Epic Craft Beer In Low Down County

Since the end of the year is fast approaching, this will be the final post of 2014. Historically, I end the blog year with something either epic or reflective. This year is definitely more on the epic side.

Last weekend, I set out on another one of my epic beer drinking quests. On this particular occasion, we journeyed to the Leesburg, Purcellville and Lovettsville region of Northern Virginia to pop in on one of the area’s a surging craft beer markets. I don’t use the word “surging” loosely in this sense – Leesburg is home to Crooked Run and the Beer Joint (formerly Vintage 50), Purcellville is home to Adroit Theory, Corcoran, Old 690 and Belly Love and Lovettsville has the Mad Horse Brewpub. Not only that, but two major national breweries have taken notice and are moving into the area – Victory (out of Downingtown, PA) will be building a brewpub in Leesburg and Flying Dog (out of Frederick, MD) will be opening a hop farm/farm brewery in nearby Lucketts. Clearly, the area is booming with craft-brewed excellence.

So we went up there and spent the weekend drinking their beers.

We started with the Mad Horse Brewpub in Lovettsville. Mad Horse is one of those craft beer jewels that you would never know was there until you happened upon it (or unless you’re obsessed like I am). They had a solid flight of beers that consisted of their Hefrageous Hefeweizen, Blonde Bunny Blonde Ale, Resurrection American Pale Ale, It’s A Trap Belgian Golden Ale, Justus Lager American Light Lager and S. O. Stout. Their beers were all very approachable (which they told us was on purpose) and only the Belgian golden ale had any kind of nose on it. Still, they were all solid and the friendly and knowledgeable staff and overall atmosphere and experience were great.

Very warm, casual and inviting brewpub with great
beer and great food!

Next, we found ourselves at Crooked Run, a very small nano-brewery in the Tuscarora Mill shopping center in Leesburg. Crooked Run is a perfect example of how to maximize space, because they have none, and still manage to make pretty delicious beer. The beers we had that day were their Red Kolsch Irish Red/Kolsch, Breakfast of Champions American Pale Wheat Ale, Shadow of Truth Black Belgian Tripel, True Vision Belgian IPA and You’re Cool Cucumber Mint Wheat. They were all quite tasty and trended more towards experimental, particularly the cucumber mint wheat which was a lot better than it sounds. Owner/Operator/Brewmaster Jake Endres was there, and was fully willing to engage his beer drinking customers.

Small but awesome, and the beers are terrific!

Next up was the Beer Joint (formerly Vintage 50) in Leesburg. While the Beer Joint has the ability to make beer, and has historically made beer under the Vintage 50 flag, the Beer Joint is currently not making beer. Courtesy of the Virginia ABC, who decided to take the re-branding and ownership change as an opportunity to wield authority and rescind their license. The Beer Joint has reapplied for a new license, but until they get it, their tanks are dry and the beer they sell is someone else’s.

Next on the schedule was Adroit Theory in Purcellville. Adroit Theory is both exactly what you imagine it is and nothing like what you imagine it is at the same time. They have a large space – a warehouse – that is fully decorated and stocked with merchandise and marketing. They have a large cold room, production space, bar area and even a second story above their kitchen that they use to store odds and ends. They have the look and feel of a large production brewery, but they are a nano. They have a ½ barrel system and they contract with Beltway Brewing Company to handle the rest of their demand. Their beer is really amazing though. They had twelve beers on tap, including their Tenebris Barleywine, Trendy T.R.I.P.A. Triple IPA, B/A/Y/S Cognac Barrel Russian Imperial Stout, Ortolan Bunting Strong Ale, Zero Coffee IPA, BLVCK Celebration Imperial Porter, Caramel Macchiato Stout, Black Pepper Saison, Persona Non Grata Saison, Ginger & Lemongrass Wheat and Jicama Blonde Ale. These beers were all north of 7.5% ABV (most ranging towards 10%) and were very impressive, particularly the Trendy Triple IPA and Caramel Macchiato Stout.

Drink art indeed! Delicious brews at Adroit Theory!

After Adroit, we went to Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville. Belly Love is new, but their beer was pretty good. They had Shut the Fook Up Pale Ale, My Bitter X IPA and Eye of Jupiter Oatmeal Stout. All were tasty and solid representations of the styles. The food at Belly Love was also pretty good, but there was some incense burning in the tap room that really spoiled the atmosphere. It was difficult to enjoy the good beer and food with the incense in the room. Other than that, Belly Love was pretty good.

Belly Love beer is really good! Welcome new brewers!

Our last stop was Corcoran Brewing Company in Purcellville. Corcoran also has a solid and expansive flight of beers to choose from. The beers I had while I was there were their Wheatland Pale Wheat Ale, Waterford Wit, Corky’s Irish Red, Padawan Pumpkin, P’ville Pale Ale, Loco IPA, Hops The Bunny IPA, Slainte Dry Irish Stout, Paeonian Porter and Jeb Stuart Stout. I have to be honest – by this point in the weekend, I wasn't exactly all the way there anymore (I blame Adroit Theory) but I do remember Corcoran’s beers tasting pretty good. I particularly liked the Jeb Stuart, the Loco IPA and the Padawan Pumpkin.

Great selection and quality brews at Corcoran! Cheers!

One brewery we did not get to visit was Old 690. We missed them by one day, as they had a hearing on the Thursday prior to our arrival with Loudoun County officials to remain open in spite of a zoning ordinance violation. The short story is that Virginia legalized farm breweries in May and Old 690 opened shortly thereafter, but Loudoun County has not changed the county ordinance to allow farm breweries, meaning Old 690 was operating against the county law. The particularly irritating part is that the county already intends to change the ordinance and allow farm breweries on 23 January 2015. So in other words, Old 690 will be fully compliant in one month, but until that time, they have to shut down… all because Loudoun County is dragging their feet. Total drag.

But other than two instances of government interference, too much incense and a bit of a headache, the weekend was a total success and will go down in history as another successful beer quest. I recommend all of these breweries to you weary beer travelers, if you find yourselves in the northern-most section of Northern Virginia.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve that is filled with great beers like the ones I wrote about here today. There is large, potentially huge news in 2015, but for now, you're just going to have to wait for it. Unless you know it already, in which case... no spoilers!

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!