Mark your calendars! October 19 is the date of the Fredericksburg Brewfest and Homebrew Contest. The event will be held at the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds.

Join us for an amazing day of music, food and craft beer! The gates open at 11AM so come early and stay late to enjoy all the day has to offer! 

We will have craft brewers from all over the region sampling some of their award winning beers. They will be pouring some of your favorites as well as a sneak peek in to what will be on tap for 2014. 

The Fredericksburg Brewfest Homebrew Cup will be awarded in late afternoon where certified beer judges will crown the best “Homebrew” entered in the competition. 

For those of you who enjoy a glass of wine or whiskey, we will also have a select number of Virginia Wineries and Distilleries sampling their award winning beverages as well. 

Live bands will be on stage throughout the day with fan favorite, TBA, taking the stage at 4PM to close out the evening. 

Bring your friends, family and join us for Fredericksburg’s premier BEER event!

See fredbrewfest.com for details and to purchase advance tickets.

This Thursday saw another tap takeover at Capital Ale House in Fredericksburg. New Belgium Brewing Company was the featured brewery this week. As I read the descriptions of the six beers I was struck by the out-of-the-ordinary selections. Usually I'll pick one or two beers to enjoy at such an event. However this time, I was truly curious about all of these unusual offerings, and couldn't settle on one that tempted me the most. Five of the beers were also limited or one-time releases, which made the decision all that much harder. So I opted for a flight — six, 4 oz pours of each.

Colleen and I stopped by Capital Ale House this week for the Flying Dog Tap Takeover. Seven Flying Dog beers were being poured that evening; Gonzo Imperial Porter, Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout, Raging Bitch Belgian IPA, Pineapple Saison, Belgian Devil, Belgian Wit, and Snake Dog IPA.

Most of those beers we've tried before, but good beer on draft is always a welcome mid-week diversion. The Gonzo Imperial Porter was being served on nitrogen, so that was my opening selection. Colleen opted for the Belgian Devil Dubbel. The Gonzo, initially served too cold, once warmed a bit presented an aroma of dark chocolate and coffee. The nitro gas created a tiny-bubbled, creamy mouthfeel. The flavors are dark roasted malts, chocolate and espresso, with some citrus hops in the finish too.

Gonzo Porter and Belgian Devil

Colleen's Belgian Devil Dubbel is part of the brewery's limited release Brewhouse Rarities series. The aroma was fruity with a hint of yeast. The beer had flavors of sweet fruit, pears and apples, with a bit of peppery spices. Mouthfeel was light with mild carbonation.

For the next round I ordered the Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout, and after some debate, Colleen decided on the Pineapple Saison. We were hearing conflicting opinions on this one. So, the only way to know was to try it. We laughed when Colleen took a picture of our second round, as it looked a lot like the picture she took of our first round!

Pearl Necklace and Pineapple Saison

Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout is a nice, flavorful stout. The aroma is dark roasted coffee and bitter chocolate. The flavor sweet dark roasted malt, and if I try hard enough I can convince myself there's a hint of saltiness there. The roasted malt and bitter hop notes linger in the mouth. The oyster component of this beer is quite mild, if there at all. Personally, I think I'd enjoy a bit more oyster influence. After all, salt and bitter chocolate is a good combination.

Finally, the Pineapple Saison. Also from the Brewhouse Rarities series, this was a bit of an oddity. As could be expected, the citrus tartness of the pineapple was predominant. There was very little of Saison-like yeasty funk. The beer has a bright, tart flavor profile and was quite enjoyable. I just wouldn't have picked it as a Saison style beer.

Colleen and I had an extremely enjoyable couple of hours spent chatting, enjoying each other's company and some good beers. The tap takeover event provided a good excuse to get away and relax for a bit. My only question is, "When can we do it again?!?"

Now that you've recovered from IPA Day, it's time to mark another craft beer occasion. The Virginia Craft Brewers Guild has designated August as Craft Beer Month to recognize the growth of the craft beer industry in Virginia. Events around the state will celebrate the many excellent beers being brewed on the Old Dominion.

August 1 is "officially" designated as IPA Day.

Founded in 2011, IPA Day is a universal movement created to unite the voices of craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers and brewers worldwide, using social media as the common arena for connecting the conversation.  

IPA Day is not the brainchild of a corporate marketing machine, nor is it meant to serve any particular beer brand. IPA Day is opportunity for all breweries, bloggers, businesses and consumers to connect and share their love of craft beer. It is an opportunity for the entire craft beer culture to combine forces and advocate craft beer through increased education and global awareness 

Three of us decided to hit the Steel the Glass Night featuring Boulevard Brewing this week at Capital Ale House. Two Boulevard beers were featured, 80 Acre Hoppy Wheat and Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. I was surprised that two similar beers would be the only two options. However, we're always up for trying something new, and discovering a new good Saison-style beer would be a good thing.

