Will Bernard Band

I saw Will Bernard and his band last night at the State Theatre. Will is a jazz guitarist who plays in a lot of the same circles I listen to. His name isn’t so well known; well at least I didn't know about him. He happened to have John Medeski (from MMW) and Stanton Moore (from Galactic) playing in his quartet which is why I showed up. They played pretty well. I think they said it was their sixth gig together. Will was good but John and Stanton were the highlights of the show. Stanton had a couple solos on the drums and John took control on the keys on a few occasions including a nice improv at the end. 

I walked out of the show at 1am. The metro stopped running at midnight being a week day. Luckily I had my bike. There were a few drops of rain in the air but I had a few drinks in me and all was good. It took me a few minutes to find the Curtis Trail. Flying down the empty trail in the middle of the night was efficient and safe without pedestrians, dogs, and strollers. I think I made it home in record time last night.

Not Your Average Beer Dinner

I went to a beer dinner at Pizzeria Paradiso last night. This one had a title that was a bit mysterious: The It’s Not Your Average Beer Dinner. The theme was rare or hard to find beers for the DC area. They were giving themselves some freedom of choice I guess.

The dinner was quite tasty and there were some interesting pairings.  It was six courses; each one made to match a beer. I went with a friend who is kosher and we ended up at a table with two vegetarians and another couple who were allergic to shellfish. We were the “special” table. The kitchen was good about accommodating the folks with special needs. I was the only normal one enjoying large servings of flesh. The menu…

Shrimp Ceviche

Oude Beersel - Frambroise

Beet, Fennel, Aged Goat Cheese Salad

The Bruery - Black Orchard

Paradiso Country Pate

Les Deux - Brasseurs

Tiffany Amber Pizza

Alaskan Amber Tomato Sauce, Buffalo Mozzarella, Sundried Tomato, & Bresaola

Alaskan - Amber

The Moses Pizza

Lamb, Goat Cheese, Peas, Fig, Potato on wheat crust

Lost Abbey - 10 Commandments

Mango, Proscuitto, Balsamic, & Pliney Mascarpone

Russian River - Pliney the Elder

The shrimp ceviche was quite good, it came on a slice of avocado. I wasn’t so impressed with the frambroise as I’ve had a decent amount of the Lindemans lately and that can’t be beat. The salad was good and went very well with the Black Orchard. The Black Orchard is a dark Belgium wheat beer and was very dry which was a surprisingly nice complement to the salad. The pate was excellent. It had veal and all kinds of good animal meat in it. The only problem was the small amount of toasted bread to put it all on. 

The pizza was typically good Pizzeria Paradiso pizza. I think everyone chows down on the first pizza course after being teased by the first three small courses. Then when the second pizza course arrives you can only manage to eat one piece. The Alaskan Amber was a typical light amber but they did give us quite the large pour. The Lost Abbey was a change in course (haha) and went well with the Moses pizza. I wish I had room for a second slice. It was chunky with a lot on board but it all went together well with the taste buds. 

The dessert was another unexpected group of flavors. The mango and prosciutto with balsamic and a nice scoop of sweet creamy stuff was most excellent. There was some gelatin included on the side as well that was made with the Pliney the Elder beer which was paired with the course. I could have ate another one of those desserts.

large beast sighted in back of pickup

While driving down Rt-93 south of Missoula into the Bitterroot Valley to go to the Lolo Creek Steakhouse (which is built from local logs and is decorated with dead animals) we saw quite the sight. We almost pulled a U turn for a second look. Parked just next to the road at a bar was a pickup truck with a very large mountain lion strapped down in the truck bed. This was no kitten; this was a full on large lion. People were standing around taking pictures of the thing. The guy was towing a snowmobile (lots of snow in the mountains here still) so who knows if he just dragged it out of the woods while hunting. Mountain lions are a rare sight. Cats tend to stay hidden and stalk their prey. Usually your first clue that one is in the area is when you are laying on the ground with its jaws around the back of your neck. My coworker Lewis actually got a rare glimpse of one while doing work in the Bitterroot last year. 

