Laser sailing

Robert and Jen stopped by on Friday around dinner time. They had started partying early being Veterans Day. After a little 3D TV demo we headed over to Steven and Yuko’s house to check out their new deck Steven built. Scott, Jen, and Scully were there already. The kids were up asking for entertainment or entertaining us. Steven and Yuko prepared dinner which was good. Robert and Steven were talking about sailing Lasers on Saturday being that it was supposed to be warm and windy. Robert was trying to convince me it would be a good day to go out.

So while I was watching Forumla One qualifying the next morning Robert and Steven called me. The thought of the cold Potomac water was not a fun feeling as I sat on my comfortable couch but I decided to go out and join them. Robert hooked me up with a dry suit and I was good to go. There were about 7 or 8 Laser sailors out for the preseason run. They took out the motorboat to set up a practice race course. Steven took out the motorboat first so he let me sail his try out is boat. I’ve never sailed in a dingy before. It is a whole different world. Steven's Laser was nice and new. It was going to be interesting.

A Laser is a one person boat that is very light weight and maneuverable if you know what you are doing. You can also end up on the water quite easily. You can go really fast but it is easy to go over the edge and end up in the water. My plan was to play it conservative, try to stay out of the water, and try to keep the boat in one piece. It took a little bit to figure out how to keep the boat going consistently and to work out the mechanics of tacking. I never did get comfortable with the tiller extension. Robert sailed next to me for a few minutes and gave me one of the best tips which is to turn with speed. I kept out of the water at first. Then after I was starting to think I’d stay dry it went over. I went over three times and I think each time was in heavy or shifting wind while jibing. Not having the mechanics down I’d either have my weight in the wrong place or some other basic mistake while I’m trying to deal with all these new factors at the same time. The first time I was able to roll over the high side, stand on the center board, and roll it back over. The second time I ended up in the water. I was scared going in but I quickly realized I didn’t feel a thing. The dry suit worked well. The last time I went over was a bit of an issue. When you flip the boat back over the trick is to land in the boat. Otherwise you can’t get back in without flipping it again. So it took me a bit to get it that time. I wasn't hiking out and healing over far so the most fun was surfing down wind at full speed. I could feel the hull vibrating.

The other guys did practice races. I’d follow along sometimes in the back but mostly tried to stay out of the way. Robert took Steven’s place on the motorboat so I switched places with Steven to give him his boat back. I was about done after the third time flipping the boat. After a couple more races everyone headed in. It was an interesting first experience. I’d be more comfortable the next time going out and maybe a little more methodical at learning how to handle that type of boat. I was trying not to break anything this first time. Not sure how much I want to get in to dingy sailing in the winter. I have no plans on purchasing a sailboat anytime soon. It is fun though and if the weather is nice I wouldn’t mind going out on occasion.

pic by Nabeel Alsalam during last season

Bela & The Flecktones

The last time I saw Bela and The Flecktones was at the Strathmore. It was the reunion of the original lineup. I was able to get a center 6th row seat. It doesn’t seem like two years ago. This time I got a little different perspective and sat in the center of the last row. I didn’t feel like paying more than $30 for a ticket. The Strathmore is a great venue though and every seat is good.

Teri and I walked in and sat down the minute before the band took the stage. They played two great sets. It reminded me of the show two years ago. The harmonica/piano player, who is the one that came back from the original lineup, can play the harmonica with incredible precision. That always impresses me. The guy is good. Victor Wooten is an awesome bass player and he threw down some mind blowing bass lines and solos. Bela did his thing which was great as usual. His alternate banjo of choice was a guitar hybrid which sounded nice. With all that awesome talent between the three of them I don’t see how they still keep “Future Man” around on that percussion thingy.

Bela will always put on a quality show I’m sure. He needs to keep his ticket prices down though.

Skyline Drive drive

A few times this fall, Teri and I thought about hitting Skyline drive, doing a little hiking, and checking out a brewery or winery. Usually this idea came to us after the weekend was over or it was too late to plan. So we finally planned it. She picked me up at 8am on Sunday and we were off. Good thing we had an extra hour of sleep thanks to the DLS time change.

The weather was nice. The leaves were about peaking in DC, which means they were past peak out in the mountains, but they were still very nice. Skyline Drive wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be. Traffic wasn’t bad at all. We picked two of the shorter hikes. One with a large waterfall and another with a 360 degree summit view. They were probably the more popular hikes for people doing the drive like us but they weren’t too busy. The waterfall hike was downhill the whole way there and a bit cold without my jacket. It was worth the hike though and much warmer walking back up. At the end of Skyline Drive we hiked up to a little rock covered summit. It only took 15 minutes so I convinced Teri to hike on. It was actually part of the Appalachian Trail. We ran in to two guys who were finishing up an overnight 14 mile segment. It wasn’t the most exciting portion of the AT though so we made a U-turn before we got to our planned turn around.

After the drive and the hiking we were ready for some food. I originally planned to go to Devil’s Backbone brewery which is a favorite of mine but when I saw that the Blue Mountain Brewery was having their 4th Anniversary Birthday party we headed there instead. There was a lot of people but not much special going on besides a moon bounce and kettle corn. We missed the special menu by about 30 minutes. We had some decent food, sampled all seven of their beers, and each got a growler fill to take home. Teri got the Rockfish Wheat and I got their Full Nelson.

On the way back we ended up on I-95 somehow thanks to our GPS. And as we were stuck in traffic we looked over and saw Mark and Michelle trying to get our attention. After connecting with them on the phone we followed them on Rt-1 for a bit to avoid the traffic. Not sure how much time we saved but it was nice to be moving.

