CulturAle Press

Shenandoah Valley Beer Trail: Siblings’ Rivalry– Cry Baby Belgian Pale Ale, Strasburg, Va.

Date:  April 30, 2019

The Story—  Strasburg is a lovely old townlette in the Shenandoah Valley dating from 1761.  It boasts the largest population in the county — a bit under seven thousand.   The museum is highly regarded for, among other things, a model railroad and an historic caboose.  There are the expected small shops and Civil War sites abound in the area.  Strasburg has a turn of the century hospital-turned hotel and we’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the planned brewery — but before we were able to get there, there were two!

Siblings’ Rivalry (yes, that’s where thy put the apostrophe) is an “enthusiast*” brewery that draws a good local crowd of admirers.  Some of the townspeople we talked to much preferred them to the glitzier and better funded Box Office down the street.  Good for them.  Even in a town of less than seven thousand people, there seems to be room for two very distinct breweries.   Bring in food or ordered it from a delivery service; lots of games, but not lots of room.

A Belgian IPA is a modern invention – and it was invented in the US, not in Belgium.   The Belgians have embraced the style, but we’ve found the Americans manage the hop component better.  This 7% is big enough to not require subtlety and its one of the more interesting beers from these rivals.

The Beer— Fruity with dried flowers.  Chalky and slightly funky with a yeast that echoes Duvel and some of the Abbey Belgian breweries.  A yeast and hop bitter settles in at the back of the palate, but it fades soon enough.

Value —Good.  Standard small brewery taphouse prices.

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.

*Our terminology of an “enthusiast” brewery is one that may not have the most sophisticated brewing equipment and the brewer isn’t a graduate of Weihenstephan or UC Davis brewing schools, but they pursue their passions and turn out beers that make their customers as enthusiastic as they are.   Hats off to ’em.

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.”