Drink In Williamsburg, session notes from the Rogue.

"About four o’clock in the morning, we descried the Land of Virginia. The same day we entered into the Bay of Chesupioc [Chesapeake] directly, without any let or hindrance. There we landed and discovered [explored] a little way, but we could find nothing worth the speaking of, but fair meadows and goodly tall Trees, with such Fresh-waters running through the woods, as I was almost ravished at the first sight thereof."

-the Honorable George Percy aboard the Susan Constant, Jamestown: 1607, The First Months.
         L-R: The 40-ton Godspeed, 16-ton Discovery, and 120-ton Susan Constant tied to their final mooring.
                                                           Jamestown, VA 10/19/2019.

   Autumn trip to Virginia's tidewater region. Look forward to it every year. Sometimes I wondered if my Wife wasn't gettin' tired of it, but she had suggested it...honestly, she seems to enjoy it as much as me. I really get stoked about the history of the area, it's proximity to the waters of the Atlantic and Chesapeake, and the whole craft beer scene of the Triangle. Of course. Post kinda ended up leaning in this direction. A beeline to Merchants Square upon cracking Williamsburg's borders. Ravaged the samples at the Peanut Shop. Poked around the Williamsburg craft stores. Did my tour of the Hair of the DoG (Duke of Gloucester) Bottle Shop. Picked up a few cans of savory Virginia peanuts, a couple of gifts, colonial beers brewed by Alewerks, and of course, a sixer of various other local suds. 

The Peanut Shop...the
samples always have
us walking away with a

few cans.

Missed out on The Cheese Shop this trip. Have quite the
beer selection in their basement. A "next trip" destination.

Beer for sample and purchase. Shelves of beer, and
a draft room in the corner. Hair of the DoG Bottle Shop.

The Virginia beer scene rocks year 'round, but this time of year some choice heavies, darks, and stouts are a must have. Virginia tidewater area breweries do a great job. No better time to sample 'em then when visiting the
Williamsburg historic area. Speaking of, Duke of Gloucester Street. America's "most historical avenue." The great street. The main drag. Had to do it. Plenty of buildings of historical significance. Taverns too. Could feel the presence, the footsteps, of our country's founders nearly 300 years ago as they walked the streets, ale in hand. 

Alewerks' Virginia Small Beer.

Commonly brewed in the home.

Poured a clear amber with

a finger thick head. Aromas of 
wheat, grains, and spice. Sweet
molasses and peppery spice in
the taste. Light bitterness in
the finish. Fair brew. 5% ABV.
25 IBUs. Rated a B-. 

John Blair Kitchen and Garden

Blaikley House and Shop

Bryan House

Taliaferro-Cole Shop (Harnessmaker-Saddler)

Greenhow Lumber House and Store

Shoemaker's Shop

Greenhow Tenement and Brick Office

An Oatmeal Stout. Elbow
 Patches from Virginia Beer
 Company. Deep mahogany
pour with a 2-finger dark
tan head. Some char and
dark roasted malt in the
 nose. Thick with coffee
 and dark chocolate in the
flavor. Oats provided a
 creaminess to balance the
roast of the malts. Not
overly bitter at 26 IBUs.
 6.2% ABV. Rated an A-.

Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg's cornerstone.

     Headed on over to Jamestown. Racing the sunset. An unseen settlement, with a brewery in need of sampling. Never been there. The brewery, or Jamestown. Explored through to the Island. Traveled the Isthmus to Jamestown Island. Stopped at the entrance. Sun was dropping. Ferry had left.

Jamestown-Scotland Ferry

 Brewery waiting. Billsburg Brewery on the Harbor. Comfortable taproom with outdoor deck overlooking the harbor, and a food truck in the lot. Did a flight of four. The lighter beers were bland, but the Oatmeal Porter Nitro at 5.8% and the Tourist Trap Hazy IPA at 7.1%...both bad-ass brews.

Tasting deck.

Billsburg's Tourist Trap

NE hazy IPA. Golden
haze pour with a finger-
plus white head. Pine-

apple citrus aroma.
Taste of resinous pine

and telltale grape-

fruit hop bitterness.

Dangerously refreshing.

Rated an A.

Judge on call.

Toasted the night (and day) at Craft-31. Thirty brews on tap with oysters on the half shell, and a craft burger to pair. Nice. The pooch comes along on some of these trips. An extra judge. Burger got 'im. Gonna say that made him bias (not much of a beer drinker).

   Finished the ride Sunday. Carved our way through an old fashioned Virginia breakfast. Outlet stores. Coffee. Started in a downpour. Finished with the sun peaking out as we crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel back to the Peninsula. Great run.

