By Jeff Maisey The Virginia Craft Brewers Guild membership passed a resolution confirming its commitment to the existing membership structure. VCBG membership is available to independent craft breweries as defined by the Brewers Association. The vote was in response to the recent announcement that founding Guild member Devils Backbone Brewing Company had agreed to sell…
UPDATE: VA Craft Beer Cup Awards, Reception & Festival
By Jeff Maisey The 2016 Virginia Craft Beer Cup and category medal winners will be presented Tuesday, August 16 at a ceremony at Westrock followed by a reception — August 29 — on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion in Richmond. The reception date was changed to the 29th because of a scheduling conflict for…
Virginia Craft Brewers Guild Elects 2016-17 Leaders
On May 18, the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild held its annual spring meeting and its membership elected its new 2016-2017 Leadership Council. Eric McKay, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery will serve as Chair and Sten Sellier, Beltway Brewing will serve as Vice Chair. Porter Hardy, Smartmouth Brewing and Hunter Smith, Champion Brewing Company will serve as…
Devil of a Deal
BY JEFF MAISEY News this spring spread like wildfire when it was announced Anheuser-Busch/Inbev would acquire Lexington, Virginia based Devils Back Bone Brewing Company. Many craft beer enthusiasts responded swiftly and harshly on social media. But many in the craft beer world seemed to understand the dilemma Devils Backbone faced behind the scenes. So did…
Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail Launched
By Jeremy Bender Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail was unveiled with the tagline “Valley Fresh, Valley Brewed” and can be found at Beerwerkstrail.com. The beer trail is a collaboration between the tourism offices of Harrisonburg, Lexington/Rockbridge, and Staunton/Augusta/Waynesboro. The site asks visitors to “Explore our great outdoors and enjoy great beer, too. Come tap into that authenticity…
Coastal Virginia Beer Trail Launched
By Jeremy Bender The Hampton Roads area craft breweries now have an official beer trail dubbed Coastal Virginia Beer Trail at COVAbeertrail.com. The site – with the tagline “Where craft beer and water meet – is designed largely as a tool for tourists and beer-cationers hoping to add a local craft brewery experience to their…
A Look at Virginia Beer Festival
By Jeff Maisey As Karen Scherberger recalls, the Virginia Beer Festival (scheduled May 21-22 at Town Point Park, Norfolk) got its start long before the current popularity of craft beer saw organizations big and small scrambling to produce a brew centric festival in the Commonwealth. The year was 2002. Scherberger, the executive director of Festevents,…