When we arrived the bar seats were filled, so we grabbed a table by the window. We ordered three glasses of the Tank 7, and couple Bavarian Pretzels to start our tasting.

The three glasses of unfiltered beer arrived and where poised for the requisite photo. That blogging task completed (Thanks Colleen!) I took a sniff of the aroma and a sip. Well, that's not very "saison-y" I remarked. There was none of the expected yeast funkiness. The flavor was a mild, slightly citrus wheat flavor. We all agreed that this was a pretty weak Farmhouse Ale. We also remarked that it didn't seem like an 8.5% ABV beer. In fact, it seemed very much like, ahem, a hoppy wheat beer! We called the waiter over, assuming he served us the wrong beer. However, he insisted that this was indeed the Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. (Although he had previously admitted that he had never heard of Saison before this evening.)

We knew we weren't drinking the Farmhouse Ale, and eventually ordered round two. I told the server we wanted "the other beer that was not this one." A few minutes later he returned with three glasses. Setting them down, even he noted "That looks like the same beer." I tasted, and sure enough it was the 80 Acre Hoppy Wheat, again. He took them back and soon returned with three glasses of the actual Tank 7 brew. Smelling and sipping, this was obviously, finally, a Saison. The waiter informed us that the tap handles had been switched earlier!

Boulevard Saison, er, no. Hoppy Wheat

The interesting thing is that we ordered our first beers well after the 4:00PM event start time. That means the wrong beers were being served for over an hour. As noted, the long bar at Capital Ale House was filled to capacity when we arrived, and most folks had Boulevard logo glasses sitting in front of them.

Now that we finally had the correct beers, we were quite impressed with the Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. The aroma was yeasty and bready with a citrus hint. The taste was rich in the (long-awaited) funky farmhouse yeast. A solid backbone of biscuity malt was accompanied with a touch of citrus, along with a nice white pepper spiciness. The alcohol level is noticeable in the flavor but still muted. The beer has a thick mouthfeel and drying finish. It's a delicious beer, and one that was worth the wait to finally arrive at our table. It's too bad some folks apparently missed out on actually tasting it.

End note: It should go without saying, I am a fan and frequent customer of Capital Alehouse. Generally, the beer, the food and the service are quite acceptable. Given the variety of beer offered, and the problems inherent in any business, I accept things can sometimes go wrong. At least it makes a funny story. And there's beer!

Thursday evening, Capital Ale House dedicated 10 of its tap lines to beers from Blue Mountain Brewery. I headed over after work, and since my family was off on a day trip, I hung around for several hours enjoying the opportunity to try a few new beers.


My first selection was the Steel Wheels ESB. ESB is a style I'm particularly fond of, but not one that's commonly brewed by a lot of breweries. Blue Mountain's version is dark caramel in color with a thin head. The flavor is predominately sweet, caramel malt. I also picked up some faint bitter chocolate lurking in the background. The finish was dry. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

Next up was one of the barrel-aged selections from the Blue Mountain Barrel House. Local Species is a Belgian-style Pale Ale. The reddish-amber beer had a thin white head, and was, in my opinion, served much to cold. I grabbed the snifter to have a sip and was shocked by the chill on the glass. I let it sit for a few minutes to warm a bit. The aroma was fruity with hints of yeast and lemon. My first sip evoked a "Oooh" exclamation, followed by an immediate second sip. I would enjoy this one I could tell right off. The taste was a flavorful blend of grapefruit citrus and funky yeast. Some bourbon notes came through at the end. The slightly sticky finish left a bit of lemon tartness behind.


Now I had a decision to make. Do I order another glass of the tasty Local Species, or do I continue my exploration with a different beer? I opted to try another Barrel House selection, the ÜberPils Imperial Pilsener. The bright, straw-colored beer had a strong grassy, sweet aroma. The taste is predominately sharp grain with a touch of bitter citrus. The alcohol warmth is noticeable and not masked. I've had a couple of these "Imperial Pilsner" style beers, and I must admit, I just don't get them. They take the crisp, sharp flavors of the Pilsner and add in a very noticeable alcohol aspect. There's just not enough to the base beer to cover that addition. I do enjoy a good alcohol "burn, when matched with a strongly-flavored beer, but in a pilsner it becomes medicinal tasting to me.

I did order one of Capital Ale House's giant Bavarian pretzels with spicy mustard to go along with Pilsner. The brown mustard certainly cleared off the alcohol notes of the ÜberPils.

Finally, I opted to end my stay with a glass of one of the brewery's flagship beers, Full Nelson Pale Ale. Although I've enjoyed this one frequently, I wanted something more moderate in ABV, but flavorful enough to stand up to the spicy mustard as I finished off my pretzel appetizer.  The mild citrus and fruit aromas, belied the citrus and bitter hops to follow in the flavor.

