Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, Twice

Craft beer fans, and fun-loving folks in general, will have two opportunities to celebrate Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg this month. (Yes, the Munich Oktoberfest actually does start in September.)

On September 18, the Fredericksburg Capital Ale House will celebrate Oktoberfest in downtown Fredericksburg with a block party in front of their Caroline Street location. The event will kick off at noon and continue until 10:00PM. This will be the second annual event for Capital Ale House in Fredericksburg. Entertainment will be provided by the SGTEV Hirschjager German dancers and German music by Heidi und Heimat, The Continentals & Low’n’Brows. A large children’s area will include three inflatable attractions, face painter and balloon artists. Food and beverages will be available. Other Richmond are Capital Ale House locations will celebrate Oktoberfest on September 24th & 25th, and October 2.

After you've spent the work week recovering, the party starts again the following weekend. The Blue & Gray Brewing Company will hold their 8th Annual Fredericksburg Oktoberfest all weekend long, September 24, 25, & 26. Family-friendly fun activities include sing alongs, a stein holding contest, Oompah music, ginger bread walk, K-9 demonstration, face painting for the kids, and the Low’n’Brows. And of course, plenty of the ever-popular Oktoberfest Beer from Blue & Gray Brewing will be available along with other Blue & Gray beers. See the event page for the complete schedule of events.

The newly opened Lee's Retreat Brewpub at Blue & Gray will be serving delicious German foods and pastries. Beer will be available for sale in 12oz or 16oz mugs, or a 33.8oz (maas) commemorative stein. Festival hours are Friday 5:00PM-10:00PM, Saturday 11:00AM-7:00 PM, and Sunday 12:00PM-4:00PM.

It's a great month to be a craft beer fan in Fredericksburg!

Hop Picking at Blue Mountain

Do you enjoy the aroma of very fresh hops? The Annual Hop Picking Day at Blue Mountain Brewery is Monday, August 2.

From Nelson County Life Magazine:

Join us Mon, Aug 2nd from 10am-7pm for our annual Hop Picking. Volunteer 2 hours and receive a FREE sandwich and side. (ABC law says we can’t give free beer but you can grab a beer while you pick, after you pick or both.) We’ll be brewing 1,000 gallons of a Cascade Tribute Pale Ale with the hops our volunteers pick. The rest of the hops will be dried the following day and used in our beloved Full Nelson Pale Ale throughout the year.

Event Date: Monday 2nd of August 2010 10:00 AM
Location/Address: 9519 Critzers Shop Road, Afton, VA 22920
Contact Telephone: Please call 540-456-8020 for more information

Four Virginia Breweries Collaborate on Special Brew

Brewers from Starr Hill, Blue Mountain, Devils Backbone, and South Street breweries got together last week to create a special beer. Five brewers from these Virginia breweries met at Starr Hill on Friday to create a Black IPA style beer. Jacque Landry, (partner & brewer South Street Brewery) Matt Nucci, (brewer and co-owner Blue Mountain Brewery) Mark Thompson, (owner and brewmaster Starr Hill) Aaron Reilly, (brewer Devils Backbone) and Jason Oliver, (head brewmaster Devils Backbone) all contributed to the effort. The special brew will be released at the Brew Ridge Trail Music Festival on August 21.

Nelson County Life has photos from the brew day, along with more information. Brewer Jason Oliver was also featured in a video interview with Charlottesville station NBC29.

See this post for details on how you can win two free tickets to the Brew Ridge Festival.

Photo courtesy Nelson County Life.

Win Two Tickets to the Brew Ridge Trail Music Festival

The second annual Brew Ridge Trail Music Festival will be held Saturday, August 21. This festival features beer from Starr Hill, Blue Mountain, Devils Backbone, and South Street breweries. The event takes place on the concert grounds at Devils Backbone Brewery in Nelson County (45 min. from Charlottesville) and Musings Over a Pint readers have the opportunity to win a pair of tickets to the festival. Simply post a comment below, as a reply to this post, between now and July 31 and you'll be entered to win. I'll select a winner at random on August 1 to receive the pair of tickets.

The not so fine print: If you post anonymously, or the ID you post with doesn't provide contact info, it won't count. (For example, if there's no contact info on your Blogger profile, I can't contact you.) The winner will be notified via email on August 1 and their contact information forwarded to the event promoter. The tickets will be available at the will call counter at the Brew Ridge Trail Music Festival.

Good luck and I hope to see you there!

