Charlottesville has a new club! It seems some thirsty people got together and combined their drinking efforts. Apparently, the club was created for those that like to “catch up” with friends in the middle of the week. The club has over 100 fans on its facebook page and a pretty neat little web site. This club started March 28, 2008 and is growing like a wild fire.

The club meets every Wednesday night. They even offer to text your cell phone with location and updates. Also where ever they happen to meet offers drink specials to club members. It cost nothing to join and attendance does not seem to be required. Check out their site below!

The Web Site

Popularity: 34% [?]

Like, OMG, it’s so important that a restaurant bans smoking that it makes it on TV. That’s pretty cool.

The banning will happen on June 1st, according to the McGrady’s website.

I love the patio and the uber-cheap drink specials, but …can we get a ban on the bad food, too?

In case anyone was wondering, happy hour specials after the break…

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Popularity: 43% [?]

Looks like Tuesday at South Street has become a better bargain! With the rising cost of fuel the price of beer has increased. This is terrible news. I have yet to feel the pinch but will certainly be thanking SS every chance I get. I may also switch my regular choice of beer from Blue Mountain to Natural Ice. Mmmmm cheap beer. Have any of you noticed a price jump?

Read the Crappy News Here.

Popularity: 22% [?]

This woman decided to break into Millers two nights ago.  She broke into the third floor via the window.
I ask… why?

[via Newsplex]

Popularity: 29% [?]

Popularity: 37% [?]

The Virginia Distillery Company has a dream, to build the first authentic Scottish made distillery amongst the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains and create an amazing range of Single Malt whiskies for America…

…. Or so says the front page of Eades Whisky, the new brand behind the planned Nelson County $5 million dollar distillery.  This sounds sweet!

Unfortunately, Eades cannot call their Whisky “scotch” because it breaks two laws of the Scotch Whisky Order of 1990 which explain that the whisky must be aged for at least three years in Scotland and must be distilled by a Scottish distillery.  Nonetheless, this should be a welcome addition to the “getting out of Charlottesville” road trip and we look forward to checking it out.

Does anyone have more information?

Popularity: 26% [?]

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.

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Popularity: 23% [?]

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: 46% [?]

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: 54% [?]

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: 32% [?]