Virginia Craft Brewers Guild

Virginia Farmhouse Ale: 10th Anniversary Collaboration Saison

Swover Creek Farms Farm Brewery

Swover Creek’s version of the Collaboration includes some hops grown on their farm, along with malts from Murphy and Rude Maltsters in Charlottesville. They also used Virginia yeast from Jasper Yeast. It is a light refreshing beer just right for the crisp fall weather.

Flying Ace Farm Brewery

“This beer has a subtle funkiness and bone dry finish perfect for the approaching Autumn season. We acquired Cherokee Purple Tomatoes from Hamilton Hop Farms and roasted yellow squash grown here at Flying Ace Farm and incorporated them into the mash. This brings a slight sweetness from the roasted squash flesh and very subtle fresh earthy tomato flavour. We also used a Virginia local yeast supplier, Jasper Yeast Labs, and used their American Saison yeast strain that was propagated from a wooden barrel found at an archaeological dig site in Alexandria.”

St. George Brewing Company

This version of the collaboration is light copper in color and light in body. It features a clove, anise, and mild lime aroma. The taste profile is bready, with black pepper, anise, cherry, and mild lime flavor – a refreshing beer that finishes moderately bitter and dry! St. George Brewing Company use Murphy & Rude Malting Co. in Charlottesville for their malt needs, Jasper Yeast in Sterling for their Poperinge Saison yeast, and Seaside Hops in Machipongo for their cascade hops.

Random Row Brewing Company

For their version of the Collaboration, Random Row used Greenmont Hopworks (based in Esmont, VA) for hops, Murphy and Rude (based in Charlottesville, VA) for malt, and Jasper Yeast (based in Sterling, VA) for Virginia Saison yeast. They added local honey from Crozet honey farms. They also added in some darker specialty malts to make it more of an Amber Saison. 

Ballad Brewing

Ballad’s version is a dry saison style brewed with coriander and fermented with a hybrid yeast to bring out the flavor of blackberries and grapes (Muscadine and Scuppernong) bought from the Danville Farmers Market across the street from their brewery.  Their malt is regional to Virginia, from Proximity Malt out of Delaware. 

Strangeways Brewing

Strangeway’s version of the Collaboration is based off the recipe provided by the Guild using malt and hops they already had in-house. They used Jasper Yeast’s JY102 strain, which was harvested from barrels from Alexandria and has a nice estery profile with light phenols.

The Garage Brewery

The Garage Brewery’s version of the collaboration is pretty true to recipe, with some slight adjustments to the hops – they used Europeano noble hops to accentuate the stlye.

Tucked Away Brewing Company & Audacious Aleworks

Tucked Away Brewing Company & Audacious Aleworks created a mini collaboration under this Collaboration, adding Amarillo and Galena hops to pair with the Cascade hops in the recipe provided by the Guild. They added Virginia honey sourced from Yankey Farms in Nokesville, and completed their version of the brew by adding a blend of their favorite spices, appropriate to the farmhouse/saison style, to create a complex beer that is “easy drinking.”

Dirt Farm Brewing

Dirt Farm’s version of the Collaboration uses grain from Murphy and Rude (based in Charlottesville, VA) and yeast from Jasper Yeast (based in Sterling, VA). They added their estate AlbariƱo grape pressings to this brew.

Old 690 Brewing Company

Old 690’s version of the Collaboration is based off the recipe provided the Guild, but using Warrior bitterin hops instead of CTZ. They brewed a double batch of this recipe.

2 Silos Brewing Co., Ornery Beer Company, Caboose Brewing Co., and Ono Brewing Company

These four breweries partnered together for a mini collaboration under this Collaboration, brewing with fresh Virginia-grown peaches from Thorton River Orchard & Market (based in Sperryville, VA) and fermented with a Belgian yeast grown by Jasper Yeast (based in Sterling, VA).

Starr Hill Brewery

Starr Hill brewed their version of the Collaboration in one of their Foeders in Richmond, which had brett in it, to create their “spin” – a Brett saison. They used Murphy and Rude for base pilsner malt.

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Hardywood’s version of the collaboration brew uses Riverbend Malt and yeast from Jasper Yeast (based in Sterling, VA). There are some lemon and lime aromas coming out of this brew, with a little bit of peppery spice.


Thank you to our Collaboration Supplier Partners!