Homebrew for Hunger

One of our local homebrew shops here in the Charlottesville, Fifth Season, is hosting the second annual Homebrew for Hunger tomorrow. Basically the event is a fund raiser for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, which provides food to those in financial straits.

I am taking part in the event as one of the homebrewers whose beer you can try, as are several other Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale members, and also at least one person I work with. Myself and Mrs V will be behind the table, pouring the following beers:

• Dark Island Weizenbock
• Dark Island Burton Ale

The weizenbock is essentially a stronger version of a regular weizen, but stomping around at 8.4% abv. Made with a combination of 50% white wheat malt, 25 Pilsner malt, and 25% Vienna malt, then hopped exclusively with Tettnang, it's a lovely (in my unhumble opinion), chewy, wintery kind of beer. Naturally it has the slight banana and clove thing going on, and maybe a hint of lemon from the Tettnang, but for me the malt complexity is the star.

Dark Island Burton Ale is a variant on the Truman's Number 4 that was this year's International Homebrew Project. I have toned down the hopping a little, coming down from something north of 100 to about 80 IBUs, and I switched out the Maris Otter malt in favour of Golden Promise, oh and used Safale 04. The beer itself finished at 7.8% and packs a hefty punch of hop and malt playing off against each other (say it quietly but I am becoming a fan of Cluster hops...).

If you are around the Charlottesville area, make it over to try somewhere in the region of 70 homebrews, as well as beer from the local breweries. For more information see the Homebrew for Hunger website.

UPDATE: the event is officially sold out and there will not be any ticket sales at the door! If you are one of the people who has bought tickets, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!