Tag: local breweries

Categories
Living

Picture this: Champions of dance

Charlottesville Ballet dancers Cassidy Burk (left) and Jonah Sunnen perform a selection from The Nutcracker at Champion Brewing Company on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019. Photo: Zack Wajsgras

The unlikely pairing of beer and ballet—under an outdoor tent, no less—drew a standing-room-only crowd last Saturday at Champion Brewing Company, beside the railroad tracks downtown. Attendees, including plenty of kids, were treated to a pas de deux from The Nutcracker by member of the Charlottesville Ballet. The event, which kicked off the ballet’s 2019-20 season, is the brainchild of Champion’s taproom manager Sean Chandler, whose daughter Maeze is a budding ballerina. (She will appear in the troupe’s performance of The Nutcracker, December 19-22, at Piedmont Virginia Community College.) “Connecting with the arts and creating a community space have always been priorities for me,” says Champion founder and owner Hunter Smith. Let’s all raise a frothy glass to delightfully unconventional events like this one.

Categories
Living

Thomas Jefferson—beer nerd? New Champion release honors TJ’s personal brewer

Research by J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham, a Randolph College professor and beer historian, inspired a new brew based on one made more than 200 years ago. Photo: Good Beer Hunting

Thomas Jefferson was not an IPA guy.

We know this thanks to the scholarly efforts of J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham, a Randolph College professor, whose research provides a fascinating account of the work of Jefferson’s enslaved brewer, Peter Hemings, a son of Elizabeth Hemings. Jackson-Beckham’s recently published article, “Missing Ingredients—The (Incomplete) Story of Thomas Jefferson’s Unsung Brewer,” inspired a new offering from Champion Brewing Company, created in collaboration with the professor and media company Good Beer Hunting. Called Intelligence and Diligence—qualities that Jefferson himself attributed to Hemings—the beer will be on tap at an upcoming event at Champion.

Jackson-Beckham’s article evolved from a tale she had often heard repeated during her decade studying the beer industry: America’s founding fathers all brewed their own beer. Given the hard labor of brewing—especially in the colonial era—Jackson-Beckham was skeptical. “The narrative always struck me as implausible,” she says.

In search of the truth, the Lynchburg resident started at Monticello, where, she learned, much of the beer was made by Peter Hemings, whose mother was a sister of Jefferson’s mistress Sally Hemings. As Jackson-Beckham’s article recounts, Hemings learned to brew while he was the principal cook at Jefferson’s estate. In 1821, Governor James Barbour—the namesake of Barboursville—enjoyed the beer so much during a stay at Monticello that he later wrote to Jefferson, asking for the recipe. Jefferson replied that he doubted someone could replicate Hemings’ magic from a recipe alone. The president credited the beer’s quality, in part, to his “servant of great intelligence and diligence, both of which are necessary.”

While Jackson-Beckham failed to discover an actual recipe, her findings were sufficient to create one closely approximating Hemings’ formula—with a modern twist. Jefferson wrote glowingly of Hemings’ brew, except once, when he noted that it had been “spoiled” by “over-hopping.” Given today’s popularity of aggressively hopped beers, Jackson-Beckham wonders whether Hemings may have been 200 years ahead of his time.

And so, Intelligence and Diligence is an homage to the Hemings beer Jefferson said was spoiled. As Hemings likely would have done, Champion and its brewing collaborators started with wheat and corn (along with a little barley for contemporary tastes). To that, they added a healthy dose of Magnum hops. The result is a hoppy wheat ale, 5.6 percent ABV and 56 IBU. Champion’s lead brewer Josh Skinner describes it as clean, bitter, and effervescent with dominant wheat flavors and subtle corn sweetness.

Champion founder Hunter Smith says he’s honored to be part of a project that celebrates the legacy of one of our area’s earliest brewers. The beer, Smith says, “represents another way Monticello and Charlottesville are making efforts to better understand the past and reconcile that with present realities.”

Want a taste?

The Intelligence and Diligence release party takes place at 5pm, February 22, at Champion, 324 Sixth St. SE. The first 50 guests will receive a commemorative glass; copies of Jackson-Beckham’s article, and the author herself will be on hand.

Correction February 14: The original version misidentified Jackson-Beckham as a Randolph-Macon professor instead of Randolph College in Lynchburg where she’s on the faculty.