The evening proved to be an enjoyable mid-week diversion. I've made a mental note to find and enjoy again, Blue Mountain Local Species, which was the beer highlight of my visit. A surprise of the evening came when I looked over to see who had sat down at the bar a couple seats over from me. It was a cross-country teammate from college, who I had not talked to in at least 30 years! We had a good time chatting and catching up. It turns out he's a regular at Capital Ale House, and we share similar tastes in beer, and politics.

I only got through four of the 10 beers being featured. But I did have to get home at some point!

On Saturday, we hosted the Beer and Food Tasting Event we had donated to our school's fundraising auction. Even though we've now put on this event for six years, the days leading up to it are filled with both anxiety and excited anticipation. Choosing just eight beers from the hundreds available is tough enough, but planning the accompanying food menu is a challenge too. The hardest part isn't picking what we're going to serve, it's narrowing it down! Even though planning, and beer shopping, starts weeks in advance, changes happen right up to the day of the event. But the work and stress all pays off when folks arrive and the fun begins.

Table ready for people, food and beer

We had eight people in for the tasting. Over the course of 4 hours we enjoyed eight different beers accompanied by eight different plates of food. I picked beers that showed the wide range of flavors available in craft beer, and purposefully selected beers that are easily found in the area. Colleen did an excellent job with the food. After deciding the type of food we wanted with each beer, she searched for recipes. One of the things that makes this exciting, is that she also uses this as an opportunity to try new recipes, so most of the recipes we've not had before. The menu pairings are based on our prior experiences with beer and food. With few exceptions, we don't repeat things we done previously. If I do say so myself, this menu was one of the best we've put together. All the combinations worked very well, and a few of the pairings were especially notable.


The two opening beers were chosen with a specific purpose in mind. Both beers are lagers, from the same brewery, both are equal in alcohol content, but the beers could hardly be more different. I wanted to address the false adage that dark beers are "heavy" and/or high in alcohol. Devils Backbone Schwartzbier is light bodied and very flavorful beer. One guest even commented before I made my pitch how she was expecting the beer to be heavy, and that she didn't usually like dark beer.

The Dogfish Head Fêstina Peche with Goat Cheese and Salmon Bites was a very popular serving. We'd never tried this combo, and in fact it's been a couple years since I drank this beer, but my memory of it was spot on. The sour, fruity beer stood up well to the strong flavors of the goat cheese and smoked salmon.

We served another grilled sandwich, this time a hearty, Salty-sweet Bacon Panini, with Great Divide Hercules Double IPA. I selected Hercules specifically for the shocking, strong flavor of the beer. One participant took a sip and immediately let out a "eeww"exclamation, so it worked. We all had a good laugh. The flavor of the beer held up well to the strong brie and bacon fillings.

The wrap up course of Flying Dog Horn Dog Barley Wine with Blue Cheese, Sugared Walnuts and Asian Brown-skinned Pears was a fitting, and surprisingly refreshing pairing. I selected a barley wine style ale specifically as a digestif. By this point in the feast everyone is quite full. Even though the beer is high in alcohol, it's a refreshing sipper especially in combination with the sugar-coated walnuts and fresh, juicy pears.

At the end of the afternoon even the more experienced craft beer drinkers in the crowd had a new appreciation and awareness of the variety available. And the one person who noted she really wasn't a beer drinker at the start, concluded that she actually does like it. It's just a matter of finding the right beer!

As good as the beers were, I have to admit that it's the tasty foods prepared by Colleen which make the event special. It's not just the beers that folks talk about, the tasty delights that Colleen prepares always impress. As one participant noted, "I liked the beer, but it was even better when I had the food with it." And that's why we do it.

All done but the cleanup

Enough abbreviations? It was a special "Steal the Glass Night" featuring Devils Backbone at all Capital Ale House locations Thursday evening, but the Fredericksburg venue was the place to be. Brewer Jason Oliver traveled from Nelson County to visit and talk to folks about his beers.

Four Devils Backbone beers were on tap for the evening; Turbo Cougar, Schartz Bier, Vienna Lager and 8 Point IPA. We started off our evening with the Turbo Cougar Blonde Bock, which was the only one of the beers I had not previously tried. Golden yellow with a thin, short-lived head, Turbo Cougar is a malty, medium bodied lager with a lingering bitterness in the finish. My impression is it's a classic lager (not the watery factory beer version) taken up a notch. I downed my first pint quickly. Another glass made a fitting accompaniment to the spinach, artichoke and crab meat dip, with pretzel chips appetizer we enjoyed. (Thinking back, between the beers, the extra helping of pretzel chips, and visiting with friends, we never did get around to dinner!)


