Yesterday, we decided to take a trip to one of my favorite breweries, Old Bust Head Brewing Company. Now, I had never been there before yesterday. So, how could it be one of my favorite breweries? It’s just rare that I like every style of beer that a place brews. That was the case with Old Bust Head.
But now that I’ve been there, I like ’em even more.
We took a very informative tour and learned about the owners’ passion for good beer. The brewer opted for a large scale operation as opposed to small batches because he wanted every person in the State of Virginia to taste the beer. And that’s how I first learned of them, actually. Success.
After the tour, we chased the smell of smoking wood and wound up in line to get some food at a table outside of the brewery. Turns out the food came from Black Bear Bistro.
Black Bear Bistro is located in the heart of Warrenton, Va. While I’ve never been to the actual restaurant, I can tell from their slick website that they focus on tasty barbecue and other kinds of sandwiches.
What I CAN tell you is that their smoked wings are gold. You’d think the smoke would be too strong, but it adds so much taste without overpowering the chicken. After the wings are smoked, they are deep fried and the tossed straight into a bowl with sauce. I barely edited the photo you saw; the wings really look that good:
They also offered some of the best potato salad I’ve ever eaten. Yummy.
I ate the wings with a snifter of Old Bust Head’s Shorthorn American Pale Ale.
If you want to try the beer, they bottle five of their brews and are sold at a variety of locations including Harris Teeter and 7-11 (where I usually buy mine). Of course, to help you find them, they have a list of locations.
I highly recommend taking a tour here this fall.
Peripheral Chew 