2021 Explore Loudoun Visitors Guide - 2021 Explore Loudoun Visitors Guide
Beer: Taste What’s Brewing
2022-01-03 10:13:16
With so much fertile farmland producing fresh fruit and grain, it’s no surprise Loudoun has become a vibrant craft beer destination.
More than 30 breweries make up the county’s LoCo Ale Trail, in a variety of locales – trendy urban taprooms, Piedmont farm beer gardens, mountaintop tasting rooms – few regions can match.
While many breweries incorporate local ingredients, some are inspired by the old European "land beer" ethos requiring beer be made solely with regional ingredients. Wheatland Spring Farm + Brewery in Waterford leads the way producing, in 2021, the first all-Loudoun grown beer – the crisp, citrusy Loudoun Grown Farmhouse Ale – in which every ingredient came from the farm or county.
Vanish Farmwoods Brewery in Lucketts uses hops from its five-acre hops field, while Dirt Farm Brewing in the Blue Ridge makes fruitforward seasonal IPAs using peaches, strawberries and cherries from their own orchards.
As with all creative subcultures, Loudoun brewmasters constantly innovate. You’ll find everything from crisp lagers and hoppy ales to malty barrel-aged stouts fused with herbs, honey, flower petals, coffee, wine or whiskey, many made with obscure yeast strains at Sterling science lab Jasper Yeast.
Just as the scene gets more refined, restaurants add local craft beers to menus, notably 1836 Kitchen & Taproom in Lovettsville and Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg, the latter of which hosts beer pairing dinners.
Don’t miss Virginia Craft Beer Month in August!
Check out the events calendar at VisitLoudoun.org
TAP IN TO THE TRAIL
BEAR CHASE BREWING COMPANY
This Blue Ridge brewery features 20 beers on tap and Piedmont views from wide, wooded lawns. Taste: Kodiak Kölsch
LOST BARREL BREWING CO.
Beyond the tap house and porch, the grounds are dotted with fire pits and Adirondacks at this rural Middleburg brewery. Taste: Amber Ale
ADROIT THEORY
This esoteric Purcellville nano brewery is known for its imaginative barrelaged craft beers, including Hazy IPAs, Fruited Sours and Pastry Stouts. Taste: Sonoran Dance of Death Pilsner
BLACK HOOF
BREWING COMPANY Located in the heart of Leesburg, this award-winning Munich-style brewery specializes in authentic German and Czech lagers and European ales. Taste: Full Quiver Märzen
LOST RHINO BREWING CO.
This Ashburn brewery broke the mold with its Bone Dusters amber ale made with yeast extracted from whale fossils. Taste: Face Plant IPA
OLD OX BREWERY
Family-owned brewery is known for its collaborations with Loudoun artists, farmers and restaurants. Taste: Golden Ox Ale
CROOKED RUN FERMENTATION
Over a dozen craft beers channel old Belgian and modern American sour styles. Taste: Sunbow Witbier
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