WINTER 2014
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For Christmas 2012 my mother-in-law was kind enough to give my wife, Lisa, and I a weekend stay at Afton Mountain Bed & Breakfast. With four kids and both of us working, we didn’t have a chance to finally travel there until late November. With 2013 almost over, we were ready to get away, anticipating a relaxing, quiet, laid back time in Nelson County. We arrived at Afton Mountain Bed & Breakfast in the late afternoon on Friday. We were greeted by Dan and Orquida Ingraham who proved to be warm and wonderful hosts. This bed and breakfast consists of a beautiful 160 year old home that has been renovated and restored to exquisite condition; it was a lot of fun exploring all of the rooms and taking in the history of the place. We made our way to the Goodwin Room and unpacked, taking time to enjoy the homemade treats and refreshments provided by Orquida. Then it was time to kick back and relax until going to dinner. Wild Wolf Brewing Company is located just down the road from Afton Mountain Bed & Breakfast. I had been to Wild Wolf before, but Lisa had not, so I was familiar with the friendly atmosphere and cozy confines of this two year old restaurant and brewery. We were fortunate enough to be able to meet and talk with owner Mary Wolf, who gave us a tour of the brewery and some history and background of the establishment. Wild Wolf is expanding their production capacity and is now offering most of their beers in cans. We truly appreciated the time Mary Wolf took to show us around and explain their operation; all I can say is, Wild Wolf has really got it going on!
AN AFTON EVENING By Jeff O’Donnell
We then made our way to the covered and heated patio to enjoy some fine brews, great food, and fun music. Our server, Luke (as in Skywalker), made us feel right at home and brought Lisa a white wine; I decided to start out with a Wee Heavy, a Scottish style ale with loads of flavor. Lisa ordered the sirloin and vegetables and I got the ribs with fries and coleslaw. We were certainly ready to eat when the food arrived, and it was absolutely delicious. Lisa loved the steak. Now, I have eaten a lot of ribs during my 49 years but I will tell you: the ribs I had that night were a knockout, the best I have ever had. Tender, juicy, full of deep smoke flavor; I wish I could have eaten five racks of them. The only way to follow a meal like that was to order another beer. I decided to jump on the hop train and ordered an Exquisitely Evil Ale. When they say this brew carries a “huge punch of hop bitterness,” take their word for it. Wow! Lisa got the American Pilsner and we settled back to enjoy the music of Bootsie Daniels. Bootsie hails from Staunton, and, with tambourine in hand, delivers some great R & B and soul from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. “Under the Boardwalk,” delivered smoothly and soulfully, got things going. “Shake, Rattle & Roll,” “Kansas City,” and “Domino” kept things moving and got folks out of their seats and dancing. “Mustang Sally” had some great keyboards, and “Get Down on It” was funky and fun. Around this time I tried the Wild Wolf Bitter and Lisa ordered a Blonde Hunny. Bootsie continued to fill our ears with some outstanding singing, including a medley of “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch>Same Old Song>Ain’t Too Proud to Beg>I Wish It Would Rain.” I have to say, “I Wish It Would Rain” was a highlight for me. I ended my beer samplings with a Dry Stout, which was very smooth and satisfying. In the meantime, Bootsie continued with hits such as “Get Ready,” “The Way You Do The Things You Do,” and a personal favorite, “Stagger Lee.” “Superstition” and “Another Saturday Night” were also included and were certainly crowd pleasers. By this time, we had to depart back to Afton Mountain Bed & Breakfast to rest up for a day of hiking and antique shopping that was to follow. As we wandered out to the parking area under the hanging string lights, Lisa and I knew we had found what we were looking for: a relaxing night of fun at a place committed to quality.
PHOTO BY JUMPING ROCKS
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I hope my mother-in-law starts giving the same gifts year after year.
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Up Next: Feb 15 Raspberry Stout Mar 15 Bourbon Barleywine Mar 29 Hoplar Apr 13 Capital Trail Pale Ale Apr 19 Bourbon Cru Apr 26 *RVA Beard League Special Release
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VIRGINIA CRAFT BREWS
“A community supported publication for a cause”
Virginia Craft Brews is a hard copy and digital magazine publication dedicated to telling the unique stories of the people involved with craft beer in Virginia while supporting a worthwhile cause!
HOW IT WORKS: STEP 1: THE CAUSE
Each edition, we will pick a specific charity or cause to raise money for. The Winter 2014 Cause is
STEP 2: THE CONTENT
Those involved (including us!) with craft beer, homebrewing, local hops, Virginia breweries, local music, and the business of craft beer will seek out and write interesting stories throughout “The Old Dominion”. You will send in your best write-ups and photos to the Virginia Craft Brews staff. We will pick the best stories and our creative team will design an original publication for the season. It will then be formed into a digital flip through publication hosted at www.virginiacraftbrews.com.
STEP 3: THE PRINT FOR A CAUSE
Local breweries, homebrew shops, craft beer stores, restaurants, businesses and individuals will buy inexpensive ad space in the publication which are added to the online digital version as they come in. You could buy an ad space to use however you like! Tell your friends you love them in an ad! The ad dollars are used to print as many complete hard copies as possible for a separate release in each season in the year. Virginia Craft Brews will attend various festivals where craft beer lovers are sure to be and a suggested donation for the publication is requested. It is also located at all 5 Capital Ale House locations in Virginia with a small donation lock box. The funds raised will go directly to the chosen cause! In addition, we will donate 5% of all Ad sales each season to the cause. Remember—each project’s success is dependent on community support! So get involved today!
