Starting with new beer tastes, we have:
- New Belgium Brewing - Fat Tire - We're not sure how this was never on our list, but it's on the list now.
- Brooklyn Brewery - Black Chocolate Stout - Delicious and dark chocolate milk mixed with stout.
- Russian River Brewing - Pliny the Elder - What a delicious double IPA. Worth all the praise it gets. If only it came out to Virginia...
- Firestone Walker Brewing - Velvet Merlin - What a nice stout - rich chocolate flavors and smooth coffee.
- Bockor - Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge - This is one of Brett's most favorite sour brown's he has ever tasted. Delicious, delicious, delicious.
- Odell Brewing - Friek - Odell's Kriek (sour cherry ale) - Brett was very hard pressed to decide if this was better or worse than the Bockor...
- Crooked Stave - Vieille Artisanal (Happy Leaf) - Crooked Stave's saison blended with prickly pear kombucha.
- Crooked Stave - Vieille Artisanal (Cranberry and Spice) - Holiday-season spiced and fruited saison.
- Crooked Stave - Surette Provision Saison - Batch #7
- Crooked Stave - Surette Provision Saison - Batch #8 (both of these were on tap - we preferred #7 just slightly)
- Crooked Stave - Vieille Artisinal - Their base saison.
- Schmaltz Brewing Company - HeBrew Jewbelation Reborn - Incredibly complex and the 17% alcohol was noticeable without being overwhelming.
- Anderson Valley Brewing - Winter Solstice
- 21st Amendment Brewery - He Said (Belgian Tripel) - This was a pumpkin-based tripel. Brett didn't like this much at all - so much tarragon and lots of sediment.
- Brewery Ommegang - Three Philosophers - This is a really tasty quad.
- Deschutes Brewery - Black Butte Porter - This was Brett's favorite porter when he lived in Montana. It was as good as he remembered.
- Odell Brewing - Cutthroat Porter - This was the second great porter we've had recently.
- Roanoke Railhouse Brewing - Switch Monkey - A very local trippel from right down the interstate. It's pretty tasty, but not amazing.
- Apocalypse Ale Works - Heavy Red Horseman - This is a scotch ale from one of our favorite Virginia brewers. This was just as good as all of their other beers (which means delicious). They will have cans out for distribution inside Virginia sometime this summer!
- Liefmans - Cuvée Brut - This is a kriek, but it also has extra sugar added. This is fairly sweet for Brett, but at least it has some nice tartness to somewhat balance it.
- Terrapin Beer Company - Big Hoppy Monster - A very nice DIPA, goes well with pub food.
- Wolf Hills Brewing - Belgian Quad - Another Virginia Belgian-style beer. This quad is quite good.
- DC Brau - Penn Quarter Porter - The third excellent porter we've had recently. They are using this and making a mixed drink with this and red wine from Burgundy in a DC restaurant. Very good, chocolatey, and rich.
- Schmaltz Brewing Company - HeBrew Funky Jewbelation 2013 - A blend of 6 barrel-aged beers creating one sour, funky, delicious glassful of jewbelation!
- Lefthand Brewing - Sawtooth Ale - This was a nitro bottle - a good every day ESB.
- New Belgium Brewing - Snapshot - This is their new sour wheat beer. It's slightly tart, wheaty, and refreshing. I suspect this will be very good on a hot summer day.
- Southern Tier Brewing - Live - Bottle-conditioned American Pale Ale. The nose and the palate have lots of citrus and this very nice.
- Petrus - Blond
- Shooting Creek - Buffalo Brown - This had stopped being brewed due to a divorce between the brewer and his wife. This is now being contract-brewed by Blue Mountain and is a nice brown ale.
- AleWerks Brewing - Coffeehouse Stout - Brewed with a very nice Antiqua coffee.
- Parallel 49 Brewing - Salty Scot - This is a scotch ale with caramel and salt flavors. Those flavors however are very subdued and it almost tastes a little watery.
We have had quite a few new wine tastes, both at the house and at tastings.
