Henry County’s Newest Brewery

Scuffle Hill Brewing has been open now for a couple of months. They are the second craft brewery to make Henry County their home and the first in Collinsville. They are located in the Colony Place Shopping Center at 2620 Virginia Avenue.

Colony Place Shopping Center Sign

If you haven’t been yet, they have generous hours*:

Wednesday & Thursday 5 to 9

Friday 4:30 to 10:30

Saturday 2 to10:30

Sunday 2 to 7

*These are their hours as of Halloween 2021, so double check their hours if you are reading this later in the future.

Scuffle Hill Brewing Entrance

They have a good line-up of beers and I overheard some fantastic flavors they are planning on in the future. If you are a fan of domestic beers, it looks like the first three on their list have you covered.

Beer Menu

If you want to try a few of their beers without committing to just one, order a flight. Since this was my first time, that’s what I did. I ordered a flight that included the Campfires and Canteens smoked rauchbier, the Country Inn dark mild, the Dick &Willie oatmeal stout, and the pineapple seltzer. I also lucked out and got a gift certificate to Papa’s Pizzeria (a cute little pizzeria up in Bassett on the banks of the Smith River). Scuffle Hill was awarding the certificates randomly for Halloween.

My flight

I liked the oatmeal stout but I have to say that my favorite has to be one of the first two. Campfires and Canteens has a smoky flavor but is a gentle and smooth beer that is not too unique to be enjoyable. The County Inn mild ale almost has a coffee taste to it but does not actually contain coffee. It’s hard to say which one I’ll order the next time I’m in, except that it will be one of these two.

One of the owners and the man at the bar dressed as a caveman talked with me about how he’s been struggling to get the new brewery listed on Google Maps. He had no trouble getting the business added to Apple Maps but Google keeps insisting that they can’t verify that the business exists. He is continuing to try but, if you are a Google Maps user, you might be able to help him out by asking Google to add the business. (When you pull up Google Maps, hit the 3 horizontal bars on the upper left and select “Add a Missing Place”). If enough of us do it, at some point Google is going to have to admit that this business exists.

A Technologically Advanced Caveman

Scuffle Hill has made some mentions in the Martinsville art world too. They hired local artist Ashley King to paint some beautiful murals on the walls. She did a phenomenal job.

They were busy installing television mounts on Halloween evening and plan to have sports streaming by Wednesday.

If you need any more incentive to go and take a look at Scuffle Hill, there’s one more thing that might just push you over the edge: they have a very healthy Pint It Forward board. The entries on this board represent pints that have been paid for in advance for someone coming in later that is either named or described on the board. You can only get one per visit so, based on the board when I took a picture of it, three firefighters can go in and have a pint a piece, prepaid. One firefighter cannot go in and have three pints.

Take a look and see if there is a description that fits you and you may have the reason you need to go.

Hmmm… I know a lineman who likes breweries. I’ll have to give him a ring.

The Pint It Forward Board

Great Outdoor Provisions Has Kayaks

I still haven’t made it to Bob’s Up The Creek Outfitters in Moneta (VA) yet so it may be premature to say that Great Outdoor Provisions Company is my favorite local outfitter. But I could go out on a limb…

And, another thing, I am not so sure about this “kayak shortage”.

Great Outdoors has kayaks and they don’t look especially picked over. It’s not about price either. They have the FeelFree Move kayak available at $549. I don’t know if I like sit-on-tops but, if I do, this is pretty and half the price of a Dagger Katana. So, if I am going to be in love with each new kayak I see and the prices are going to vary wildly, how do I pick my “forever kayak”? What is it that I actually want?

So, here’s what I like about going to an outfitter. They know kayaks. The salesman I spoke to was a fan of Jackson kayaks. He explained that for what I am wanting a kayak for – lakes and rivers with less than class 2 rapids – the Dagger Katana is not a good fit. He explained that there are kayaks made for the sea, kayaks made for whitewater, and kayaks made for flatwater. He suggested two kayaks to look at. Both are pricey (but still less than the Katana):

The LiquidLogic Remix says that it “excels in whitewater yet carries speed across flat, calm lakes”.

The Venture Flex says that it allows you to “explore canals, take short coastal trips, enjoy a tranquil day on the lake, or float along gentle rivers”.

I may be completely off of the Dagger now. It’s an elite kayak but I feel embarrassed by my basic kayak when next to a LiquidLogic kayak, even if they are made for two entirely different things. LiquidLogic stands out as a top brand around here. It’s like having a Trapper Keeper when I was in 8th grade. Sure, a regular binder would do but a Trapper Keeper was just better for some reason.

I do not want to thrill seek and bang my head against rocks. A crazy whitewater experience is not on my “to do” list. But I can’t shake the envy/respect I am getting for the LiquidLogic line. Now that I know that they make a crossover, I have something else to think about.

And so I get to the other great thing about Great Outdoors.

They share a parking lot with World of Beers.

World of Beers is a regular restaurant with an extraordinary line up of beers. They have a nice indoors seating area, a great bar, and a beautiful large outdoors patio. Apparently, the latest thing is to not have a physical menu. Instead you scan the QR code and it is supposed to show up on your phone. Supposed to. When that didn’t work for me, my waitress dug out a paper beer menu.

This is just the BEER menu.

This is just the BEER menu. I had a Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat. It must be pretty popular because I’ve even seen it up here in Martinsville.

It was too hot of a day to try the Deep River Waffles & Syzurp. A North Carolina brown ale, 6.0 ABV, “A brown ale with added spices, syrup, and malts that would remind you of your favorite brekkie. Waffles, syrup, bacon, coffee … and more”. I will be going back as soon as there is the slightest chill in the air.

Actually, I just looked up the Deep River Brewing Company in Clayton, NC and it might be a fun trip to go straight to the source…

Not to bore anyone with food photos but, when you order a salad, do you have preconceived notions of what it should look like before it gets to you? Because the picture below is of the Wobb Cobb salad. Definitely unique. It tasted great so no complaints here. Just a little in awe.

A Wobb Cobb

Next step is to learn to move my kayak from point A to point B, by myself. I got a Rhino Rack for my car but have since learned that I have to put at least $300 more into it to be able to carry a kayak. This already costs more than my current kayak.

Plus, it whistles. It’s like having a giant flute tied to the top of my car. On good days, I’ve compared the sound to those Himalayan singing bowls. On bad days, it reminds me of the sound of a British ambulance I’ve heard on tv shows.

Instead of doubling down and buying J racks, I have backed up, accepted that I wasted a good chunk of change and, hoping not to waste more, ordered something cheaper.

I hope this works.

Wish me luck.

Did You Know Daily Grind Has a Wine Club?

Daily Grind is a local coffee house on the edge of Uptown, the business and historic shopping center of Martinsville, and is located at 303 East Church Street. They are a good spot for what I call “fru fru coffee” and a good hot lunch.  It’s been a while since I’ve been by so I figured it was a good time to see what was new.   I left having had the good lunch that I had expected and a wine club membership that I hadn’t expected. Continue reading Did You Know Daily Grind Has a Wine Club?