As someone who has dabbled in brewing my own libations in the past, I was overjoyed to hear that there was a local source for homebrewing (and winemaking) supplies coming to the Cville area. The Fermentation Trap opened recently up on 29 North (just past the Greene County line) and had a Grand Opening day on Saturday in observance of National Homebrewing Day, so EvoMan and I jumped on our two-wheeled conveyances and cruised over to check them out. Owned and operated by a couple of Greene County locals who are back in the area thanks to NGIC, the Trap is a great place for folks experienced in homebrewing and those looking to get started.

They carry several different kits for beer or wine, lots of literature on both, including recipe books on how to create copies of your favorite Macrobrews. If you don’t want to dive in with both feet right away, they also have no-cook beer and hard cider kits that require only a fementation vessel, yeast and water to get started. Each kit yields 2.5 cases of 12oz bottles after approximately 3 weeks of fermentation, and they currently have kits for a variety of styles, from Irish Stout to American Lager.

Homebrewing is a great way to learn more about beer, experiment with flavors, and become active in a community. There are two brew clubs in Charlottesville, so there’s an established group of folks to learn from (and believe me, brewers LOVE to talk about beer) and swap recipes and tips with. The Fermentation Trap is a great place to start if you want to get rolling down the road to fresh, homemade beer and wine, and the owners will be happy to bend your ear, listen to your concerns and answer your questions.

»Read More

Popularity: 22% [?]

As you may or may not know, there are a wide variety of low-end fortified wines available in the Charlottesville area. While none are locally produced, they all pack a particularly interesting wallop and are quite distinct in their own way. I managed to convince 6 Cvillains to be brave enough to help me evaluate them and determine which is the best. Here are the results.

I went shopping on Friday afternoon and hit two convenience stores to get the goods. At the Shell station on Preston I picked up the first 4 bottles - Night Train, Wild Irish Rose ‘Red’, ‘Wild Grape’, and ‘Wild Fruit’. When I put them on the counter at the register the cashier looked at me and said “Wow.” I replied that it was for science and she told me that if it was for anything else I was about to spend the next 2 days in the bathroom “both ways”. I hurried the plastic and paper bags back to my car before anyone saw the massive amount of fortified wine I was buying.

After a few more unsuccessful (re: they only sold REAL wine, like from a vineyard) stops I found a few more bottles at the Estes Market on Cherry Avenue. It was here that I bought Thunderbird, Cisco ‘Black Cherry’, and Wild Irish Rose ‘Green Apple’. There were a lot of varieties of Cisco, no doubt made with different grapes, but in order to limit the scope of this wine review (and be easy on my volunteer tasters) I elected to only sample the Black Cherry. I was surprised that none of these wines were as cheap as I’d expected. A 750ml bottle of each was $4.99.

And now the results… »Read More

Popularity: 55% [?]

Hello all! I have just returned from a week in the crummy mid-west. Being there was a pleasant reminder of why I love Cville. I see that while I was away the boys went to play…and neglected the Free for Alls. Write Away.

Popularity: 71% [?]

Okay, so this past month I went on a root beer quest. I seached C’ville far and wide for the best bottled root beer. Probably because I’m a homer (d’oh!), I liked Dominion best.

So, here’s my list of root beers available in C’ville, in order of how much I liked them. I highly recommend the top three. If anyone knows of any other root beer available in the area, I’d love to hear about it.

Dominion Root Beer (Ashburn, VA)
Taste: Excellent mix of sweet flavors, with a strong (Virginia) honey taste. (A-)
Available: Foods of All Nations, Giant Supermarkets, Monticello

Natural Brew Root Beer (Chico, CA)
Taste: My favorite non-fructose root beer. A very full combination of flavors. (B+)
Available: Harris Teeter, Whole Foods

Gale’s Root Beer (Chicago, IL)
Taste: Very strong cinammon flavoring, almost overpowering. Unique! (B+)
Available: Foods of All Nations (single bottle only)

IBC Root Beer (Dallas, TX)
Taste: A solid old-school root beer. No gimmacks. There’s a reason why this is such a popular root beer. (B)
Available: Wal-Mart, Kroger, Foods of All Nations

