Welcome to the October Edition of Field Trip Friday!
If you are new to The Mountain Kitchen, Field Trip Friday is a blog series created in response to readers who want to know more about the area we live in. We are close to many tourist attractions, so these reviews highlight the local food and beverages that can be found near them.
Today’s edition of Field Trip Friday is about our visits to Old Bust Head Brewing Company, a brewery in Vint Hill, Virginia, and The Front Porch, a restaurant in our old stomping grounds, The Plains, Virginia.
Before I begin with today’s great places, I just want to say that I’m not being compensated in any way for this post. Field Trip Friday posts are based on a good-faith, honest opinion of some of the places David and I visit. I will admit, the research is fantastic! 😋
Old Bust Head Brewing Co.
Old Bust Head Brewing Company is located at 7134 Farm Station Road
Vint Hill, Virginia. Vint Hill is located in Fauquier County, about midway between Warrenton and Gainesville Virginia.
Old Bust Head gets its name from a rural crossroads in the rolling hills of Fauquier County.
The locals who dubbed the corner ‘Bust Head’ enjoyed potent libations brewed there and some good humor.
There are a couple of different tails as to how the corner got its name. One tale was that a neighbor fell off his horse after ‘overindulging’ at the corner shop one evening. Another tale suggests that the locals who would drink there liked to get in Saturday night fights. Or perhaps local drinkers just fell down and busted their heads on the rough old country road.
David and I believe the later. Old Bust Head Road is one of the roughest country roads you can drive on. We drove down it a time or two. The road was near where we used to live on Bull Run Mountain. Go too fast and you may bust your head on the top of your truck.
Regardless of how the rural crossroad got its name, Old Bust Head Brewing Company is named after the crossroad because it was a place that brought folks together in good spirit and community. This is what the owners of Old Bust Head offer, a place of good spirit and community.
There is no problem trying to figure out what beer to drink at Old Bust Head Brewing Co. The problem is finding a beer not to drink. This is a huge problem, especially when one of us has to drink responsibly. Old Bust Head brews a wide variety of ales, lagers from Pilsners to Porters and a lot more!
On this particular visit, we got a flight of four to share. Of course, I dominated the tasting with sours. You know from our “Field Trip” at Pen Druid how I feel about those. Among the beers in the flight was a Sour Cherry Belgium Wit, Pink Lemonade Sour Ale, Table Talk Belgium Style Wit and one of our all-time favorite stouts, the Caramel Macchiato Stout.
You can take a look at the descriptive tasting sheet below to get an idea of what each tasted like.
David and I like going to Old Bust Head Brewing Co. early Friday evening or on a weekday. The brewery is very popular and can become a little crowded, especially on the weekend. However, the tasting room is very spacious and they are well accommodating to handle large groups. Even crowded, we’ve experienced a very pleasant environment.
This was not our first visit to Old Bust Head Brewing Company, nor our second. We discovered Old Bust Head on the same day we discovered Powers Farm Brewery with David’s sister Mahaley. (Read about Powers Farm Brewery HERE) The two breweries aren’t that far apart. So, if you visit Old Bust Head, you may want to check out Power’s Farm Brewery also.
Needless to say, we didn’t leave empty-handed that day. We enjoy Old Bust Head Brewing Company’s offerings and will go back again soon!
For hours of operation and more information about Old Bust Head Brewing Company, visit their website at https://www.oldbusthead.com/.
The Front Porch
The Front Porch is located at 6483 Main Street, in The Plains, Virginia. The Villiage of The Plains is located in Fauquier County, west of Haymarket, Virginia at the corner of Route 55 (John Marshall Highway) and Route 245 (Old Tavern Road).
It’s probably a good thing The Front Porch did not exist when David and I lived on Bull Run Mountain. The food is so good there and it is located only a few miles from where we lived. They would probably have beaten us off their front porch with a stick…lol!
However, this restaurant in The Plains serves as “America’s front porch to the Shenandoah Valley, vineyards, breweries, fine dining, and fun.” The restaurant serves modern cuisine, using fresh locally sourced ingredients “with a flair”.
The restaurant is a historic railroad house that underwent an extensive renovation in 2015. It’s small and cozy, with creeky uneven floors and rustic style. There is some very eclectic artwork on the walls that all just fits the style of this cozy restaurant.
There is very little street parking literally just off the front porch. Never fear, there is ample parking in the back, where you can enter from the back porch or sit outside on the back porch and listen to live entertainment on popular nights.
We called The Front Porch after we left Old Bust Head to reserve a table for dinner. Upon arrival, we were whisked upstairs to our table, where “David 2 @ 6 pm” was written on the kraft paper in crayon.
We arrived hungry, so we ordered some amazing fish tacos and a couple of Virginia craft beers to wash them down. There were only three tacos on the platter so David and I had to play fair and split one in half.
For dinner, we both ordered their specialty, Prime Rib! This prime rib is succulent. The tender, juicy cut of locally-sourced beef is seasoned perfectly and roasted to perfection. The prime rib came with a small bell creamer full of delicious au jus, and a tangy horseradish sauce inside a separate dish, along with a serving of creamy mashed potatoes and broccoli rabe.
We love prime rib! The Front Porch has some of the best prime rib we have been able to find since our favorite restaurant located just outside Warrenton called Ben & Mary’s that unfortunately closed years ago.
By the time we devoured all of that food and beer, we were stuffed and decided not to opt for dessert.
If you visit, reservations are highly recommended, but not required. The staff does their best to accommodate you. Perhaps you could sit at the upstairs bar for your meal or while you wait for a table to become available.
For serving hours and more information about The Front Porch visit their website at https://www.frontporchtheplains.com/.
Before I conclude this edition of Field Trip Friday, I should mention that David and I decided to stop by The Apple House ice cream stand before going home. This ice cream is only a few miles from our house and way too convenient not to pass up!
That concludes this edition of Field Trip Friday. I hope you enjoyed hearing about the local food and beverages we experienced.
Did you enjoy hearing about the two places we visited? Want to hear about more places we visit on Field Trip Friday? Comment below.
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Click [HERE] to read our other Field Trip Friday Local Food & Beverage Reviews.
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