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AN AFTON EVENING
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STILL A LEGEND
10—11
THE BIRTH OF A BEER & BREWERY
14—15
WHAT’S IN A NAME? —THE BRAINS BEHIND THE BRAND
16—17
WOLF HILLS BREWING: A STRONG SENSE OF COMMUNITY
18
ORIGINAL GRAVITY
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LET IT GROW
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LOCAL MUSIC REVIEW
Thanks so much to everyone who has supported this publication up to this point! We have had so much fun putting it together and look forward to the future and continuing to improve and create something unique that you will enjoy. We really want this to be a community supported adventure, so if you are interested in getting involved, please contact us! We want many stories to come directly from those involved with beer and brewing, who better out there to tell your story than you! This includes all aspects of Virginia beer, homebrewing, various jobs in the industry, artists, and beer drinkers! The best part about doing this is meeting all the awesome creative people involved who do what they love! I have a feeling 2014 is going to be a great year for Virginia beer. Mark your calendars now for the National Beer Expo coming to Richmond, VA July 16-19 2014! Drink good beer! Please take a minute and go to our website and consider the short survey to help us improve! Matt Goodwyn @vacraftbrews matt@virginiacraftbrews.com www.virginiacraftbrews.com
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OUR TEAM
Matt Goodwyn - Creative Director Peachu Mahant – Art Director Tarun Sinha – Photography Christie Jett – Writer Jeff O’donnell – Writer Griffin Johnson – Writer John Dudley – Writer Robert Martin – Writer Sarah Moore - Music
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STILL A LEGEND ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEGEND, VIRGINIA CRAFT BREWS’ MATT GOODWYN SITS DOWN WITH DAVE GOTT, VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, LEGEND BREWING COMPANY
{FAVORITES}: {SEASONAL}: OKTOBERFEST (ALSO FAVORITE ALL AROUND) {YEAR ROUND}: PILSNER {FOOD/BEER PAIRING}: BRATWURST WITH KRAUT & A PILSNER {LOCAL BAND}: THE REMNANTS
VCB: Huge congrats on the 20 years, on the 20th day of January 2014! What is your favorite memory or story from the journey? A: Wow, well there are really just so many. One that sticks most in my mind is when we switched our distribution. The rights for all of the brands assigned to Legendary Distributors were sold to Brown Distributing Company in 2009. I can remember them coming over with one truck and they had no idea how much beer we had in the warehouse. They ended up going to get another truck and coming back several times. I remember knowing that was a turning point. I also remember drinking the first batch of Golden Ale. I didn’t work here at the time but was coming in all the time to hang out. Tom Martin said here try this; it’s our new beer we have been working on. I had a pint and said wow that is really something special, let me have another. I had another pint, stood up to go to the bathroom and
almost fell down. The first batch was somewhere around 9% and you could not taste the alcohol at all! It is hard to forget that beer. I also remember my very first beer here. I came down to visit while he was brewing and he poured me a pilsner right out of a big bucket that had just been brewed –I will never forget how fresh that beer was and I knew I was in the right place. VCB: What led to your current position and what is your favorite part of the job? A: I started as a sales rep in 1996. I was the first, real full time sales rep I think. We were a lot like many of the young breweries starting out now, everybody wanted to come in and volunteer. I had over 5 years of experience with a distributor in sales and knew I had what it took to come in and make a difference. My favorite part of the job without a doubt is talking to the customers that come in. We really do serve some really great people in Richmond.
VCB: Legend really has a good, diverse customer base. A: We have a really good mix of people that come in here on a regular basis. It is because we make a product, I think for everybody. You may not like a lager; you may like a lighter, easy drinking beer. We got a couple of em’. You may like a hoppy, strong beer, we got a couple of those too. You may like something crazy, with different stuff added, an eclectic type brew. We don’t do a ton of exotic brews, but we always have a few tricks up our sleeve. We are sure to have something here to suit you. VCB: What will the key to long term success in this industry going forward? A: I believe the key is going to be quality on a very consistent level and drinkability. There are a lot of good craft beers coming out now, but not as many that you can drink several while watching the Super Bowl. Listen, this is a tough industry to begin with. One of favorite sayings of Tom’s is “the best way to start a brewery is to get rich first.” It is just not as easy to start
a brewery and have long term success as many may think. I do think Richmond can support a fair amount of breweries, but the success will always depend on quality and the consistency of the beer. VCB: What do you think the next five years will look like for Richmond and Legend? A: When everything pans out, there will be some really good beer left standing in the Richmond area. We certainly have the ability to be a destination for craft beer lovers. There will some that come and some that go. I wouldn’t venture to make too many predictions; I have learned that this is a pretty “fluid” business (no pun intended). People are psyched about it, and the fact is there are some people out here right now making some really, really, good beer. There are so many great possibilities. Many people working at Legend have a long vested interest in the business and have been here 10 plus years, some as many as 18. It really is a family. When you care about the people you work with, care about the product you make, and you feel passionate about what you do –that’s a good recipe right there.
