EDITOR’S UPDATE: THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN IN 2009. THE LOCAL BEER SCENE HAS GROWN AND CHANGED CONSIDERABLY SINCE THAT TIME.
Email traffic began to pick up late last summer on the DC-Beer Listserv. Another brewpub was about to open in the rolling hills west of Charlottesville. Of course, Breweries and brewpubs had been sprouting up in central Virginia like mushrooms on a wet summer morning. So I made a mental note to check things out once I found the right moment.
Opportunity Comes Knocking
That chance came around last weekend when the in-laws visited for a few days. They kindly volunteered to watch the kids overnight so we took the opening. I suppose they felt a little guilty about making me suffer over the holidays. Nonetheless, and whatever the motivation, we gladly accepted the rare opportunity without a second thought.
Charlottesville has long appreciated refined tastes so the recent brewery explosion didn’t seem too surprising. There have been brewpubs within the city limits for twenty years. However beer continued to take a back seat to wine. Nearly two dozen vineyards dotted the surrounding countryside in all directions to form the Monticello Wine Trail. Breweries had been confined within Charlottesville proper until fairly recently. However, now a critical mass coalesced in rural western Albemarle and northern Nelson Counties.
Admittedly this journey doesn’t sound like much of an original effort. For instance, an article that appeared in the Washington Post recently. There they called it “Virginia is Also for Beer Lovers” of course. I know, I know, we should have done this in the Fall like we wanted. But who would have watched the kids? Think of the children!
Starr Hill
We began the trail in Crozet at Starr Hill [see my Starr Hill page; see the real Starr Hill page]. It would have been equally feasible to start the trail in Charlottesville. However, I’ve already exhausted those possibilities many times before. I felt no particular reason to add to our day. An adventurous outing could have also extended the trail to Richmond or even Williamsburg for a full weekend of tastings. Perhaps you will be more fortunate when you follow the trail.
We spotted Starr Hill at an industrial-looking site hugging Route 240, Three Notched Road, as we approached a hamlet in western Albemarle. The only other times I’d visit Crozet were back in my college days to taste the renowned Crozet Pizza. Beer and Pizza. What else does a little town need?
Getting There
Starr Hill didn’t look much like a brewery from the outside. Indeed, ConAgra used to convert live chickens into frozen dinners inside that building. Chicken genocide. Bad Mojo. So bad that Starr Hill had to change the name of their MoJo Lager to JoMo Lager. Well, actually that was a result of some kind of naming dispute with a Colorado brewery but why ruin a good story. But maybe that’s why we accidentally drove right past it.
After a quick U-Turn we parked in a gravel lot and walked up to the entrance. The door opened onto storage area filled with kegs. We thought there had to be a better way into the building (and maybe there was) but we plowed through anyway. Soon we arrived at a large, open space with a bottling line and a row of stainless steel fermenters.
The Scene
A large rectangular bar rose in a nearby corner with plenty of room for thirsty visitors. I was surprised to see a lively crowd at 2:30 on a random winter Saturday afternoon. Nonetheless we had no problem jostling for samples and chatting-up the bartenders/tour guides with all kinds of beer geeky topics. This brewery has a slew of major beer festival awards to its credit and the samples did not disappoint. We joined the 3:00 tour and poked around various nooks for the next half hour or so with our knowledgeable guide. We stepped over hoses and tried to stay out of the way. Brewers continued to scrub and clean kettles for the next batch the whole time.
There were further invitations to sample once we finished the tour but we had a mission. I got the feeling that anyone could walk off the street, grab a spot at the bar and drink the afternoon away for free if so inclined. All they needed to do was show an appreciation for the craft being performed there. We left Starr Hill with great reluctance. This was a nice visit: excellent beer; friendly to visitors; passionate staff.
Devils Backbone, with no apostrophe
Next we headed towards Devils Backbone [see my Devils Backbone page; see the real Devils Backbone page] about twenty miles further south, just past Nellysford. The mailing address is Roseland but that’s a bit of a misnomer. Essentially it sits right outside of the Wintergreen ski resort.
Getting There
Coming out of Crozet, it would be quickest to take Route 250 to Route 151. My GPS suggested a slightly shorter track taking the backroads, and that’s exactly what I followed. Now, I grew up along roads like these so I flew through twists-and-turns. I popped in and out of hollows at about twice the speed my wife would have done. It felt like a great adventure.
We pulled into the shiny, new Devils Backbone brewpub, with memories of Starr Hill’s award-winning brews still fresh on our palettes. This may not have been optimal because I think subconsciously it may have skewed my perceptions.
The Scene
It was a large, inviting facility and, once again, surprisingly busy for a lazy afternoon. Nearly every table in the restaurant was occupied along with almost every spot at the bar. I guess there’s not much else to do out here but drink, either in breweries or at one of the many vineyards. I’m a big supporter of Alcohol Tourism so I don’t have a particular problem with that. Certainly there were no signs of the recession out this way, and that’s a good thing.
Devils Backbone has a great brewer. However they’re a new operation selling their own home-grown product only since November. One should probably expect a little time for them to get their sea legs under them. So I tried to remain open-minded as we sipped through a sampler. I think it’s fair to say that I found their beers to be a little thin in most cases. Also, the flavor profiles fell somewhat outside the style norms for some. I do think they have everything in place to become top-notch as time goes by. Of course I’d love to come back in about a year when they work the kinks out.
[UPDATE: And that’s exactly what happened, with Devils Backbone having won a slew of major brewing awards over the years, then bought-out by AB InBev]
Afternoon Break
We backtracked up Route 151 — called the Rockfish Valley Highway along this segment — and checked into the Afton Mountain B&B. I won’t dwell on that part of the story since it’s not beer related. I’ll simply note that it was a fine place to stay, conveniently in the middle of the Beer Triangle. And damn it was nice to spend a night away from the kids. I love those squirrelly boys, I really do, but mom and dad need a break every once in awhile too.
Blue Mountain
However, before we could get that really good night of sleep we still had one more brewery ahead of us. Fortunately it was less than three miles away. I didn’t mind.
The Scene
We arrived for dinner and met some friends there who live in Charlottesville. Blue Mountain [see my Blue Mountain page; see the real Blue Mountain page] featured typical pub grub which provided great comfort on a frigid evening of freezing rain and snow. They packed in a crowd just like all the other places we’d visited earlier in the day. Blue Mountain has just one small room, but a warm, inviting atmosphere of friendly people enjoying themselves. Blue Mountain has an outdoor patio during the summer so I was told. Unfortunately, here in late February, room had to be made to squeeze all that extra furniture indoors. There was a chaotic mismatch of couches, benches, and tables, that further emphasized the casual atmosphere.
Beer is the star at Blue Mountain and it showed. We laid out a couple of samplers, tried those, ordered a couple of pints and finished those. Then I stopped because I was driving (being responsible and all that). That didn’t faze anyone else though. Perhaps that’s what prompted our friend John to order the Blue Mountain version of a shandy, in this case their Belgian combined with a 7-Up.
A Shandy?
Let me say that again: Our friend, one of the biggest beer geeks around, ordered a shandy. We were shocked. After the first sip he said it would probably be fine during the middle of summer sitting out on the veranda. But it was February and probably not the best choice. Curiosity got the most of me and I just had to take a try. Seriously, I liked their beers a lot, I even bought a bunch of bottles to bring home. Even so I hope to never taste their shandy again.
I’ll have to return in a few months as the hops vines grow and check that out too. Supposedly Blue Mountain uses a lot of their own hops in their beers and that would be an interesting process to watch.
With that, my brewery visit list stands at 231.
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