Missoula has three elk packs that roam the area. Moose are rather common although I have yet to see one. I did see a wild turkey once. Spotting a mountain lion would be nice but similar to coming across a grizzly in the wild I won't be disappointed if it doesn't happen (although I did come across ol' griz once). 

We were all quite stunned at the size of this beast. After dinner people were still out taking pictures of the thing. 

back in Missoula

It has been about 9 months since I've been in Missoula. It is snowing! Unfortunately I didn't bring my snowboard. Lewis couldn't join me this trip and I decided I didn't want to do a one day weekend jaunt on my own. We stopped by Big Sky Brewery as we usually do and I tried their Stone Thrower and Belgium Blonde. I've also sampled the Bobo's Robust Porter and their seasonal Powder Hound at local establishments. 

Mt Sentinel still has its scares from last July. The pic above is the view from my hotel room. Usually guys are out fly fishing in the early morning.

I missed karting again tonight. So much for a podium finish to the championship.

too much beer (or not)

You know there is a problem when you have trouble fitting all your beer in the fridge. I haven’t been in a beer store in a month and now I see all these tasty beers I want to try. Apparently I would buy it all if I had the room. I don't have any room so I can't buy any more. Since the weekend I’ve gotten:

• Dogfish Head Red & White
  
• Lindemans Framboise
  
• Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier
  
• Samuel Adams Double Bock
  
• Samuel Adams Imperial White
  
• Dogfish Head Midas Touch
  
• Russian River/Avery Collaboration Not Litigation Ale
  
• Brooklyn Local 2
  
• Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
  
• Old Dominion Millennium

It has been a long time since I’ve had a Midas Touch and had to reacquire some of that goodness. Sam Adams came out with an Imperial Series that includes the Double Bock and Imperial White. I had last year’s Collaboration Not Litigation and this year’s batch tastes just as good. I’d love to try this year’s Red & White compared to last year’s but I’m not sure I’ll have both bottles open at the same time. 

Half of them I’ve never tried before. I’ve got a bit to drink before I get any more. I’m looking forward to trying the Brooklyn Local 2 and Old Dominion’s Millennium.

the new Ray's

I went to the new location of Ray's the Steaks tonight for the first time. The Tuesday before I went to Colombia I walked past their original location and saw they had shut it down that day and moved to their new location in Court House near me. I've been watching them prepare the interior for about a year and wondering when it was actually going to happen. The place is about 4 times as large. Same food, one new beer, and a new wait staff that appears to do a decent job if you don't fluster them with the bill. After having an Old Dominion Spring Buck I ordered the Hook & Ladder Backdraft Brown Ale. It was tasty and I think the only change to their beer list in a long time.

Damn is that a good fat slice of fresh flesh with tasty sides.

Strong Ale Tasting

Instead of hosting the Strong Ale Tasting two days in a row they smartened up this year and scheduled them a week apart. I was out of the country last week of course but made the second tasting last night. I heard last week was only half full but tonight was oversold I think.  They had to bust out new tables. The first Strong Ale Tasting I went to topped off with the Dogfish Head 120 IPA at something north of 18% alcohol. I swear we had one or two others way up there as well. It was a high alcohol night and I walked out very unsober from just the 10 tastings. The beers last night ranged from just 6% - 13%. It was nonetheless a good lineup. And a sign of the progression of the craft beer industry when you are complaining about the alcohol being at “just 6% - 13%”.  

Brewery	Beer	Percentage
Capitol City Capitol Hill	Biere de Garde (on cask)	7.5% - 8%
Bavarian Barbarian	First Snow Ale	7.5% - 7.6%
Rock Bottom Brewery Bethesda	Atom Smasher (barleywine)	9.2%
Vintage 50	Devil’s Dew (Belgium strong golden ale)	9%
Starr Hill	Northern Lights IPA	6%
St. George Brewing Company	India Pale Ale batch no. 11	?
Tuppers’ Hop Pocket Brewing Company	Deep Pockets	8.5%
Johanssons	Alfa Bomb (double IPA)	8%
Devil’s Backbone	Wood Aged Dead Bear Imperial Stout	8.5%
District Chop House	Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine	13%

They attempted to order the beers on hoppiness and/or alcohol content. Bob Tupper hosted as is usual at the Brickskeller events.  

