If you are from Virginia you are likely fairly aware of the Blue Mountain Brewery and its position on the 'Brew Ridge Trail'. But as of more recent they one of the brewers opened up whats been called the Barrel House on the other side of Rt 151. They will be in charge of producing the ever popular Dark Hollow , Mandolin and a plethora of new offerings and barrel experimentation. Well, the latest news is that the initial 4 offerings are in stores.They are the Dark Hollow - Bourbon Aged Imperial Stout, Mandolin - Artisanal Ale, Isabel Chocolate Orange Bourbon Porter, and Local Species Belgian/American Barrel Aged Pale Ale. Initially Steel Wheels E.S.B was also due to be released but had some issues with aggressive refermentation. It will likely be released near the end of July, which will coincide with their Weizen and Uber Pils release. They have all been priced at $11 or so. Personal Note: I really enjoyed Mandolin on tap last year when I had it, but have never got a bottle, will likely pick one up this release. I am really interested to see what Local Species is all about and see whats going on there. Also, Isabel was named in an online Facebook contest after their initial name was denied, which is pretty neat. Anyone outside of Virginia interested in giving some of these a try feel free to contact for trade! Link to the Barrel House
I live in NC but often get to travel to central, southern, and western VA for work. My first visit to the brewery last fall introduced me to their brews and put the brewery on my radar, as I expected that they would be a brewery to keep an eye on. I was lucky to stop by a second time early this year and find that they had Dark Hollow on draft. It is a great Bourbon barrel stout. I made my third visit at the brewery about 2 months ago, found that they were selling bottles of Dark Hollow, and was excited to learn that they were planning/building this barrel house. If Blue Mountain begins pushing out barrel aged beers of similar quality as Dark Hollow, they are going to be the best brewery west of Richmond before long. They're already producing better beers than Starr Hill IMO.
We are just now (this very week) starting to get Blue Mountain stuff in Southeast VA. I am really looking forward to trying their stuff.
Definitely agree with the last two statements, Dark Hollow is a solid beer for sure and hopefully the rest will follow suit! Those that have been on tap at the brewery have done very well. While Starr Hill is more widely known/distributed they really aren't as consistently solid beers. I enjoy Double Platinum quite a bit and maybe the Northern Lights IPA but haven't been exceedingly impressed with their other offerings (Dark Starr Stout and Boxcar are okay). Was also highly disappointed when they announced Cryptical and Smoke Out would no longer be brewed. They aren't really branching out too much into experimenting or new releases so much either (excluding their 'All Access' line released this year).
I feel the same way about Starr Hill's reluctance to evolve as a brewery. I thought that the Cryptical was ok but the Bourbon barrel Cryptical was fantastic. I wish that I had bought more during the rather unimpressive visit I made to the brewery last fall.
I just had a bottle of the Local Species, their bourbon-barrel, Belgian ale. Wow, this stuff is awesome! Very balanced, great mouth-feel, really opened up as it warmed as the bourbon began to make its presence known in an understated way. This beer is a big step up for the brewery. I have bottles of Isabel and Mandolin that I can't wait to try.
Fyi Looks like via twitter i saw the Birch (Norfolk) had a BM rep there tonight if anyone was interested.
