Lake Anne Brew House Earns Best Brewery Spot — Determined by the results of the Virginia Craft Brewers Cup, Lake Anne Brew House is one of three breweries that have shared the title of Best Brewery from Virginia Craft Beer magazine. [Virginia Craft Beer]

Gillespie, Northam Confirmed for Debate — The two gubernatorial candidates will participate a debate in Tysons on Sept. 19, hosted by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Chuck Todd of NBC’s “Meet the Press” will moderate. [NOVA Chamber]

Former Clyde’s Chef Now in Charlottesville — Patrick Carroll, who formerly served as executive chef with Clyde’s of Reston, has been tapped as the new executive chef at Three Notch’d Brewing Company in Charlottesville. The craft brewer is investing nearly $3 million to expand its restaurant. [Gov. Terry McAuliffe]

Terry McAuliffe on ‘The Daily Show’ — The Virginia governor was on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” earlier this week, talking about how he challenged the Trump Administration’s voter fraud commission. He also weighed in on the GOP’s effort to repeal Obamacare. [The Daily Show]

Suspected Child Predator Nabbed — Jerberth Adallir Palma, 43, of Springfield, was arrested July 13 by Fairfax County Police and charged with numerous sex crimes against children. Detectives believe there might be other victims.  [Fairfax County Police Department]

Since leaving the World of Beer brand and becoming Crafthouse, Evan Matz is making a lot of changes.

“We used to have over 500 different beers, but now we do about less than half of that,” Matz said in an interview. “Even still, we have 50 beers on tap with the new addition of ciders, wine, spirits, any sort of drink.”

Matz said the changes in the restaurant (1888 Explorer St.), which had an official opening celebration last weekend, are about providing quality over quantity. The restaurant is now centered around local breweries including D.C. Brau, Ocelot, Port City and Blue Mountain; and distilleries including Copper Fox, Catoctin Creek and Filibuster. The menu has also been designed around sourcing ingredients from nearby farms; for example, all of the bread in the restaurant has been replaced by fresh baked products from Lyon Bakery.

“We want you to drink local, eat local and support local,” Matz said. “There’s an elevated difference in the food.”

The fallout with World of Beer Franchising Inc. that led to Matz rebranding his three area restaurants — in Reston, Fairfax and Ballston — has allowed him, he says, to expand the menu and cater to customer wants. Now that he has done so, to include items such as macaroni-and-cheese burgers and special brunch offers, Matz says there is a lot more variety for customers to enjoy.

“Now we’re able to offer all of these new starters and shareable items, which means a different happy hour special every day of the week,” he said.

Of course, there you can’t run a restaurant in Reston Town Center without facing its newest and biggest obstacle — the stigma that has come with paid parking.

“We give free validations to everyone who goes to Crafthouse, especially at lunchtime,” Matz said. “It’s just hard to get word out there that parking is now free after 5 p.m., a lot of people don’t seem to know that.”

Matz emphasized that customers need to understand that paid parking is not the restaurant’s fault.

“All we’re asking is that customers continue to come out and support local businesses,” he said.

The restaurant is open until midnight Sunday through Wednesday; 1 a.m. Thursday; and 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit its website or call 571-375-0847.

Photos courtesy Crafthouse

(This article was edited at 2:45 p.m. Thursday, July 6. The Staples spokesperson had provided us with an incorrect date of the store’s closing. It will close Oct. 7, not Aug. 8 as originally reported.)

Office supplies will soon be replaced by alcohol at Plaza America.

Staples (11620 Plaza America Drive) will close Oct. 7, a spokesperson for the company has confirmed to Reston Now. According to a statement:

We continually evaluate our store performance to ensure we’re operating the business in the best way. As customers shift online, we are taking aggressive action to right-size our retail footprint. We are committed to providing great service and every product businesses need whether it’s in-store, online or through mobile.

Our customers in this area can continue to shop with us at our Sterling and Vienna, VA locations and online at Staples.com.

The Staples at Plaza America opened in 2011.

The Washington Business Journal reported last week that Staples will be replaced by beer, wine and spirit purveyor Total Wine & More, which plans to open by the end of the year.

