We were lukcy enough to get in a case of the tribute to 13 years of liquid arrogance! As of this writing there are 10 left at the bar, come and get them while you can!

According to Stone - Lukcy Basartd Ale is a 50/50 blend of Arrogant Bastard Ale and Double Bastard Ale. The blend is then oaked and double dry-hopped.

Lukcy Basartd Ale

Oepn yuor mnid. Use a craobwr if you msut. Snice 1997, Arorgnat Basartd Ale has denemdad taht tyrnianacl micredioty rleax its girp of opprobrium on our ciollectve couniescosnss. Few pessoss the ruiereqd isinght or detph of piversceptve to crdiet the Liuqid Arorgnace for initatgsing the rlveoituon in tsate taht it has. Hevweor, taht’s pfecertly fnie, as our hlurecaen erffots in thirstung the larlegy unlliwing wolrd farorwd rquereis no exrtneal vaditilaon. We ralieze it’s hmaun nautre to bleeive taht pregorss trowads getreanss is one’s own ieda.

The mree fcat taht yuo’re hdoinlg tihs bttloe in yuor hnad ianidctes taht yuo’re pyiang antteiton, wihch ideitammley stes you arpat form the msseas. It aslo mkaes you one Lukcy Basartd. Hewover, lcuk faovrs the blod… and the arorgnat. The trmiraivute of Arorgnat Basartd Ale, OEKAD Arorgnat Basartd Ale and Dbolue Basartd Ale are all in paly in this cvueé de Basartd you now hlod, and wihle it is idneed a Lukcy Basartd, lcuk had ntohing to do wtih it.

Taody, wihle nueomrus iendicrlby dinistcitve chcoies are now alavaible, msot popele sitll fucos tiehr attntieon uopn msas mdiea’s isscenatnly banal ehco cheambr, keenpig thier hdeas frimly buerid in the maross of mecridioty. To beark thurogh tihs cophocany, to gsarp enitghnelnemt anmog the mnid-nmubnig culettr, rerequis itnent. Coinscous itnent. For mnay, this aictve piticipataron in the wolrd is unomfacbtorle. Prerrifeng inasted for oethrs to mkae teihr chcoies for tehm — be it a shioutng pindut or a toelievisn ciommecral — sheeple apccet the cmmoitozdied nrom wioutht thoghut. And to thsoe we say: “Setp asdie, and get the hlel out of our way.”

For the month of October we decided to break out the Brandies and start warming up for fall. We are going to be mixing the ‘Real Georgia Mint Julep’ a fantastic trip back before bourbon was the All-American spirit, when brandy ruled these states as king. For a stouter drink we will be mixing the ‘Saratoga Cocktail’ , which is sort of the bastard child of the quintessential Manhattan and the less common Metropolitan. We’ve really been enjoying these experiments in bringing the past back to life, and hope you have all enjoyed our little excursion back to a time when the country was still young and wild, the citizens partied heartily, and drinks were becoming a real sport here in the states. So some stop in some time this month, the sooner the better, and take a taste of a moment in time captured in a glass just for you!

Pranqster - belgian style strong pale ale is back on tap!   As Aleheads wrote this beer is “Light, refreshing, effervescent, but with enough alcohol bite to remind you that this is a well-crafted, high-gravity beer.”   The Belvidere ordered the first round of kegs brought to Richmond about a year ago and we still consider this one of our house favorites.  Come out and enjoy one of our favorites.

