The Harris Teeter on 29 (at Forest Lakes) has an ongoing problem with pricing wine and beer.

Example: Dead Guy Ale is on currently on sale, according to the huge sign at the door, for $9.99, except that when you get to the register, it’s $10.99.

According to store management, this kind of problem has been going on for months: wine and beer often don’t ring up at the same price as the sign on the shelf. “Oh, we get several of these a day,” said the apologetic manager. “A couple of days ago a bottle of wine rang up for twenty dollars more than the price on the shelf!”

The reason for this, according to the corporate office in North Carolina, is that sometimes the distributors set the prices for wine and beer. They create the display, apparently, and even print the little sign. And sometimes they just MAKE UP discounted prices, and don’t tell anybody.

So the lesson is: if you shop at Harris Teeter, and you find that your favorite beverage is on sale, get out a pencil and write the price on the bottle. When you get to the checkout, make sure you got charged what the sign said. If you’re overcharged, don’t be a dick and hold up the line. Pay the cashier, and take it the receipt to the manager, who’ll cheerfully refund the difference. They’re all really nice about it. But they apparently have no control over the process.  [Written entirely by an observant birdie]  [Photo Credits]

When Blue Mountain Brewery Co-Owner Taylor Smack commented the other day he wasn’t kidding.  He said:

By the way, we’ve got a stellar uberPils (Imperial Pilsener) debuting July 3rd that’s undergoing a 2+ month ferment/cold aging. Also, we’re adding another 1,000-gallon tank to our cellar next week and our other partner, Matt Nucci, is joining me full time as a brewer as we expand capacity to meet demand. We’re finally in over 100 restaurants, stores and retail shops across Virginia! (Yea!) And for those of you who haven’t heard, Full Nelson is coming out in cans (12.oz. 6-packs) starting July 17th.

We didn’t exactly take note of what a 1,000 gallon tank meant, but according to Nelson County Life, that means Blue Mountain Brewery is doubling its capacity for delicious brews. Booya.

Maybe you recall InBev’s $52 billion acquisition of Anheuser-Busch.  There was a lot of talk about a Belgium beer company now owning an American beer company.  That’s kinda silly because the shareholders own a company, not the country, but I digress.

According to a beer blog, InBev has decided to stop using a hop variety called “Hallertauer Mittelfrüh” in its Budweiser recipes.  Usage was minimal, but this hop variety has a specific “spicy aromatic lemon taste.” While I’m sure they can figure out a way to not change the flavor, it goes against what they told people after the acquisition:

Budweiser the beer will continue to be brewed in the same breweries by the same people according to the same recipe. We understand that is so key to the business, the brands and the consumer, and therefore to us. [ref]

Apparently the hop growers are pretty pissed, but I imagine this might be a bad PR move for all those who think of Bud as a “Great American Beer.”

[via Tandleman Beer Blog]

[anyone have a picture to donate?]

Back when we first found out the former Michael’s Bistro team had decided to launch a new restaurant, we knew something good was in the works. Enter 12th Street Taphouse, located on Main and, you guessed it, 12th Street.

With some cash from the Coran, the team has renovated the former Northern Exposure space, adding wood floors, new tables, new paint and some better lighting.  It feels cleaner and more delightful than before.  Parking shouldn’t turn you away either, because you can usuually find something on the street, in front of Kane’s or around the corner in that art store parking lot.  You might be hard pressed to find a sign for 12th Street, but you are probably an idiot if you can’t find the building.

The 12th Street interior is large and daunting, especially when you need to figure out how to ask for a table.  This building has always had this problem. The long, narrow entry-way doesn’t end up at an obvious host station, so just make sure you wander aimlessly to the bar and look effectively confused.  Someone will address you eventually.

»Read More

We just got word that the 12th Street Ale House, which replaced Northern Exposure and the short-lived Spry’s, has finally opened.  The former team from Michael’s Bistro recreates what we loved about the Bistro, 14 beers on tap, 30 to 40 bottles and a similar menu.  Anyone know if they are going to carry all the Belgiums again?  The decor looks promising.  We’ll be headed there this weekend. Let us know how it is if you’ve been.

[pic from Paul Lowry of the 12th Street Ale House in NYC] [via C-VILLE]

Photo Courtesy of Tom Daly

What will strike you first about Devil’s Backbone Brewery is its architectural beauty.  Driving along Route 151 to this Nelson County gem is a scenic experience of farmland and pastures, obstructed by the casual strip mall and lone gas station.  You may even wonder why you are driving 15 minutes past Blue Mountain Brewery, which as we all know, has great beer.

Then, hark!, Devil’s Backbone towers three stories above the road with a modern beam, stone and recycled aluminum design. Its made from recycled parts from an old dairy mill, stones from the area and a few other meaningful parts.  The full story is inside the menu which I failed to steal. In fact, almost every construction part is a local item, except for the giant moose head which comes from Northern Canada.

When you walk inside, look up. It’s an open three stories.  Now, imagine being in a cathedral, only this religion is beer.  »Read More

We got a sneak peek at the new Nelson County brewery in August, and its now open for all of our fermented pursuits.  So what has taken so long?  C-VILLE spoke to the Master Brewer, Jason Oliver at length, and found out Jason was lost in translation when he had to put the brewery equipment together:

The equipment is state-of-the-art stuff—a German-designed Ziemmann 10HL 4-vessel decoction or infusion brewery—but the system originally was built in Japan for a Tokyo-based brewery and purchased from an international purveyor of used brewery equipment, hence all the Kanji characters.

If he puts as much effort into his beer as this k’nex project, we are in for a real treat.  Here is the current beer list:
»Read More

Well, if you remember our friends who allegedly stole beer from a cooler at Club 216, you can now forget them.  They have been found not guilty because there was not enough evidence to convict them.  The argument used against them (I am not kidding) : “they didn’t offer to pay when they were met by security.”  I have no idea what this means, but it sounds like a lame reason to arrest people.

[via NBC]

Earlier this year it was a new cidery, now, it’s Devil’s Backbone Brewery Company, a new brewery which will rest just below the Wintergreen Ski resort.  It now joins, South Street, Star Hill and Blue Mountain in the first Virginia attempts to create a Beer Trail aka Path of Liver Destruction.

But have no fear my friends, the beer should be good.  It won’t initially be available in bottles, so you’ll have to make the trek out to Wintergreen to taste the year-round offerings:  Helles, Vienna amber, hefe and American IPA.  Now, the question is, is that trip worth the drive for you cVillains? I’m sure the tourists will make it, but it’s going to be a tough decision to drive past Blue Mountain on Path of Liver Destruction.  Maybe it’s healthier that way?

[via NewsVirginian]

From a birdie…

Outback Lodge had its liquor license suspended the first of the month.  As a result at least one show was moved to another venue.  In many cases the shows went on, but without beer sales what are you really doing  but losing your ass?  As word spread that there was no beer at Outback, people starting bringing beer and drinking in the parking lot (rumor).

Well it finally came around that Outback was given a deadline to renew there license or risk losing it altogether and having to re-apply.  The deadline was Wednesday, August 13 I believe.  The problem was that Outback supposedly had no one was willing to help them out.  So in desperation, the day before the ABC was prepared to pull the Outback liquor license, the owner bought a lottery ticket AND won $100,000.  (still unconfirmed).

That’s the story.  Outback has music and to my knowledge beer as well, although I haven’t been in to check.  But shows go on.  Sound like a movie plot or something.