I was telling Colleen I had some things I wanted to do around the house Saturday morning, but there was also an IDPA match at Rivanna in the morning. In her wisdom, she replied…”Do you want to shoot or do you want to do chores?”Well, when you put it …

The winners at this year’s Great American Beer Festival were announced yesterday in Denver, CO. I always look through the winners list to see what Virginia beers came out on top — it gives me a target list of some new beers to try.

Looking through the list I was happy to see that Fredericksburg’s own Spencer Devon Brewing was among the medal recipients. Their ever-popular, and tasty, Sunken Road Belgian Blond was awarded a Bronze medal in the Belgian-Style Blonde Ale or Pale Ale category. Congratulations to the folks at Spencer Devon Brewing!

See the list below for other winners from Virginia.

Sad range bag had to stay home today.So it’s an indoor chore day. But there will be college football on TV. And beer.
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

Aren’t you glad we have all these super smart people making sure we don’t screw up?Without the Hollywood elites and those obviously intelligent professional athletes warning us about how oppressed we are, we’d surely be lost.
[ This content origin…

[Repost from October 7, 2014]October 7 marks the anniversary of The Battle of Lepanto in the year 1571. In this historically significant battle, the Fleet of the Holy League defeated the much larger fleet of the Ottoman Empire. This Christian…

It seems I’ve been spilling these Musings now for nine years.No animals or small children were harmed in the making of this blog. A few liberal feelings may have been hurt.
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

This past weekend Colleen and I enjoyed a fun mini-vacation on the Delaware shore. The impetus for the trip was for me to shoot the Delaware State IDPA Championship Match held at the Bridgeville Rifle & Pistol Club. Our weekend started Friday evening with good food and beer at a Seaford, DE restaurant with some friends from Virginia who were also shooting the match. I shot the match on Saturday morning, then Colleen and I spent the rest of the weekend sightseeing.

The Level 4 match was put on by an amazingly dedicated staff. Due weeklong inclement and destructive weather, the match volunteers had to rebuild the match stages several times before the event. Originally planned for eleven stages, the final match consisted of ten stages. One stage had to be pulled due to range conditions, while a few others were modified to adapt to flooded or unusable range bays. Despite the extra effort and frustrating conditions, the SOs and staff remained cheerful and friendly.

A light mist prevailed for most of the morning, but the moderate temperature and overcast skies made for generally pleasant shooting weather. A quick wipe down of the front of my glasses was required before shooting, and the targets had to be bagged for much of the match, but otherwise the inclement weather had little affect on the shooting, at least for the Saturday morning squads.

The first stage, aptly called “First Shots” was a single-target standards stage, and was set up in each bay. Every shooter shot the exact same stage to start the match. I thought that was an interesting concept, providing an even playing field for the “warm up.” The rest of stages had a home invasion scenario as a common theme. From start to finish I found the stage scenarios to be interesting and well thought out.

I was very impressed with the club’s attention to detail at this weekend’s match. They worked hard to make it “real.” After the standards stage, the first scenario stage I shot, “Lindbergh’s Revenge” was set in a bedroom where your kids were being held hostage. The scene was complete with a bed and dresser, and a bad guy on a ladder in the window. When you opened the door, a non-threat target ran towards you, passing in front of the threat targets.

“Come Clean” was based in a bathroom scenario. After engaging targets while moving towards the door, the rest was shot from the doorway. The threats were “hiding” in the shower and behind a countertop. When the match storyline turned to a basement setting in “Basement Scene”, the attention to detail was continued; a fake water heater included PC pipes running from the top, and even a length of electrical cable.

“Poolside” was an exceptionally elaborate, and fun, stage. Starting seated at a table, we shot two close threats, then turned to engage a steel activator. Leaving the table, we passed a well-stocked backyard “bar” to engage a mover. Passing a swimming pool and clothesline, we moved through a narrow opening lined with live plants, through which another threat was engaged. More threats where found through a window.

The stage “Children of the Corn” was shot mostly on the move. It was one of several stages that required careful attention to the timing of reloads to avoid running dry in the open. “Dirty Pond Water” had us engaging threats on the move while crossing a wooden suspension bridge. That the bridge provided passage over actual water was a coincidence created by days of heavy rain. “Burglar Has Friends” started with some SHO shooting while backing up. The stage targets included a couple of moving targets, one of which was a swinger target fronted by an also-swinging non-threat target.

Two stages involved automobiles in driveway scenarios. In “Homecoming” we started with our hand on an open car door, and the gun loaded with just 6 rounds. Closing the door, we drew the weapon and engaged a single target until slide lock. After a reload there were more targets shot from cover and on the move. In “Driveway Assault” we started out holding a heavy bag over a stomp pad. Dropping the bag activated a drop turner, which required a fast draw to get at least two shots on it before it disappeared. Next there were four targets behind “windows” at about 20 yards to be engaged, two from each side at the back of an SUV. Moving forward we found one target to be engaged on the move, then two more targets shot from cover around the front of the vehicle. I enjoyed both of these stages very much.

From start to finish, the match ran quite smoothly, at least from the competitors’ point of view. We even had a “squad mom” assigned to keep us organized. Debbie kept us informed on the shooting order, verified our scores, and made sure we knew where to go next.