It was a long day in the car but Skyline Drive, the hiking, and trying new beers was fun. I didn’t see any black bears as I did once in the past but maybe next time. I gotta get out in the mountains and woods every so often or I get withdraw.

The GPS data includes the whole day from the drive out to the drive back. If you go to the split times you can see that laps 2 and 4 are the two hikes we did.

Soulive, Lettuce, & Rahzel

I’ve been looking forward to this show since it was announced long ago. I’m a fan of Soulive and they always put on a good show, especially the Rubber Soulive tour, but I’ve never seen Lettuce and I dig raw funk and a horn section. I got tickets only a day or two in advance; I was surprised they were still available.

Teri and I tried to go to Mad Fox for dinner. It was the first day of their cask week. I’m a fan of fresh cask beer. Unfortunately the place was packed and had about a 40 minute wait. So we headed to the old staple Argia's which is almost next door to the State Theater. I ran in and put our name on the list, jumped back in the car and we found a place to park and break, then a minute after we walked in we were seated. Always good Italian food.

At 9:00 the line at the door was huge. And it was a bit cold. After waiting we ditched our coats in the car and walked in the warm venue. It took a few minutes for my ears and head to stop hurting. The place was packed. We headed up to the balcony to relax for the beginning of the show. The balcony was full but we found good seats with leg room. Lee walked past us but didn’t see/hear us in the dark. Soulive threw down as usual. It was a nice groovin’ set. They played a Beatles medley from their last tour that rocked. The crowd was crazy. Lots of young people on various intoxicants.

During the intermission between Soulive and Lettuce a guy named Rahzel came out and did his thing. It was quite impressive. With just his mouth and a microphone he threw out some crazy beats. He could put out a super low bass note that rumbled the whole place, and beat box on top of that, while also throwing in other odd DJ scratching noises and lyrics. It was something to see and hear. He made a point to count out all the tracks/sounds he was doing at the same time. Teri liked the car crashing and mechanical gear sounds. What impressed me the most was his ability to beat box while singing. You had to see it to believe it. He was entertaining.

Finally Lettuce took the stage. The guitarist and keyboard player from Soulive played as part of the band. The drummer, bass, and other guitarist all wore flat rimmed baseball hats and had that NYC or LA look. The could play some funk though. The horn section accented the grooves well. Teri and I got down in front during intermission for Rahzel and everyone was dancing around on the floor for Lettuce. It wasn’t as crowded as I was expecting close to the stage. They played a fun set. They seemed to be able to take a simple funk riff and put a great song around it. Lettuce only played a couple of shows with Soulive. Hope I can catch them again before too long.

Raging Bitch on cask at ChurchKey

I’ve talked about Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch before. When Flying Dog released it as their 20th Anniversary beer in 2010 it was one of those beers you taste and realize is a special beer. Apparently I wasn’t the only one because it was one of the most popular craft beers of the year and Flying Dog decided to make it not only every year but all year. I’ve had it on cask once or twice before but try not to miss it when I can get it. It wasn’t my favorite beer on this night though.

I started off with a full serving of the Witch Doctor on cask from Oskar Blues. It is a blend of their Dale’s Pale Ale and Ten FIDY dry hopped with centennial hops. It comes in at 8.5%. It had that familiar Oskar Blues taste. I forgot the Ten FIDY was the stout but it had a nice balanced taste.

Next was the Stillwater Harvest Saison. This might have been my favorite beer of the night. Saisons aren’t my favorite style but this had the fresh hop taste along with the typical yeast flavors. The description said... "Brewed with East Kent Goldings, Summit & Wet Citra Hops; Matured on Spanish Cedar; Dry-Hopped". It was 6.8%. I only had the 4oz of this but could have easily drank a full serving.

I also got a tasting size of the Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head collaboration Life & Limb. This came in at a nice 10.2% but I couldn’t taste the complexity in the beer on this occasion for some reason. I could just barely pick up the maple syrup.

They were out of the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Session 38: Docesna - Czech Hop Harvest Ale. I was disappointed. So finally I had the Raging Bitch on cask in a full serving. It was good but not the explosion of flavors I was expecting. I thought I detected a metallic taste or something foreign but I quickly forget it at this state in the game.

the making of Freddie's Revenge

I wanted to end with a tasting size of the 120 Minute IPA but they ran out of that as well. So I ended with a Freddie's Revenge on cask from Pratt St. Ale House in Baltimore. It is a pumpkin ale brewed w/ roasted pumpkin, spiced with cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and clove. I’ve had some unexpectedly tasty pumpkin beers this year. Unexpected because I’m traditionally not a pumpkin beer fan. I don’t like all the spice; similar to the x-mas beers. But this year there was more to the offering and some interesting flavors. Some were like eating pumpkin pie with whipped cream. So many craft breweries doing so much good stuff these days.

I had the potato croquettes just like last time. They are yummy. And the pasta special again which was fettucini with pork belly. It was pretty good. I got a good deal on the bill and didn’t get charged for any of the small servings. Similar to what happened to me earlier in the weekend at my other favorite establishment. My good looks I guess.

MMW

I haven’t seen MMW in awhile. I find it kinda crazy that I can’t find them mentioned in my blog anywhere. I guess it has been a long while. They came on a Thursday and were playing with Antibalas which I guess is a band familiar to them. They did an odd DC, Philly, NYC run together. Odd in that it was not your usual MMW show. I’ve been hesitant in the second half of MMW’s career to go to their shows as they are a bit more avant-garde jazz then I like but this was a great performance that I enjoyed.

