CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – If there is one thing history has taught us, it is that it is constantly repeating itself.
Mark Thompson, Founder and Master Brewer at Starr Hill Brewery is proving just that, brewing a beer with the same recipe that Thomas Jefferson used over 200 years ago.
"We made two 10 gallon test batches to start," said Thompson. "The third batch we did on the 25 Barrel system and it will be packaged this week."
Monticello Reserve Ale, named for the house that Jefferson designed and built, will debut on location at the Monticello House, February 21st.
"We resurrected a recipe with white malted wheat, corn grits, and East Kent Golding hops" said Thompson. "It is a lightly hopped wheat ale," he added.
Thompson had been thinking about brewing the beer for several years and finally settled on the exact recipe and timeline to create the beer for the President's Day debut at Monticello.
"It has a wheat beer sweetness, a corn finish and a slight citrus hop note from the Kent Golding hops," Thompson said.
Thompson hopes that success will follow the beer and lead to not only more production but distribution across the state of Virginia in the next year.
While he was unsure of the specific ABV, Thompson did mention that it would be less than 6%.