Virginia Craft Beer & Wine Festival 2015

We're going to the Virginia Craft Beer & Wine Festival this year for the first time. I'll be honest and say I can't remember the last time I've been to an event in Portsmouth. I guess it would have to have been the Portsmouth Dishcrawl over two years ago! Here is more info from the event's Facebook page:

This Saturday's event will be held from 12:00pm-5:00pm and will feature some of the finest selections of craft breweries and wineries, all hand picked and selected from right here in the state of Virginia.

Tickets are just $35 and include unlimited sampling, a commemorative festival glass, tons of great food options and live entertainment all afternoon featuring Mike Profitt & Dana Silver Cloud.

Breweries include: O’Connor Brewing Company, Smartmouth Brewing Company, Back Bay Brewing Company, Young Veterans Brewing Company, St. George Brewing Company, Larry’s Lemonade, Ale Works Brewing Company, Legend Brewing Company, Devils Backbone Brewing Company, Bold Rock Hard Cider, Starr Hill Brewing Company & Center of the Universe. Each brewery will feature multiple selections of some of the finest craft beers in the state of Virginia for guests to enjoy all afternoon.

Wineries include: Rapidan River Winery, Prince Michel Vineyard & Winery, Barboursville Winery, Trump Winery, Williamsburg Winery, Horton Vineyards & Lake Anna Winery. Each winery will feature multiple selections of premium wines from right here in the state of Virginia for guests to enjoy all afternoon.

Tickets are on sale now at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion Box Office and at all Ticketmaster locations. You can also purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com.

For more information on The Virginia Craft Beer and Wine Festival, visit www.PavilionConcerts.com, or call 757-393-8181.

The Virginia Craft Beer & Wine Festival is proudly sponsored by nTelos Wirless, Hoffman Beverage, Republic National, Rick Hendrick Cadillac, Coastal Limousines and is produced by Integrated Management Group. Proceeds from this year’s event benefit the Virginia Legends Walk Foundation.

Congratulations Markella!

We were honored to be invited to our friend's wedding this past weekend. It was a typical Virginia summer evening—sunny and hot—and we bumped into a lot of familiar faces. After the ceremony we were congregated on the porch for refreshments, including Blueberry Mojitos that Markella (the bride) and Stuart (the groom) help put together by prepping the fruit.

Loved these crab cakes

The hors d'oeuvres included fruit kebabs, caprese kebabs, crab cakes and more. We were offered wines and local craft beers; intermingled with the regular domestics. Once we were inside for reception we had a great garden salad with entrees that included stuffed chicken breast and marinated steak. Delicious and I actually got an extra plate I shared with my tablemate.

Congratulations Markella and Stuart! Here is to many years of happiness!

Trip to the Bier Garden

Shelby and I recently had dinner at The Bier Garden in Portsmouth, VA. One of the first establishments to have an extensive beer menu in Hampton Roads. It's the "opa" in our craft beer scene!

We walked around a bit and check out the bar--warm, cozy--it reminded me of some the places we actually ate at in Germany when we lived there. We made our way to the dining area and ordered dinner. We both loved our food, I can't wait to go back. Of course, I had a nice Ayinger Weisse and Shelby had a Duchesse De Bourgogne sour. You're not taking in the whole experience without sipping a good beer while there.

I wrote about The Bier Garden in HR Growler. Please check out my article and leave a comment about your experience or anything related to the story and restaurant that comes to mind.

Read it here: Comfort Zone: The Bier Garden

Check out the rest of the photos here.

Prost!

 

HR Growler - March 2014

Pick-up a copy of today's Virginian Pilot and check out HR Growler! My write-up of Bier Garden is in it and a photo of Shelby enjoying a Duchess.

Dishcrawl Portsmouth

Dishcrawl Hampton Roads conducted it’s first Portsmouth Dishcrawl. I was fortunate enough to be invite and I’m glad I was. We visited Brutti’s, Still Worldly Eclectic Tapas, Gosport Taven, and Krush - A Sourtern Bistro. I’ve never been to any of the four shamefully, so this was a great opportunity to get sample of what they have to offer.

Dishcrawl works this way: Buy a ticket, meet at the rallying point—in this case Portsmouth, then you walk to four restaurants chosen by your Dishcrawl ambassador. Each restaurant will have small plates for the diners in the group allow them to sample what the house has to offer. HR’s rep is Chynee Cousins, super sweet and she seemed to really enjoy guiding us around Olde Towne Portsmouth. An unexpected bonus was the light drizzle we walked through. People tended to huddle together under umbrellas and the streets took a somewhat ethereal quality about them.

The next Dishcrawl will be in Portsmouth again on 4 June. Don’t miss it, tickets are limited.

i<3food