Shenandoah Valley Beer Trail: Box Office Stauffer Stout, Strong Stout, Strasburg, Virginia

Date:  May 2 , 2019

The Story— We talked about Box Office yesterday.  It’s very close to a destination brewery – big and showy with first class beers.   You lose the intimacy that you can’t avoid in a neighborhood brewery like Siblings’ Rivalry, but the staff is friendly and you might wind up in a conversation if you sit at the bar.  We’ve also mentioned Crabby Maggie’s — an absolute must if you’re in town and like seafood.   We haven’t said much about the Strasburg Hotel.  The building housed a hospital when it opened in 1903 and served as a boarding house before becoming a vintage small town hotel.  Rooms are clean and comfortable.   It’s a blast from the last century– no elevator, but a good breakfast and a hotel bar if you get there early enough.

The Beer— Rich and creamy.  Chocolate shows  with biscuit with some semi-sweet and brownies. The leather is mild and fine.  Some ale is in the mix . Chewy, almost husky and very malty as it drinks.  Herbal echoes. E sweet but roasty and probably a headache following.

Value — Very Good.  A superior beer at a usual 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: Box Office Massanutty Brown Ale, Strasburg, Va.

Date:  May 1, 2019

The Story—  Box Office occupies a big building up the street from Siblings’ Rivalry; the two breweries present a dramatic contrast and show well the spectrum of the thousands of new small breweries exploding across America.   Siblings’ Rivalry is very small, loved by its local patrons and a bit funky.  Box Office is big (for a small brewery) glitzy, awash with town tradition, and blessed with first rate equipment and skilled brewers.

The building is reclaimed from one of the towns mid 20th century movie theaters and shows its heritage.  Movie posters adorn the entry and the balcony still stands — now as an overflow seating area. The flight trays are film reels.  A long bar and lots of tables ensure your seat even when it’s crowded.   You can eat here: wings, burgers and sliders that looked appealing, though you’re just a few minutes walk from Crabby Maggie’s, a stunningly successful small fish restaurant that is unmissable on a trip here.

We had trouble choosing just one one of the many successes here, so we picked two and even that was a challenge.  These guys brew well.    Massanutty Brown Ale made the grade because I don’t like brown ales and, while Ellie tolerates them, she’s no big fan either.   So when a brown ale makes us want to stay all night and drink it, it’s special.

The Beer— Chewy even caramel malt with more dark caramel following.   Husky and woody with even some echoes of sawdust.   Finishes with dark caramel, ale fruit and some biscuit in the mix.   It’s sweet, but still nicely clean.

Value —  Good.   Six buck for an American “pint”.

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.”