Port City Brewery tweeted that day that the 9:30 Club would have their Essential Pale Ale on tap. I replied that I’ll be partaking.

Teri was not having a good day at work so I invited her along to cheer her up and forget about the craziness going on during the work day. We walked in after the opening band stopped and got a spot up front. Before too long MMW came out and did their thing. I wasn’t sure what they were going to play but I ended up recognizing all the songs. They were getting down to all their old classics. Teri mentioned how they were not the easiest band to dance to with their style of play. They would play traditional timing but John Medeski would often play off beat which throws people off. The reason I recognized the whole first set except for one song was because they were all requests. I remembered them asking for requests on Twitter awhile back. They said they usually don’t take requests; usually they jam whatever new stuff they are working on. We were right in front of Medeski for the first set. I could see he took the lead; at least in those old school songs. I wish I could see his hands on the keys as he was all over the place. I could smell a lot more food than usual this show and some guy actually brought a couple sandwiches up to the front row and ate them off the stage.

During the set break I switched up the beer and got a draft of the DC Brau Public. I usually don’t get draft at the 9:30 Club because the open cups spill all over the place in the packed floor compared to bottles. During the set break though it was open and I wanted to change it up. The DC Brau Public was so much more flavorable than the Port City Essential Pale Ale. I’m curious why. I’m sure they were both fresh being local. I doubt the bottle vs draft had anything to do with it. The Public was definitely more of the flavorable hop taste that I am looking for. We stuck with that the rest of the night.

Antibalas came out with MMW for the whole second set. Teri and I missed their opening set so we didn’t know what to expect. The 9:30 Club stage is not small but I didn’t realize you could fit this many people on stage. Fifteen all together. Two bass players, two keyboard players, two drummers, multiple people playing percussion, guitar, and a four piece horn section. It was great. They played MMW style jams but with the Antibalas sound since they out numbered MMW 12 to 3. It was fun. I’d like to see MMW with just the horn section. I’m not sure if DC was the first show of the tour or not. I saw a tweet earlier in the week about rehearsal. It was definitely unique for a MMW show and I really enjoyed it.

NoVA Brewfest

I didn’t go to the NoVa Brewfest out in Bull Run Park (next to Manassas National Battlefield Park) in the previous four years because I hadn’t heard anything special about the event. In the past the list of breweries was nothing to write home about but it has gotten bigger each year. And it was out in the ‘burbs. Also their method of distributing beer has changed over time for the better I think. It was ticket based as always this year although you could buy as many extra tickets as you wanted for only $1. Mark asked if I wanted to hit it up this time so I decided to check it out.

It ended up being a decent group of us including Mark, Michelle, Scott, Jen, Teri, Marc, and another couple that Mark knew. Marc from Pburg only lives about 2 miles from Scott but I had to pick him up since Scott wasn’t able to find him on the map. Teri and I filled our bellies at District Taco before getting stuck on I-66 and downtown Fairfax. Traffic was not fun at noon on Saturday. It was a nice day although cloudy. The leaves are getting to that perfect stage when changing colors. Most of us got tickets online in advance for $20 which was $10 off the gate price. I found out LivingSocial had a deal and sold over 1300 so that added to my fears of long lines. Especially after Oktoberfest in Shirlington. The website said the event will not sell out. How can an event not sell out?

The taxi van picked us up at Mark and Michelle’s at 1:45. The driver took some back way. It turns out it would take a lot of people to sell the event out. It was a big open area with some rolling hills. Tons of parking, a huge stage and crowd area, although the two rows of booths were sorta full. We got right through the entrance. There was plenty of room and most beer lines were short. Some food and bathroom lines got long. Teri and I found a secret port-o-potty behind the stage that was accessible but it got less and less secret as the day went on. Also as the day went on I think the volunteers were less and less worried about taking our tickets. People were more strict than the Shirlington Ocktoberfest but after awhile I seemed to be getting away with it more and more. Later while in line someone handed Teri and I a bunch of tickets so we were set. The kettle corn was pretty good. They had a HUGE “kettle” over a gas flame and would mix popcorn and oil in it with a large wooden stirrer. After awhile it would all pop at once and he’d dump it via hinges in another big container. Hot and fresh. There was also bratwurst wrapped in a pretzel but I didn't get to try one of those delights.

We all stuck together for the most part and everyone had a good time. Mad Fox had their Pumpkinator as well as the new brewer at Vintage 50. It was her first brew on that equipment with the help of Bill. Teri talked to her for a minute and unfortunately I never made it back to try her version that she was tapping at 3:00. Schafly had their pumpkin beer and it was just as good as I remembered. They had other vendors and craft booths including wooden croaking frogs. The had different sizes for different sounds and when you rubbed the wooden mallet over their backs they made a rather realistic croaking sound. The people at the booth were jamin’ to the band with the frogs. I’d never spend money on it though. When is there a band in the background to jam to?

The taxi guy came back with just a car so he had to wrangle with another taxi driver on site to get us all back. Marc used him to get home from Mark’s and called to complain afterwards that they guy ripped him off. For some reason I slowed down once we got back but a few of those I was hanging out with were rather toasted. It was a fun day hanging out with everyone outside and being hosted by Mark and Michelle that evening. The brewfest surpassed my expectations. It helps when you have friends that live close by. It is a twice a year event so we’ll see what happens next year.

biking, Chilean mine exhibit, and ChurchKey

It was a nice day so I had to take advantage and get outside. I saw online that the Natural History Museum had an exhibit about the Chilean miners who were trapped and finally rescued. So I decided to ride down and check out that exhibit, ride past the new MLK memorial, and then up to ChurckKey for some new beers they had on tap.

