Good Morning, RVA: Nice and normal

Today looks nice, but storms roll in tomorrow. Plan wisely.

October 14, 2014; 6:58 AM • by Ross Catrow

Photo by: mrdavidlaw

Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and that’s before the sun has had a go at things. Today’s highs will break 80 °F, the sun will partly shine, and there’s a small chance of rain later this afternoon. There’s even some humidity in the works. Soak it all up, because a cold front and a line of heavy storms is due to arrive sometime Wednesday morning.

Water cooler

With all the hoopla surrounding Stone Brewery Co. don’t forget that, until Stone switches on their kettles, Green Flash Brewery will be the largest craft brewer in Virginia by far. They broke ground on their Hampton Roads facility yesterday and plan to produce over 50,000 barrels, eventually ramping up to 100,000. For comparison: Devils Backbone brewed 25,000 barrels in 2013. I’m not a fan of palate-wrecking West Coast IPA’s, so here’s hoping our fine Virginia sensibilities can temper these folks and lead to a more reasonable, drinkable style of beer: The Virginia Pale Ale.

City Council rejected the mayor’s proposal to reduce property tax by 1¢. That’s $4.5 million extra for the City to play with, $2 million of which the mayor has suggested go towards Richmond Public Schools facility maintenance. That’s great, and it seems like Mayor Jones may finally be coming around to the fact that making our schools safe and inhabitable is a Good Thing. Of course, RPS has repeatedly stated they need $35 million for basic safety improvements, so there’s still a long way to go.

Chicken Fiesta is headed next to the Arby’s across from the Science Museum. With Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken just down the street, we’ve almost got Richmond’s first Delicious Chicken Corridor (DCC).

In a move that speaks to an over abundance of caution, a woman has been isolated at VCU to monitor her for Ebola. She was transferred from Crossover Over Ministries after the astute folks there realized she recently traveled to Liberia and had a low-grade fever. This woman did not even meet the CDC requirements for Ebola testing and did not show any classic Ebola symptoms.

This morning’s longread

Will a bunch of terrible craft beer ruin the booming craft beer industry?

Great brewing advice and great life advice. Also, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a nice, normal lager.

The industry prides itself on innovation and creativity, but those traits can be problematic when inexperienced brewers try to make difficult or unusual brews right from the start. And this mentality has led to some brewers rebelling against pale light lagers and racing to market with bold, though untested — and potentially gross — recipes.

“Remember how Picasso had to learn how to paint properly before he could do all those seemingly random paint splashes and make them work?” respected beer writer Pete Brown wrote last December. “You need to know how to brew boring brown ale well before you’re qualified to mess around with more diverse stuff.”

This morning’s Instagram

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October 14, 2014 6:58 AM 0