Blue Mountain at Rustico Ballston

Virginia is for Lovers.  More specifically, Virginia is for beer lovers these days.

We are living in a golden area here in the Old Dominion.   In NOVA we can drink local from the excellent Madd Fox, Port City Brewing and Lost Rhino.  South of the Washington area, Star Hill, Devils Backbone and Blue Mountian are brewing up award winners and making the state proud.  

Of the breweries outside of NOvA, Devils’ Backbone entered the market with bottles back in May and Blue Mountain can be found on tap fairly regularly at Galaxy Hut and others great beer bars in NOVA.  Now that the bottle house has opened, their extraordinary beer Dark Hollow, can be found in the area (I spotted it at Trader Joe’s in Claredon).   It’s a world class brewery and when I saw they were having a Tap event with pint glass giveaway in Rustico ballston, I had to be there.

I was able to sample a bunch of new beers and my favs were ESB, Steel wheels, refreshing tea flavor, & brown with coco nibs and orange peel, Isabela.   In addition, they had three great casks, one of which was a blend of their holiday beer and Dark hollow. It was outstanding. Of course, I couldn't pass up the Full Nelson on tap either..  

I also got to meet the brewers and founders, the Smacks.   They were extremely friendly folks and explained their recent expansion plans and made beer recommendations.  I asked which beer he was proudest of and he because of the work and effort involved in getting it right, that he Lager was probably the one.  

Can’t wait to visit them down in Afton for some great food, fresh air and killer beer.

For more information, here’s a link to a great article about the expansion of Blue Mountain:

http://workitrichmond.com/2012/04/17/new-brewery-brings-jobs-and-beer-to-nelson-county/