I got to the museum around 4:00 about an hour before it closed. I hadn’t been there in awhile and the first floor ocean exhibit was new to me. The little special exhibit I was going to was in the geology section near the Hope diamond. I finally found it after checking out some other cool exhibits. It was interesting and laid out the geology of the area and how they mine the copper. There was a timeline of their time underground and a map of the mine. It showed how deep down they were and the three escape mines they drilled. The actual capsule used to bring the miners up was on display along with other artifacts donated by the miners. It was interesting to see the conditions they had to survive in. A video was playing of the rescue. Emotional stuff.

I walked around a bit more and checked out the Hope diamond and other gems. One of the coolest artifacts was molten rock that was in the shape of a projectile after it cooled and hardened while flying through the air.

It was getting dark so I didn’t ride over to the MLK memorial. I was also worried about getting a spot at ChurchKey. Sure enough when I walked in I got one of the last spots at the bar. I sampled a nice line up of beers while there. All the small 4 oz tasting size of course:

• Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Harvest Ale (w/ Sierra Nevada grown organic barley & wet organic cascade, chinook & citra hops)
• Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale (w/ fresh Yakima Valley cascade & centennial hops)
• Black Diamond Black Harvest Ale (w/ fresh organic hops)
• Ayinger Weisse
• DC Brau El Hefe Speaks!
• DC Brau The Public on cask with summit hops
• DC Brau The Public on cask with amarillo hops
• Brooklyn The Companion (55% wheat malt & 45% floor-malted barley malt)
• Flying Dog Wild Dog: The Fear (w/ pumpkin, squash, chocolate malt, spiced w/ cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg & clove)

Of course I had some food with this. I like their fully loaded potato croquettes with broccoli sour cream. I also had their pasta special which was very good. Don’t ask me to describe it now. I finished with their awesome arancini balls but I was getting full by then and it was hard to get the last one down.

After the ride home the Caps were playing so I watched that. Then at 2am it was time for the Formula One race live in Korea. I haven’t watched an F1 race live in awhile (timing being a big reason). It was nice to have the live lap times and twitter updates as the race was going on. That provides so much more information you otherwise wouldn’t get. I could only stay up for half of it and slept late of course.

G Love & Special Sauce

I wasn’t sure how popular the show would be and if I should get tickets beforehand or not. They were still on sale the day of so I decided to do what I’ve done in the past and go to the venue, get tickets, then go eat before heading back right when the band starts. This way you avoid the outrageous online fees and get tickets before most people show up. I did the smart thing though and called the venue to see what is up. They have given me info in the past on how many tickets are left and if it will sell out. She said it will sell out. So I went ahead and bought tickets online. This was already about 7:45 the night of a show that was scheduled to start at 8:00. I was able to get the tix though and have them waiting for me at will call. The band we wanted to see wasn’t going on stage until 10:30.

I have never seen them before even though I was listening to them back in in the 90’s. They have a cool funk groove rap thing. The bass player was playing a stand up bass with a metal body. I’m not sure how that works. It was interesting. They had some new beers at the 9:30 Club such as DC Brau. You can always count on the 9:30 Club to have a good selection. Teri and I squeezed in from the left as I usually do. The place was packed. And it was an interesting mix of people. Lots of folks my age but younger as well. It didn’t appear as if many of them were hardcore fans. Not many sang along even on their old school popular songs. Some did though. It was fun and the crowd was in to it. They played for more than an hour on the first and only set. The encore was almost as long though. He came out solo, then played with an old friend from the area who sang “Before You Accuse Me”, then the opening band joined.

It was a fun and entertaining show. Creative funky grooves to get down to.

Trey

It had been a long time coming because I got tickets back during the pre-sale. Thankfully. I don’t think it was possible to get tickets during the public sale because they went too fast. Although in front of the venue before the show there were tons of tickets for sale. And it was a brand new venue: The Fillmore Silver Spring. I think I’ve been in Silver Spring less than five times.

Teri and I met up in Silver Spring before the show. Thankfully it wasn’t raining. Being right on the metro was convenient. We passed Ray’s The Classic’s on the way. They made us empty our pockets and pull out our pocket lining to get inside the venue. Once in we were able to get a beer and a decent spot for the first set. Their beer selection was pretty bad. But I was surprised how easy it was to get a beer and a decent spot up front at a sold out show. It turns out we were lucky. It got packed as the show got on and I heard Primus a couple weeks before was packed.

We got all settled right before 8:00 and the band came on shortly after. The bass player was sitting down and I assumed he had his bass sitting on his chair or leg because it didn’t seem to move until I realized it was on a stand. Teri said that was cheating. The keyboard player seemed to fit in with the same old school session player theme and the drummer wasn’t far off. They were all very good. Trey also had a horn section which I always enjoy. There was a guy playing sax, a redheaded female trombone player, and a diva trumpet player who sang. The trumpet player tried to do some leading of the horn section and band but I noticed her mess up numerous times on the same song. She would try to signal when an upcoming change was and got it wrong about four times. After the song Trey came over and chatted with her while smiling. Later she did some vocals and belted out Black Dog. Even doing some back and forth with Trey during the solo.

