This coming Saturday a new brewery, Wort Hog, will open here in downtown Warrenton. I’m looking forward to it. What amazes me though, is that this is the seventh brewery within a half hour of our home – and we live in the middle of no where! There’s Old Bust Head in Vint Hill, and Backroom Brewery near Front Royal. Sperryville (population 342) has two – Hopkins Ordinary, and Pen Druid. Culpeper also has two – Beer Hound and Far Gohn.  

This doesn’t count the others located just a bit further away in Gainesville, Manassas, Fredericksburg, Stafford, or the several that are up in Loudon County. In fact, if I do a Google search for breweries within an hour of us, there are over 25, and that doesn’t include the ones in DC, or the near DC  ‘burbs. How is this even possible?!

Back to our local breweries… What I particularly like, is that every one is a bit different from the others and they aren’t in direct competition. Hopkins Ordinary is a nano brewery in the basement of a B&B. Pen Druid is capturing local wild yeasts to use in the brewing process and is doing some amazing sours and barrel aged beers. Backroom is located on a herb farm, and incorporates herbs into some of their brews. Beer Hound and Far Gohn are located within walking distance of each other, and you can drift back and forth between the two. Old Bust Head is large, and typically has the largest number of beers on tap – it also has food trucks on weekends.

And Wort Hog? It’s more than just a brewery. It’s a brewpub, with a full menu. The reviews from the “soft opening” this past weekend were pretty good. Will they hold up? I sure hope so.

The next time you come for a visit, as always, we will visit some of the local wineries. We still have our favorites, including Linden, Delaplane and Glen Manor, and there are more good ones every year. But don’t be surprised if on day two, our tours include visits to some local brewers – there are a number to choose from, and ALL are good.