PHOTOS BY TARUN SINHA
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Richmond’s Newest Artistic Expression Southern Skylines Print Company is a small print and design company based in Richmond, Virginia that strives to capture traditional landmarks, cityscapes, and various scenery through diverse perspectives. The goal is to honor and portray the traditional architecture, present in everyday society, through a stylized and vibrant perspective. Southern Skylines Print Co. “is tradition, with a twist.” These digitally enhanced illustration prints, plus many more, are available in both 8.5’’x 11’’ and 11’’x 17’’ sizes. Customized prints of your home are available! Each print comes individually signed and sealed by “Robert E. Lee Monument” the owner and chief designer, Andrew Hutchcroft. “Richmond Skyline”
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For more information about the artist and the company, or to place an order, visit http://www.etsy.com/shop/SouthernSkylinesPC.
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KOBE BEEF SLOPPY JOES INGREDIENTS: 5lb Kobe Beef 2lb Pork Andouille Sausage 3 Onions, Chopped 1.5 Green or Red Bell Pepper, Diced 24 oz Tomato Paste 1.5 Cups Water 1.5 Cups Ketchup 他 Cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar 6 Tbsp Cider Vinegar 6 Tbsp Yellow Mustard 3 Tbsp Chili Powder 3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce 1.5 tsp salt 他 Cup Flour PROCEDURE: Brown beef and sausage with onion and bell pepper in a crock pot. Drain well. Stir together the 10 leftover ingredients and pour over the meat mixture. Let sit in crock pot for minimum 3 hours. chefbeckles.com
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THE BIRTH OF A BEER & BREWERY By Griffin Johnson
He paces nervously around the facility. Three fresh cigars adorn his breast pocket as a celebratory token to the newest addition to the family. All of the normal thoughts race through his mind, what will it be like, how will it be received, what should we name he/she? Is the labeling or clothing right, what does this say about our family? Today is the day. Ten long months. Seems like yesterday when this all got started, yet it also seems like so long ago. From conception to production. From production to reception, what goes through the mind of a brewer from design to when it is officially “born”? I met with Adam Shifflett, the oldest of the Three Brothers Brewery, and we discussed the birth of a beer and their brewery. Three Brothers Brewery is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia in an old bottling factory along Main Street. The brewery is run by Adam, Tyler and Jason Shifflett originally from Linwood, Virginia. In this growing town in the Shenandoah Valley, 3 Brothers is establishing themselves as a major player in the Virginia craft brew scene. In their first year of production, they won Bronze for their Rum Dubbel at the Great American Beer Festival in the wood aged beer category. They have doubled in size, twice now, added bottling to their repertoire and plan on expanding to canning and further upgrading their bottling system. Nearly a year ago I got a chance to tour the brewery when it first opened. At the time, they had 3 thirty gallon tanks lining the street side windows, the tap room was under construction and the excitement of Harrisonburg having its own brewery was fermenting in the community. On a cold November morning, almost a year later, with a quick tour around the building, it’s evident a significant change has happened; the maturation process has been swift. The tinkling and clanking of beer bottles is the musical backdrop as fresh beer is siphoned into six packs. A delivery truck pulls off from the back dock, ready to distribute the beer into our community. Several new tanks line the building and barrels are grouped together, breathing in an out, imparting their flavor into a beer that will one day be enjoyed by Virginians all over the state.
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Adam and I sat down in the tap room. The room is adorned with recycled local wood in various different finishes from a dark chocolate brown to a light white pine finish. Silvery bronze accents are used in the metal and a large window looks into the inner heart of the brewery where Jason is working away at bottling the newest batch of The Great Outdoors. Q: How do you come up with new ideas for a beer? A: I am a big believer in a time and a place for different beer styles. We try to do things that are seasonally appropriate. We may have something that isn’t done locally right now or we really enjoy the style, so we want to play around with it. The more interesting part of The Rum Dubbel was the rum barrel part. We had tasted some other examples of a dubbel with this particular yeast strain and you get some banana notes, so the concept we came up with was the idea of Banana’s Foster. Now, you can make a beer taste like blueberry pancakes, but you don’t literally want the beer to taste like blueberry pancakes, you want it to have notes of blueberry pancakes. But you know those flavor profiles are going to work well together. With that in mind we designed this beer to be barrel aged. For example, Resolute, which is aged in bourbon barrels for ten months. The base had plenty of residual sweetness to withstand ten months in bourbon barrels. With the rum barrels, we knew the beer was going to get some of the sweetness from the rum, so we didn’t want it to have any sweetness from the beer. So, we tried to really dry out the beer, did some manipulation with the temperature program during fermentation to extenuate the banana notes. We finally ended up with something we thought was good and then it went in the rum barrels. Q: How many times do you use a barrel? A: We never use a barrel more than once for the same thing. Every single barrel we use is used one time for that purpose and then they are tiered, which is a more holistic view for our brewery. So, we may use the bourbon barrel once for Resolute and then most of the bourbon barrel flavor is out and you have some residual dark beer