The first sample, Capitol City’s Biere de Garde, was a farmhouse style that they served from a keg at the tasting last week. Some folks at my table seemed to like this cask version better.  

Mike Hiller got tired of working for the man and decided to open his own brewery in Williamsport PA called the Bavarian Barbarian. He said they have only been open 14 months and the First Snow Ale was his first spiced beer.  

The locally celebrated Geoff Lively from Rock Bottom in Bethesda brought his barleywine: the Atom Smasher. It was a bit young from being tapped many months earlier than usual but was still rather balanced and should come out well in the end.  

The fourth sample was from Bill Madden who is working at Vintage 50. He brought out a Belgium style strong golden ale called Devil’s Dew. You could taste the alcohol at 9% but it wasn’t overly strong. He is going to open (reopen?) his brewery, Mad Fox Brewing, in Falls Church in the not near future.  

Mark Thompson of Starr Hill gave his usual sermon and dropped quite a few F bombs. He had the lowest alcohol content of them all and tried to talk up the other BIG aspects of his Northern Lights IPA. Apparently it was called “Stinky” during some earlier versions but the feds didn’t seem to appreciate that much.

Another young brewer from St. George Brewing and Old Richmond Beer Company in Hampton VA brought up his India Pale Ale batch no. 11. He said he does one every couple years and one day each year they tap 2 or 3 of them (or more as they brew more) from different vintages to compare. He had a batch no. 9 but Magic Hat didn’t take too kindly to that and so they just turned their labels (expensive items for a small brewery) upside down and called it batch no. 6.

The host, Bob Tupper, is well known locally for his Hop Pocket Ale. When Old Dominion was purchased he lost his agreement with the brewery and it ceased to exist. At the tasting they announced that a new partnership was just finalized (that evening) with St. George Brewing and Hop Pocket Ale (and Pilsner?) will be brewed in the near future. Meanwhile Bob and his wife teamed up with Jason Oliver at Devil’s Backbone to brew an extreme version of Hop Pocket Ale they called Deep Pockets. Bob mentioned a new beer name he would like to use: Mother Tupper. He figures if he puts a picture of his mother on the label the feds can’t really argue with him.

The guy from Johanssons brought a double IPA called Alfa Bomb. He attempted to match his previous performance when he told the story of running between the toilet and the brewing kettles while making the beer for the last tasting but his jokes got more hisses than laughs.

Jason Oliver stepped back up and talked about his Wood Aged Dead Bear Imperial Stout brewed at the new Devil’s Backbone out in the hills of VA. This was very well balanced. He said he aged half of it in applewood and half in oak. They couldn’t decide which one they liked better so he blended them. It was tasty.

The last beer had the highest alcohol content at 13%. It was the Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine from the District Chop House. I’m not a fan of the bourbon barrel aged beers being that I don’t like bourbon but this was quite good. It could have been the fact that I drank 9 high-alcohol beers in the preceding two hours and my taste buds were not as picky. This beer was brewed in March of 2007 and put in the barrel after four months. I thought it aged quite nicely. I think they said the beer has won an award or two but their restaurant patrons don’t seem to like it so they have many kegs stashed away. It is an unfortunate dynamic that I’m sure most brewers at brewpubs have to deal with.

It was a good night of beer after drinking bland watered down rice beers in Colombia for two weeks. Dave from the Brickskeller announced a few events leading up to SAVOR that should be fun. Looking forward to a year of good swill.

round 5 of the karting championship

I’ve now missed two rounds of the PCA Karting Championship but I’m not giving up on a podium finish because we drop at least two races from the points total during the season. Last night was fun because we changed up the track yet again. They pulled in the exit of turn one which made it a nice decreasing radius turn with a narrow exit. The outside entrance of T2 was super slick so you couldn’t enter the turn as wide as you wanted. Then because the track was pulled in towards the inside of the exit of T1 the space between T2 and T3 was super wide. Often I tried to early apex T2 for a fast wide exit attempting some overlap into T3 but it never panned out as my competition quickly caught on to what I was doing and defended. 

I had pole position for race two and ended up 3rd for the night.  

Points Standings