DCist has a great round up of the DC Beer Week events here.
I actually don't think we're going to attend any of these events... shocking, I know.
We thought about attending Granville Moore's event, but $75pp seems a bit pricey.
I will definitely not be going to the Black Squirrel since last time we went there, the beer selection wasn't great AND my food had a piece of plastic in it. When I pointed it out to the bartender, he didn't seem to care. Gross. I wanted to like the place, because, at the time, I lived in Adams Morgan. Don't plan to go back...
The other events seem ok, however, we have better beers at home, so we'll likely be drinking them instead. I'd love to see DC Beer Week happen again, with better events, and at more places!
In my ideal Beer Week world, there would be an event at the Brickskeller (Say what you want about the Brick, their events with breweries and Bob Tupper are overwhelmingly great), a dinner at Pizza Paradiso, and some sort of event at Rustico- preferably with beer director, Greg, speaking. Speaking of Rustico- the new menu additions are great. And they still have the duck confit pizza. Mmmm. I'm looking forward to some great new things from the new chef!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Thanks, City Paper!
Shout out to the City Paper for this awesome deal they're offering.
What does this have to do with drinking in DC?
Because Dino is BYO wine (with free corkage on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). Not to mention GREAT food. This is a great opportunity for us to open up a couple bottles of great Napa wine from our wine clubs!
Commonwealth is a "British" Pub. We haven't been there yet, but this is a great reason to go.
We live in a great city.
To make this actual drinking related... we drank Lost Abbey's Bourbon Barrel Aged Angel's Share last night. It was fan-freaking-tastic. Who cares that it isn't carbonated much? It is still an amazing beer. Though Ben and I both like Cuvee de Tomme better...
What does this have to do with drinking in DC?
Because Dino is BYO wine (with free corkage on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). Not to mention GREAT food. This is a great opportunity for us to open up a couple bottles of great Napa wine from our wine clubs!
Commonwealth is a "British" Pub. We haven't been there yet, but this is a great reason to go.
We live in a great city.
To make this actual drinking related... we drank Lost Abbey's Bourbon Barrel Aged Angel's Share last night. It was fan-freaking-tastic. Who cares that it isn't carbonated much? It is still an amazing beer. Though Ben and I both like Cuvee de Tomme better...
Friday, July 24, 2009
Belgian Independence Day!
Since I'm gainfully employed again, I have less time to blog. I'm trying my best!
On Tuesday, Ben and I headed to Brasserie Beck to celebrate Belgian Independence Day. For $75, you could drink as many beers and eat as much food (buffet provided) as you wanted.
We were able to have:
St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
St. Feuillien Saison
Fantome Printemps
Lindemans Cuvee Rene
Antigoon
Troubadour Obscura Stout
Trappiste Rochefort 10
Chimay Grand Reserve
De Glazen Tore Cuvee Angelique
Corsendonk Agnus Dei
Saison Voisin
Hanssens Oud Gueuze
Blanche de Bruxelles
Malheur 10
Floreffe Tripel
Gouden Carolus Grand Cru of the Emperor (2000 Vintage)
Our favorite was definitely the Gouden Carolus, which we made sure to have several tastes of... to make sure it was still good, of course! Apparently this beer retails for about $60 a bottle, so it was great to be able to try it in this circumstance. We recognized a few other "beer geeks" at the event, but overall the crowd didn't seem to be familiar with beer. There were lots of people drinking Hoegaarden, and there's nothing wrong with that, I love a good Hoegaarden every now and then, but you could tell they were not so much a beer crowd. Everyone seemed happy and pleasant, so it had a good vibe. Plus, the plus side of a lack-of-knowledge-about-beer crowd is we never had to wait in line- even for the Gouden Carolus.
Foodwise, there was roast pork loin, green beans, potato gratin (my favorite), bbq pork sandwiches, little sausages and rolls, potato salad and ribs. There were also a few bowls of frites around, but we couldn't figure out how to get any. The dessert table held about 3 different kinds of tarts- my favorite was the lemon. Overall the food was good- the pork loin was hard to eat since there were very few tables, and the silverware was plastic.
Which brings me to the "not so great" parts of the evening.
#1 Poorly organized. When we arrived, we were given bracelets, with no indication of what to do next. For some reason, the hostess decided to tell the people who arrived a few minutes after us what to do, so we followed their lead. It would have been helpful for her to tell us, instead of just having us stand their awkwardly in the entrance.