During the second set we hung out upstairs for awhile. Downstairs was too packed after we waited forever at the upstairs bar. After waiting for awhile the hot female bartender who can’t tend a bar told me they were out of the beer I requested. I politely informed her that the other keg 10 feet away was still flowing strong. She said she couldn’t serve me from that keg. My mouth opened and I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know how to respond. The keg was right there and the one other bartender was not using it. I eventually said something. “We are trying to be efficient.” she replied. I couldn’t believe it. I had just stood there for about 10 minutes waiting my turn to be served. I looked over at the other line and assumed it would be at least another 10 minutes to get through that. So I complained again. Teri in the mean time was inching her way closer to being served by the other bartender. This allowed me to continue to harass the incompetent server on my side of the bar. If they had one other acceptable beer I might have had another option. She also had the nerve to tell me I was standing in “no man’s land” while waiting to be served around a huge bar that was surrounded with people doing the same thing. She seem a little overwhelmed and the bar wasn’t as busy as it could have been. We did not revisit that bar.

We found a decent spot in the balcony that was directly to the side of the stage. I was very tempted to sneak back stage. The girl watching the walkway was paying lots of attention to the band and we were almost standing directly behind her in a way that would have allowed us to just slip through. But after hanging out in the balcony for half the set it opened up downstairs. We headed down and were able to move in relatively close to the stage. The second set rocked out just like the first. It was cool to get so close to Trey and the band. It reminded me of the mid-90’s when Phish played smaller venues.

The metro ride is only a minute or two longer than the trip to the 9:30 Club. Another great venue I don’t have to drive to which is excellent. It felt like I hadn’t been to a concert in awhile. It was a great show. And we have another tomorrow night.


Set One:
    In the Wee Wee Hours
    Gotta Jibboo
    Alive Again
    The Devil Went Down to Georgia
    Money, Love and Change
    Burn That Bridge
    Burlap Sack and Pumps
    Push On 'Til the Day
    Alaska
    Tuesday
    Black Dog

Set Two:
    Sand
    Valentine
    Drifting
    Simple Twist Up Dave
    Liquid Time
    Pigtail
    Mr. Completely
    Ether Sunday
    Magilla
    Night Speaks to a Woman
    First Tube

Encore:
    Clint Eastwood
    Heavy Things
    Sultans of Swing

DC Brau at ChurchKey

DC Brau, the first brewery in DC since prohibition, had a beer dinner at Birch & Barley along with special beers on tap up in ChurchKey. As I’ve said before, twice, I’m not a big fan of their beer dinners even though the place has excellent food and the best beer in town. But I did want to go try the DC Brau beers. It was Columbus Day so no work for me and the feds. After going on a bike ride during the day I met Sharon at the metro around 5:30. It was another great fall day. I’m beginning to think October is the best month of the year in DC. I wasn’t sure if the place was going to be empty or have a line out the door for this event. I figured it could have gone either way. These new local breweries have had a great outpouring of support. It turns out the place was rather empty.

I saw the DC Brau owners/brewers hanging out around the bar. We started off with three tasting size servings of The Public on cask each with a different type of hop: amarillo, citra, and summit. The Public is their pale ale. I think our preference was citra, amarillo, then summit. After that we tried their Helles Lagaer which was lagered for five weeks and hopped with US perle hops. Quite tasty. Next up was another local beer from up in Maryland the Flying Dog Wild Dog: Secret Stash ‘11. It is brewed with red wheat, sweet corn, potatoes, honey and fresh local cascade & chinook hops. It was only 5.5% which is low for a special beer but I wasn’t complaining. I thought it was a bit too carbonated though. Finally we had the DC Brau Citizen on cask and matured four months in Catoctin Creek Rye Whiskey Oak Barrels. The Citizen is the DC Brau Belgium pale ale. You could taste the whiskey from the barrels. I’m not in to whiskey beers usually.

We had one of their new flatbread pizzas with peppers and sausage and it was pretty good. Which isn’t surprising because that is what I normally get on my zzza’s. Not a bad Monday.

Capital City Oktoberfest in Shirlington

Sharon and I hit up the Capital City Oktoberfest in Shirlington. Holy cow talk about arriving at the wrong time. The word was to get there early. The event was from noon to 7:00. So getting there around 1:30 or so should have been good right? Hell no! Everyone showed up at that time. It took nearly an hour to find a spot to park and over another hour to get through the line. Worst timing ever. But once in it was a good event. Space is an issue but nothing they can really do about that in their location.

There have been great beers the last few years as the event has gotten bigger. This year the pumpkin beers were the hot item I think. Mad Fox was selling the last of their’s. Schafly might have been the most popular. I had heard about this one and wanted to grab it. I think I got the second to last one of the day! It was very much the type that tasted like pumpkin pie. The Starr Hill seasonal called Boxcar might have been my favorite. I've had it before but I think it was warming up at the booth today and I got it at the perfect temp to taste the complexity. Great beer. I was able to talk to one of the Starr Hill brewers. He said it was made with canned puree as opposed to Mad Fox's which is made with fresh pumpkins. He also said it was supposed to be a chili porter but that tasted horrible so they made it a pumpkin porter. Again, it was my favorite of the day by far. I recognized the owner of DC Brau and said hi to him. I also saw Bill from Port City for the first time. All the new local breweries were in attendance and I saw most of them had brewery reps if not the owners on site which was great. As usual beer tickets weren't a problem because most places weren't even collecting them. Sharon had only 2 and a half servings before she was feeling it and passed all her tickets on to me. The weather was perfect. A great fall day.

Got the Caps season opener tonight, the Bathurst 1000 race in Australia, Robert Randolf at 9:30 Club, and the Japanese Grand Prix at 2am this evening. What to do?