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beer. So what really encapsulates that, when would we see ourselves enjoying this beer? So with something like that… hey…The Great Outdoors seemed right. Some beers are tributes to locations, or people. The Admiral is a tribute to one Q: How do you test your recipes? A: We had a pilot system that was a one of my old CO’s in the Navy. With The barrel system, started off at a homebrew Resolute, our barrel aged beer, we wanted size scale, but we had some problems with to draw attention to with products like that size scale. So now we do a 30 barrel this, “we aren’t willing to compromise for batch, ferment it in a mini conical, tem- a short duration ageing process and we perature control and a lot of the same were “resolute” in that decision.” things we do at the larger scale. We will go through an iteration, five iterations, Q: I have a personal preference to the however many iterations it takes to get more session-able beers, things that I the beer to where we want it and then we can have more than one of. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the bigger beers too, scale it up. but how do you find a balance as a brewer? Q: How many rum barrels does it take A: Just like anyone else, we like getting tofor a 30 barrel batch? A: Each rum barrels holds about 3 gal- gether with our friends and hanging out. lons, so we have anywhere from 15 to 16 So we try to keep a mix throughout our rum barrels. We taste through each barrel product line up, and that is something that during the process and if some of the bar- is on our mind all the time. There are placrels don’t make the cut for the blending es that only do huge beers, but that isn’t really a community based brewery. The then we have some flexibility. community can’t always be drinking 10% beers. That’s not what everyone wants all Q: Does the beer change much the time. The bigger beers are distributed when you try and move it up to the all across the country to many different larger scale? A: Yeah, most definitely. We are still at a markets, but the great thing about craft small enough scale that we don’t have to beer and the number of craft breweries worry as much about the issues that some around the country is the local part of it. of the larger breweries deal with, like ther- Beer is no different than produce. The beer modynamics in the longer, vertical tanks. is always going to be fresher the closer you However, on the hot side, different malts are to home. So, we aim for a balance beat large quantities really accentuate their tween both trying to keep the communiflavor. The best example of that would ty’s wants and needs in mind. be our pale ale. We wanted a pale ale that was low bitterness, a little bit of biscuit Q: What is your flagship beer? flavor, a little fruitiness from the wheat A: The Great Outdoors and Hoptimizamalt, all very subtle. So for the small scale tion. The Great Outdoors in the warmwe used a little bit of biscuit malt, but er months and Hoptimization in the when we brewed that on the production colder months. scale, it just did not work, it tasted like a biscuit. It was really unfortunate to drain Q: When did you decide to about 1500 gallons of the beer, but we open a brewery? had to make some adjustments to get the A: We started planning it in October of 2011. We actually decided to pull the beer where we wanted it. trigger around March 2012. We picked Q: How do you go about naming a beer? out our location, ordered brewery equipA: It depends on the beer and the style. ment and supplies all in one month. Our So, for example with our pale ale we want lease started in the building around Octo capture the essence that this is a beer tober 2012. We spent about two months that is designed to be an outdoor, session building out the space, and we brewed flavors and then we use it for something else. With the Rum Dubbel, the barrels are then used for some sours or other wood aging products.
our first beer two months to the day after we started building, which was December 1st, 2012. Q: How has the first year been? A: Exceeded all expectations. We started with three tanks, which we thought we would use for a year, but within a month and a half, we had maxed out those tanks. We doubled that, and now we are maxed out again, so now we are doubling that. Q: Where is your distribution window? A: As far north as just outside of DC and as far south as Blacksburg. Q: Biggest Challenge in the first year? A: Predicting volumes. Without any history or data to go off, we don’t really want things to sit around, but we also don’t want to come up short. But hopefully with a year of sales data behind us, we can get a little closer to the mark. Q: Goals for 2014? A: Continue to develop our barrel age program and really hone in on quality control. Each brother has a specific role in the company. Adam runs the recipe development, barrel program, distribution and sales interaction. Tyler, with a background in biology, is in charge of the production and operations management. Jason, with a business background, heads up planning, event management, front of the house (taproom) and operates as the CFO. Each brother has different preferences in beer styles as well, which will lend itself well to a large variety of beers and fun experimentation. The brewery is located at 800 N. Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA 22802. The tasting/tap room is open every day of the week except for Tuesday and Wednesday and the hours can be viewed at www. threebrosbrew.com. The valley is a beautiful piece of land sandwiched between the Virginia and West Virginia Mountains and a short day trip from anywhere in Virginia. With a year under their belt, a strong focus towards quality, a passion for craft beer and the local community, this brewery is making noise in the Valley.
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SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2014 11AM—5PM, 17TH STREET FARMERS’ MARKET, RVA Now in its 21st year, central Virginia’s largest and longest-running Earth Day Celebration returns to the historic 17th Street Farmers’ Market in the heart of downtown Richmond on Saturday, April 26, 2014. Sign up for the EarthCraft 5k Race Without a Trace beforehand, then enjoy hundreds of environmentally friendly earth-conscious vendors, interactive children’s area, local food, Virginia craft beer, and live music from The Richmond Youth Jazz Guild, My Darling Fury and Goldrush. This is one of the biggest and best events on the RVA spring calendar! Come join the Richmond community in Shockoe Bottom as we learn about and celebrate the local resources that make our world a more sustainable place to live. Eco-powered by River City Recycling, City of Richmond, Brown Distributing and Coca-Cola. Learn more at: www.earthdayrichmond.org and @rvaearthday
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WHAT’S IN A NAME? —THE BRAINS BEHIND THE BRAND By Christie Jett
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Every homebrewer out there has experienced that initial stab of anxiety, that nagging worry about naming their first brew. After devoting days, no, weeks! to that bubbling carboy in the closet, only the perfect name will do! Sam and Chris waited and waited until one day—BAM!—it came to them in a moment of brilliance as a scruffy, moody Willie Nelson sauntered across the movie screen. And that was how we came to name our first homebrew, “Red-Headed Stranger”.