According to the Total Wine & More website:

We’re passionate about wine, and know many of our customers feel the same way. So we are committed to offering the nation’s best wine selection, with an emphasis on fine wines. Our typical store carries more than 8,000 different wines from every wine-producing region in the world, including more than 2,000 wines not available in any other store. The typical Total Wine & More also carries more than 2,500 beers, from America’s most popular brands to hard-to-find microbrews and imports, and more than 3,000 different spirits in every style and price range.

There are several other Total Wine & More locations in the area, including in Sterling, Fairfax, Chantilly and McLean.

Reston’s only brewery represented the community well at the Virginia Craft Beer Cup earlier this week.

Lake Anne Brew House was honored with three awards during the event Monday in Richmond, presented by the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild. The nanobrewery earned a first-place award for best Belgian ale with its New Year’s Golden Ale; a second-place award for best brown British ale for its Beer Run Recovery Ale; and a third-place award for best British pale ale for its Lord Fairfax English Pale Ale.

“We were one of only two breweries in the state to win three medals, which is kind of cool,” said Melissa Romano, the brew house’s co-owner. “We were super-excited about our medals.”

The beers will be showcased in the brew house in the weeks and months to come, Romano said. Their New Year’s Golden Ale (aka 2017 Golden Strong Ale) had been meant as a New Year’s Eve one-off, she said, but they are now re-arranging their brewing schedule to bring it back. The golden ale will also be served at the Virginia Craft Brewers Fest in August, and Romano said they are considering entering it in the Great American Beer Festival.

“It will make its return to the taproom, much to the delight of everyone who thought they weren’t going to get it again until next winter,” Romano said.

A total of 356 beers across 24 categories were considered for the awards. A team of 40 judges selected the honorees, and a full list of winners is available here.

These are not the first awards for Lake Anne Brew House. Its Lord Fairfax EPA and Reston Red Ale were honored with second- and third-place awards in the 2016 Craft Beer Cup, just months after the brew house opened that spring.

“We set out in this business to just make really high-quality beer, not to be too crazy and experimental, not to do too many trendy things,” Romano said. “Jason [Romano, Melissa’s husband and brew house co-owner] is a fantastic brewer, and our assistant brewers are also incredibly skilled. … They know what they’re doing. They’re trying to nail the style standards, and I guess they’re succeeding.”

Lake Anne Brew House was also recently honored by readers of Virginia Living magazine as Northern Virginia’s best local craft brewery. Romano said the brewery’s customer base has been incredibly supportive from day one.

“We love them and they love us,” she said. “I’m glad to know that we’re making people happy.”

For more information on Lake Anne Brew House, check out its website or find it on Facebook.

Photo courtesy Lake Anne Brew House/Facebook

Strong Storms Possible Later Today — Temperatures in the 70s are again predicted for this afternoon. However, showers and thunderstorms are possible into the evening, with damaging winds and large hail also possible. [Capital Weather Gang]

More Craft Beer on the Way? — New zoning regulations approved Tuesday by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors may open the door for more small breweries in Reston. There are currently seven licensed craft breweries in the county. [Fairfax County]

Rider: Metro Worst System He’s Used — David Ballard, of Reston, compares his experience on the Metro to public transportation systems in Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland, Dallas and Mexico City. He says the DC system not only is “by far” worse than the others, it’s more expensive. [Washington Post]

Metro Ridership Down Dramatically — At the Wiehle-Reston East station, ridership was down 13.4 percent in the last quarter of 2016. Ridership on the Silver Line as a whole was down 9 percent. [WTOP]

Local nanobrewery Lake Anne Brew House is partnering with beer historians to offer the frosty mugs of our ancestors.

Praize the Maize, which will be tapped Thursday evening at the pub (11424 Washington Plaza West), has been brewed using the 1912 recipe of a German immigrant brewer — with ingredients that have been sourced from the locations called for in the recipe as well.

“We’re just really excited about it,” said Melissa Romano, the brew house’s co-owner. “We’re going to be doing a whole series of these recipes over the coming year — or years, who knows?”

The Heritage Lager series is a partnership between Lake Anne Brew House and Lost Lagers, the team of beer historians Michael Stein and Peter Jones, whose mission is to recreate the beers of days gone by.

“[They were] able to take this recipe, translate it into English, and then we were able to work on sourcing period-accurate ingredients,” Romano said. According to information provided by Lost Lagers, that involved tracking down appropriate hops from New York and California.

