Just as the seasons are changing, several of the Historic Triangle’s breweries are adding new beers to their lineup to match the flavors of the fall.
“Keep an eye out for a lot of delicious dark beers,” Amber Ox Public House owner and founder Andrew Voss said. “It’s that time of year.”
Curious to know what to expect at your favorite local brewery? Find out what new brews you’ll find at their establishment below:
Alewerks Brewing Co.
Alewerks rolled out their annual Oktoberfest beer as well as a double India Pale Ale over the weekend. The IPA has hints of orange, vanilla and tangerine and is available in cans and on draft.
The brewery will re-release their fall classic Imperial Pumpkin IPA on Oct. 6. The brew is an intensified version of Alewerks Pumpkin Ale, spokesman Jeff Phillips said. It is barrel-aged for at least three months in Virginia whiskey barrels.
The brewery will also release their Rum Pumpkin and Bourbon Barrel Porter before the end of October.
Amber Ox Public House and Precarious Beer Project
Amber Ox and their brewery, the Precarious Beer Project, opened their fall beer season just over a week ago by releasing their own Oktoberfest beer. Voss said it’s a classic German fest beer, but they put their own unique spin on the style.
During the fermentation process they add a French oak spiral. Just one of the spirals “adds 30 days’ worth of barrel aged characteristics” without actually aging the beer in a wooden barrel, Voss said.
Voss said their Oktoberfest is “light, snappy, and fresh with a funky, fun oak roundness to the finish.”
“It’s a killer beer,” he added.
Because Amber Ox and Precarious Beer Project are constantly rotating their menu, Voss said they’ve already rolled out more than 80 new beers in 2018. He said he expects them to top 100 by the end of the year.
Billsburg Brewery
Billsburg unveiled their Oktoberfest beer Saturday.
“We went traditional German style, meaning it’s lighter in color,” owner Dave Baum said. “It’s what you would expect if you were in Germany for Oktoberfest and not at Sam Adams for Oktoberfest.”
Baum said they began brewing and selling it long before October arrived and added that the beer is selling fast.
Billsburg will celebrate its one-year anniversary Oct. 27 and will release four new brews for their faithful fans. The beers will include an Irish crème ale, a dopplebock, a porter and a stout.
Brass Cannon Brewing
Brass Cannon Brewing will unveil its own Oktoberfest in two or three weeks, founder Phil Norfolk said.
He added that Brass Cannon brews an Oktoberfest annually, but no customers have tried this year’s brew.
“We tweak the recipe from year to year,” Norfolk said. “German hops to give it the aromatics you want on there, the bready biscuit flavor.”
“We try to make it as tasty as possible,” he added.
Virginia Beer Co.
VBC has a “slew of canned beers” coming out this fall, owner Robby Willey said, with four new beer releases in the span of three weeks.
It began Saturday with a release of two new beers: Somebody’s Baby American Pilsner and One Night in Georgia Berliner Weiss-style ale.
Somebody’s Baby is an “easy drinking” lager, Willey said – just the second lager VBC has ever produced. He added the name was a reference to the Jackson Browne song.
One Night in Georgia “is a subtle, refreshing beer,” he said, that isn’t “puckeringly sour.” It’s brewed with peach puree but has the tartness to compliment the fruit. Willey said the lager is intended to toast the end of summer, while the Berliner Weiss was meant to welcome the arrival of autumn.
“The releases are in honor of the change of the season but also as tools to promote the other events we have going on,” Willey said.
The other events include Revelry, a concert Oct. 12 at the Martha Wren Briggs Amphitheatre at Lake Matoaka. The two new beers will be served at the concert, which will also serve as a chance to toast the changing of the seasons.
This month VBC is also releasing Green & Gold, their annual beer brewed in honor of William & Mary’s homecoming, and My Friend, My Friend, a collaborative beer made with Northern Virginia’s Ocelot Brewing Co. to commemorate the Phish concert at Hampton Coliseum on Oct. 19.