- 2011 - Villa Jolanda - Moscato d'Asti
- 2008 - Rabbit Ridge - Pinot Grigio
- 2007 - Thorn-Clarke - Terra Barossa Barossa Cuvée
- 2012 - Vinicola de Castilla - Verdejo La Mancha El Cortijillo
- 2012 - Casa De Cambres - Douro Reserva
- 2012 - Fifty Shades of Grey - White Silk - Clearly attempting to capitalize on the book, this chardonnay-based blend was on clearance for a reason - bleh!
- 2012 - Weinkeller Erbach - Flonheimer Adelberg Silvaner
- 2012 - Señorío de Sarría - Navarra Rosado
- 2011 - Definitive - Pinot Noir
- 2009 - Ramilanos - Garnacha Calatayud
- 2012 - Casa De Cambres - Douro Reserva
- 2008 - Palacio Del Burgo Tinto Bodega Burgo Viejo - Tempranillo Reserva
- 2012 - Rubus - Barossa
- 2009 - Raymond Vineyard & Cellar - Sauvignon Blanc
- 2009 - Heumann - Villány
- 2008 - Odipus - Navarra Garnacha Viñas Viejas
- NV - R.H. Phillips - Merlot - Night Harvest
- 2011 - Casa Lapostolle - Merlot - Rapel Valley
- 2005 - Campo di Marzo - Brunello di Montalcino - Il Valentíano
- 2012 - Rubus - Zinfandel Old Vine
- 2010 - Firestone Vineyard - Moscato - Discoveries Vineyards
- 2011 - Fratelli - Mochetto Venezie IGT
- 2011 - Les Vins de Vienne - (Cuilleron Gaillard Villard) - Crozes-Hermitage
- 2008 - Domaine Vincent Paris - Cornas La Geynale
- 2006 - Fortediga Estates - Sodamagri Maremma Toscana IGT
- 2007 - Isole e Olena - Syrah Collezione de Marchi Toscana IGT
- 2009 - Long Shadows Wineries - Syrah - Sequel
- 2009 - Ramey - Syrah - Rodger's Creek Vineyard
- 2006 - Blair Fox - Syrah - Paradise Road Vineyard
- 2009 - Henschke - Shiraz - Mount Edelstone - Megan had this (and the above syrah and shiraz wines) at the Wine and Women Club. This was apparently quite good since she gave it 100. It also comes with a glass "cork."
- 2005 - Clarendon Hills - Astralis
- 2012 - El Sierro - Valencia Chardonnay-Macabeo
- 2009 - Domaine de la Terre Rouge - Enigma
- 2011 - J.B. Adam - Gewurztraminer Kaefferkopf - Cuvée Jean-Baptiste
- 2011 - La Viña - Valencia - El Sierro
- 2009 - Vieux - Duché
- 2009 - Viña Sastre (Bodegas Hermanos Sastre) - Ribera del Duero Crianza
- 2012 - Babich - Sauvignon Blanc - Marlborough
- 2012 - Foris - Gewürztraminer
- 2011 - Domaine de la Guicharde - Côtes du Rhône
- 2011 - La Posta - Malbec Cocina
- 2011 - Trentadue Winery - Old Patch Red Lot #36
- 2011 - Casa Gran del Siurana - Priorat GR-174
- 2008 - Vinos de Arganza - Mencía Bierzo Flavium Premium
Last, but not least, some new food tastes.
- Blacksburg Taphouse - Downtown Slider Trio - Brett though his favorite was the beef slider, but the crab cake was awfully good. The picture shows a flight of 4 Virginia beers as well, some of which were new tastes in the beer list above (Roanoke Railhouse's Switch Monkey, far left, and Apocalypse Ale Works' Heave Red Horseman, far right).
- Blacksburg Taphouse - Turkey Club - Megan really loved the bread, but the sandwich was a little dry.
- 1906 Ale House - Rum Drunk Pulled Pork Cuban - Brett had this before the Snarky Puppy concert in Roanoke. It also came with homemade BBQ chips which were just okay.
- 1906 Ale House - Turkey Club with Applewood Smoked Bacon - Guess what? Megan had another turkey club. You might think she likes turkey. She would have preferred a bit more meat throughout the sandwich but it was very tasty and the bacon was amazing.
We're pretty sure we had some other new food tastes, but we've somehow lost track of them so...
