Month: October 2016

Farm Brewery in Natural Bridge Ready for Grand Opening | WDBJ7

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Credit: GrayTVThere will be another microbrewery in the area soon.  The brewery is the newest addition to the Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail, which features 13 breweries in the central Shenandoah Valley.

The Great Valley Farm Brewery will open its doors officially in Natural Bridge this Saturday.

They’ve been building and brewing since February in anticipation, and working on some special beers because they are actually a farm as well as a brewery.

Owner Nathan Bailey explains: “We intend to grow a lot of ingredients – special ingredients that go into our beers, you know, such as hops, fruits, berries, things of that nature.”  Don’t worry, though, if you like the more conventional sorts of brews. They’ll have a range of those as well.

A special opening day celebration will be held at the brewery, just off exit 180 on I-81, on Saturday October 22nd starting at noon and running through 7 p.m.

Source: WDBJ7. See more.

Waynesboro Brewery Prepares to Open Its Doors | News Virginian

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WAYNESBORO, VIRGINIA — The pool table is in place and the beer is brewed as staff at Basic City Beer Company prepare for their grand opening this weekend.

BasicCity_LogoDesign_Final_BW_Stacked_Horizontal_resizedThe old Virginia Metalcrafters building has been transformed into a brewery while keeping part of its historic personality.

Brothers Bart, Chris and Joe Lanman are co-founders of Basic City Beer Company. Bart has lived in Waynesboro for 14 years, Chris moved from Missouri and Joe lives in North Carolina.  The brothers decided on a brewery. After they visited Virginia breweries, they quickly decided to open one in the Valley. Once they saw the Virginia Metalcrafters building, they were sold. “The windows were broken,” Bart described. “There was dirt and dust. It sat empty for 10 years and it was a mess.” The brothers looked beyond the mess and saw a diamond in the rough.

“The first reason was to restore a historical building,” Bart said. “Also it’s on the neglected side of town. Often breweries move to neglected parts of town. Five to eight years later it creates economic development. It brings people and the area around it progresses.” They started conceptualizing the project two years ago and demolition started about one year ago.

Bart described the brewery’s look as “industrial but polished.” They kept many of the original parts of the Virginia Metalcrafters building and integrated it into the design. For example, the chandeliers are made out of the old electrical pipes. The table legs, table tops, tap tower and more are all made of reused materials from the old building. Bart hung photography he took of textures in the building.

“Pipes beams can be creative and put together on a budget,” he said of the design. “But also bring very unique aesthetics that are your own.” Often, everything people want and need is available Bart said; they just have to look at things in front of them.

At any given time, Bart said they can make 53,000 pints of beer. Jacque Landry is their brewer with 20 years of brewery experience.

Bart said their beers stand out due to their solid foundation with a twist of flavor.  Beers that will be on tap for their opening include: Foggy Lager, Advanced-DIPA, N&W Porter, B.R.T. Stout, Oopsproch Lager and The 6th Lord-IPA.

Along with the vibe of Basic City Beer Company, the brothers hope the brewery will “reclaim the spirit of an age.”

“Basic City was a boom town in the 1890s; anything could happen and the American dream was intact,” Bart said. “We believe if you work hard and are passionate you can still make it happen.”

Basic City Beer Company is at 1010 E. Main Street in Waynesboro. For more information, visit their Facebook page “Basic City Beer Co.” or website at basiccitybeer.com.

Source: The News Virginian. Read more.

Devils Backbone Wins Two Gold Medals at the 2016 Great American Beer Festival

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LEXINGTON, VA October 10, 2016 – Devils Backbone Brewing Company was honored to be awarded with two Gold Medals at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) this past weekend in Denver, CO. Vienna Lager, Devils Backbone’s flagship beer and winner of Gold in the Vienna-Style Lager category, and Danzig, part of the Trail Blazer series and winner of Gold in the Baltic-Style Porter category, bring the brewery’s GABF total to 31 medals, including three national titles, since first entering the competition seven years ago.

“Devils Backbone couldn’t be happier to be one of the 13 Virginia breweries to bring home medals from the Great American Beer Festival,” said Steve Crandall, who founded Devils Backbone with his wife Heidi in 2008. “Seeing Vienna Lager and Danzig continue to earn recognition from this event is a huge honor for our entire company, and it shows the high level of execution from our brew team.”

Devils Backbone beers are inspired by the great brewing traditions of Europe and the ingenuity of modern craft brewing. The brewing team has earned numerous awards and accolades for their beers, exceling in the art of lager brewing in an ale dominated industry. Vienna Lager (5.2% ABV, 18 IBU) is amber in color with a subtle toasted caramel note and a smooth malty finish. Danzig (8% ABV, 28 IBU) blends a strong English porter with a Germanic lager approach, fairly robust – this strong black lager has notes of chocolate and coffee with hints of caramelized sugar.

“It has been a great year for Devils Backbone beers in competition,” said Brewmaster Jason Oliver. “This GABF medal especially cool for Danzig, because 2016 is the first year we’ve released that beer as a bottled Trail Blazer seasonal offering.”

This is the fourth GABF medal for Vienna Lager, having also received golds in 2015 and 2012, plus a silver in 2009. This is also the fourth GABF medal for Danzig. It was awarded a bronze in 2013 and silvers in 2012 and 2009. Devils Backbone has also garnered three coveted national titles at GABF including 2014 Mid-Sized Brewing Company and Brew Team of the Year, 2013 Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year and 2012 Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year.

The Devils Backbone Outpost Brewery & Tap Room is located at 50 North Wind Lane, Lexington, VA.

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