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GABF Time Again!

October 01, 2012

Here we go again!  It’s time for America’s brewers to gather in Denver and share the bounty of our industry with beer lovers from all over the world.  Starr Hill will be there as we always are, ready to compete in 11 categories and bring The Gift of Great Beer to the people who drive our industry…YOU!  All of our core beers will be competing, along with a few special brews.  Jomo Lager and Monticello Reserve Ale will be defending their success from 2011, and Double Platinum and Festie will be contenders coming off their recent success at the 1st Annual Virginia Craft Brewers Fest.

One special brew I would like to discuss is our annual Pro-Am entry.  Starr Hill has competed in this category since its inception, and it has yielded some great beers.  Smoke Out won the Silver Medal in the Pro-Am competition, and followed it up in 2011 by winning the Silver Medal in the Smoke Beer Category.  This year’s Pro-Am entry is a Belgian Pale Ale called “Loose Change.” This beer is an award winner originally brewed by Patrick Gibson, a local home brewer and member of Charlottesville’s local brew club, Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale (CAMRA.)  As usual, the challenge is to take Patrick’s five-gallon recipe and scale it up to be used on our equipment here at Starr Hill.  We enlisted one of our Technical Brewers Levi Erickson to handle the task of scaling up the recipe and executing it in the Brewhouse.

The brew date was set: Patrick and Levi met early on a Saturday morning to brew in the beer.  It was a special day for Patrick, as it would be for many home brewers, to get hands-on brewing experience with a professional brewer in a modern production brewery.  The brew day was special for visitors to our Tasting Room as well.  Those on the tours that day had the opportunity to see brewers at work, creating The Gift of Great Beer.

The finished product is really delicious, and I hope everyone gets to try some soon.  It will be available in our Tasting Room and in select locations in Virginia (draft only) so you will have to seek it out.

I, along with others from the brewery, will be in Denver, so come on by the Starr Hill booth and see us!  We will be glad to talk beer with our fans and beer enthusiasts at the largest gathering of breweries and beer lovers in America—maybe the world!

Cheers to you all!  Hope to see you in Denver!

Levi Duncan, Lead Brewer