Update, August 1: The winner of the tickets is Chuck Triplett. Enjoy the festival Chuck!

More About Lee's Retreat Brewpub

The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, published an article today about the new brewpub at The Blue & Gray Brewing Company. You can read what Bill Freehling has to say about Lee's Retreat, and view a few pictures, by following the link below.

Blue & Gray opens brew pub in Bowman Center

How very Capital of you! In Richmond

I've mused often about the Capital Ale House in Fredericksburg, but did you know there are three other CAH locations? Recently The Happy Hour Guys visited the original Capital Ale House in downtown Richmond.



Watch on YouTube

Visit The Happy Hour Guys web site to see videos of other craft beer places of interest.

Lee's Retreat is Open

That's right folks, Fredericksburg now boasts TWO brewpubs. The long-awaited brewpub at Blue & Gray Brewing opened this week. The brewpub is open Tuesday -Thursday, 11am-9pm, and Friday - Saturday until 11pm.

The Lee's Retreat menu is posted here. The chef, Frederick T. Heller (Fritz) is originally from Hackensack, NJ and has 20 years experience in the restaurant business. Fritz has built most of the interior of Lee's Retreat and was instrumental in menu development. I've not had the chance to visit, but you can be sure I will very soon. The photo of the bar at right is take from the Blue & Gray's Facebook page.

The pub has Blue & Gray beer to go as well. During brewpub hours, you can purchase 22oz bottles, and swap out screw cap growlers and beer bombs. No dine-in required.

Did I mention there are now two brewpubs in Fredericksburg?

Brew Ridge Trail Music Festival

The second annual Brew Ridge Trail Music Festival will take place on Saturday, August 21 at the Concert Grounds at Devils Backbone Brewery in Nelson County. Music and beer will combine for a family-friendly, fun-filled day.

The festival will showcase 16 craft beers from national and world acclaimed breweries that line the Virginia Brew Ridge Trail: Blue Mountain Brewery, South Street Brewery, Starr Hill Brewery and Devils Backbone Brewing Co., the 2010 World Beer Cup Champion Brewery and Brewmaster (Jason Oliver) for a small brewpub. Both tasting and full portion pours will be available for purchase.

Discounted advance tickets can be purchased online or at local outlets. Complete ticket information is available here.

Update, July 18: Win two tickets to the festival, details here.

Twilight Tattoo

Wednesday evening we attended the Twilight Tattoo at Fort McNair in Washington, DC. This regal performance features Soldiers from The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" and other proud men and women of the U.S. Army. It is quite an amazing performance. It was refreshing to see so many young people in attendance filled with patriotic American pride.

What's that you say? Where's the beer connection? Well, according to MilitaryTattoo.org, a tattoo is defined as "a military display consisting of music, marching, and exercises. [from Dutch taptoe, shutting off of taps, signalling the closing of taverns at the end of the day].

So there you go.

Wolf Hills Expansion Complete

I recently mentioned the planned expansion at Wolf Hills Brewing Company in Abingdon. Today I received word from the brewery that their new, expanded location is ready to open:

A year ago, Wolf Hills Brewing Co. opened to the public with a dream of sharing fresh, craft beer with Abingdon and southwest Virginia. Despite numerous warnings to the contrary, we had faith that our neighbors were dissatisfied with mass produced, watered down beer offerings and were ready for more flavorful choices. We were right. Armed only with our tiny one-barrel system in a 288 square foot back building, we set forth on our mission to dispel myths that our area would not support a microbrewery. Over fifty Growler Hours later, not only have you embraced us and our beer, but you have encouraged us to expand our equipment, facility and beer styles. When former light pilsner drinkers clamor for more Double IPA, we must be doing something right.

Wolf Hills would like to invite you to share in the next step of our journey. In keeping with our theme of drawing from Abingdon’s rich history, we have renovated the Old Ice House at the end of Park Street, a 5,000 square foot facility where ice was once made and sold prior to refrigeration. Installed there now are our new seven-barrel brew house and four seven barrel fermenters, along with the other equipment necessary to vastly increase our production.

Beginning Thursday July 1, please join us for Growler Hours at the Old Ice House, 350 Park Street, Abingdon, Virginia from 5:30-8 p.m. Discover one of our many styles for yourself . . . you’ll be howling for more.

This is exciting news for fans of Wolf Hills, and Virginia craft beer in general. Congratulations to Chris, Cameron, and the entire team at Wolf Hills.