beer

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

Last week saw this year’s Great American Beer Festival take place in Denver. Building off of momentum from last year’s GABF, local breweries performed extremely well again this year, with favorites like Devils Backbone, Port City, Flying Dog, Lost Rhino, and Three Brothers taking home honors. A full listing of local GABF winners can be found here thanks to the great Barley Blog, but let’s take a closer look and see what stands out.

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

About ten years ago, I took my first job in a wine store.

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

The government shutdown that began Tuesday morning is big topic of the week nationally, but especially in our area. Thousands of government employees are currently off the job, waiting to see if congress can reach an agreement that will reopen the ‘non-essential’ departments and parks that are either closed or largely empty right now. With the last government shutdown occurring 17 years ago when I was in high school, I hadn’t even considered how the beer business might be affected by the shutdown, but sure enough, it is.

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

Earlier this year Brewery Ommegang in New York released Iron Throne Ale, the first in a series of beers inspired by Game of Thrones, the hit HBO television show.

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

We got a beer in at Arrowine last week that we’d never seen before in Virginia: Green Bullet, a “Triple IPA” from Green Flash Brewing Company in San Diego.

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

It only hit me the other day that for all of the ‘Beer 101’ we’ve done over the past couple of years, I hadn’t written a full-on Pumpkin Ale column yet. Last year I did a recap of a Pumpkin Beer tasting held at my home with friends, but that was it. With all of the talk about the early release of Pumpkin Ales this year, it’s worth taking a few moments to look at the surprisingly long history of Pumpkin Beer, dispel some of the myths about it, and revisit how ‘seasonal creep’ happens with beer — a topic I initially got into with this column last year.

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

The joy of being an enthusiast, no matter your interest, is in perpetually discovering new things.

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

Sometimes in a job like mine, something comes along that fills a need you weren’t even sure you had.