Romano said the recipe for Praize the Maize, as well as the other beers that will be brewed as the series continues, came from the notebooks of a brewer who arrived in the U.S. around the turn of the 20th century. A distant relative of the brewer is a friend of Romano and has done graphic design work for the brewpub. The recipe books, family heirlooms, have been loaned to the brew house for the project.

According to Lost Lagers’ research, Praize the Maize was likely — in its past life — a beer called Erlanger Light by Philadelphia’s Weger Brothers Brewery. Romano said it is “light” and “fresh,” with “a little bit of sweetness” and “some nice herbal qualities.”

“I think [customers] are going to really like it,” Romano said. “I think it’s going to be a very approachable and easy-drinking beer.”

The beer will be tapped and ready for consumption at 7 p.m. Thursday. Stein and Jones from Lost Lagers will be present, along with the family that provided the recipes, to answer any questions from visitors and to discuss the process.

“It’s a really unique recipe,” Romano said. “It’s just going to be kind of a cool thing, I think.”

Melissa Romano, the co-owner of Lake Anne Brew House, said she has had interesting experiences with women coming into the pub.

They didn’t want beer, and she wanted to change that.

“Guys would come in with their girlfriends on their arm, and the girlfriends wanted wine,” she said. “When we were able to actually bring them into the bar and let them taste our local, hand-crafted beers, we were typically able to find a beer they liked as much as the wine that they claimed was the only thing they were going to drink.”

Romano owns the brewery along with her husband, Jason. She has made educating women about beer her mission, and part of that goal is the implementation of women’s-only nights at the pub, dubbed “She’s Crafty” nights. The first one took place in December, and the next is scheduled for Sunday night.

“I’ve always been very interested in making sure women are comfortable around craft beer,” she said. “It’s kind of a male-dominated field, and we want to make sure the women get their time to shine in the brewery, to ask questions and learn.”

Lake Anne Brew House, which opened in April, also has a female assistant brewer, Tracy Converse. Romano said with so much female influence on the beer, it is important to the brewery to keep women engaged in their process.

“We wanted to make sure that we made special time for women,” Romano said.

Romano said the women who frequent Lake Anne Brew House have organized as an affiliate of Barley’s Angels, an international organization dedicated to helping women explore and appreciate craft beer.

“Girls can really enjoy this experience too,” she said.

Romano said the first “She’s Crafty” event was very successful and she is hopeful this weekend’s will be as well.

“We just want to give women a little bit of a foothold, so they can walk in [to a brewery] and say, ‘This is what I like,'” she said. “We give them a knowledge base to work from, as it relates to beer.”

This weekend’s event will include pairings of three specialty beers with different plates of food, Romano said.

“We’re going to talk about beer and food pairings and educate the women about not only the styles of beers they’re drinking, but why they taste good with a particular style of food,” she said.

The brew house plans to continue hosting the events monthly, Romano said.

Sunday’s event is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the pub, located at 11424 Washington Plaza West in Lake Anne Plaza. There is no cost, other than the accrued tab. Romano said the event is “come as you are,” with no RSVP required.

Lake Anne Brew House of Reston and Caboose Brewing Company of Vienna will be among the local beermakers at Saturday’s Fairfax County Brewfest in Chantilly.

The event is sponsored by the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce and Mustang Sally’s Brewery.

Here is what you need to know:

Brewfest is from 12 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1 at Mustang Sally’s, 14140 Parke Long Court (Suites A-C), Chantilly. Rain or shine.

Admission: $25 (Online through Friday) / $35 (At The Gate)

Admission includes logo tasting glass, four drink tickets, brewery tour, beer education program.

Designated drivers and non drinkers: $10; Kids 12 and under, free.

Other local breweries taking part:

• Fairwinds Brewing Company
• Mad Fox Brewing Company
• Forge Brew Works

Food trucks on site will include Weird Brothers Coffee; TurCusine; S&D BBQ; and the Inside Scoop.

There will also be live music from Phil Kominski of Loyd Dobler Effect; Daniel Warren Hill; Fxbgallstars; and Scott Kurt & Memphis 59.

Visit the Fairfax County Brewfest website for more information.

Wouldn’t it be fun if your dog can hit the bars with you?

Nova Pets Alive and World of Beer are hosting an event just for you and Fido.

Join them for Yappy Hour on Monday, June 6 from 3 to 7 p.m.

