Those of
you who have been reading this gibberish for a while know that I am given to
summarizing certain mantras of mine in the form of catch phrases - one of those
being “Support your local brewers,” or something along those lines. The good
thing about catch phrases is that they are repeated, which means eventually
they sink in and are easily recalled, thus reinforcing the message behind them.
Unfortunately, if you don’t practice what you preach, the reinforced idea
becomes an easily recalled underpinning of how full of crap you are. It is for
this reason that I always make an effort to practice whatever it is that I am
over-professing in the form of a catch phrase.
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| Will Eddy Van Halen be at these breweries? |
Another
thing that you avid longtime readers may remember is a post I wrote about a
year or so ago (July 7th, 2012) about the Brew Ridge Trail, and how
I thought that taking a trip down to Shenandoah and knocking-out all of these
breweries in one shot would make for a most-excellent adventure, to quote Bill
S. Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan. Well, it just so happens that
earlier this summer, I did just that, taking a long weekend down in
Charlottesville, VA and Shenandoah and going brewery to brewery. It is my
intention to devote the next few weeks of blog posts to giving you my two cents
(no actual value) on each of the breweries that I visited along the brew ridge
so that you can a) live vicariously through me, and 2) be inspired to take a
similar vacation yourselves. Good deal?
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| Mmmm... |
First, a
few words about the Brew Ridge Trail to catch everyone up (you can also read my
previous post by clicking on this word,
or check out their official website by clicking on this word). The phrase “Brew Ridge Trail”
refers to a collection of breweries in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western
Virginia, in and around the Charlottesville, VA area. The brewers, local
chambers of commerce, and marketeers are celebrating the craft beer industry in
Nelson and Albemarle Counties and claiming that there are more breweries than
stop lights (which is actually true). The Brew Ridge Trail consists of the Blue
Mountain Brewery in Afton, VA, the Blue Mountain Barrel House in Arrington, VA,
the Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company in Roseland, VA, the South Street Brewery
in Charlottesville, VA, the Starr Hill Brewery in Crozet, VA, and the Wild Wolf
Brewing Company in Nellysford, VA. They are all centrally located, easy to get
to, and quite honestly, are too tempting not to patron given the majestic scenery
of the area and the laid back atmosphere of the communities.
My quest
into the Brew Ridge began in the city of Charlottesville, where I ate dinner on
a Thursday night at the South Street Brewery brew pub. South Street is
literally in downtown Charlottesville, at 106 W. South Street. Street parking
on a Thursday night was non-existent, but there was a parking garage around the
corner that was not too long of a walk. And no, they did not validate parking
(does anybody do that anymore?).
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| The front of the building. |
The pub
had a turn-of-the-century industrial-warehouse look from the street, but it was
rather homey inside with a giant fireplace and hearth to sit around, perhaps as
a waiting area if there was a wait, or as alternative seating – I’m not sure. The
majority of the pub had a lot of wood and brick, keeping in with the exterior turn-of-the-century factory feel, but there was also a section that was modern, with
interesting art pieces and a more community-table like seating arrangement. The
dining room was roomy, with large booths that could easily sit six people, and
they had a large wooden bar with glass windows behind that looked into the
brewery itself. The place seemed clean, and overall, the atmosphere was
comfortable.
The food
was good, though the menu was rather limited. I had their mini taco salads,
which consisted of two flour taco bowls filled with black beans, marinated beef
tips, sautéed green peppers & onions; served with a lettuce, tomatoes,
cheese and a side of sour cream and salsa. It really was quite good, and was
only $9.50, so needless to say, I was pleased with the food aspect.
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| The bar area... with windows behind that display the brewing rig |
Our
waiter wasn't overly professional looking, but he was knowledgeable about their
beer and able to answer questions (because I always quiz them). The lady who
was hostessing was very friendly, and seemed eager to welcome people, almost as
though they know they’re getting a lot of out-of-towners.
Okay,
okay, I know you are asking why I’m not address the most important part – it’s
because if I don’t address things like food, atmosphere, and parking, you’re
going to ask me about them, so I figured I’d get it out of the way so we can
get down to business (plus it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want).
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| Oversized booths and a very roomy dining room = very enjoyable dining experience |
The beer
(yeah, he’s finally talking about beer) was pretty good – not amazing – but consistently
pretty good. I had the South Street Porter’s Porter, the BelgoPale, the
Maibock, the Hefeweizen, the Liberation Lager, the Satan’s Pony Amber Ale, and
the JP Ale. There were three shining stars of the seven beers that I had:
1) The
BelgoPale Belgian pale ale was really wonderful! There was a sweetness from the
yeast that balanced perfectly with the citrusy hops, and the light pale malts
and Belgian yeast created a light, summery, almost cloud like mouth feel that
was very excellent. I enjoyed it enough that I went ahead and had a full pint of it, in addition to the 4 oz sample on the flight. I give this brew 4.8 stars out of 5, and not in an Untappd
kind-of way – I mean an ACTUAL 4.8/5. I highly recommend this one.
2) The
Satan’s Pony Amber Ale came in a close second, and was only slightly less
really wonderful than the BelgoPale. For whatever reason, amber ales often come
across as after-thoughts in the beer world – not sure why. It’s gotten to where
many brewers make them to appeal to the nubes, but don’t take the time to make
them shine, because most craft beer drinkers are looking for more complex
flavor profiles than what an amber ale can be. All of that being said, this
amber ale tasted like what an amber ale should taste like. It was sweet, crisp
and refreshing, unassuming yet elegant. This one easily gets 4.6 stars, and
again, a glowing recommendation from me.
3) The
final standout was the South Street Porter’s Porter. Dark, smoky, and sweet.
Their porter was not the best porter I've ever had, but it was exactly what it
was designed to be… an enjoyable everyday kind-of porter. I give it 4.4/5 of my
star chart, and once again, can recommend it to you without fear of tarnishing
my reputation.
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| A look at their flight... pretty delicious |
The rest
of the beers in their flight were good as well, some better than others, and
would all receive between 3.4 and 4.2 stars, if I were taking the time to rate
them individually, which I’m not. Again, my blog, my rules. Seriously though,
the beers are all quality, and definitely made the right way, so can any of
them actually be considered bad? I don’t think so.
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| Nice place... go give them money |
All in
all, I was pleased with my trip to the South Street Brewery brew pub in downtown Charlottesville. I recommend it to you whether you’re taking on the
Brew Ridge Trail, or just in the neighborhood and want good food and quality
beer. I’d tell you to visit their website, but I can’t get it to work – here’s
a link to their non-working
website, just in case they ever do fix it, or you can check them out on yelp, beer advocate, or other
places where know-it-alls like me try to effect the overall performance of a
hospitality business by convincing you to either go there or not. Seriously…
what is wrong with this world of ours?
Here’s
to craft-brewed happiness (and the Brew Ridge)… Cheers!
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