#2 Not very helpful staff. I would like to preface this by saying that overall the men and women wearing blue (servers) were much more helpful than the men wearing suits (the exception being the beer guru, Thor who was gracious and helpful). We asked a man in a suit why the bartender wouldn't give us any Cuvee Rene. He went to find out... and never came back. Speaking of the bartenders in the front bar, if you had a bracelet, they pretty much waited on everyone else before you. I'm glad we paid $75 each to wait 10 minutes while you served everyone else.
#3 Not enough tables/chairs. My feet started to hurt after we'd been there for an hour and a half or so. There were no chairs to be found. We happened to be standing next to a door which led to the chair room. One of the aforementioned not very helpful "men in suits" walked by, and we asked if we could have a couple chairs. He said they were "working on it." Dude, just give us some chairs and we'll find a space out of the way. Luckily someone eventually stood up and we stole their chairs.
#4 Lack of frites. I'm sorry but frites are way cheaper to serve than roast loin of pork. Why did I have to ask for frites (and then they were not given to me)? Why wasn't there a large pile of frites somewhere for us to just grab? I feel like this is just common sense.
Overall, the beer was good, the food was good, but last year's Belgian Independence Day (half price on all draft beers) was superior.
On Tuesday, Ben and I headed to Brasserie Beck to celebrate Belgian Independence Day. For $75, you could drink as many beers and eat as much food (buffet provided) as you wanted.
We were able to have:
St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
St. Feuillien Saison
Fantome Printemps
Lindemans Cuvee Rene
Antigoon
Troubadour Obscura Stout
Trappiste Rochefort 10
Chimay Grand Reserve
De Glazen Tore Cuvee Angelique
Corsendonk Agnus Dei
Saison Voisin
Hanssens Oud Gueuze
Blanche de Bruxelles
Malheur 10
Floreffe Tripel
Gouden Carolus Grand Cru of the Emperor (2000 Vintage)
Our favorite was definitely the Gouden Carolus, which we made sure to have several tastes of... to make sure it was still good, of course! Apparently this beer retails for about $60 a bottle, so it was great to be able to try it in this circumstance. We recognized a few other "beer geeks" at the event, but overall the crowd didn't seem to be familiar with beer. There were lots of people drinking Hoegaarden, and there's nothing wrong with that, I love a good Hoegaarden every now and then, but you could tell they were not so much a beer crowd. Everyone seemed happy and pleasant, so it had a good vibe. Plus, the plus side of a lack-of-knowledge-about-beer crowd is we never had to wait in line- even for the Gouden Carolus.
Foodwise, there was roast pork loin, green beans, potato gratin (my favorite), bbq pork sandwiches, little sausages and rolls, potato salad and ribs. There were also a few bowls of frites around, but we couldn't figure out how to get any. The dessert table held about 3 different kinds of tarts- my favorite was the lemon. Overall the food was good- the pork loin was hard to eat since there were very few tables, and the silverware was plastic.
Which brings me to the "not so great" parts of the evening.
#1 Poorly organized. When we arrived, we were given bracelets, with no indication of what to do next. For some reason, the hostess decided to tell the people who arrived a few minutes after us what to do, so we followed their lead. It would have been helpful for her to tell us, instead of just having us stand their awkwardly in the entrance.
#2 Not very helpful staff. I would like to preface this by saying that overall the men and women wearing blue (servers) were much more helpful than the men wearing suits (the exception being the beer guru, Thor who was gracious and helpful). We asked a man in a suit why the bartender wouldn't give us any Cuvee Rene. He went to find out... and never came back. Speaking of the bartenders in the front bar, if you had a bracelet, they pretty much waited on everyone else before you. I'm glad we paid $75 each to wait 10 minutes while you served everyone else.
#3 Not enough tables/chairs. My feet started to hurt after we'd been there for an hour and a half or so. There were no chairs to be found. We happened to be standing next to a door which led to the chair room. One of the aforementioned not very helpful "men in suits" walked by, and we asked if we could have a couple chairs. He said they were "working on it." Dude, just give us some chairs and we'll find a space out of the way. Luckily someone eventually stood up and we stole their chairs.
#4 Lack of frites. I'm sorry but frites are way cheaper to serve than roast loin of pork. Why did I have to ask for frites (and then they were not given to me)? Why wasn't there a large pile of frites somewhere for us to just grab? I feel like this is just common sense.
Overall, the beer was good, the food was good, but last year's Belgian Independence Day (half price on all draft beers) was superior.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Sorry for the hiatus
Ben and I went on a nearly three week vacation, filled with lots of good food, good fun and of course good beer. I didn't take notes on the beers themselves, but I twittered a bunch about the breweries/beer in Asheville (Pisgah was the best!). You can check out my twitter here. Asheville is definitely THE beer destination on the east coast. It is also a beautiful part of the country (we swam in a waterfall!).
