Shenandoah Valley Beer Trail: Dirt Farm Scott Brown Ale, Bluemont, Virginia.

Date:  May 6, 2019

The Story— Dirt Farm has a well-earned reputation for brewing a range of good beers in a rural setting.   A farm brewery that won’t challenge you with a line up of “farmhouse” beers, it’s part of a trio of breweries almost within sight of each other that can make for a great pub crawl— if only you didn’t have to drive so far back to civilization to sleep.  Get a friend or family member to give you a birthday present of designated driving for a day and catch all three of them.   We reviewed Bear Chase yesterday and we’ll save B Chord in nearby Round Hill for a later series of posts, but today we focus on our original destination in the area: Dirt Farm Brewery.

Dirt Farm is the granddaddy of the farm breweries in the area dating all the way back to 2012 — eons in Virginia beer years.   Three generations of farmers moved to Loudoun County in the 70s and from a relatively modest now farm over 500 acres in and around the brewery.  It has a similar view to Bear Chase although it’s a bit lower in the hill.   It’s a smaller operation than nearby Bear Chase, but has much more of a farm feel to it and echoes of family involvement are more palpable.  It’s still very much a business, but feels a bit less business-like  For all their many similarities, the two breweries present a nice soft contrast    Bear Chase is a bit more sophisticated in its premises and in its beers; Dirt Farm is, well, more Dirtfarmy.  Don’t miss either.

If you follow this blog, you’ll know we present styles that we don’t like more often than styles that we do.   We’re (Hop Pocket) hop heads — you can enrapture us with a decent use of interesting hops that is somewhat short of a world classic.  Getting us to want another brown ale or anything wild takes far more skill.   We brought a crowler of Dirt Farm’s Scott Brown Ale home with us and we were so glad we did.

The Beer—  Chewy and even with toasty brown malt, some biscuit and very soft stone ale fruit and a lingering echo of Hydrox (not Oreo) cookies.   A bit more hops than most and a bit of a roast edge keeps it from being too sweet.

Value — Very Good (close to excellent).  This was an eight buck crowler.  That’s way under market price in most breweries (Dirt Farm, please pay no attention to this man behind the curtain!), and might be a reason to bring home an OK beer.   But this beer is well above OK.  I’m only sorry we didn’t buy a half dozen for the week.  Do not leave this brewery without crowlers of what they don’t have on tap.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

This week we’re featuring some beers and breweries we’ve found in researching our guide to breweries and inns of the Mid Atlantic, this time on a weekend in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.   Once again we present our standard caveat: only some the beers we describe will be at the brewery if you go there, but they’ll probably have a beer that’s close to the style and if they do one stout well, they’ll probably do others about as well.

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,  and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”

Shenandoah Valley Beer Trail: Bear Chase Play Dead IPA, Bluemont, Virginia.  Classic US IPA.

Date:  May 5, 2019

The Story— We’ve known about Dirt Farm Brewery for a while, and took the opportunity while returning from Front Royal to make a detour to find it.   More about Dirt Farm tomorrow.  Driving through rural Virginia, we were brought to a halt by the small blue “attraction” sign that Virginia is so good about placing along roads in the Old Dominion indicating breweries, wineries and distilleries.   “Bear Chase Brewery” it said.   “HUH? we thought,” slammed on the breaks and veered into a small ramp up into apparently nowhere.

We try to keep up with new breweries — checking brewery maps, blogs and faithfully following the Mid Atlantic Brewing News.  Until recently, it was very rare for us to encounter a brewery we had not known about.   This trip through the Shenandoah, however, brought us two surprises.   One was the Brothers’ Rivalry in Strasburg and Bear Chase was the other.

And what a nice surprise!   The call themselves a destination brewery and if they’re boasting, they’re not exaggerating by much.   A huge expanse of open park-like land with a view over the valley for miles, a “Brew Barn” with a dual 10 bbl and  3.5 bbl systems which allows them to crank out beers for the sizeable taproom while still having fun with one-offs and one of a kind beers.   The taproom evokes a huge hunting lodge with a massive fireplace and ranks of high tables as well as a sizeable all-weather porch area.   Glass walls take full advantage of the hill top setting and the porch is perfectly perched on the edge of a ridge allowing you to watch the kids frolic and the birds fly beyond you,   Two serving lines are designated “Indecisive” and “Decisive” — don’t you wish McDonald’s did the same?  A limited menu can keep you from starving or becoming dangerously affected by the very good beers.