beers, or “brands” as Mark calls them, will start out differently. Some may arise from a strong recipe that is nearing perfection before the name game is even started. Other times Mark has the name and label in mind long before he is even certain which style of beer will be attached to it. Regardless of how each brand starts, the ultimate goal is to find that perfect marriage between liquid and label that gives his customers the “experience” of drinking Starr Hill beer. “If I had my way,” Mark says, “everybody’s first exNaming our brews is no less anxiety perience with Starr Hill beer would provoking now, but I have always won- be outside on a perfect fall day while dered how some professional brewers their favorite band plays on stage - the come up with the names of their beers gift of great beer.” - names that can’t just be quietly substituted for something else if the humor How did all this play out with Snow in the pun fizzles out after a few weeks. Blind? The recipe for Snow Blind acI finally decided to take this question tually grew out of the recipe for The to a local craft beer giant and sat down Gift. The Gift was Starr Hill’s previwith Mark Thompson, head brewer at ous winter seasonal, a maibock first Starr Hill, to get his take on this dilem- released in 2009, and since retired. ma. Incidentally, Starr Hill had recent- Despite being successful, Mark felt ly released a new beer—Snow Blind, that The Gift had run its course and a doppelbock intended to keep you was ready for a new winter beer. The warm through the chilly winter weath- style team went to work, tweaking and er (which it does very well, might I twisting the maibock into its newer, add.) I was curious - which came first, improved cousin, the doppelbock, and the moniker or the recipe? then Mark went to work on the brand. For locals familiar with Starr Hill’s forEnvision two parallel tracks, one for mer location below a small music hall the style/recipe/beer in the bottle and on Charlottesville’s Main Street, the one for the label/name/brand on the connection between music and Starr bottle (at least at Starr Hill). Different Hill is obvious. In keeping with that
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tradition, the phrase “Snow Blind” was taken from a Black Sabbath song of the same name (but devoted to a different vice.) Snow Blind also gives a nod to its wintery origins with the reference to snow blindness, a bright green retina peering out from behind the frozen star on the label (duh). This may all seem obvious, but Mark is aware that his beers aren’t always given the careful scrutiny that he would like as Starr Hill competes for space and attention on store shelves. That is why he views each beer not just as the liquid in the bottle but more completely as a “brand”, a brand that he carefully crafts so that it is deserving of Starr Hill’s large and loyal fan base. We finish up our samples of Snow Blind and move on to Grateful. In Grateful’s case, the brand was in place long before the recipe. Mark knew that he wanted to create a session pale ale that also satisfied the American craft beer consumer’s demand for hop aroma and flavor - lower alcohol content but still as enjoyable as its more aggressive double- and triple-hopped brethren. Grateful is Starr Hill’s response to that need, a pleasantly hopped pale ale brewed for those sweltering summer months. Despite all of its commercial success and growing trophy count, Mark feels that Starr Hill is still a humble, local brewery at heart and wanted to speak
to that with Grateful. Yes, there is the obvious Grateful Dead connection (his favorite band) but beyond that he hopes the brand asks the question, “What are you grateful for?” Take a second (or third or fourth) look at the label and you’ll also notice the picturesque Albemarle countryside fading into the distance behind the hopadorned star, all of this underneath a subtle Grateful-esque rainbow arcing across the top. “That rainbow took me two weeks,” Mark says. “It needed to be perfect.” If you missed your chance to enjoy Grateful this summer, don’t worry - Grateful has been such a hit that it is being promoted from the seasonal roster to the year-round roster as of next March. As new beers join an already dazzling array of craft beer choices, it will only get harder for breweries to compete for the consumers' attention and, more importantly, their dollars. Designing that perfect attention-grabbing name and label can help craft beer enthusiast and craft beer meet for the first time; after that the beer will speak for itself.
Follow Christie’s blog : www.brewyourownium.com
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WOLF HILLS BREWING: By John Dudley
The isolated back hills of Southwest Virginia have long cultivated a strong sense of community among those who live there. Though fiercely independent, folks in the shadow of Mount Rogers know they can always depend on their neighbors. This mentality has evolved over the centuries to produce towns like Abingdon, where the local residents are happy to shop the Saturday morning farmers market, to try out the latest local restaurants, and to fill a growler at Wolf Hills Brewing, the local microbrewery. What started as little more than a hobby housed in a rented garage has grown into a full-fledged destination that is rapidly filling a historic ice house. Despite limited hours (they close at 8 pm.), the tap room is regularly packed with beer lovers and people just looking for something new and interesting.
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“We have a wide range of demographics that come in here,” says Drake Scott, Wolf Hills head brewer. “People like to come here to see their friends, but I think they also know that they might meet someone they’ve never met before. Even in this small town—Abingdon has about 9,000 people—they might meet somebody they don’t know. People here are very willing to engage in conversation, and we have folks who are lawyers, doctors, farmers, average blue-collar workers all mingling together. I think that’s pretty unique to Abingdon.”
Zazzy’z Coffee House, which is a short walk from the brewery.
Scott is quick to add that he thinks “the beer is pretty good too.”
