Southeast VA Tasting Group - Tasting Info and Beer News

Had my first Beach Brewing SeaDevil Imperial Stout, which I liked a lot. Also had OB G'Knight for first time, also very good. Stone Smoked Porter was good, not too smoky. Green Flash brought their Double Stout, always great. FW gave away free bottles of Parabola (just kidding), but brought Wookey Jack. Duck-Rabbit had their Milk Stout, which was tasty. Weinstephaner brought hef, dunkel, and Vitus . . . always great. Smuttynose brought their Old Brown Dog. I think Sixpoint had Resin. Weyerbacher had Merry Monk's. which was delicious. This was just a small sampling of what I had. 4 hours of "serious" drinking, before heading to Granby Street.

 

There was an option to buy a premium ticket for $75, where you had exclusive rights to a separate area...with highly sought-after beer. I didn't see the list of premium beer offered, but have to assume I own most of them.

 

Would love to know the premium beers that were there but damn that's a cunty move Virginia Beer Festival.

 

$75 bucks without knowing the full list of "premium beer" is pretty steep. Now, if this festival was in Northern California, I might rethink that price. However, that is a lot of beer to drink to make the price worth it, and I can only take so much Parabola or other BA brews....assuming those were on the premium ticket.

 

Are you sure this was "premium" beer or just a VIP area for rich boys who are too lazy to get their own beer? If it's the latter, I don't blame Festevents or whomever for collecting more dough if people are willing to pay it.

 

I only assumed the premium ticket extended a selection of "premium" beer based on this information from the website:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: PREMIUM TICKETS

Premium Tickets $75 include:
- access to exclusive beer Tasting selections
- exclusive brewer presentations about their beers
- a separate entrance into the park
- separate restrooms
- complimentary snacks from The Public House Gastropub
CALL 757-282-2822 TO PURCHASE PREMIUM TICKETS
Ticket valid only for date of purchase


ADDITIONAL BEERS FOR PREMIUM TICKET HOLDERS

Sierra Nevada: Hoptimum Imperial IPA, Belgian Style Blonde IPA, Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale
New Belgium: Rolle Bolle, Ranger IPA
Stone Brewing: Dry Hopped Sublimely Self Righteous
Beach Brewing: Riptide Ale infused with seasonal fruits
Other beers will be represented from NewCastle, Strongbow, Blue Moon, and Redds
*subject to changes and additions

Sorry, but I don't really see Ranger IPA, SN Hoptimum (which I had quite a few tasters of in the general admission section), and offerings from Newcastle, Blue Moon, etc. as being worth the cost of a premium ticket...

 

Exactly Mike. Most people are going to take the opportunity to drink their $25 worth of beer, and more in most cases, without a high regard for the beer they are hammering down at festivals like this.

The crowd on Saturday, from what I gathered, was made up of young college-aged kids who wanted to get drunk as quickly as possible, drinking beer with much higher alcohol content than what they are used to. This results in the drunk fest that most can relate to when deciding whether or not to go to these events.

Overall, the event was a good time, with a group of 10 of us...some of which were still very new to the craft beer scene. But, you have to expect to see people trying to "slam" pitchers of 8+% ABV beer to look cool.

 

How often do you guys venture out to Gordon Biersch? I live on the other side of the water in Hampton but would definitely be willing to make the trek.

 

No I completely agree. I probably just misunderstood one of the abbreviations on here and took it for gordon biersch lol. Both the taphouse (hampton) and the pub have been filling my needs on this side of the water but I just feel like I'm missing something. I'm hoping to check out 80/20 sometime this week but is there any other restaurants you guys frequent?

 

lobo, Tortilla West is a pretty solid Mexican restaurant with a good beer selection. If they are not filling your beverage needs, you can always walk right over to the Birch...which is literally right beside Tortilla West. Smartmouth is also in close proximity.

 

80/20 and The Public House both have pretty good food and very solid beer selections. As said above with Tortilla West, all are pretty close to the Birch for a post dinner drink(s).

 

Awesome thanks for all the suggestions! Speaking of The Public House I looked on their website and noticed they have a Sierra Nevada takeover going on. Has anyone been by to check it out? I called and they said they still had 18 beers on tap.

 

anyone seen hoptimum around yet?

 

Yep, I picked up a 4-pack at Whole Foods VB last week.

 

Don't know if it's been mentioned before but local TW will be getting Boulevard beers soon. Their Saison-Brett and BB Quad are gotta-haves.