Brewery Visit - Blue Mountain Brewery
Hi readers!
Sorry I have been slacking lately on my blog, but I just have to share my amazing brewery experience from over spring break. It was my first brewery visit ever and I went with a great group of friends. We were lucky enough to have a friend drive us out to Nelson County, VA to the Blue Mountain Brewery. Luckily it was beautiful day and packed with people and puppies in the outdoor seating area. We were given a quick tour before our table was ready to be seated.
The tour was brief, but really fun and informative. Our tour guide, Michael was really funny and helpful in explaining the brewery process. Blue Mountain has two locations, the one we were at has a great restaurant as well as a large brewing operation for their popular ales and lagers. One cool fact was that Blue Mountain (both locations) produces about 100,000 barrels of Virginia craft beer. Blue Mountain is often deemed a "pioneer of the Virginia rural brewery" because of its use of local deep well water and some great selections of hops and barley malt.
While I did not get a chance to actually visit Blue Mountains' hop yard, our tour guide shared some other cool information about it. Apparently Blue Mountain has two hop yards at both locations in Afton and Arrington. Not only do they have thriving hop yards, but they are also award winning as well! These yards have earned awards from World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Festival, and was the only brewery in Virginia to win repeating gold at Great American!
Sorry I have been slacking lately on my blog, but I just have to share my amazing brewery experience from over spring break. It was my first brewery visit ever and I went with a great group of friends. We were lucky enough to have a friend drive us out to Nelson County, VA to the Blue Mountain Brewery. Luckily it was beautiful day and packed with people and puppies in the outdoor seating area. We were given a quick tour before our table was ready to be seated.
 |
| Outdoor seating area with fireplace in background. |
The tour was brief, but really fun and informative. Our tour guide, Michael was really funny and helpful in explaining the brewery process. Blue Mountain has two locations, the one we were at has a great restaurant as well as a large brewing operation for their popular ales and lagers. One cool fact was that Blue Mountain (both locations) produces about 100,000 barrels of Virginia craft beer. Blue Mountain is often deemed a "pioneer of the Virginia rural brewery" because of its use of local deep well water and some great selections of hops and barley malt.
 |
| A quick picture with our awesome tour guide standing right by Blue Mountains beer barrels! |
While I did not get a chance to actually visit Blue Mountains' hop yard, our tour guide shared some other cool information about it. Apparently Blue Mountain has two hop yards at both locations in Afton and Arrington. Not only do they have thriving hop yards, but they are also award winning as well! These yards have earned awards from World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Festival, and was the only brewery in Virginia to win repeating gold at Great American!
I was so thankful for the tour, but it was cut short as our table was ready for dinner inside. I will say the food was hands down amazing, but the brewery flight was even better!
 |
| Crab Cake Sandwich & Side Salad |
 |
| Menu |
I actually love beer so this was fun for me. My top favorite beers were:
Evil 8:
Belgian-Abbey-style Dubbel
7.7% Alc. by Vol.
30 IBUs
"Belgian aromatic malt, raisiny "Special B" malt, yeast-driven dark plum and mild clove flavors. A dark ruby delight!"
In terms of color this is a dark beer. It smells sweet and a littler fruity to me personally. It tasted just as it smelled, but it left my mouth with a savory flavor.
Wallonia Sasion:
Saison/Farmhouse Ale
7.2% Alc. by Vol
25 IBUs
This beer has a lighter color and definitely reminded me of farmhouse in terms of smell. After a second sniff, I picked up hints of clove and peppercorn. In terms of taste I enjoyed how light it was on my pallet. Additionally, it had very nice hints of malt, spice, and earthy flavors.
A Hopwork Orange:
Orange Infused IPA
7.0% Alc By Vol
65 IBUs
"Light crystal malt with a heavy hand of Simcoe, Cascade, and Centennial hops complemented by natural orange flavoring"
The name certainly suits its color. I was excited at first sight then followed by first smell. My nose was invaded by aromas of orange, grapefruit, citrus, pine, and my favorite from an IPA -- hops! I love IPAs and I especially enjoyed this one because of how successfully they blended typical hops flavors in a regular IPA with the fruity flavors found in this one.
What a wonderful experience! My friends and I had so much fun that we have already planned another trip to a neighboring brewery! Can't wait to share my next experience-- until next time!
Cheers,
Aainy
Comments
Post a Comment