Wolf Hills is also supporting their local hop farmer. Justen Kelly Dick has a fledgling one-acre hop farm in Meadowview, only about ten miles from the brewery. Scott says, “We used some of his hops in one of our staples, Fightin’ Parsons Pale Ale. It wasn’t a very sizeable amount but we wanted to do our part to encourage
Beyond bringing people together, Scott has been busy bringing local businesses together too. A regular beer on tap at Wolf Hills is Zazzy’z Porter, a coffee-beer collaboration between the brewery and
“Being able to do something like this, to make a beer using a product made by a friend is great. I think our customers like the idea that this beer is made using coffee roasted about 100 yards from the brewery. It’s pretty awesome. One Zazzy’z owner, Ollie Craughwell, is from Ireland and he thought it was pretty cool that we put the beer on nitrogen to give it a Guiness-like character as well.”
him. We want him to know that we are here to support him, as long as we are paying something relatively close for his hops to what we are paying for hops elsewhere. I am willing to pay more to get local products if we have to, but I can’t go too far.” During the hops harvest season, The Wolf Hills crew drove to Westend Farm in Louisa and cut half an acre of vines, which they drove back to the tap room where regular customers were eager to help pick the hops. Scott keeps a small garden behind the brewery where he grows a variety of vegetables and spices that he enjoys using in one-off five-gallon batches. He also made a small batch apple ale using the fruit of a tree behind the brewery, and he recently picked up some bacon at the Abingdon Farmers Market for a bacon infused porter.
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A STRONG SENSE OF COMMUNITY Abingdon has a thriving art scene; it is home to the William King Museum, Heartwood, and the Virginia Highlands Arts and Crafts Festival. Like the people of the region, Wolf Hills is excited to support local artists. Not only does the brewery feature a two-month rotational art show, but Scott also enlisted local artists to help paint the brewery’s delivery truck. “Abingdon has a great art scene, so I think everybody grasped the idea of promoting local artists while promoting our brewery. We had this bland, white box truck that we had bought, and I thought, ‘What’s going to be the best way for us to stand out on the road and be as cost effective as possible?’ So we asked some of our local artists to help paint the truck.” Wolf Hills bought the paint and the artists got to work. Within a few weeks, the
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rolling canvas was covered in distinctive, vibrant designs from some of the region’s best-known artists. The distinctive truck comes in handy as Wolf Hills delivers from as far west as Knoxville, Tennessee to Richmond in the east. So far, they are transporting only kegs, but Scott says they are slowly moving to cans too. In December, Wolf Hills canned 9,000 gallons of Troopers Alley IPA, which they are selling on site. They hope to make their way into specialty beer and wine shops and local grocery stores. “We wanted to do a small run to make sure there is a demand, which I think there is, but we don’t want too many accounts. We’re still super small and we want to be able to fill our orders.” Scott adds, “It has been helpful to keep a
tame growth schedule. It has picked up more in the past year with the tasting room laws changing. Before that, most of our growth was in distribution. Now we are growing more at home and with a higher margin on pint sales we have more to put back into the business. We can be more creative and hopefully provide more jobs for people. We are growing and we want to stay on a steady pace. We don’t want to over-extend ourselves to where we are compromising the products or reducing the quality.”
Scott looks at new breweries in the region with open arms. “I am here to help out any way I can. I think it will be beneficial to us all, kind of like an Asheville (North Carolina) scenario where they are all pretty supportive of each other. That looks to be working well for them. As long as everybody is making pretty good products, we all come out ahead. And I am a consumer as well. I want to be in an area where good beers are available to me too.”
Wolf Hills was the first (recent) microbrewery in Southwest Virginia but others are hoping to move into the area. Scott says he knows of one trying to get started in Glad Spring, less than ten miles from Abingdon, and Smoky Mountain Brewery, which as four locations in eastern Tennessee, is opening a production facility in Bristol, only 30 minutes from Wolf Hills.
As more and more tourists discover what most locals already know, that you can find great beer and great company at Wolf Hills, the tap room will remain full. Beer lovers willing to make the trip to the mountains of Southwest Virginia will easily find a local resident willing to point the way to Wolf Hills.
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ORIGINAL GRAVITY BY ROB MARTIN
It’s not news anymore that craft brewing is a growing trend. According to the Brewer’s Association, the number of craft breweries in the United States has just about doubled in the last 20 years. Richmond has seen its fair share of growth in the craft beer industry and that growth shows no signs of slowing down. Craft brewers are taking the stage and getting attention, but behind the curtains homebrewers are also rising in numbers. Chances are, if you ask around within your circles of friends or coworkers, someone either homebrews themselves or knows someone who does. And chances are, if they homebrew in Richmond, they know Original Gravity. Yes, Original Gravity is the term used to refer to the measurement of gravity before fermentation, but this Original gravity is a supply shop here in Richmond. Original Gravity is Richmond’s second supply shop for homebrewers and wine making. This is the place to come for ingredients and hardware for your homebrew setup. Tony Ammendolia opened the shop just over two years ago and is there six days a week. Tony’s passion for brewing and experience in retail make for a beautiful shop with lots of toys for your inner beer geek. His favorite brews to make are IPA’s but he has experience brewing all sorts of beer. Just about every two weeks, Tony makes his own batch. For years, he’s been a member of the James River Homebrewers and an active member of the Virginia brewing community. Tony and his shop provide knowledge and supplies to countless homebrewers, as well as many of Richmond’s craft breweries. Hardywood Park, Center of the Universe, Strangeways, and Midnight Brewing are just a few of the local breweries that stop in for ingredients from time to time. Keep in mind that the brewmasters behind these tasty beers are somewhere between mad scientists