After the Turbo Cougar pints, Colleen and I both decided to order the Schwartz Bier next. This is a beer I had for the first time just recently, but one that I've enjoyed greatly. I couldn't pass up the chance to try it on draft. The rich espresso, dark chocolate and smoky flavors blend to create a flavorful, but moderately light beer. We're planning on featuring this dark lager in an upcoming food tasting event we're hosting, and I felt I was honor-bound to do some additional "research."

We're getting a collection

Colleen and I sat at the bar for several hours enjoying the time talking to each other, and also visiting with friends. Of course, we were fortunate to spend time chatting with Jason too. Jason also reminded me of my neglect in paying him a visit on his home turf. It's true, every time I've seen him in the past is when he's been visiting in Fredericksburg. Colleen and I committed to visiting this Summer.

It was a fun evening enjoying good beer and conversation. And good beer is even more fun when you get to drink it with the brewer! Thanks for visiting Jason.

"That was fun!" "What a great match!" Those exclamations are the common theme of shooters I've talked to after this weekend's FNH Virginia Maryland Section Championship match. Held Friday through Saturday at the Fredericksburg Rod and Gun Club, the match drew some 300 participants from the around the mid-Atlantic region. The match was comprised of nine stages, requiring about 240 rounds to complete. In contrast to the large squads at a typical monthly match at Fredericksburg, squads at the Sectional had just 8 shooters, so things moved pretty fast, with very little down time.

I shot the match on Saturday morning. The weather forecast for the weekend was best described as "iffy." The prognosticators were calling for rain Saturday, in various forms ranging from scattered thunderstorms, to occasional showers, to steady rain. As it turned out, there was a light, sporadic rain most of the morning, along with one brief period of heavy and steady rain.

I always view the first stage of the match as the place to get the kinks out, get loosened up, and put the pre-match nerves behind me. I was happy that I drew a fairly straightforward stage as my first of the day. Fourteen targets laid out along an L-shaped course. I ran my stage plan without hesitation, made smooth reloads, and got my hits. With that, the nerves were gone and I was ready for the rest of the day.

One of the more exciting reasons for going to major matches is the opportunity to shoot unique courses of fire that don't come up in monthly matches. Stage 9, "Stan Hurley's Hallway" was one such course. The course was a narrow, curving roofed hallway constructed of plywood with narrow ports on both sides through which most of the targets were engaged. For this stage I wore foam ears plugs underneath my electronic ear protection to cut down on the inevitable echo. There were a few targets before entering the dark hallway, as well outside at the end. The rest of the targets were visible from narrow points in the tunnel. I had been looking forward to this stage since first saw the stage diagram, and it didn't disappoint.

There were a couple "memory" stages, where it was imperative that you had your plan down pat, otherwise it would be easy to miss targets, or shoot some twice. I asked one of the RO's how many targets were in one such course, and he jokingly replied "Eight. Or seven or nine, depending on how you shoot it." One of my goals this year has been to be able to visualize the entire stage, before shooting it. I was happy that this goal was realized for this match, especially for these memory stages.

There wasn't a lot of steel in the match. One stage had a couple of falling poppers that activated some clamshell targets. Hitting the steel then swinging to hit the rising target before it is covered is one of those challenges I enjoy seeing in match, but one that I do not get to practice.

All the other steel in the match was on Stage 6, "The Whole Nine Yards." This was the last stage I shot, and it was both challenging and fun — a good way to end the day. You started out facing a wall with two targets to engage on either side of the bay. It was then the shooter's choice to advance down either side of a wall that extended down range. There was a low port in the wall mid-way down, through which a single target was visible. It was at the end of the wall that the real excitement happened. Five falling poppers, and the oft-dreaded Texas Star, where waiting, along with more paper targets. Also there were strategically placed walls which blocked access to the entire group of poppers, the star and the remaining paper. Depending on how the shooter chose to engage the targets, there was some back and forth movement required to get them all. During the 5 minute walk through period, our squad was clustered at that end of the stage determine how we'd engage those targets. The challenge was increased by the Texas Star behind partially blocked, possibly requiring the shooter to wait for the plates to swing around again. (He writes knowingly.)

Despite a few misses and a couple "tactical" errors, I was very happy with how I shot and I enjoyed this match immensely. Even the one stage I shot in the pouring rain did not dampen the fun. After shooting well at the beginning, I found myself beginning to go too fast on a couple of stages and dropping points. I quickly calmed down and got back to focusing on making my hits. The courses of fire were all well-designed and offered a variety of shooting challenges. There were extremely close targets that could be shot on the run, long-range targets that required careful aim, wide-open shots, and targets visible only through small openings. And often all these aspects came together on the same stage. The course designers did an excellent job! The match flowed smoothly and was well-organized. Without a doubt this was one of the most exciting and fun matches I've shot. I came home with wet gear, wet clothes, and a smile on my face.