Sprecher (Glendale, WI)
Taste: Good not-too-sweet flavor, but with an unpleasant bitter aftertaste. (C+)
Available: From Scratch Bakery (single bottle only)

Boylan’s (Moonachie, NJ)
Taste: Low carbination makes it taste like it’s been open for a few days. (C-)
Available: Whole Foods, World Market

Virgil’s Root Beer (Los Angeles, CA)
Taste: Too many flavors thrown in, especially the licorice. (C-)
Available: World Market (small keg available)

Stewart’s Root Beer (Rye Brook, NY)
Taste: Imagine a root beer candy floating in a mud puddle. (D+)
Available: Foods of All Nations (single bottle), Kroger

Extra Credit:
Cally’s Homemade Root Beer (Harrisonburg, VA)
Taste: Brain-bogglingly vanilla sweet with low carbination. (C+)
Available: Cally’s Restaurant and Brewing in downtown Harrisonburg.

Popularity: 39% [?]

I had a particularly alcohol filled Saturday night. And to top it off, I had the whole world on my thermostat setting. Booya.  I pretty much ended up everywhere last night as a combination of booze and weather love. I was thinking ah yes a great night to go out. Spring fever was in full effect, but alas…

Apparently, no one told me the entire night would be filled with bachelorette parties!

Bachelorettes and their entourage are an interesting bunch. I have yet to fully understand this rather lame social phenomenon. I mean guys fully appreciate their last night of singlehood and often embark on a quest to get fully wasted, justifying the gropage of strippers and the full embarrassing of the groom. Sorry ladies, it happens 9 out 10 times whether you like it or not.

Bachelorettes (at least the ones from last night) were the total opposite. I think I saw 5 separate bachelorette parties and 4 of those were probably some of the most boring parties I’ve ever seen. Honestly, it’s your last night to be out: live it up.

First of all, bachelorette parties make an extra special effort to stick out from the norm which is fine. But, can we clearly label the bachelorette? It’s so hard to find the one between all the glow sticks, silly hats and mini tiaras.

My favorite encounter with a b-party was with a small 4 to 5 lady party sitting at the end of the bar at Blue Light. »Read More

Popularity: 38% [?]

I am sitting on my back porch this fine Wednesday evening with a tall glass of scotch and a beautiful cigar, a Punch Gran Puro. The Punch Gran Puro is made with 100% Honduran grown tobaccos. As I am smoking this great cigar and afterwards taking a big slug of scotch, I am imagining the process of how this glorious cigar came to be in my possession. Some little Honduran boy probably picked the tobacco and then some beautiful Honduran woman (naked perhaps) rolled it into a cigar, which was then shipped across the ocean and ended up in a little shop in Charlottesville, VA known as “Aficionado’s.”

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Popularity: 36% [?]

I visited South Street last night and am still surprised that the place still gets as crowded as it does on Tuesdays. If any of you cVillains remember, South Street used to serve $2.00 pints into the wee hours. I don’t know the exact dates that this changed, but I think it was about 3 years ago (on another note, I’m getting old).

I remember the shock when we realized that South Street could no longer serve us those pleasurable libations at such awesome prices. Well, if any of you remember correctly South Street used to be THE PLACE to go on a Tuesday night. It was populated by many UVA students, of both genders, and it would get loud and crazy.

South Street used to be the serious drinkers paradise. You came there to drink beer, you scoffed at those who drank wine and you inevitably ended up with a headache. We often would show up around 9 or 10 and stay till midnight. Oh, and good luck getting to the bar. You had to have some serious skills or know a bunch of people.

Fast forward to today. $2.50 pints last until 9PM which inevitable leads to größte Wurst Partei (or Biggest Sausage Party) if my German is correct. It’s horrid. I swear there are probably 5 girls in the entire bar until 8:30 PM. Ladies, if you want to get noticed, make sure you show up before 9PM! Otherwise, I’m stuck, between a rock and a hard place. And on top of that, South Street can unpredictably be dead on Tuesday nights, leaving you in an even worse situation. Last night was like most nights, crowded after 9PM. What gives?