and culinary geniuses, constantly on the lookout for new ingredients for recipes to make a new brew. After all, innovation is the key to great beer. For those of you looking to start a homebrewing setup, you’re in luck; Original Gravity carries everything you need to start from scratch and make some beer. According to Tony, if you have absolutely nothing in the way of supplies, it’s going to cost you right around $200 to start your laboratory. That $200 includes the ingredients to brew your first batch of beer. Each batch of beer should yield enough to bottle about 48 12oz bottles. (Don’t worry, he has all the things you need to bottle your own beer, too.) According to Tony, the keys to success are cleanliness and temperature. After you have your equipment and space set up, each batch of beer should cost about $40 to make. With more than 80 kinds of yeast, 40 types of hops, and 50 types of malted grains in stock at Original Gravity, there’s no way you won’t discover something delicious. If you’re feeling adventurous, they also carry advanced equipment and ingredients. If wine is more your thing, Original Gravity also has the ingredients and equipment to get you started on making your own wine. Original Gravity is located in Lakeside, on Lakeside Avenue at Hilliard Road. If you’re thinking about starting your own homebrew, do it. Stop by Original Gravity and get yourself the materials you need and ask any questions you might have. Tony will be more than happy to answer them; he’s a nice guy with lots of knowledge. Check them out on Facebook for more information or at www.oggravity.com
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1 ADANNUAL LAKE ANNA BREWFEST OR ARTICLE SPACE ST
May 17th, 2014 at The Cutalong Coming in the Spring of 2014 is the 1st Annual Lake Anna Brewfest brought to you by Travel Lake Anna, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote Lake Anna, it’s community and businesses. Kick off the summer at Lake Anna while enjoying great Virginia craft beer and cider brewed by local Virginia breweries. Situated at the Cutalong, Lake Anna’s only golf course community, with spectacular views of Lake Anna and breath taking sunsets. At the Lake Anna Brewfest, you will be able to sample some of the best Virginia micro and nano brewerie's craft beer and cider. You will also be able to sample Lake Anna's great food from local restaurants, browse local businesses and what they offer as well as enjoy beautiful Lake Anna at its finest.
Volunteer! Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Brewfest and we need your help. Volunteers work in two shifts and gain free entery to the event. To find out more
information, please visit our website.
Become a Vendor!
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Are you a local Lake Anna business who would like to showcase your business at the Lake Anna Brewfest? Become a vendor! Each vendor recieves a space at the event plus free tickets to the event. For more information, please visit our website.
www.LakeAnnaBrewfest.com info@LakeAnnaBrewfest.com
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VIRGINIA CRAFT BREWS WRITER CHRISTIE JETT SITS DOWN WITH HUNTER SMITH,
PRESIDENT & HEAD BREWER AT CHAMPION BREWING COMPANY {FAVORITES}: {BEER}: RED SCARE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT {BEER PAIRING}:MISSILE IPA & LAMB KEBAB {BAND}:BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND
So why Charlottesville? A: I was actually born in Charlottesville at the old Martha Jeff hospital. It was a bit strange at first, opening up a brewery just a few blocks away from where I was born. I always knew that I wanted to come back; I just wasn’t sure exactly how. After high school, I signed on to a record label with my band, Hunter Smith and the Deadmen, and did that for a few years – college in Boston during the week, recording in New York City on the weekends. That was great and all, but after awhile I felt like it was time to move on. My parents had recently purchased Afton Mountain Vineyards and offered me a job as Marketing Manager. I still have that job, actually. I had been homebrewing for a few years and was taking a seminar course at the PVCC, and each week a different head brewer from a local brewery would come in – Devil’s Backbone, Blue Mountain, Starr Hill. I met some pretty amazing people and really started thinking, “I can do this!” I took some more online classes and then just decided that it was time and jumped right in with Champion. Our soft opening was Black Friday last year, and we’ve been growing steadily ever since! You’ve gotten a bit of a reputation as a guy that brews crazy beers. What is your creative process like? A: I like being creative and brewing things that are tangential without being weird. Before opening Champion, I would go to Beer Run almost every night, always looking for that new beer that I hadn’t tried before. That’s actually where I got the idea for the Tart Berliner Weiss. I was expecting it to be a little too off-the-wall and only brew it once, but it’s been surprisingly popular. I’ve gotten inspiration for some of our other beers in some surprising places. Our lime pale ale, Toro’s Pale Ale, grew out of a collaboration with Toro’s Tacos. We actually added 2 liters of lime juice, the zest from 8 pounds of lime, and even cilantro, to make it that perfect beer to pair with a taco. Our brown ale was actually designed for The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative. I knew I wanted to brew up something to support the local community, but I wasn’t set on any particular style of beer so we put out door hangers asking the residents what they wanted. The overwhelming response was a brown ale, and this was the recipe that I came up with. I’m also working on a Belgian sour pale ale that we are aging in Chardonnay barrels from Afton Mountain Vineyards. Overall, I’d say that the most important thing is to stay inspired and passionate about what you’re brewing; otherwise, what’s the point? The new expansion is really exciting! What do you see as your biggest challenge moving forward? A: Consistency with scaling up. Our current set-up is only 3 barrels, and nothing is mechanized. Brew days are pretty exhausting because you are constantly moving, dragging tubing, dumping grain... It’s all very handson, so I think it resembles homebrewing in that way. The production brewery will be all hard-piping, though, and the biggest challenge will be brewing beers on a brand-new, large-scale system that will taste just as good as they do on our smaller set-up. A production brewery was always our goal, but starting small was crucial. We have learned so much in our first year and have also been able to try out our recipes and figure out what the community wants. With the production facility we will be able to free up our current setup for more experimental and barrel aged brews.
