Some people view beer as a food group. You know the type—the ones who prefer to drink their lunches and consume a good portion of their weekly caloric intake in pale ales and porters. And let’s be honest, a good stout really does drink like a meal. Still, a brewery typically isn’t on Restaurantarama’s radar for its fine food-ness. That’s why we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Blue Mountain Brewery and Hops Farm in Afton has been getting rave reviews for its solids almost as much as for its liquids, since opening its doors in October.
 Three cheers for beer (and sandwiches and pizza): Blue Mountain Brewery, owned by Matt Nucci (left), Mandi Smack and Taylor Smack, is gaining a reputation for its grub as well as its brewskies. |
“We’ve been really surprised by how many people view us as a restaurant,” says Matt Nucci, one of the brewery’s three owners. “But there really aren’t many other options nearby.”
Nucci says the brewery’s tasting room has been drawing large dining crowds from Wintergreen Resort, as well as hungry tourists visiting nearby wineries along the Monticello Wine Trail and locals from Nelson County, Crozet and Charlottesville, many of whom have been getting one of their three squares while sampling Blue Mountain’s current lineup of six brews.
But we think there’s more to it than just a skimpy nearby dining supply. A refined bistro-like menu of such snacks as puree of parsnip soup with truffle oil and sage, a Kite’s Virginia country ham sandwich with Blue Mountain Ale mustard and a pizza topped with Blue Mountain Lager-boiled bratwurst, all made by the New York-culinary-schooled hands of chef Ian Wright, seems to have created its own demand for Blue Mountain munchies. And it probably doesn’t hurt that the brewery’s cozy tasting room, with its river rock fireplace, Alberene soapstone floor and views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, encourages lingering over the lagers and light meals.
And if the food is that good, you know that the brewery’s main reason for living must be pretty O.K. too. As it turns out, Nucci and his co-owners, brew master Taylor Smack (formerly of South Street Brewery) and his wife, Mandi Smack, can barely keep the brewskies on the shelf. The team says they’ve been selling 30 to 60 six-packs a day out of the tasting room alone. Add to that the drafts on site, plus the distribution of cases and kegs to a growing number of stores around Central Virginia and restaurants such as Mellow Mushroom, Continental Divide and Fardowners, and the 3-month old brewery is already producing 100 cases a week, all of which are brewed and bottled on site by the threesome and a few close family members. One of their limited edition specialty beers—a bourbon barrel-aged stout called Dark Hollow—recently sold out in 10 business days.
Taylor says they are pretty close to reaching full production capacity, so whatever you do, don’t show up and bitch and moan that the porter you had a few weeks ago is sold out. This ain’t Coors (thank goodness)—it’s small-batch brewing. But the Blue Mountain moguls say there’s always something new coming on tap—stay tuned for an Irish stout to be released in early February.
Incredible, edible entrails
Speaking of dining options around Wintergreen, there’s a new restaurateur who not only is saving the Nellysford area from starvation, but may even be helping to save the planet. The hero here is Charlie White, who’s peddling “Fried Gizzards and Livers” on Route 151. White has moved his fried chicken innards and fish operation to Nelson County from Waynesboro, where his gizzards had garnered a cult following.
Every other culture is careful not to waste one ounce of edible entrails from the butchered animal—at least that’s what we’ve learned from Tony Bourdain’s “No Reservations”—so we’re glad White is helping to inform our community about the sustenance of good guts. White’s stand is open Friday through Sunday.
Got some restaurant scoop? Send tips to restaurantarama@c-ville.com or call 817-2749, Ext. 48.