We’ll probably have a small section in our next book listing breweries that have limited accommodations on site.  Abolitionist in Charles Town has some Air B&B rooms upstairs, Center of the Universe’s satellite brewery in Ashland, Va. has some apartments above and Blue Mountain has the original brewer’s house steps away from the original brewery.   Like Blue Mountain, though, the Bear Chase Manor is a great place for a friendly group, but can’t be booked for couples or individuals looking for a room.   Bear Chase offers six rooms that can sleep 16, five baths, two kitchens and a pool.  And the same incredible view as the brewery next door.   We have fantasies of a retirement party here — with a keg from the brewery as a centerpiece.

We try to refrain from focusing on IPAs in this blog — everyone does them and they’re hard to brew poorly.  But Bear Chase brews a very nice one and offers it in the perfect place to sip and enjoy the location.  Best to have a designated driver, though, unless you’re rich enough or lucky enough to be staying next door.

The Beer—  Only 56 IBUs for a 7.2% beer (still way above most New Englanders these days), but with resin and oils that suggest more.  A firm pale malt supports the hops well, which is fortunate since the end offers a long sticky bitter.  It’s a relatively rare (these days) classic US fruity IPA whose long bitter drives you back for more of the clean malt.

Value —  Good.  four bucks for a quarter liter is short of a bargain, but you get your money’s worth in this unusually moreish IPA.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

This week we’re featuring some beers and breweries we’ve found in researching our guide to breweries and inns of the Mid Atlantic, this time on a weekend in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.   Once again we present our standard caveat: only some the beers we describe will be at the brewery if you go there, but they’ll probably have a beer that’s close to the style and if they do one stout well, they’ll probably do others about as well.

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,  and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”

Shenandoah Valley Beer Trail: Front Royal Lion of Winter Schwarzbier, Front Royal, Virginia

Date:  May 4, 2019

The Story—  Front Royal is a fine brewery and worth a visit on its own.   The town and surrounding area, however, slide it up to a bucket list status.  Woodward House on Manor Grade,  a 1950s motor hotel turned B&B is a great place to stay and enjoy the town.

Front Royal brews a range of good to excellent beers.  We thought about featuring their oh so successful rye IPA, but those beers aren’t all that hard to brew.   A Schwarzbier, however, is even a challenge for brewers in states that were behind the Iron Curtain — Communism was an anomaly that crushed creativity, but somehow managed to allow some endangered beer species to continue to exist.  The best Schwarzbier — as opposed to Dunkels that you’d find near Munich — almost thrived under the hammer a sickle of East Germany.

The Beer— Full bodied but clean Schwarzbier.  More chocolate than most but without the usual edgey lactose in your face.  Slightly chalky and creamy as it drinks with mild herbal hops that somehow hold the other flavors at bay.  Ellie like it’s balance and cleanliness.

Value — Very Good –  We paid four bucks for a quarter liter.  But it’s an exceptional beer at a more or less average brewpub price.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

This week we’re featuring some beers and breweries we’ve found in researching our guide to breweries and inns of the Mid Atlantic, this time on a weekend in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.   Once again we present our standard caveat: only some the beers we describe will be at the brewery if you go there, but they’ll probably have a beer that’s close to the style and if they do one stout well, they’ll probably do others about as well.

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,  and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”

Shenandoah Valley Beer Trail: Studio Brew The Ferguson Chocolate Milk Stout, Bristol, at the Beer Museum, Front Royal

Date:  May 3, 2019

The Story—  Front Royal has it’s own brewery now, and it’s a winner. but before you settle in there, take a stroll a few blocks farther down the road (and hook a left) to reach the Virginia Beer Museum.  We’re not sure if this is a tap room that wants to be a museum or a museum that wants to have a really good tap room, but you’ll find plenty to look at and plenty of good beer here.  When the bar is noisy, there are ancillary rooms that are not and you can get you beer from the 20 or so taps and wander around until you’ve seen what you want to see or found an historic setting to settle in with your beer.

Briston is on our bucket list.   It’s a shoe-in for the Brews and Snooze criteria, with a first class historic hotel and a walkable well respected brewery not far away.   It is a haul from any of our central populated areas, though.  You’ll need at least a weekend, and preferably a long one, to do the area justice.

The brewery tap room sports a dozen and a half beers and offers pub grub that includes a range of appetizers, sandwiches and pizzas.

The Beer—Chewy and creamy with lots of dark chocolate and roasts.  Chocolate is full, but not overly cloying, but shows some chocolate cake in the aftertaste.

Value —  Good.  Prices at the Beer Museum are about what you’d pay in an upscale bar.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

This week we’re featuring some beers and breweries we’ve found in researching our guide to breweries and inns of the Mid Atlantic, this time on a weekend in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.   Once again we present our standard caveat: only some the beers we describe will be at the brewery if you go there, but they’ll probably have a beer that’s close to the style and if they do one stout well, they’ll probably do others about as well.

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,  and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”