My wife and I visited Colonial Williamsburg last weekend and had lunch at (Josiah) Chowning’s Tavern.

Although the food was excellent and the sight-seeing was awesome, you obviously know I will talk about the brews!  At the top of their menu, they list both a “Seasonal Brew” and a “Specialty Brew.”

Yep, I had both. The first brew, the seasonal, was called “Old Stitch (Devil).”  It was a coffee stout at 5.4% ABV.  Excellent aroma and great flavor! Really hit the spot.  This beer is brewed for Chowning by the Williamsburg Alewerks.  I believe this is actually packaged as their Coffeehouse Stout.  I now have a bottle in my fridge (thanks Total Wine!) and I will see if it is actually the same brew.  We drank these brews out of the ceramic mugs.  Of course, since my wife can’t drink the beer (no Gluten) … she enjoyed a Hot Buttered Rum!

The second beer — the specialty beer — is their “Liebotschaner Cream Ale.”    I looked around for some reference to this beer and couldn’t find it.  It was a very tasty cream ale.  Apparently, this beer is made by The Lion Brewery (Wilkes-Barre, PA) as a contract brew.

Both of these beers were right in style–the only thing that stood out to me was the lack of any kind of head on the the “Old Stitch.”  Otherwise, it was quite tasty–the coffee came through right off the bat.  So, if you make a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, you won’t find yourself lacking in a good brew while visiting!

Enjoy,

Beer Mentor