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Local Music Review PHOTO BY MICHAEL LEE
SOUNDS OF RVA By : Sarah Moore
Todd Herrington released one of the best albums of 2013 called Things. His first "solo" album involved a long list of appearances by Richmond's seasoned musicians and friends of Herrington. Rather than stick to the bass like in his other bands (Modern Groove Syndicate, Mekong Xpress, The Big Payback), Herrington was able to extend his sound through other instruments. A deeply personal record, Things feels like it hits some heavy seas; these incredibly well-constructed tracks clearly reflect some serious subject matter. Journalist Sarah Moore Lindsey had the opportunity to ask Herrington about one song in detail, and she chose the last track on the record, "Don't Let Them (Break Your Heart)." Read on to learn in depth about the song's instrumentation, meaning, and a certain nod to the Beatles. Sarah: Why did you choose this as the last song on the album? Todd: I actually had the song placed in the middle at one point, but it's, kind of, such a ride that anything after just became ineffective. I fought that for a while, but in the end it just made sense. It's meditative and sonically interesting, so I feel like it's a nice punctuation mark to the whole record.
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What were you thinking about when you put this song together? Todd: Um, I wrote this while my Grandmother was fighting what would eventually be terminal breast cancer. I was raised by my Mother and my Grandmother, and we were all very close, still are. But my Mom and I cared for her at home, right up until the end and this just came during that period. I don't think of it as a dark song though; it's meant to be uplifting. What do you want the listener to take away from the song? Todd: I don't know, really. I guess some sort of "experience". A friend of mine described the songs as a "celestial sunrise" and I can get behind that hahaha. I like the idea that it has a feeling of ascension, a sort of "rising up" type of thing. I'd like for the listener to come away with a feeling of experiencing something. The mellotron near the end of the song is incredible. Who plays that? It sounds very Radiohead - were you trying to quote that in there at all? Why did you decide to put the instrument on the track? Todd: Yeah, thanks. That's Daniel Clarke on his mellotron, recorded at his house, using the Russian Choir setting. At least I think that's the part you're talking about. I've always loved that instrument. We weren't trying to quote Radiohead, if anything maybe The Beatles. McCartney's opening mellotron part to "Strawberry Fields Forever" is so ingrained into our DNA; I'll always associate that instrument with him and them. Daniel and I worked very closely on this record, and that may have come from me just saying to him, "Man, I'd love to have a choir in this section," so cue the mellotron. It was a recent purchase for him, so it's one of those, "Let's use this on everything!" pieces of gear. It's all over the record. Why did you title the song "Don't Let Them (Break Your Heart)?" Todd: It's a nod to my Mom. After my Grandmother passed everything got really heavy, and the title at the time was for her, and hopefully a little something to keep in her pocket when times got tough. It's funny you picked this one, because it's been getting a lot of response, and the title always comes up in the conversations.
What instrument(s) did you play on this? I played bass, acoustic guitar, and percussion. Were there any limitations/obstacles when recording this song? Todd: Just time and getting the musicians together. We had such a limited schedule that day, that we only did one take of this song, and fortunately it came out ok. The basic track was recorded in one studio, and the remainder another, so mixing and getting it all to sit together was a little bit of a challenge. I'm sure I drove Adrian [Olsen, Montrose Recording] crazy. But other than that, it was a really nice musical moment. I wish we had filmed it.
RIVER CITY BAND —By the River Alone River City Band has released a hootenanny of a string band album with By the River Alone. The four-piece features brothers Jesse (mandolin, vocals) and Trevor (banjo) Spencer. The band also tapped RVA singer/songwriter Jonathan Vassar for a few guest performances, including a couple of Vassar-penned tunes. One such song, “Five Sad Songs” (co-written by Vassar and Hunnicutt) laments love songs, both of the tragic and hopeful kind. “Two ballads/ Two heartbreaks, and a sing-a-long/At a table set for two/Lonesome river/Lovesick blues.” Jesse Spencer’s mandolin takes a few colorful moments at center stage before returning to the vocals.
The title track, at the midpoint of the album, could very well be a traditional narrative with origins rooted deep in Appalachia. We recently read that when most people listen to music and sing along, they are singing the harmony 90% of the time. You can’t resist humming the delectable 3rds and 5ths over Hunnicutt’s slightly drawled, golden vocals. “This world has stolen, twisted, and broken. . .” Pickin’ and grinnin’ “Stormy Night, Stormy Day” makes sure the speedy bluegrass format really shines. Seamless vocal harmonies reign supreme in this tune penned by Jesse. The different strings criss-cross themselves for some fluid motion bluegrass and some impressive Scruggs pickery. Trevor Spencer got things even looser with his “Just a Little Bit Better Than Alright,” an instrumental frenzied tune. Jesse’s “Jailbird” calms things down a bit with a tune that wouldn’t sound out of place at a Grateful Dead show. Even if you don’t technically know someone who is in and out of incarceration, we all know lost souls who seem to be down on their luck. “A judge broke your wings so now here you’ll stay/Jailbird, you won’t ever fly away,” croon Jesse and Hunnicutt in perfect harmonies. Finally, “Train Town” can most certainly be about our beloved Richmond. Hunnicutt’s descriptors leave an impression of sitting at Texas Beach, watching those long trains, and toasting the grandeur with a canned brew. “She’s 50 cars long/She’s big and she’s wide/Haulin’ big iron and coal/To some mountainside/Time just stands still as she rolls on down.”
BROUGHT TO YOU BY WRIR
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