Reason for Visit: A number of microbreweries and brewpubs have opened in recent years in western Albemarle and northern Nelson Counties, to complement the many wineries in the area. We decided to take the nascent Central Virginia Beer Trail for an afternoon of sampling.
Label for Evil 8°: A circular logo on a rectangular field flanked by pitchforks and halos. The interior logo features iridescent blue mountains crowning the name of the beer and a description. The description reads: "Evil 8° Belgian-Style Dubbel Ale. A truly spiritual ale, Evil 8° will blur the lines of what you think you know about American beers. Brewed in the Belgian Abbey style using caramelized Biscuit malt, Goldings hops and a unique strain of brewers' yeast. 19.3° Plato, 50 IBUs and 7.7% alcohol by volume. Taylor Smack. Brewmaster."
Interior: The interior of the Blue Mountain Brewery is warm and inviting, especially on the cold winter day we visited. Large stainless steel tanks can be seen through the large windows behind the bar. A random assortment of tables, benches, chairs and couches filled the room. A refrigerator to the side contained Blue Mountains bottles for purchases to go, along with growlers for brewery-fresh beer pulled strait from the taps behind the bar.
Sampler: Here is a nice assortment of Blue Mountain Brewery beers in a sampler line progressing from light to dark. Notice that the first sample is empty. One down, four to go. Tough duty.
One of the interesting things about this brewery is that it's also a hops farm, and they grow many of the hops they use in their beers. I'd love to return in summer to see the vines growing.
Sampler Glass: And finally, I purchased one of their logo sampler glasses to add to my every-growing collection. My apologies in advance for the lousy photo but that's just the way it goes. It features the Blue Mountain Brewery logo, capped by the Blue Ridge, and noting its Afton, Virginia location.
Sample list of beers produced by Blue Mountain Brewery
Items featured on these breweriana pages are personal souvenirs of my visits to these locations, and an expression of the events and travels leading to their collection. They are not for sale or for trade.
