Do you remember Blacksburg Brewing Co.?

Way back, about five years ago, when I was writing Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Breweries, my dad and I made a long trip down along the spine of the Appalachians: Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia. After a very satisfactory breakfast at The Roanoker (country ham and red-eye gravy, with some excellent biscuits; no, I don't know why I remember this stuff either), we headed over the mountains in foggy drizzle to wind our way down to Blacksburg. We visited a couple very good bars, the great beer selection at Vintage Cellar, and Blacksburg Brewing, where John Bryce was brewing some very good beers on a system I swear sounded like a huge hair dryer, the only forced-air heated brewkettle I've ever seen. I did the interview, wrote the entry for the book, and just before sending off the manuscript, heard that John had to close down the brewery. Bummer!

I followed John's career after that, attempts to raise cash for a brewpub in B-burg, working his skinny ass off at Cap City making kölsch, and going to brewer school in Germany. Then today I got this (and the picture you see above):

The release of Blacksburger Pils is ~3 weeks away. Beer will be available draft-only in Blacksburg area bars and restaurants. The retailers page will be updated to reflect availability once beer is released. The BBC website is still under construction - this news feed and the merchandise page are not yet complete. Look for beer and more updates in late January.

Best news I've heard so far this year. Well...to be honest, second-best. I'm still working on the other story, and will share that soon. And you Pennsylvania people are gonna love it.