Northern Virginia Roll Call

I was actually the head Brewer at Forge for the first year and a half they were in business. I installed their Brew House and built the taproom bar.

 

How do you like it with that weight?

 

Yeah, we were loyal customers for years, every Wed. afternoon. All Vietnam, Cold War and GWOT vets centered in Mt Vernon and down Old Colchester. Guess I need to take my Forge sticker off the Taco since they are leaving us for (literally) greener pastures. I don't blame em for building their business, more power to 'em, but I guess now its back to Fair Winds or Burton's.

 

Or take a drive in the country and enjoy a cold brew. There is some solid beer out here in Fauquier.

What is Burton's?

 

I'd call it more of a rebranding. They went through kind of a rough patch for awhile and turned a lot of customers off from their product. Hopefully they are able to get things together in a productive way.

 

Fair Winds being close and putting out a solid product consistently probably did not help. I hit Forge a few times early on, but then deferred to FW when I was in the area. My wife stopped by not too long ago with a friend and said it was better, so I had planned to give them another shot but will wait for them to restart out closer to me now.

 

At one point being just "better" wasn't that hard to do. I went once and couldn't finish my tasters. The bartender knew me so I had to wait until her back was turned to dump them in the sink. I do hope they go back to the basics and focus on the small details. My concern with a farm style brewery is that it will give even more things for the owner to focus on rather than the quality of the beer.

 

What is Burton's?[/QUOTE]

Restaurant over by Wedge-mans. Nice bar but not anywhere near as "early industrial revolution" as Forge was. Its a sad substitute for FW.

Yeah, drive out to Fauquier and then back on a couple of beers, especially that time of day. No thanks. Wish 'em luck though. They were good to us and we will miss them. They, and you, made some good beer, so thanks!

 

You said you were the head brewer so I was not going to bad mouth them too bad. But yeah, I was less than impressed. Most farm breweries are a farm setting without actually being a farm. Like the breweries in industrial areas are not actually engaged in heavy industry. Check out Powers Farm Brewery sometime. They are an actual farm offering a CSA program and offer some pretty good beer options.

You know, it is possible to pace yourself and not get hammered. Or just date 18-19y/o's so you always have a DD.

 

Possibly could use if i add A swing out.

 

Heh, OK thanks for the tip. I'm only 63 so it's possible there's some stuff I haven't figured out!

 

No offense taken. I agree with you.
I was there from Oct 2013 to May of 2015. If you were there during that time then I made the beer. I took a lot of pride in the quality of the beer and we were always slammed on Thursday-Saturday nights. I got tired of being lied to by the owner so I left. Unfortunately the owner has never been a hands on guy even though he puts on a good show for the customers. That means that when I left the quality went way down because the new employees didn't have the same attention to detail.

 

Cool, you can have em. I’ll be in the area in a few weeks for Adams wedding so we can try and coordinate something then. If not then I’ll just leave them with him.

 

Welcome man I’m on Belvoir and always down for exploring.

 

Awesome man thanks.

 

We need to get a fair winds meetup going for us closer guys! How about this week maybe Thur or Friday?

 

Being back in Washington state this past week really makes me miss the North West! So many Tacoma’s, runners and subies! Everyone is out and about and it is good to see the community out here. Wish i had Some time to hit some trails with the MTB or the truck.

When is the next trip back in NOVA? 4th of July weekend?

 

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/snw/d/arlington-2005-kawasaki-bayou-250/6917663268.html

Thoughts on this? Looking for a sub $500 ATV or something to fix up.

 

I helped install the the taps in the plastic conical fermenters before they opened, have known Matt for 12 years or so, helped him brew in his Belle Haven townhouse. Will be sad to see Forge close but glad to see him building something closer to the new home and giving himself time to be with the family!
With that being said, I've drank a bunch of your beer and can vouch for the deliciousness of said brews! My hats off to you, as I've only stuck to 11 gallon batches and my friend is more thehead brewer and Mastermind on recipes, while I'm more of a facilitator as he lives in Alexandria and can't break out the brew sled in his complex or they'd have a problem with the HOA!

Every day I spend in TW I feel like the more I belong here....just needed to actualize the truck plan in order to align all these people and various connections that have been just one step away! Already have some great upgrades at very reasonable prices from a couple members and have help replacing my bumper after catching up with that deer!
Side steps installed for kiddos...let the fun begin!

 

Yep. Powers is definitely worth the drive!