, but more and more folks soon arrived; I think the word is getting out. I opted to try a flight of all seven beers being offered. The flight consisted of Aesel Kölsch, Yeager Mtn Pale Ale, Ferhoodle Hefeweizen, Imberbrau Ginger, Sleeping Elefant IPA, Dunkel Dimmer Porter, and Grundbier Scottish Ale. There were actually eight glasses in the flight as they had a special serving of the Porter that had been sitting on cocoa beans. 

As I worked my way through the flight, I was impressed by the quality of all the beers. There wasn't a disappointment in the bunch. The Kölsch was especially well done with a crisp hop flavor and a clean, dry finish. The Pale Ale was citrusy and quite refreshing. The IPA had a crisp citrus hop flavor, with a distinct peach fruitiness. Often a brewery's Pale Ale and IPA end not being so distinctive from one another, but I was impressed by the variety between the two. The Ginger beer was a unique offering; not a flavor that particularly appeals to my tastes, but it seemed to be quite popular. The Dunkel Dimmer Porter that was amended with cocoa beans was especially flavorful. I think it could best described as "chocolate beer" and Steve Gohn described it "like a Tootsie roll." Fär Göhn offers a nice variety, and to a beer the flavors in the flight were distinctive and enjoyable.

As for my favorite, it was a tossup between the Kölsch and the Pale Ale. I enjoyed them both enough to have a run off round with full pints of both. That race is still undecided, so I reckon I'll have to go back for another review. Fär Göhn Brewing is housed in a nondescript building that gives little clue of the good beer awaiting inside. The brewery offers classic German styles, along with offerings of other brewing styles and flavors. The beer is fresh, unfiltered and flavorful. I don't expect this place will remain a secret for long.

Beer Hound Open in Culpeper

Friday evening Colleen and I headed over to Culpeper to take in the opening of Beer Hound Brewery. The brewery had its beginnings as a nano-brewery located in Barboursville, VA, and the move to Culpeper has been long-awaited. When we arrived there was a large crowed both inside and outside, despite some rain showers moving through the area.

Entering the spacious pub area, we were greeted by loud, live music. I'm a fan of old rock and country music, but the volume made it quite difficult to place an order, and even the bar staff was struggling to converse with clients. There was a bit of a crowd so we had time to peruse the large chalk board menu. Beer Hound was pouring nine beers, plus a house root beer. We opted to order a flight of nine samplers. We headed to a distant corner and took a seat at one of the tall narrow tables provided. Even at the furthest indoor seats from the band, who we could not see as they were located around the corner, we found discussing the beers near impossible. We were however, very pleased to see the big buckets of roasted peanuts provided and hope that's on ongoing feature in the tasting room.

The first beer of the flight, Scottie 70 Shilling Scottish Ale checks in at just 4.1% ABV. The slightly sweet ale has hints of brown sugar, toffee and molasses. It was one of my favorites in the bunch. Interestingly, the next beer, Kujo Pale Ale was the second highest ABV beer, at 8.6%. It had a nice bitter citrus flavor. Moving on to Mutt American IPA, I was intrigued by the tropical citrus aroma. However, that didn't translate to the flavor, which we thought rather muted. This was the only beer we found somewhat disappointing, but I'll probably give it another try in the future before writing it off. Archie Brown Ale was an enjoyable, nutty brown ale with a hint of licorice. This one was another highlight in the flight. Switching gears, the next sample in the flight was the Teddy Cream Ale. Another interesting beer, with hints of white grape, honey and vanilla, Teddy was refreshing and flavorful.

With a quick refill of our peanut stash we continued the tasting exploration with Teufelhunde Abbey Blonde. The "big" beer of the bunch at 9.1%, this was still a light, thin bodied blonde ale with bread and fruit notes. Duke Amber Ale was another favorite of mine. A bready, toasted malt base was balanced with a bit of spice, giving a flavor profile we enjoyed but couldn't quite describe. The Apollo Hefeweizen is a classic German Hefeweizen. The flavors of clove, banana, wheat and yeast combine to make a mild but flavorful beer. I think this was Colleen's favorite of the group, "Mind if I finish this?" she asked. We finished with the Fang Oatmeal Stout which was served on nitro. We probably should have tasted this one earlier, as the nitro gas creaminess had mostly dissipated by now. With a moderately thin body, the Oatmeal Stout was slightly bitter, with roasted coffee, oats, bitter chocolate and a mildly bitter hop finish. At just 5.1%, Fang is another tasty, low ABV drink.

Most of the Beer Hound beers are both fairly low in ABV and mildly flavored. Their light to moderate body make them great candidates for an afternoon, or evening of sipping. We enjoyed most of the beers, but in the end opted to stop with just the samplers and forgo any full pints at this time, saving time to enjoy dinner before heading home. I saw brewer Kenny Thacker in the crowd, but given the loud music decided that any conversation would be nearly impossible, so will hope to meet him on a future visit — when there's not a grand opening celebration going on.

Interestingly, just one block over from Beer Hound is the future home of another brewery, Fär Göhn Brewing. It looks like we'll be making regular visits to Culpeper in the future.

Brewery Moving to Culpeper

A local nanobrewery is moving into downtown Culpeper. According to the Star Exponent,

A brewery is coming soon to Waters Place by the Culpeper Depot. 

Stanardsville native Kenny Thacker, brew master, said Friday he was in the process of moving Beer Hound Brewery from its current location along U.S. 29 in Greene County to downtown Culpeper with an estimated opening in June 

He has been running the nanobrewery — producing no more than three barrels of beer in each batch — for less than two years in a shopping center on the northbound side of U.S. 29 near the Ruckersville Sheetz.

The new Beer Hound Brewery location will have both indoor and outdoor seating, as well as growler fills to go. I'm looking forward to stopping by and trying out their beers. Perhaps, this will be a great place to relax after a morning of shooting at Cedar Mountain.

For more on the Beer Hound move see "Beer Hound Brewery moving to Culpeper."