By Jeff Maisey After announcing his return in an exclusive interview with Virginia Craft Beer Magazine on New Year’s Day, pioneering Virginia craft brewer Mark Thompson now has his Brewing Tree Beer Company is up and running. The charismatic Thompson is brewing again after three-year contractual hiatus. Before his “retirement,” Thompson spent 23 years in…
Best Virginia Brewery of 2018?
STAFF REPORT Each year the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild holds its Virginia Craft Beer Cup competition. The top award — a cut-and-welded keg resembling the NHL Stanley Cup — is given to the Best in Show winning beer. Each of the past three years we at Virginia Craft Beer Magazine have sought to determine which…
Game Changer for Smartmouth
By Jeff Maisey It’s summertime. Most of Team Smartmouth’s starting lineup is batting like champs. There’s Alter Ego Saison, the team’s home run leader. Murphy’s Law Amber is good for an on-base hit every time at bat. Notch 9 Double IPA always scores with RBIs (and IPUs). Then there’s last season’s Rookie of the Year…
Virginia is for LockN’ Lovers
By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones Beer and music festivals go together like yin and yang. However, it’s a bona fide buzzkill when your festival beer choices are limited to domestic lagers, and a search for the “craft beer tent” leads you to Blue Moon or Shocktop but no beers brewed nearby when there are…
Senator Mark Warner Talks Tariffs
By Jeff Maisey As summer was about to begin, U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) hosted Virginia craft brewers and canners for a roundtable discussion on the economic impact tariffs imposed by President Trump would have on imported aluminum and steel. The sit-down conversation was held at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond. So what…
Going Coastal
By Jeremy Bender Each summer, millions of people flock to the coast like seagulls hovering over a fish fry. In Coastal Virginia there are some two hundred miles of varied communities ranging from the small fishing town of Chincoteague near the Maryland border on the Eastern Shore all the way down to the resort…
Rocket Frog Leaps into Orbit
By Jeff Maisey Rocket Frog Brewing Company — Loudoun County’s newest brewery — leap into orbit on May 19, debuting with five beers on tap: Angry Alice IPA, Minotaur American Golden Ale, Wallops Island American Brown Ale, Double IPA and Dry Saison. The brewery is owned by twin brothers David and Richard Hartogs along…
Must-Read Book Explores IPAs
By Jeff Maisey If you’ve ever heard Dick Cantwell speak on the topic of beer you know he’s both incredibly knowledgeable on the subject and an engaging storyteller — both qualities that make for an excellent book. That said it’s perhaps no wonder the Brewers Association’s publishing division is behind Cantwell’s new book, Brewing…
3 VA Breweries Among Fastest Growing in USA
By David Hunter In April, The Brewers Association released its inaugural list of the 50 fastest growing small and independent craft brewing companies of 2017 and three breweries on that list are from right here in Virginia: Vanish Farmwoods Brewery from Leesburg, VA coming in at #25; Big Lick Brewing Company from Roanoke, VA at…
COTU and Port City Score World Beer Cup Medals
By Jeff Maisey Nashville might be known as Music City, but in May it became Medal City for two independent Virginia craft breweries and one non-independent from Nelson County. Ashland-headquartered Center of the Universe Brewing Company won a Gold medal for its Bad Irishman in the Irish-style Red Ale category and its Session Pale Ale…