Vintage 50 Leesburg - Beers and Kids for Dinner

Probably now our second favorite restaurant for both adults and family (!) in our area is now officially Leesburg's Vintage 50.

Having, in three days, experienced both the Adults side (a Modern Moms Magazine outing on Thursday night) and Family side (with the kids at 5PM on a Sunday), there's truly nothing to disappoint. Here's the rundown:

- Darn good beers, made onsite - simply walking through the restaurant's malt and hops-laced air was reward enough - after the sampler, our favorite's the "point of rocks pale ale", followed closely by a not-too-bitter "E.S.B. Extra Special Bitter" and an extra-alcoholic "Angels Share". Worth the trip, by themselves, solidly taking the top positions in the ongoing Loudoun's Best Beers survey.

- Appetizers - very tasty, well presented (though perhaps a bit conservative in volume, for a microbrewery) - Crispy Chili Pepper Shrimp, Sausage stuffed Calamari and a really good Tuna Tartar set the stage.

- We only had one entree (just the beers and appetizers were so good), the Asiago Stuffed Baby Tortellini - very well done, not too heavy with cream, and with lightly-cooked roasted peppers and squashes.

- Kid's menu, typical chicken tenders, waffle fries and honey mustard sauce, plus a kids cheese pizza (which was, though delicious to me, a bit exotic to our kid's sensitive palates, with the plump tomatoes and all)

- Kid's drinks and entertainment - this is where few adult-family crossover restaurants get it right - drinks with lids and straws (saving the close-call spills), and the highlight of the night...."super doodlers" (plastic drawing pads with instant erase, far less messy and more entertaining than typical crayons and paper). We actually got to sample 5 different beers while the kids entertained themselves

- Dessert - the "Winter Sundae" - warm, chocolate truffle brownies with select Giffords ice cream and fruit sauces - 4 chunks for 4 kids and lots of finger-licking goodness

- Very nice, attentive, polite and knowledgeable waitress plus Anthony, the owner, never out of eyesight with lots of extra help as needed.

- French-press coffee (after the last drop of beer was put away) - nice touch.

Altogether a very satisfying outing with lots of return visits to come.

"Good" beer prices to rise - due to hops shortage

Thanks to this posting at the Brambletonian, we've been alerted to the dire Hops shortage across the globe, especially in Europe. According to the source news story, the "The price of a six-pack of beer from a microbrewer or craft beer maker likely will go up at least a $1 to a $1.50".

That's not good - note that prices likely won't rise much for domestic beers..."most domestic beer prices should reflect a more modest increase because the majority of those beers are lagers that use less hops in their production" (read....disgusting, watery domestic beers aren't affected).

Stock up, find the good beers at the Dulles South and Loudoun Beer page!