Storm clouds clearing over the mouth of the Chesapeake.  Choppy point break, Fisherman Island. 10/20/2019

Winding Down, session notes from the Rogue.

Avoiding the mushies...one of the few frontside lines all evening, 47th Street break. 10/15/2019.

   Been a too long since any decent rides. Startin' to wind down now. Haven't seen a Tropical in over a week, and the surf this past week was relatively tame. Best prospect meant an early week surf session. Tide goin' out. Chopped up thigh highs, with an occasional waist. More mushies than not. Water had gotten noticeably colder. To the point of wearing a full suit. Hate the rubber. So constricting. Especially the first time in the shoulder part of the season. Mid-60's, so no boots or gloves. Northeast winds forced a mostly backside break. Surprised myself, managing to catch a few backsides (most ended up in foamies), but also a couple rights as well. Had a fun session.
   Winding down after a good surf means a brew that you can throw back a few. Found another nice session IPA, Even Keel from San Diego's Ballast Point. 3.8% ABV meant post surf refreshment. Poured a clear amber-orange, with a finger thick, off-white head. Aromas of pine, grapefruity hops, and mango, plenty of mango. A mouth slap (it's a session beer) of 40 IBUs of bitterness from said hops followed with spice, more mango and citrus. Tasted light, but clean. Definitely not a heavy beer. Good six as a sessions go. Worth another. Rated a B.

"Sometimes when I reflect on all the
beer I drink, I feel ashamed. Then I look
into the glass and think about the
workers in the brewery and all of their
hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this
beer, they might be out of work and their
dreams would be shattered. I think, 'It is
better to drink this beer and let their
dreams come true than be selfish and
worry about my liver.'"
-Babe Ruth

No Limits, session notes from the Rogue.

"Every single reef ever built off of Maryland, Delaware, or Virginia, every marine reef has been almost
instantly colonized by sea bass. In just a few days, or at most weeks: there they are."
-Captain Monty Hawkins, Ocean City Reef Foundation
Sunrise over the Atlantic, twenty-some miles east of the OC: the Bass Grounds. 10/13/2019.

   Fishing post. A trip that I believe is becoming annual. Last year's was in the Spring. This year in the Fall. Lessons learned... Spring loads the fish. Fall is more strategic. The schools start to migrate, or  hibernate. Or, just become quieter. Whatever happens, we experienced it last Sunday. Weather's been windy a with Subtropical Melissa off-shore. Tide, combined with a full moon, has been super high. Water's been cooling down below 70. Gettin' ready to be full-suit conditions. This trip, a cold autumn morning. I was feelin' it. Was ready. Had me a hoodie,and my Pelagic hurricane jacket. Chartered on the Morningstar with Capt. Monty, and headed thirty miles out into the Atlantic with my fishin' partners DP, and neighbor LP. Rough seas on our way, but a line always out to see what followed us. Crew did manage a False Albacore catch.

This near-record false albacore gave a real fight.

Bait ready...clams anyone?

 









     Five to seven foot swells continued through the entire route. Like I said, rough times, and it didn't let up the full time we were out. Even after we arrived at the first reef, the ship rocked and rolled all morning. All ya could do to keep your footing. Unlike last year, we had a number of guys lose their cookies this time around. Chummin' that didn't help too much. At our first locale, we were pulling Black Sea Bass up fairly consistently. Not a lot of keepers. A lot of borderlines. Wish we had kept more than we did. Next couple of reef stops yielded even less. Did have a couple of guys pull in some nice size Triggers. Nobody caught their limit. And all the movin' around made for a long day, (even longer for some). 4 pm. return. The Wife had been waiting patiently for our fish dinner. Was worth it! Next year however, I'm thinking we head out in the Spring again.

No limits met, but plenty of nice size fish. Morningstar return, 10/13/2019.

   A fishin' post, a fishin' beer. Well actually, as big as this beer was, more of an after fishing beer. Who else? Fin City Brewing, of course. They've just been full of fishing themed brews. A delicious DIPA in Double HUK. Poured a cloudy orange-copper with a less than two-finger, beige head. Thick, sticky lacing. Strong, dank aromas of pine and that signature grapefruit scent of plenty of hops with a toasted malt backbone. Taste was herbal, equally resinous as the smell. Good carbonation. Even more citrus. 88 IBUs of crisp bitterness and a rich aura of toffee to offset. Nice double IPA. Balanced, and strong though not boozy. At 7.9% ABV, a few of these and the fish will grow as much as the number caught. Rated an A-.