There will be beer, treats and fun while supporting Nova Pets Alive, a nonprofit that supports animals and their companions in Northern Virginia.

World of Beer is located at 1888 Explorer St. at Reston Town Center.

Can’t make it on June 6? Nova Pets Alive will also host Yappy Hour at World of Beer on July 4, Aug. 8 and Sept. 5.

After months of construction and inspections, Lake Anne Brew House — Reston’s first nanobrewery — has an opening date in mind.

Co-owner Melissa Romano wrote on the company’s Facebook page on Tuesday that the brewery had passed its final Fairfax County Department of Health Reviews and is ready to start brewing beer.

“Our inspectors were incredibly complimentary of our space and we are both beaming with pride and simultaneously exhausting huge exhales!,” wrote Romano. “Jason will brew the flagship batches later this week in anticipation of a mid-April opening, so be on the lookout for more posts and photos soon.”

The Romanos purchased the former Singh Thai space at 11424 Washington Plaza W at Lake Anne Plaza nearly a year ago. They have done extensive renovations to the space and patio, but Melissa Romano said in October the permitting process took longer than expected because a nanobrewery is new territory for the county.

Melissa Romano says they will be “working around the clock” to brew and prep.

“We will host soft openings for our Kickstarter contributors before opening to the public, but hope to be serving everyone by mid-April,” she said.

Nanobreweries are a growing segment of the craft beer market that typically produce fewer than three barrels at a time. A barrel is typically 31 gallons or two kegs.

Look for updates on an exact opening date soon.

Photo by Michelle Schoening for Lake Anne Brew House

Aslin Beer Company plans to open its doors Sept. 19, co-owner Andrew Kelley said.

The nanobrewery, just over the Reston line at 257 Sunset Park Drive, will be Herndon’s first small-batch brewery.

Kelley, a 27-year-old management consultant who lives in Clarendon, is partnering with his brother-in-law Kai  Leszkowicz, a 29-year-old Fairfax County employee who lives in Herndon, on the project. The third business partner is Richard Thompson, who will run the day-to-day operation.

Kelley and Leszkowicz have been home brewing for several years. Read more in this previous Reston Now story.

Aslin will start out serving six beers on tap, said Kelley: an IPA, Double IPA, Imperial Stout, Lime Kolsch, Rye Ale, Saison, Black IPA.

The brew house, which will have 28 seats, opens at 11 a.m. on Sept. 19. Here are the usual hours: 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 3 to 10 p.m. Fridays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays; noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

A celebration of beer and movies comes to Reston Town Center on Thursday, Sept. 10, and proceeds from the event will benefit Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB).

This is the sixth year the New Belgium Brewing Company has sponsored the Clips Beer & Film Tour road show, which is traveling to more than 20 towns this summer.

New Belgium says that 100 percent of the proceeds from beer sales benefit a local non-profit working to improve the community — in this case, FABB.

The Clips Beer & Film Tour has raised more than $520,000 for local organizations, and 75,000 people have sampled beer and watched films, the beer company says.

Here is what you need to know 

When: Sept. 10, 7 to 10 p.m., Reston Town Center

Cost: Admission is free. All ages are welcome.

Beers will be sold in 3 oz. samples for $1.50 or 12 oz. pours for $6.

Beer List: Coco Mole, Eric’s Ale, Film Noir Stout, Hop Stout, Hoptober, La Folie, Long Table Farmhouse Ale, Pear Ginger, Rampant Imperial IPA, Trippel, Fat Tire, Ranger IPA, Shift, Slow Ride Session IPA and Snapshot Wheat. This list is subject to change.

About the Beers: At each tour stop, guests are invited to try New Belgium’s unique Lips of Faith series, as well as popular classics. The beer list features everything from wheat beers to IPAs. Many of these beers can be hard to come by, especially the popular barrel-aged sour offerings (La Folie and Eric’s Ale) and the “available-only-at-Clips” Film Noir, a caramel, chocolate, vanilla, milk, imperial milk stout. They call it “an epic milk dud in beer form.”

About the Films: New Belgium holds a contest that gets more than 100 submissions. The company selects about 15 five-minute films for inclusion on the tour each season.

This year’s films touch on diverse topics — outdoor adventure, environmental activism, comedy, art, craft beer, and more. All films last under five minutes. Films are produced by hobbyists as well as professional directors. Films will be shown on a giant 30-foot inflatable movie screen.