So, do I visit South Street for the still awesome beer specials and forgoe any eye candy, or do I miss the drink specials and go a little bit later when the crowds pick up? Ladies, why don’t you come before 9?

Bonus points for anyone that can figure out when and why South Street stopped serving $2 pints.

Don’t forget to read our beer lover’s tour of Charlottesville and check out the results of your favorite South Street beers.

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Popularity: 38% [?]

Ahhh, prom season. Just the word probably causes all of us to simultaneously sigh or shudder, or if you a had prom night like mine, think of siphoning gas into the world’s most charmingly junked out Jeep Grand Wagoneer and wishing that you had opted against pantyhose. We swayed to embarrassing rituals, a certain sense of an oppressive right of passage, and the bittersweet pictures posed in front of a charred fireplace while looking very much like a caricature of the adults we hoped to become, all in the vain hope of the true reason for the night: after-prom. While prom might bring flowers and rentals of all kinds to my mind, after-prom conjure up Tori Spelling getting drunk in a red hoop skirt dress on prom night in Beverly Hills, every single after-school special on sex ed, and my friend M who said that she and her friends had something of a de-flowering party in a hotel resplendent with a heart-shaped tub and silky sheets. For Charlottesville schools, the kids have a much better, and might I say, classier option, and we have a chance to do some of-age boozing to support it. »Read More

Popularity: 37% [?]

Making moonshine seems to be a continued pastime among Southerners old and young alike. When I first moved to the area I was introduced to the awful substance. The West Coast has its “microbrew in your basement” fad and the southern part of the east coast can boast liquor making skills that can kill. This recipe came up when I googled bacon, so random. I thought since a couple weeks ago parlie called us all out on having slightly alcoholic tendencies, I would assist in taking us all the way to the border of needing AA. I see no better way to achieve that than by making an alcohol (moonshine style) you can drink with your morning eggs?

Cheers villains.

Bacon Vodka

Makes up one pint:

• Fry up three strips of bacon
• Add cooked bacon to a clean pint sized mason jar. Trim the ends of the bacon if they are too tall to fit in the jar. Or you could go hog wild and just pile in a bunch of fried up bacon scraps.
• Optional: add crushed black peppercorns.
• Fill the jar up with vodka. Cap and place in a dark cupboard for at least three weeks.(No need to refrigerate)
• At the end of the three week resting period, place the bacon vodka in the freezer to solidify the fats. Strain out the fats through a coffee filter to yield a clear filtered pale yellow bacon vodka.
• Decant into decorative bottles and enjoy

***I almost forgot…TGIF!

Popularity: 31% [?]

I love the “Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar” , it is one of those hard-to-find-in-cville-unpretentious establishments. If that description weren’t oxymoronic enough, everything about it is somewhat contradictory -from its diverse clientele to the odd decor-

There is no other place in town where the drama kids, the goth high schoolers, the emo crew, the frat stars and the young executives coexist in the same locale. These aren’t pure breeds though… only here you will find the selfless commies sport their $2000+ Apple laptops; you will see the eventual executive roll his sleeves up, take his shoes off and drink a pot of tea on the floor and you will see the frat/srat all stars attempt to be earthy.

This freak show could only happen in a place with a decoration as diverse as its actors: teapots from around the world, surrounded by saint candles; figurines of buddha, shiva and ganesha; arabic and voodoo-like art work, origami ropes and mirrors. My favorite component, however, is no longer in place: a shrine of junk where people would get inspired to write and leave poetry, metro stubs, artifacts and all sorts of other mementos.

I love the Tea Bazzar, although I avoid it whenever they have live shows (the ones I’ve been to have always freaked me out); but when the coast is clear from the overly artsy shows (I swear, they once had a puppet show about cicadas and country music) I love to sit on the mats by the window while I clear my thoughts, disconnect from the world outside, people watch and read a book over a pot of tea. If you make it out, don’t miss my favorites: the hummus, the Moroccan mint, the five star and my new favorite: The Bloodbath

Popularity: 38% [?]