Caps preseason

I went to a Caps preseason game to get in the mood for the season. There are lots of new players to get to know. I hooked up the tickets in an online group deal and scored lower level at a good price. I was on the side where the Caps shoot twice. I like getting the different perspectives around the rink rather then sitting in the same seat every game as I did early on with season tickets. I sat on the club level mostly last year so getting down to eye level was nice. During the second and third periods I switched sides for a different view on and off the ice. It wasn’t full but there was a good amount of people there for a preseason game. Thomas Vokoun started in goal. They played the Sabres. It was a close game but the Caps pulled it off after a shoot out.

beer at Rustico

As I sometimes like to do I hit Rustico in Ballston after work for a pint and some dinner. Of course being a fine beer bar with an excellent selection it is hard to just have one. It is not on the menu anymore but their NY Strip with garlic and mashed potatoes was yummy.

I started out with the Starr Hill Boxcar Pumpkin Porter which is a traditional English-style Brown Porter with pumpkin added to the mash. I liked it because it was a light stout and didn’t have that roasted malt or coffee flavors. The pumpkin came out in the aftertaste. Like many of the preacher man’s beers it is a good one.

I also had one from New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series called Kick. I had this during the New Belgium beer dinner. I think I should let the brewers describe it...

New Belgium and Elysian are together again with Kick, a rich and tart pumpkin cranberry ale blended with wood-aged beer for a uniquely complex harvest season sour. The russet and orange of autumn shimmer through a slight haze like sunlight through the smoke from burning leaves. The taste and texture of pumpkin give way to the refreshing tang of cranberries and critters, satisfying and exciting with each swallow, finishing with an urge for more. 

Kim brought sour from New Belgium; Dick brought pumpkin from Elysian. You’ll get a Kick out of their collaboration. 

When they mention critters it reminds me of how Greg described the Liefmans Goudenband I got awhile ago. This was quite the complex beer. I didn’t taste the cranberry so much or the pumpkin. I wonder if it was served too cold. The sourness of those critters came through the most for me. I’d like to try it again.

They had both the Stone 15th Anniversary Ale and the Stone Sublimely Self Rightous. The latter was originally the 11th Anniversary Ale but it was so popular they made it a year round brew. It is one of my favorite beers. When I’ve shared it with friends I get similar reactions. But now they brewed this Escondidian Imperial Black IPA for their 15th Anniversary Ale. Seems to me to be an imperial version of the Sublimely which is fine by me. This is a wonderful beer. One of my favorites ever. You have to drink it fresh. I’m in to fresh hop beer these days. And this wonderful black IPA is the gift that keeps on giving that Stone’s co-founder often talks about. I’ll have to go back to the Sublimely some day when the 15th Anniversary is gone but I’ll wait awhile so I forget what I’m missing.

The last beer I had was a Weyerbach Fresh Harvest. Did I mention I like fresh hops? It was pretty good. Excellent maybe on some other occasion. Craft beer drinkers are getting spoiled these days and its great. I had a few harvest ales or fresh hop beers this hop harvest season. I’m looking forward to them getting more popular as it becomes possible for more breweries to get their hands on fresh hops. Those yummy sticky dank hop buds.

HEXAGON (KH-9)

Scott, Mark and I hit the Udvar-Hazy Center to check out a one day showing of a declassified spy satellite. I guess it’s not every day you can go check one of these things out so why not.

From here...

The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and the National Reconnaissance Office hosted a one-day-only viewing opportunity of the newly declassified HEXAGON (KH-9) satellite in the parking lot of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Saturday, Sept. 17. This was the first time the public was able to view this impressive spacecraft, and it was the only opportunity to see it in the Washington area for some time. Sixty feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the HEXAGONs were the largest spy satellites the United States had ever placed in space. The satellites took photographs of the Soviet Union and other targets around the world from 1971 to the early 1980s. The one-day display is in conjunction with the NRO's 50th anniversary celebration.

We even got to bypass the outrageous $15 parking fee by arriving around 4:00 or so. They had some info around the satellite talking about how it took pictures and dropped the film back to Earth. Someone was there talking for a bit that was part of the program telling a few people about some of the interesting challenges. After checking out the satellite in a temporary tent in the parking lot we walked in the center for a bit. Mark didn’t know what an SR-71 was so Scott and I had to give him a history lesson. They were setting up for some big donor event inside. It was an interesting visit.

Scott’s wedding

Almost 18 months after Beth’s wedding Scott picked 9/10/11 to get married. How you can get married on 9/10/11 and not do it at noon or midnight I have no idea. Thinking about it now if it was me I’d have the reception first and then have the ceremony at midnight with whoever is still around.

The wedding was at the Tides Inn in the northern neck of Virginia. I’ve never been in the northern neck before but have heard about it from boaters and locals. Basically that is the slice of Virginia that extends towards the Bay from I-95 with the Potomac River on the north and the Rappahannock River on the south. I was sharing a room with Beth and Matt. They wanted to room up with me at a place a fraction of the price a few miles away but after all kinds of finagling we ended up staying together at the Tides Inn. Scott, Jen, and my parents arrived on Thursday I believe. The rest of the family all showed up before the rehearsal on Friday. Robert and his crew got about a 30 minute head start and arrived about an hour before I because traffic got progressively worse. I-95 between DC and Richmond is the worst. Especially on a Friday or Sunday. After talking to my Dad on the phone from the road everyone at the rehearsal thought I was stuck in traffic all day. Once I got off I-95 it was my kind of ride on rural highways. I picked up some beer on the way assuming that there would be some point during the weekend where alcoholic beverages would be in need. Of course that came to be true.

