ful, biking, Cajun, hiking, Birch & Barley

Today was a full day. I met Kirby for breakfast at Keren for ful as usual. Somewhat unusual she was on time and I was five minutes late. We had a good breakfast. Afterwards we headed to a tourist bike rental downtown because they had their full 2009 bike fleet on sale. They get new bikes each year. They were standard Trek hybrids and cruisers but for a good price. Kirby toured around on a 17.5” hybrid which was too short and a 20” which was too big. Then she tried the 18” cruiser and liked that. The hybrid had a guy’s top tube and the cruiser was good for her as she often rides in skirts. Her old bike was falling apart and she needed a new bike. We rode around the mall for a few and it appeared she was happy with her new ride.

Next I rode up Mass AVE to meet up with Sarah to enjoy the nice day. I forgot to turn on to Wisconsin and went a bit too far but made it to her place a little after 3:00. The plan was to check out a Cajun dance at Glen Echo park. Sarah drove there and it was an old person party as expected. Sarah and I, and the band, were about half of the average age of the people there to dance. We missed the lesson but it didn’t look like this type of dancing took much practice. We hung out for a few songs, walked around, and then decided to hit Great Falls before the sun went down.

We drove to the Virginia side of the river since I haven’t been there in years. I forgot about Scott’s Run Preserve which was crowded. We stopped at the next area. It was a small parking spot and trail. We went on a stroll for 30 or 40 minutes and made it back at dusk. A couple guys were on mountain bikes which makes me wonder if it’s a possible spot. They didn’t look too serious though.

After the hike we hit Birch & Barley. Kirby and I were going to hit this the night it opened but things didn’t work out. We didn’t go upstairs to Churchkey but downstairs was quite nice. I started off with a Stone/Brewdog Bashah. It is a nice black Belgian IPA. It was very tasty. Sarah and I began dinner with the octopus and it was excellent. We were basically served one big tentacle. It wasn’t the slightest bit tough. Very tender and delicious. Sarah got the burger and I got the pork cheeks. Her burger looked good but she asked for medium rare and it was well done. My pork cheeks were small but good. They were fall apart tender in some mashed potatoes with other good stuff. The manager almost insisted we return Sarah’s burger and promised to bring out some munchies to hold us over. After a few they brought out the funky cornbread, mushroom, cheese appetizer that we asked our server about. Now I assure you that “cornbread”, “mushroom”, and “cheese” were nowhere in the description. This was a fine dish. They also brought out a mustard duck pizza. I wasn’t a fan because of the mustard. It wasn’t too bad but not something I was in to. The second burger they brought out for Sarah looked like it was cooked medium to us. It was definitely not medium rare. They flavored it with something decent though.

My second beer was a Brewdog Hardcore IPA on cask. That was pretty darn good too. Sarah liked both as well. I think I was only supposed to get a 12 oz snuffer of that being 9% but they gave me a full pint. I was able to top this most excellent beer with my third though. I ordered a Brooklyn Brewery Manhattan Project. This is a strong ale. I’m not a huge fan of strong ales but I am a fan of Brooklyn Brewery. I didn’t realize until just now that this was Garrett Oliver’s latest Brewmaster Reserve. It is not listed on their website. Sarah and I thought it was awesome. A not over the top strong and complex brew. Hopefully I’ll be able to find this beer again. Here is the description:

Just as good restaurants will often feature the Chef’s special new dishes, every two months our “Chef” creates a new draft beer for our Brewmaster’s Reserve line. Brewmaster Garrett Oliver certainly loves beer best, but many good things provide inspiration. In this case, it was the realm of traditional cocktails. So Garrett decided to conjure up something unique with his friend David Wondrich, America’s top cocktail expert and winner of the 2008 James Beard Foundation Book Award. A few years back, David introduced Garrett to the classical version of the Manhattan, made not with bourbon but with rye whiskey, red vermouth and bitters. It quickly became Garrett’s favorite cocktail, and it spawned an idea. A robust rye beer, partially aged in Rittenhouse 100-proof Bonded Rye barrels from the Heaven Hill distillery, and then infused with the herbs and spices that flavor red vermouth and bitters. Then a dash of tart cherry, and the result is THE MANHATTAN PROJECT, a tasty new beer showing echoes of New York’s most famous cocktail, the Manhattan. It is great as an aperitif, but also with game dishes, especially duck.

Malt: Malted Rye, Crystal Rye Malt, Canadian Two row pilsner malt, British Maris Otter

Hops: German Perle

Other sugars: Caramel syrup, brewer’s sugar, Organic cherry juice

Other Herbs/spices: Bitter Orange Peel, Sweet Orange Peel, Lemon Peel, Gentian Root, Cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, cloves.

ABV: 7.5%

It was a good Sunday with excellent weather for some biking, hiking, great food & beer, and even some music.