Another beer highlight was the beer tasting we did at the Brick Store Pub with Beer Advocate Lance. We got to taste the best beer ever again. The Brick Store Pub is a fantastic beer destination if you're in the Atlanta (Decatur) area. The staff are friendly and engaging and they always have great beer on tap. If I lived in Atlanta, I'd be there at least once a week.
We also hit up Sweetwater's brewery tour, and came home with a case of Donkey Punch Barleywine. I think it is called "DP" on the label...
Sweetwater was our savior in Alabama as well- in the beer section there was Bud, Miller, Coors and... Sweetwater! When we ran out of good beer we'd brought with us, we loaded up on their Blue and 420. Awesome.
A great trip, all around!
We're continuing the Lack of Responsibility Tour '09 with a trip to Connecticut on Monday. Next Saturday, we'll be attending Captain Lawrence's Cuvee de Castleton release in P-ville, NY. I'll try to post more next week.
Cheers!
Another beer highlight was the beer tasting we did at the Brick Store Pub with Beer Advocate Lance. We got to taste the best beer ever again. The Brick Store Pub is a fantastic beer destination if you're in the Atlanta (Decatur) area. The staff are friendly and engaging and they always have great beer on tap. If I lived in Atlanta, I'd be there at least once a week.
We also hit up Sweetwater's brewery tour, and came home with a case of Donkey Punch Barleywine. I think it is called "DP" on the label...
Sweetwater was our savior in Alabama as well- in the beer section there was Bud, Miller, Coors and... Sweetwater! When we ran out of good beer we'd brought with us, we loaded up on their Blue and 420. Awesome.
A great trip, all around!
We're continuing the Lack of Responsibility Tour '09 with a trip to Connecticut on Monday. Next Saturday, we'll be attending Captain Lawrence's Cuvee de Castleton release in P-ville, NY. I'll try to post more next week.
Cheers!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Happy hour
It would be an understatement to say we have a lot of beer in our condo. There's beer in the regular fridge, beer in the beer fridge, beer in the closet, beer in the living room... you get the idea.
Since Ben is extremely generous, he had the idea that we should have happy hour with a group of his friends/coworkers and do a little beer tasting. Luckily, one of them offered to host it (our place is under construction) if Ben provided the beer. We thought it would be fun to introduce them to good beers!
This is also exciting to me because I can see the top shelf of our fridge again, since the beer was cleaned out.
We started off the tasting with Abita Strawberry Harvest. I think this is a great summer beer. It definitely has a strawberry flavor, but it isn't cloying or fake tasting.
Second beer of the night was Kona Wailua Wheat. This is a really interesting beer- it tastes of passion fruit. Also a great summer beer.
Third was the 21st Amendment Watermelon Wheat. I abhor this beer... Ben loves it. I don't get it. I skipped it that night :)
Fourth was Founders Cerise (I promise, we drank more than just fruity beers- we got to the higher gravity stuff later on). I am glad we get Founders in the DC area now. They have some great offerings- one of which is this beer.
Fifth was Dogfish Head Aprihop. I'm also a fan of the Aprihop- it definitely marks the start of spring for me. Another good, solid beer.
Sixth was Laguintas Little Sumpin Sumpin. I already talked about this beer the other day, and it was great again. It smells of peaches and is a great hoppy wheat beer. One of my favorite Lagunitas beers.
Seventh was Founders Centennial Ale. This is one of Founders' IPAs, which is a great drinkable IPA.
Beer number eight was the Duck Rabbit Porter. I think you might know by now that I love Duck Rabbit. It is probably my favorite brewery! I love seeing it on the shelves around here! No more driving to NC to get it.
Nine was Southern Tier's Iniquity. Iniquity is a really interesting beer since it is a black IPA. There aren't a lot of those around! The only other one that comes to mind is Stone's Sublimely Self Righteous. I'm a big fan.
Ten was Duke Rabbit Milk Stout. I made sure to announce to the room that this was "MY FAVORITE BEER." It is true. Whenever I just want a beer and don't want to think about it, this is my go-to. I need to get me a Duck-Rabbit shirt!
Eleven was Avery Brabant. I think Brabant is a good introduction to the world of sour beers, if you aren't ready for them. We didn't do a good job of selling this beer to the newbies in the room- telling them to look for a funky smell of horse blanket or feet. Apparently wine drinkers are a lot more likely to enjoy sour beers than non-wine drinkers. If you're trying to get your non-beer-liking friends to enjoy beer, try a sour one!