The Tides Inn was quite the little resort. They had a marina with boats, a sailing school that was unfortunately closed during this weekend, a beach, a pool, a spa, nine holes of golf, bikes, and the nicest staff. I pulled in and caught up with Beth and Matt. After getting settled I met Mom and some other family in the lobby. As my father and his brother get older they look more and more alike. We did the rehearsal. The weather was perfect after tons of rain the last couple of weeks. I get to make the initial entry in to the ceremony escorting Jen’s grandmother. After being the videographer at Beth’s wedding I got the job again at Scott’s wedding. So after walking down Jen’s grandmother I taped the rehearsal and tried to pick out good points of view that complimented Robert and Tiffany’s video camera.

Before dinner Matt, Beth, Robert, and I hit Walmart to load up on beer. We each got a 12 pack. This turned out to be a smart move later in the night. The rehearsal dinner was more time to catch up with extended family and friends of Scott and Jen’s that I don’t normally see. It was nice to hang out with Mike and Steve from Pburg. It was a buffet dinner. I sat with my parents, Beth, Matt, and others but hard to remember after hanging out and talking to so many people throughout the weekend. I do remember they had some fat slabs of beef for the rehearsal dinner. Afterwards all the youngin’s (or young livin’ folk) ended up at the bridal suite partying it up all night long. This is where the beer run earlier paid out because our beer was the only beer everyone at the wedding had to drink that night. Luckily we loaded up. We were happy to share to keep the party going and let everyone have a good time. After carrying my big cooler over I ran back out to grab my stereo to provide tunes for the party (does anyone else not think of these essentials?). While running up the brick steps in the dark I slammed my foot in to the steps and broke my big toenail. Nothing a few drinks couldn’t solve. We had a decent late night party. Cousins Beverly and Adam hung out with us after showing up a little late.

The guys went golfing around 9:30 the next morning. I was passed out in bed at 9:30 in the morning. Beth got up a little later and started helping out with the wedding set up. Lots of nautical themed items to place around. I eventually got up and presented myself around 11:00. After wondering around the grounds and asking people who worked there I still couldn’t find the dinner location where everyone was setting up so I had to call Robert to lead me. My Dad, Phil, and I decided to eat lunch at the place. I wonder if my brother and I will look so similar in 25 years? Robert was trying to get us to start the afternoon activities and after all kinds of meandering around the pool we eventually took out some boats. We took off in two kayaks and a little motor boat. Robert and I explored the coves around the property. Afterwards Steven and I (UK Steve not Sponseller) took off on a bike ride to the boat yard which was close by. The yard was pretty much full of sailboats that were stored out of the water which we thought was odd for this time of year. Maybe people pulled early with Irene coming in. After the bike ride I had less than enough time to make another beer run. I barely made the 4:00 meeting time for pictures. It wasn’t the worst experience I’ve ever had but by the end I was quite warm in my suit. I had to run back to the room and clean up before the 5:15 wedding meeting time.

Because of traffic or a number of other reasons people were showing up right until the last minute. Again the weather was perfect after a forecast of some rain. The band were two of Scott and Jen’s friends playing keyboard and acoustic guitar. They were quite good. I didn’t hurt that they played music I enjoyed. I heard some Grateful Dead and other classic tunes. They learned to play the wedding song the previous day. The ceremony started pretty much on time. I opened the show so of course all eyes were initially on Jen’s grandmother and I. After seating her I picked up my stashed video camera and attempted to capture the live event. It is not easy to capture a live event without much rehearsal. I remember I kicked the camera stand at one point while trying to change locations. I did get Adam knocking over the aisle lantern and taking 10 minutes to pick it back up. The ringing of the bell was a bit awkward for the parents and new couple. Scott and Jen’s ring was the worst. Another classic shot I enjoyed taking was the family getting up from the front rows and exiting after the new couple. Matt had a drink in his hand. It reminded me of Scott drinking during the rehearsal. I like a relaxed wedding.

We took more pictures while everyone else hung out on the patio and had cocktails and snacks. I took video as well. Mostly of the youngin’s playing on the croquet field. It was quite the setting. During this time and all the others when there was an open or cash bar I was either handed beers or I grabbed them out of my cooler in the trunk of my car. I’d have to say I was a rather cheap quest at the bar that weekend.

At first I thought the dinner set up was odd as it seemed to be separated between different rooms but then as the sun went down I saw that we all had a wonderful view of the sun setting over the river. The courses seemed to take their time but dinner was good. Eating a little over a long period of time suits me well so no complaints. The cake was nice with the wedding couple in a small sail boat on top. Afterwards they had the typical DJ. It is as if all these guys had the exact same training and play the exact same playlist. A big topic of conversation was when I was getting married and my three year plan. It is anyone’s guess when that will happen. I promise that I will not have a typical wedding DJ at my wedding. I am very much a music person and there is nothing worse than the party being killed by some crappy song. A crappy song played LOUDLY. It completely turns me off. I’m planning on a live band at my wedding and I’m leaning towards a full latin ensemble. I went to a wedding with a Guatemalan bride and the latin band closed out the reception with only about a dozen of us guests long after the wedding party left and only after an encore. That is how my reception will end. We did get down to a few good songs. Everyone remembered James Brown the next day. And most of us remembered Tiffany doing the Jersey Turnpike. The Tides Inn staff and I literally were rolling on the floor laughing. She was thumpin’ it perfectly.

After a few bad songs I solicited Scott for after-hour plans. I was ready to ditch the reception and relax in a setting where friends could converse and good music was in the background. It was close to the DJ ending so Scott gave us the key and after a stop for supplies we eventually met back up with Scott at the suite. Not as many people showed up as the previous night. The party didn’t rage too hard or late.