Categories
Living

YOU Issue: Our favorite spots for a tasty meal or a good beer—with kids in tow

Kardinal Hall’s open-air tables with flexible seating, plus bocce and ping pong, add up to a place where the whole family can stretch out and relax. Photo by Rammelkamp Foto

Family-friendly local restaurants and breweries! Some places go out of their way to make family outings enjoyable for parents and kids too.—Maria Redieske

Charlottesville overflows with great spots for a grown-up night out. But you don’t have to give up your social life just because you have kids. Parents with small children simply face a different calculus: Is there something on the menu the kids will eat? And even more importantly, something to keep them occupied so you can actually relax and enjoy your meal?

We crowd-sourced this question and added our own favorites to give you a look at the best family-friendly places around town (because babysitters are expensive!).

Beer Run No kids’ menu per se, and yes, the beer is off-limits. But locals prize the Carlton Road spot’s relaxed vibe, and outdoor picnic tables mean the wee ones have a little room to roam while you’re waiting for the food. Plus, the nachos are some of the best in town and the breakfast tacos are fun for all ages.

Bodo’s One preschooler we know sticks with butter on plain whole wheat, while another has been known to order liverwurst and onion. Either way, low prices, kid-friendly options, and seat-yourself dining rooms make this Charlottesville favorite a no-brainer for kids.

Brazos Tacos Texas-style tacos, a sneaky-good chicken and tortilla soup, and chips with queso and guacamole are best enjoyed on a sunny day at picnic tables on the outdoor patio. Grown-ups can finish off their margaritas and Tecates while their younger relations explore the porch swings and book installation across the grass at this Ix Art Park spot. And if everyone behaves, there’s the promise of a Sweethaus cupcake around the corner.

Chew Chew Town A recent addition from the owners of the wildly popular Seminole Trail chicken joint Al Carbon. This railroad-themed offshoot features a super-cool train set overhead, while a separate countertop train delivers the food. There’s standard kids menu fare like mac and cheese for the picky eaters, while grown-ups can enjoy their favorites from the much beloved Al Carbon kitchen.

Firefly This lively restaurant/bar/arcade is perennially popular with families. Commenting on Facebook, C-VILLE reader (and Feast! owner and Local Food Hub board member) Kate Collier calls out Firefly’s abundant games—from foosball to Donkey Kong—and its local food, plus “a wood stove to keep you warm and toasty.” Chase your chicken tenders and tater tots with a Shirley Temple from the dedicated kids’ drink menu.

Fry’s Spring Station Every Tuesday at this historic former Jefferson Park Ave. service station is family night, when you can get either a $33 family dinner or a $3 kids’ meal. The place is a neighborhood fixture with a unique character, but young people may be most interested in the desserts that come bundled into the $6.50 kids’ meals. Try “The Wookie,” a warm cookie with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

Kardinal Hall Open-air tables with flexible seating, plus bocce and ping pong, add up to a place where the whole family can stretch out and relax. The kids’ menu has the usual grilled cheese/chicken nuggets/hot dogs, plus organic carrot sticks and ranch dressing for the pint-sized vegetarian in your life.

The Nook This Downtown Mall stalwart won’t be setting any speedy-service records, but the staff is warm with kids and, aside from the basic children’s menu, it has what must be the longest dedicated mac-and-cheese menu in town. Diner staples like the BLT on toast are a step up in quality from standard greasy-spoon fare, and the outdoor patio is a short hop from the Virginia Discovery Museum carousel and the free speech chalkboard while you’re waiting for your meals to arrive.

The Pub by Wegmans The Fifth Street Station grocer with a cult-like following has a restaurant where kids eat free on Tuesdays. Reader Betsy Hernandez praises its casual seating without a rush to finish and its quick service—and a kids’ corner with cartoons on the TV.

Three Notch’d, Champion, and Random Row Who says breweries are just for beer drinkers? All three of these local craft taprooms have dedicated fans in the parent scene. Champion’s comfort-food-oriented menu has pretzels and cheese dip and a hella-good hot dog, while Three Notch’d, with its kid-zone play area, serves a $7 kids’ meal that includes an entrée, a side, and a scoop of Virginia-made Homestead Creamery ice cream. Random Row serves pizzas from Mona Lisa Pasta with juice boxes and milk for the kids to sip, plus board games and a chalkboard coloring wall.

Wild Wing Café Young’uns who like to watch sports will thrill to the battery of TV sets showing live athletics, while parents will be pleased to know items from the extensive “Wild Child” menu are just $1 apiece for kids 10 and under all day on Mondays. Leave the Little League team home, though: There’s a limit of two dollar-kids’-meals per table.