There were plenty of door prizes and giveaways at checkin as well. I drew a raffle ticket for a set of custom molded ear plugs donated by Hearing Protection Company. I sat for the molds before the match and picked the finished product up when I was done shooting. I can’t wait to try them out.

A tasty lunch was also included in the match fee. A local Knights of Columbus council served a grilled chicken meal for all shooters. That was a nice touch after a long morning of shooting.

After getting back to the hotel for a quick shower, Colleen and I headed over to Lewes, DE for a late lunch. After lunch and a beer, we stopped in for a treat at a local ice cream shop. We had visited Lewes some 20 years ago and we drove around a bit reminiscing and looking for places we visited.

We started our Sunday with Mass at a local church and then went for a big, old fashioned diner breakfast. Checking out of the hotel, we drove back toward the shore. We then spent several hours driving around the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Due to the recent rains, there was a lot of high water, and many of the roadside pullouts were underwater. However, the high water also meant that many of the wading birds were standing at the road’s edge for easy viewing. In fact, often the birds were standing directly in the road. Instead of dodging deer like we do had home, the obstacles at Prime Hook were Great Blue Herons and Egrets.

I enjoyed the match, and indeed the entire weekend, immensely. Overall, I was very pleased with my shooting. There was a few low points; I hit two non-threat targets in the match, and earned a PE when I reshot an ineligible target on “Dirty Pond Water.” But in the end, there was much to be happy about.  I finished up 30th out of 118 shooters overall, with 34 total points down. Breaking the score down, in the SSP division I was 12th of 51 and 10th of 43 in my classification (SS). In the combined Division/SS ranking, it works out to 5th of 16 in SSP SS. Not earth shattering but I’m pleased. That’s not too shabby for an old guy with bad eyes and knees.

Although we’ve gone way for some football weekends and college visits recently, Colleen and I were happy to enjoy a fun mini-vacation weekend. Perhaps I’ll find some other matches in interesting places we can visit in the future.

It’s like they aren’t even trying any more.Click to embiggen
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

Big news! Strangeways Brewing posted this exciting announcement to their Facebook page…

Strangeways Brewing Opening Production Brewery and Taproom in Fredericksburg 

Richmond, VA, September 29th, 2016 – Strangeways Brewing, a three year old business based in Richmond, announces today the opening of a second production brewery and taproom at 350 Lansdowne Road, Fredericksburg, VA.  The facility is located near the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds.

The 10,100-square foot building sitting on almost 3 acres will feature a 10-barrel brewhouse, a large taproom, live event space, private event space, retail shop, arcade, and outdoor beer garden.

As a native of Virginia who was born and raised in Fredericksburg, it has always been part of owner Neil Burton’s plan to expand into his hometown.  The chosen location has personal meaning for Burton, a James Monroe High School graduate. “This is the exact same building where we previously headquartered my families’ clothing operation, Burton’s Menswear, which I helped operate for nearly twenty years.  That just makes this even more special and personal.”

Strangeways was twice rated Virginia’s Best Brewery Taproom by RateBeer.com users, listed by bon appétit magazine as one of “10 New U.S. Breweries to Watch, from D.C. to California”, and noted in Southern Living magazine as one of the “South’s Best Breweries”.

Burton is excited to bring his passion for craft beer and Strangeways’ signature array of beer styles to Fredericksburg.  He anticipates the tasting room being a community gathering place for folks to meet and socialize, as well as be a tourist destination.

More than 100,000 Virginians and tourists from around the world visit Strangeways in Richmond each year.  The Richmond location opened on May 29, 2013 with two flagship beers that remain on tap today, Albino Monkey Belgian White Ale and Woodbooger Belgian Brown Ale.  The brewery quickly grew into a fan favorite with its large variety of options, including Überlin Berliner Weisse Sour, which took a gold medal in the Sour European Ale category at the 2016 Virginia Craft Brewers Cup Awards.

The Fredericksburg taproom plans to feature nearly 50 Strangeways draft beers, making it the production brewery tasting room with the most taps in Virginia.  The 10-barrel brewhouse is half the size of the Richmond system, giving the brewery the ability to produce a large variety of smaller batch offerings.  In its three years, Strangeways has always been the largest producer of sour and wild beers in the Commonwealth.  The Fredericksburg facility will continue this tradition, including aging beers in wooden barrels that previously were used in the production of bourbon, rum, tequila, scotch, gin, red wine, white wine, sherry, grappa, bourbon maple syrup, etc.

“Brown Distributing has done an excellent job of distributing Strangeways beer in Central Virginia,” stated Burton, “and we’ve learned that our tasting room is an integral part of effectively sharing the Strangeways story, which then translates to demand for our products at our retail partner accounts.  This is a blueprint we hope to emulate in Fredericksburg.”

The new event space will host happenings such as live music shows, festivals, and holiday celebrations, and the private event space will be available for meetings, receptions, and other special occasions.

Light fare, including snack flights and locally sourced charcuterie will be served, and menus from local restaurants will be available for patrons to order delivery.

The new Fredericksburg location will create 27 new jobs for the local economy. Opening for the new Strangeways facility is anticipated for the first half of 2017.

Needless to say, I’m excited and looking forward to visiting the new taproom next year.

See also this review of a Strangeways event in Fredericksburg a couple years ago.