"Beer. It always seems like such a good

idea, doesn't it? Beer seems like an even

better idea after you've had some beer."

-Steven Hill

Slower Lower, session notes from the Rogue

Surf fishing only zone...foot high anklets on the Chesapeake. Cape Charles Beach, 10/4/2019.

   Tropical storm season has heated up. Just chock full of surf that, if not carefully timed, is more erosive than ridable. Also have that slower autumnal time of year moving through. Daytime is warm, evenings are just a wee bit cooler...water temps dropping down into the lower 70s, upper 60s. Bay fishing has slackened. For that matter, the recent tropical winds along the coast has kept the boat in the driveway. No matter. The Wife and I made the most of it with a trip to Cape Charles on the Chesapeake bayside of Virginia's Eastern Shore. A distillery here, a brewery there. Some bait and tackle in the afternoon, and evening seafood on the harbor to finish off.

Sub-tropical Storm Melissa took a bite outta our coast, but it didn't stop
the Endless Summer cruisers from dropping in on the OC. 10/10/2019

Melissa, what is sub-tropical?

 

Nor'east Super-Tide in the Pines, 10/11/2019.

  Opportunities, if there's a brew house nearby (or a cidery, or a distillery), you can bet I'm gonna make the most of that prospect. Cape Chuck had all three. Buskey Cider on the Bay, cornering the main drag, and the Chesapeake, Buskey had a number of hard ciders, but the place seamed a bit stark. Like drink your cider, buy your six, and go. Very clinic-like. Decent cider, as a matter of fact, I enjoyed both the Jalapeno Lime and the Hoppy Grapefruit, but the Wife is more the cider fan than me.

Bait, but no beer.
Booo...

Hence, the move to the next self-supplying tavern. Cape Charles Distillery also on the main drag, otherwise known as Mason Street. Located in a brick, office modern building, known for handcrafted bourbon, whiskey, and moonshine. After checking out the town (which doesn't take long), wandered into the Prohibition Era interior. Eclectic, with a chalkboard wall that outlined the entire distilling process amongst leather easy chairs and couches that begged to set down your "Tommy" and add a cigar to the mix. Saddling up to the back bar, we did a flight of all their offerings. The Maple Whiskey was good. The Rye, fair. The real highlights were most likely the crafted cocktails, but way too expensive. Good for a stop, but not a stay.

 We set off for Stone Road, and a former lumber yard and weigh station for the old Bay Coast Railroad, now home to Cape Charles Brewing. Both brewery and brew pub, and the best of the three. Our "appetizer" port of call. A few tasters, pretzel twist with beer cheese, and Chesapeake Bay Oysters. Hard to out do oysters and beer.

All of their beers were very good. Took home a crowler of one of their seasonal brews... Beach Bumpkin Pumpkin. Fit the month. Poured a clear amber with a less than two-finger, beige head. Scents of pumpkin pie and nutmeg. Tasted of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spices. Moderate at 5.4% ABV, not as sweet as some Pumpkins, and a weak hint of malt. Closed with a slightly dry-hop (25 IBUs) finish. Rated a B. Capped the trip off with dinner at the Shanty on the Town Harbor. Briny aromas, excellent seafood, and an astounding sunset. Slow but easy, lower shore October.

Sunset on Town Harbor, Cape Chuck, VA. 10/12/2019.

   The next week, our annual hunt for this year's pumpkin. Took place in Wicomico's 'Bury. Our pooch in tow, beer on the horizon to celebrate success. Good times, good times. And all of this while sneaking in water time during the week. More head shots than needed. Guess the carving would wait for the gourds. Yeah, October was starting slow on our lower part of the Shore. However, we made the most of every opportunity. As per usual. To ward off the chill and relish the success of our search, cake. Or, beer brewed with cake. Smith Island Cake. Ten Layer Stout by RaR Brewing. Glossy black pour with a thin, fizzy, brown head. Smelled of sweet vanilla, and roasted malt. Take into account the 7.2% ABV, a dangerously smooth taste. Rich dark cocoa with a hint of coconut and more vanilla. Flavors were like rich chocolate cake mix meets slightly bitter (low at 10 IBUs) baking chocolate stout. I liked it. A lot. Rated an A.

Labor Day has come and gone...the unofficial end of summer. Crispy leaves, corn and pumpkins ready for harvest. Damn...Fall is here. Oakley's Farm Market, 10/12/2019.

"We can debate the merits of 
beer without alcohol, but
absolutely no one enjoys a flat
beer- which is what you're left
with after you boil or filter out 
alcohol."
-Uncle John's Beertopia