As beer lovers, we are thrilled that in less than two years two new local breweries offering handcrafted, small batch microbrews from classic lagers to artisan stouts, have arrived on the scene, but as law abiders lacking the ability to teleport, we’re a little miffed that they’re the hell out in Nelson. Does the free trolley go there? No, it doesn’t.
The only way to get there and return safely after several hours of enjoying the locally made brew from Blue Mountain Brewery and/or the Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company while gazing at the Blue Ridge Mountains and grazing on some pretty tasty food too is to do what we do: Designate a driver and compensate her with a six pack of Blue Mountain’s Rockfish Wheat. Then, when you’re back from Crozet-ish/Nellysford and (reasonably) sobered up, we suggest you give the County Supes a piece of your mind. Find out whatever it is they did or didn’t do that led to these guys choosing to set up their shops in Nelson—in the case of Blue Mountain, right over the county line!—instead of here in Albemarle.
The breweries are going gangbusters, by the way: Blue Mountain has plans to double its brewing capacity by the end of next year to meet growing demand from restaurants, stores and retailers, and after opening less than a year ago, Devil’s Backbone is hosting a “Blue Ridge Mountain Beer and Music Festival” this month. Drunk driving dilemma for us; big tax revenue loss for Albemarle.
