Starr Hill Brewery released a few seasonal brews and who better to taste them and let everyone know how great they are then two guys that drink like it’s their
Starr Hill Brewery released a few seasonal brews and who better to taste them and let everyone know how great they are then two guys that drink like it’s their job-because it kind of is, and a girl who rather have a craft beer over a fruity-cherry-topped-sugary umbrella drink any day of the week? The RVA Mag staff that’s who.
The crew at RVA Magazine taste-tested two of the Charlottesville-based brewery’s brews, King of Hop, an Imperial IPA, and Soul Shine, a Belgian-Style Pale Ale.
RVAMag President/Beermeister John Reinhold and Editor-in-Chief of GayRVA.com and RVAMag.com Brad Kutner both favored the King of Hop brew. Here are their thoughts:
BK: It’s soft on the palate, but still hoppy, surprisingly sweet with a citrus after taste. Very easy to drink considering its 7.5.
JR: It was incredibly smooth for an imperial. An easy drinking summer IPA with a nice ABV, were his thoughts. Piney and lite tropical hop profile.
The King of Hop beer has flavor notes of orange peel, passion fruit, grapefruit, and gooseberry, hence the citrus after taste. It also won the gold medal in the India Pale Ale category in Virginia Craft Brewers Festival in 2014.
I had the pleasure of tasting the Soul Shine and it is the perfect beer for summer. The smell of it had me hooked from the start. It’s not too heavy, but flavorful. It citrusy, but a spicy finish. This will definitely be one I take to the river or to the beach.
Master Brewer Mark Thompson had this to say about Soul Shine on the brewery’s website: “It’s better than sunshine, better than moonshine, damn sure better than rain.”
I don’t know that its better than moonshine, but hey, it’s a refreshing good beer so I’ll take it. Bottom line, Starr Hill if you’re reading this, feel free to shower us with the Soul Shine beer whenever you like!
Check out RVA Magazine’s review in March of Starr Hill’s newest brews at the time,the Reviver Red IPA, the Red Rooster Cream Stout and the Barleywine Ale.