Twelve was Arcadia Cereal Killer. I think for me, this was the least favorite beer we had that night (remember, I didn't actually drink that foul watermelon beer). I was sort of disappointed because I think the name is great. It wasn't bad, but I also have nothing to say about it because it wasn't that interesting.
Thirteen was Founders Double Trouble. I actually like Double Trouble more than the Centennial IPA- I would choose this if I had to.
Fourteen was Moylan's Hopsickle. Ben made sure to tell everyone that this was the hoppiest beer he'd ever had- and those who were brave enough to try it definitely agreed. It is extremely hoppy. However, it is pleasant enough (provided you like hops to begin with).
Fifteen was Duck Rabbit Rabid Duck. Rabid Duck is one of their seasonal offerings, a Russial Imperial Stout. As with the other Duck Rabbits, it is awesome. By the way, Duck Rabbit is not lying when they say they're "the dark beer specialist."
Sixteen was Stone's Double Bastard. I love Double Bastard. We're lucky we have a bunch of it left over from November, as we can continue to drink it throughout the year (and beyond, perhaps). I think I took actual tasting notes during the Stone beer dinner, so check out that post if you're interested in the details.
Seventeen (and last) was the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. This is one of the best Bourbon infused stouts that I've had. It is absolutely fantastic, and it was a great way to end the beers for the evening.
Also of note at this great happy hour... we were lucky to try an armangnac from 1962. I can't even describe how amazing it was. Suffice to say, it was absolutely ridiculously good.
We're hoping to have more of these "educational" happy hours in the future- hopefully our friends will turn into beer geeks too!
Since Ben is extremely generous, he had the idea that we should have happy hour with a group of his friends/coworkers and do a little beer tasting. Luckily, one of them offered to host it (our place is under construction) if Ben provided the beer. We thought it would be fun to introduce them to good beers!
This is also exciting to me because I can see the top shelf of our fridge again, since the beer was cleaned out.
We started off the tasting with Abita Strawberry Harvest. I think this is a great summer beer. It definitely has a strawberry flavor, but it isn't cloying or fake tasting.
Second beer of the night was Kona Wailua Wheat. This is a really interesting beer- it tastes of passion fruit. Also a great summer beer.
Third was the 21st Amendment Watermelon Wheat. I abhor this beer... Ben loves it. I don't get it. I skipped it that night :)
Fourth was Founders Cerise (I promise, we drank more than just fruity beers- we got to the higher gravity stuff later on). I am glad we get Founders in the DC area now. They have some great offerings- one of which is this beer.
Fifth was Dogfish Head Aprihop. I'm also a fan of the Aprihop- it definitely marks the start of spring for me. Another good, solid beer.
Sixth was Laguintas Little Sumpin Sumpin. I already talked about this beer the other day, and it was great again. It smells of peaches and is a great hoppy wheat beer. One of my favorite Lagunitas beers.
Seventh was Founders Centennial Ale. This is one of Founders' IPAs, which is a great drinkable IPA.
Beer number eight was the Duck Rabbit Porter. I think you might know by now that I love Duck Rabbit. It is probably my favorite brewery! I love seeing it on the shelves around here! No more driving to NC to get it.
Nine was Southern Tier's Iniquity. Iniquity is a really interesting beer since it is a black IPA. There aren't a lot of those around! The only other one that comes to mind is Stone's Sublimely Self Righteous. I'm a big fan.
Ten was Duke Rabbit Milk Stout. I made sure to announce to the room that this was "MY FAVORITE BEER." It is true. Whenever I just want a beer and don't want to think about it, this is my go-to. I need to get me a Duck-Rabbit shirt!
Eleven was Avery Brabant. I think Brabant is a good introduction to the world of sour beers, if you aren't ready for them. We didn't do a good job of selling this beer to the newbies in the room- telling them to look for a funky smell of horse blanket or feet. Apparently wine drinkers are a lot more likely to enjoy sour beers than non-wine drinkers. If you're trying to get your non-beer-liking friends to enjoy beer, try a sour one!
Twelve was Arcadia Cereal Killer. I think for me, this was the least favorite beer we had that night (remember, I didn't actually drink that foul watermelon beer). I was sort of disappointed because I think the name is great. It wasn't bad, but I also have nothing to say about it because it wasn't that interesting.
Thirteen was Founders Double Trouble. I actually like Double Trouble more than the Centennial IPA- I would choose this if I had to.
Fourteen was Moylan's Hopsickle. Ben made sure to tell everyone that this was the hoppiest beer he'd ever had- and those who were brave enough to try it definitely agreed. It is extremely hoppy. However, it is pleasant enough (provided you like hops to begin with).
