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#review-of-the-year
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Fuggled Virginia Cider of the Year
Turning my attention away from beer for a moment to finish up my booze review of 2025, we come to cider. Specifically, Virginia cider since that is the mainstay of my cider drinking world, and it would be disingenuous of me to have categories for outside of the Commonwealth. Looking back over my notes for the year, I have also decided to cut back on the number of categories from last year. Out go "Flavoured" ciders and "Pommeau/Strong Cider", not because I haven't had any of those categories, but because I have really only had one of each. As nice as they were, and in the case of the Sage Bird Long Light superb, again it feels a little damning with faint praise to give them their own categories. So we have just the two: single varietal blended (including co-ferments) Let's dive in... Single Varietal Malus X Dolgo - Troddenvale, Warm Springs Virginia Hewes Crab - Big Fish Cider, Monterey GoldRush - Buskey Hard Cider, Richmond Honorable mentions: Hazy Lady (Winesap) - Ciders from Mars, S
by noreply@blogger.com (Alistair Reece)6 viewsbig-fish-ciderciderdaring-ciderreview-of-the-yearvirginia-cider - news
Fuggled Beer of the Year
Ok then, the choices have been made, the runners and riders whittled down to just three beers, a pale, a BOAB, and a dark, and final decision must be taken to crown the 2025 Fuggled Beer of the Year. As in years past, and most certainly in years yet to come, the present awarding of the title comes with little fanfare, and a miserly pot of coin - i.e. no coin whatsoever. It does come, however, with the knowledge that this little part of the internet appreciates your beer and will happily drink more of it in the future. Our finalists then are: Pale: Spoolboy 10° - Selvedge Brewing, Charlottesville, VA BOAB: Altbier - Bierkeller Brewing, Columbia, SC Dark: Aecht Schlenkerla Erle - Heller-Bräu Trum, Bamberg, DE I am sure this comes as no surprise to anyone, but since Spoolboy has been available on tap at Selvedge, it has basically become my go-to beer. Pretty much whenever I walk in, the folks behind the bar know what my, and Mrs V's, first beer of the visit will be, and so fresh pin
by noreply@blogger.com (Alistair Reece)4 viewsbierkeller-columbiareview-of-the-yearschlenkerlaselvedge-brewing - news
Fuggled Beers of the Year: Dark
Given the inherent subjectivity of the BOAB category, it is always good to be back on more solid ground with dark beers, and I do love a good dark beer. That said, most of the dark beers I have drunk this year have been my own. In the spring I brewed my annual dry stout, imaginatively monikered "Virginia Stout", for Mrs V's fiddle teacher, who hosts a St Patrick's Day party every year, and it is just de rigueur to have a session stout at such events. In the summer I brewed a dark mild, again for a party, this time a birthday bash. Going through my records for non-VelkyAl brewed dark beers it is clear that the pickings are very slim...so I will pivot and just mention a single beer from each of the geographies, and name a winner. Virginia Tweed Dunkel - Selvedge Brewing, Charlottesville Back at Yuletide 2024, I rocked up to the bar at Selvedge - gasp, shock, horror - and was given a bottle of Tweed, kellerbier style, in that it had been bottled straight out of the lagering tank with stil
by noreply@blogger.com (Alistair Reece)4 viewsbierkeller-columbiadark-beerdunkelreview-of-the-yearschlenkerlaschwarzbier - news
Fuggled Beers of the Year: BOAB
Audience meet BOAB, BOAB meet audience. If it is your first time meeting BOAB, you might just need to know that it is Fuggled-speak for beers that are "between orange and brown", so anything from Vienna lagers to brown ale and everything in between, erm obviously as that is in the name. Onwards ho! Virginia Tavern Brown Ale - Alewerks Brewing, Williamsburg Beech Blanket - Selvedge Brewing, Charlottesville Loden Vienna Lager - Selvedge Brewing, Charlottesville Honorable mentions: Threadenator; Houndstooth - Selvedge Brewing, Charlottesville; Fritz - SuperFly Brewing, Charlottesville; Wolf Gang Vienna Lager - Buffalo Mountain Brewing, Floyd. Let's just get one thing out of the way Selvedge are going to dominate the Virginia lists for these reviews for the very simple reason I drink far more of their beer than any other brewery in Virginia. As I mentioned in a Vinepair article last year, they are knocking it out of the park, and if anything they are only getting better as Josh and ga
by noreply@blogger.com (Alistair Reece)4 viewsalewerks-brewing-companyayingerbierkeller-columbiaolde-mecklenburgpilsner-urquellreview-of-the-year - news
Fuggled Beers of the Year: Pale
It's that time of the year, the Winter Solstice is upon us, and what better to do than to review a year's worth of drinking? As has become my own tradition, I will break this down into multiple posts, one for pale beer, one for BOAB ("between orange and brown", and dark, and then an overall beer of the year, as well as one for Virginia cider of the year. As I have done for several years now, I will highlight beers from Virginia, the rest of the US, and the rest of the world before crowning each category winner, so on with the show... Virginia Spoolboy 10° Czech pale lager - Selvedge Brewing, Charlottesville Chain Stitch Helles - Selvedge Brewing, Charlottesville Coat Czech 12° Czech pale lager - Selvedge Brewing, Charlottesville Honorable mentions: Ten - Sojourn Fermentory, Suffolk; Pylon Pilsner - Patch Brewing, Gordonsville; Voda Czech style Pilsner - Caboose Brewing, Vienna; Vested Interest - Selvedge Brewing, Charlottesville. A clean sweep for the brewery I visit far more than any
by noreply@blogger.com (Alistair Reece)4 viewsbierkeller-columbialive-oak-brewingnotch-brewingpale-beerpale-lagerpivovar-chroust