Blue Lab Brewing Company is one of those breweries that I just love. Right in the heart of Lexington, within easy walking distance to bars, restaurants, and shops, this brewery is located in an older home that has both curbside appeal and charm.  I love to visit a brewery that isn’t located in a warehouse next to a railroad track. I always give kudos to a brewer that wants his brewery to have character.

No matter the location, I really wish that the beers here were better.  Everything here seemed unfinished– like it needed more time, a tweeked recipe, and more patience.

The Hefeweize had a light nose with hints of banana and clove.  This was a good solid hefe and probably the best beer of the lot.

The Special Bitter was a bit strong for a bitter and didn’t have much nose. The Special Bitter was also served on cask (why I don’t know).  It was better on cask with a milder hop/bitter taste.  The smoother mouthfeel was also an improvement.

The Irish Red Ale was not a good Irish red as it was very bitter up front without much taste of toast or caramel from the malt. You could get a very slight toasty malt aroma from the nose, but overall the nose was also weak.

The IPA had a mild hop nose with not much citrus.  The nose also seemed slightly off and this was more evident in the taste as it was not well balanced. Up front there was an odd taste but it did end solid hop flavors.

PDX-LEX was a double red IPA. This beer had a slight caramel nose without much hop, as would be expected from a double IPA. This beer was absolutely horrible, the finish was sweet mixed with some sort of taste that reminded me of vomit. No one at my table could drink this one.

The Irish Stout had a good coffee nose and was the beer that really should have been served on cask.  This was a solid stout that would have greatly benefit from that silky mouthfeel.

The Coffee Chocolate Stout had very good coffee notes with and underlying hint of dark chocolate.  The flavors of both were maintained in the beer and were very solid. Overall this was a good beer.

So what do I say to sum up Blue Lab— give them a chance. Some of the beers have potential and the location is worth a stop (if you should ever find yourself in Lexington, VA).