review

Last night I took a study break and decided to review some of Starr Hill Brewery’s current collection. I had bought one of each of the five Starr Hill brews available at Martin’s a few weeks back, but completely forgot about it until last night when I had about 10 chapters to read for class…

Anyway, Starr Hill is a great local craft brewery that started in Charlottesville, VA but has since moved a few miles west to Crozet. Mark A. Thompson is the master brewer/mastermind at Starr Hill. Here’s my review of Grateful Pale Ale, Northern Lights, JOMO, Love, and Snowblind.

Grateful Pale Ale

“The name springs from our brand’s humbleness and our love of the music culture.” -Mark A. Thompson

This beer pours clear and gold, and creates a one-finger head with light lacing (the foam that sticks to glass when you set it down). The flavor and aroma has the bitterness that is typical of hop-heavy beers with a dose of citrus and floral elements. There’s a mild, sweet maltyness that helps to balance out the bitterness. This beer also leaves a slight puckered or astringent feeling in the mouth. At 4.7% alcohol content, this is considered a good “session beer” because you can throw a few back in a period of time and not get too rowdy!

Northern Lights India Pale Ale

“Northern Lights is a beer that used to be called Stinky; it has a lot of hops.” -Mark A. Thompson

This one’s clear with an amber hue, one-finger head, and light lacing. Definitely has a a distinct hoppy flavor and aroma, but not as strong as most IPAs. This beer finishes smooth and leaves a little tingle on the tongue. Alcohol content is 6.5%.

JOMO Vienna Lager

“A crowd favorite. Session beer.” -Mark A. Thompson

This beer is a little hazy with an amber hue. Like most lagers, it has a bready, malty flavor and medium body. At 4.6%, it’s considered a session beer.

The Love Wheat Beer

“A friend of mine would smuggle wheat-beer yeast back from a brewery in Germany, and he won the National Home Brewers’ Competition one year with this yeast that he’d smuggled. I asked him if he would ‘share the love’ and let us borrow the yeast, and 10 years later he finally did.” -Mark A. Thompson

This is considered a hefeweizen, a German style wheat beer that is light an unfiltered. It pours as a hazy, light gold color. The flavor is wheaty and yeasty with a hint of citrus, banana, and spice. It’s crisp and light, and would make a great summer beer.

Snowblind Doppelbock (Winter season brew)

“Winter’s ice, it soon will spread… Fill my dreams with flakes of snow, Soon I’ll feel the chilling glow…” – Mark A. Thompson

Snowblind is a dark, translucent beer with one-finger head and light lacing. As a doppelbock, it has a good body with a rich, toasted malt flavor and hint of sweet caramel. 7.4% alcohol content.

All a little different, all great examples of a good Virginia craft beer. Next time you find yourself in the beer aisle, I encourage you to try Starr Hill and support this great local brewery!