Last summer, I learned about the brouhaha over the Shooting Creek Brewery from Doug Thompson’s blog. I’m not much of a drinker – I don’t even average one beer a day – but I do like a beer that has some ‘bite’ to it when I do indulge. I don’t see the point of drinking Miller Lite or Busch Lite – there is just nothing there for the palate to react to. So when I learned about the possible opening of Shooting Creek Brewery, I thought, “great! – a real beer brewed in Floyd County – I can tickle my palate and support a local business at the same time.” It took a lot of wrangling, but the Virginia Alcohol Control Board finally issued a license to the facility last December allowing the business to open.

This was a combination trip to Floyd – I needed to supervise John Sutherland with his Bull Hog but I was also continuing on to Touchstone Center for Crafts, where I was going to sculpt wood for the third year. I thought it would be nice to take along a Floyd County beer since Touchstone is located far from any convenience stores. So I set out to find Shooting Creek Brewery, an adventure in its own right. The very first stop I made on my first visit to Floyd in March, 2007 was to stop at the County Courthouse to buy a map of Floyd County. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring it along with me this time, since I wasn’t planning to do any back-road touring. Since I had the mistaken impression that you could buy beer at the brewery (you cannot), I set out to find it. Have you ever tried to find someone who knows where Thomas Farm Road is on a Saturday afternoon in Floyd County? Let me tell you, it isn’t easy. Floyd County maps are not available anywhere except at the Courthouse and it wasn’t open, so I resorted to asking strangers where Thomas Farm Road was. I received rather vague directions – about 3 or 4 miles down the Parkway from where 8 intersects the Parkway at Tuggles Gap. Couldn’t find it. Finally, I found someone who said to go out 221, turn right on Shooting Creek Road and turn left at the Wormy Chestnut and follow that road until you got to the Parkway. Thomas Farm Road is on the other side of the Parkway. Got it. Off I went and cruised down Thomas Farm Road until I found the brewery, which of course was not open on a Saturday nor was it very well marked. It would have done me no good if it had been open, since no beer is sold at the brewery. But at least now I know where it is! I ended up at Harvest Moon, in town, where I bought one six-pack each of Farmhouse Stout (and it is, indeed, stout!) and Buffalo Brown. You can also buy it at the Floyd Express Mart on East Main Street, but I didn’t know that at the time. I only found out that it was for sale at Harvest Moon by asking the cashier where to buy Shooting Creek beer. The availability of the beer is not widely advertised, it seems. Or maybe I just didn’t look in the right places.

I have to say that all of my efforts were much appreciated by my friends at Touchstone. These two beers are real palate-pleasers and the next time I’m in Floyd, I’ll sample the other brews that Shooting Creek offers, if I can find them for sale!

Update 7/14/2009: My decision to buy Shooting Creek beer was a spur-of-the-moment brainstorm after I had stopped at the Bent Mountain market and purchased some sweet, juicy Floyd peaches. Local peaches, local beer! I had an appointment with Michael Shortt at my property at 1:00 p.m. and I don’t have a cell phone that works in Floyd County, so I had no way of calling any of my friends. My apologies! I did the best I could in the short amount of time that I had – I didn’t intend to offend anyone when I wrote this post!!