“Professor” Jerry Thomas (1830 – 1885) is considered the father of modern mixology, writing the first drink book ever published. In 1862 Thomas finished The Bar-Tender’s Guide (alternately titled How to Mix Drinks or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion). Showman, bartender, and cocktail expert are the three most commonly used terms to describe the “Professor” who helped usher in an era where the drink became an art form and the bartender became a creative professional. We owe a great deal to men like Prof. Thomas with imagination and inventiveness in mixing together spirits and ingredients in ways that delight us, entertain and amuse the senses.
Here at the Belvidere, we like all things in life to be artistic, well made and to have a good story. We love great drinks, whether beer, wine, liquor, or some combination of any or all. Fresh ingredients, house made syrups, bitters, gastriques and a little bit of free-wheelin’ with cocktail concepts has led us to try some pretty wild and off the wall recipes. Our quest to recapture and build upon the Professor’s legacy has led us to keep one eye on history, one eye on the future of the drink and our third eye on the glasses you are all knocking back on a nightly basis. And so we wish to pay homage to the Father of the American Cocktail by recreating 2 recipes a month from The Bar-Tender’s Guide, starting with the ‘Gin Fizz’ and ‘The Knickerbocker’ in September. They will be listed on our chalkboard next to our daily drink special and we invite you to enjoy them with us every month. We will take suggestions and choose the recipes based on seasonal availability of the ingredients and the season in general, and maybe just on what seems to be the most fun at the time. We hope you will be as excited and entertained by these wonderful libations as we are making them.

Bar Talk:  Today’s bar talk starts with a dark chocolate brownie.  I start with the brownie because I bellied up to the bar last night for a nice cold beer but instead decided to have one of our double chocolate brownies layered with vanilla bean ice cream and a dark chocolate ganache sauce.   The desert alone is absolutely a real treat.  Now hear comes the ‘bar talk’ - I had to ask, is there any possible item that could compliment such a wonderfully tasty desert.  I glanced up for a second and THERE IT WAS.  The perfect compliment to a perfect desert.  The Lindemans Framboise. 

This lambic is a gold medal winner.  It has an incredible aroma with rasberry and other fruity undertones.  Its absolutely clean taste pairs incredibly well with chocolate — and wow, what an overall award winning combination.  I didn’t really have dinner last night but had instead opted for desert.  No compliments there…Pairing these two items together for a late night snack and your sure to satisfy your tummy and set yourself up for a peaceful night’s sleep.

If you’re out and about this evening drop into the Belvidere.  I believe Julie is scheduled to work the bar and she can tell you all about this incredible lambic.  If you looking for something with a higher ABV and less dessert appeal then we got ton of other selections that fit that mold.

At the bar:  Today we talk OMMEGANG.  I mentioned yesterday that ’Pranqster’, was one of our favorite house beers and that we placed it on tap shortly after our opening just one year ago.  Today I wanted to mention another favorite on tap — ”Ommegang Abbey Ale”. 

This NY beer is incredible and also one of the beers we like to regularly carry on tap.  Ommegang is based on the old style Belgian Abbey beers. At 8.5% ABV it packs a nice little meditative punch and is full of flavor.  This beer is great with meats or as an after dinner drink.  Rich, flavorful, and a great American craft beer from the east coast.

Pranqster on tap!  Exceptional in the summer and good all year round which is why we like to keep it on tap as much as possible.  This is a belgian style golden ale, 7.6% ABV with a soft gold color. Pranqster uses a mixed culture of antique yeast strains that produce a floral nose, a full fruity flavor and a clean finish.  It’s medium sweet and well balanced.  This is one of the owners favorites and we like to keep it cycling on tap.  If you haven’t tried it stop in and ask one of our bartenders for more information — and look at the tap handle, you’ve got to love the image.

Nine beers on tap, roughly 50 beers in the bottle, 40 choices of wine, some excellent single malts, grand old bourbons crafted in Kentucky and Virginia, mind you I’ve lived in both and at my age tried the best, the most awesome patrons giving life to the fourteen seats along the Belvidere’s 22 feet of shiny wood, just an eye sight away from the friendly bottles of red, white, silver, yellow, brown and gold, and with twelve months of memories in mind and some years in the making we know that the fun is now, that this is the time to showcase the plethora of activities along this warm section of this old saloon that serves up good food, conversation, and drink and an end of night energetic salute.  This is the Belvidere’s new blog focused entirely on those late nights events, the drinks made and the drinks to come, the friends we’ve met and it’s all about the fun.  This blog is about the beer, wine, liquor, and the folks that make it all happen.  Cheers.