Fifteen was Duck Rabbit Rabid Duck. Rabid Duck is one of their seasonal offerings, a Russial Imperial Stout. As with the other Duck Rabbits, it is awesome. By the way, Duck Rabbit is not lying when they say they're "the dark beer specialist."
Sixteen was Stone's Double Bastard. I love Double Bastard. We're lucky we have a bunch of it left over from November, as we can continue to drink it throughout the year (and beyond, perhaps). I think I took actual tasting notes during the Stone beer dinner, so check out that post if you're interested in the details.
Seventeen (and last) was the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. This is one of the best Bourbon infused stouts that I've had. It is absolutely fantastic, and it was a great way to end the beers for the evening.
Also of note at this great happy hour... we were lucky to try an armangnac from 1962. I can't even describe how amazing it was. Suffice to say, it was absolutely ridiculously good.
We're hoping to have more of these "educational" happy hours in the future- hopefully our friends will turn into beer geeks too!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Hops, barley and yeast (oh my)
The other night, we drank a Ninkasi Tricerahops Double IPA. It smells like pine and citrus, and is hoppy but balanced. It tastes of pine, grass, citrus and earth. I would rank it a 4.
We also took a little trip to Stafford VA so I could meet with my grad school advisor, and we followed that up with a trip to the Fredericksburg Capital Ale House (they have a few locations throughout VA). There, we had a nice lunch along with Sierra Nevada IDEA and Rodenbach Grand Cru. Both were great, but I didn't take notes on them.
That night, we also had a Lost Abbey Brother Levonian.
It smells like spices- ginger and cloves- and peaches. It tastes like cloves and oranges. I would rank it a 4.
Sorry Ben, I keep forgetting to ask you what you rank things :)
We also took a little trip to Stafford VA so I could meet with my grad school advisor, and we followed that up with a trip to the Fredericksburg Capital Ale House (they have a few locations throughout VA). There, we had a nice lunch along with Sierra Nevada IDEA and Rodenbach Grand Cru. Both were great, but I didn't take notes on them.
That night, we also had a Lost Abbey Brother Levonian.
It smells like spices- ginger and cloves- and peaches. It tastes like cloves and oranges. I would rank it a 4.
Sorry Ben, I keep forgetting to ask you what you rank things :)
Monday, June 8, 2009
Weekend Beers
I'm not good at this whole "take notes while you're drinking at home" thing yet... so, unfortunately I don't have notes on Cascade Cuvee du Jongleur (AWESOME), Troeg's Nugget Nectar (still hoppy despite being in the fridge for a few months- it held up well), Lagunitas A Little Sumpin Sumpin (really good!), and 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon (I think this beer is horrible, Ben loves it). We also used a Duck Rabbit Milk Stout to cook some pork, and I drank the leftover for breakfast on Sunday. Breakfast of champions.
However, I do have a few notes on:
Russian River's Damnation Batch 23 (46)
It is aged on oak chips and 10.75% (compared to regular Damnation which is about 8%). It smells like a hefeweizen, and bubblegum. Tastes like licorice, bubblegum, slightly oaky, tropical fruits and banana. It is definitely a step up from regular Damnation, and hopefully we'll be able to get more sometime! We both ranked this a 4.
Hair of the Dog's Fred from the Wood 2008
It smells oaky, probably because it is aged in new American oak barrels. In our experience, American oak always flavors the beer more than French oak. It tastes like wood and chewing on oak ("in a good way"), smoke, tobacco, tropical fruits, candy sugar, and dark rum. It is sweet but not cloying. We forgot to rank this, but I'm going to go ahead and rank it a 5. Ben can rank it in the comments if he wants :)
However, I do have a few notes on:
Russian River's Damnation Batch 23 (46)
It is aged on oak chips and 10.75% (compared to regular Damnation which is about 8%). It smells like a hefeweizen, and bubblegum. Tastes like licorice, bubblegum, slightly oaky, tropical fruits and banana. It is definitely a step up from regular Damnation, and hopefully we'll be able to get more sometime! We both ranked this a 4.
Hair of the Dog's Fred from the Wood 2008
It smells oaky, probably because it is aged in new American oak barrels. In our experience, American oak always flavors the beer more than French oak. It tastes like wood and chewing on oak ("in a good way"), smoke, tobacco, tropical fruits, candy sugar, and dark rum. It is sweet but not cloying. We forgot to rank this, but I'm going to go ahead and rank it a 5. Ben can rank it in the comments if he wants :)
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