I was told to be at brunch between 9:30 and 10:00 the next day. I was there close to 9:30 but not too conscious. I sat with the wedding party and friends. It was the final time to see the extended family and others I don’t normally run in to. There were lots of kids and they were entertainment during many of the events throughout the weekend. After packing up and checking out my parents and I had lunch at the local cafe. As we left the wind was pushing the rain on top of us even though the clouds weren’t directly above us. The weather held out for the whole weekend. I enjoyed taking the Maryland route home and saw some flooding damage.

the car is legal

Living on the metro, within walking distance of pretty much everything I need, and having friends that drive me around has allowed me to park my car for the last few years and not drive it at all. Once the registration and safety inspection expired it was hell trying to get things legal again. Today is the first day in almost five years that my car has been legal. I’m still not used to the idea.

The biggest hurdle has been my aftermarket catalytic converter. Toyota wanted to charge me $1100 and instead I ordered one online for $125. Of course I didn’t realize at the time the Celica’s catalytic converter and the down pipe to the back of the car was all one piece. The dealership originally said they would install the aftermarket one for me. Then when I showed up with the part they said they couldn’t because it required welding. So I had to take it to an exhaust shop which put it in for me. Then I had the common problem that everyone with an aftermarket catalytic converter has to deal with: the check engine light. The car’s computer can sense a change from the factory mixture coming out the exhaust and throws out an error even though the aftermarket piece is fine. I can’t pass inspection with a catalytic converter code being triggered. So my car sat for a few years.

I drove it on occasion to the grocery and beer store. As I kept up on police technology I knew my days were limited. The local cops were getting more and more license plate scanners. All they had to do is drive by me and an automatic flag would pop up on their computer telling them to pull me over. Sure enough that happened one day last year on my way to the beer store on I-66. A lady cop was just sitting on the shoulder scanning all the cars that drove from DC out in to Virginia. I couldn’t see if she had a scanner mounted on her car but as soon as she pulled in to traffic a few seconds behind me I knew that was the reason why. She cruised up to me and pulled me over. She wasn’t happy to hear that I didn’t have any registration and my plates were so old they weren’t even in the system. My safety inspection was expired. I did have a valid license though! For some reason she let me off, give me a light ticket, and told me to drive to the next exit and immediately park at that gas station. She said if I drive home and get caught I will go straight to jail.

So I drove home. What else could I do? How was I supposed to get home from Falls Church? The chances of me being pulled over again was rather low. I thought about it for many seconds. Almost a minute I bet! I knew I could take a different and relatively safe route home. No worries. The car didn’t move after that. It collected so much dust I had to wash the windows to drive it this week.

With a track car and a street car that I never drove I often had to deal with dead batteries. So I have my own battery charger. I charged up my Celica battery and she started right up. I'm not used to it; I'm used to Corollas. When I open the door and sit in the seat it always seems so low compared to a normal car. Until I pull up next to a Corvette and I feel high.

First I got insurance. I’m supposed to be in the standard category as opposed to the premium category because I haven’t had insurance for the last 6 months but for some reason I’m getting the normal rate. Then I rode my bike to the DMV to get a 30 day temporary registration so I could take the car in for inspection and other fixes. After waiting a good 30 minutes the guy that finally took care of me was worthless. I think it took him 30 minutes to take care of me. He had no idea what was going on. The guy next to him had to stop with his customer (citizen?) and help him every few minutes. When he finally got the correct commands in the computer to issue me a registration he found out I was not eligible. You can only get one temporary 30 day registration per car per person. I had already done this previously years ago. So now they need to go through the process to issue me a trip pass. From what I understood from the guys inability to communicate the trip pass is only valid for one day. I had no idea what day I could get in a shop or even what exactly I had to do until I got to a shop. So I picked Thursday (today). You have to declare your destination so they can document it. So when a cop pulls you over for no registration and you are not inbetween your residence and that destination you are busted big time. They advised me to pick someplace far away so I said Manassas. Turns out its a 3 day pass and it started on Thursday. That would have been nice to know.

I took today off to deal with getting the emissions and safety inspection along with whatever hoops I’ll have to go through to get my catalytic converter past the state laws. After getting a much needed car wash I hit Jiffy Lube and got the works. They washed out the engine and gave me new transmission and radiator fluid. There was a Shell station a few doors down so I decided to go give it a try and see what happens. I assumed they would turn me down because I hadn’t driven enough miles since I reconnected the battery for the car's computer to get a diagnostic reading. I was very confident when it did finish its diagnostics it would throw a code for my catalytic converter as it has done every time in the past.

Things didn’t go well in the start. I couldn’t understand this guy either. Everyone else in the shop spoke Spanish but I’m not sure what this guy spoke. He found that my wheel was loose. I had to wait for them to put it on the lift and check it out. Luckily for me they were able to tighten the wheel bearing (after an hour or so). Then I got the best news ever. The car passed both the emissions and safety inspection. I was shocked. I’m still shocked. I’ve only driven about 18 miles and I’m pretty sure that is not enough for the ECU to get a reading. I didn’t ask questions. I paid and left with a smile.


After stopping home for lunch I hit the DMV. I knew exactly how to fill out the form. The lady knew exactly how to serve me. Once I was called up I was out in five minutes with my registration and temporary plates. I got temp plates because I’m getting the ‘bicycle enthusiasts’ plates and they didn’t have them in. VA has a ton of special plates.

I guess I can make it to my brother's wedding now. It will take a bit to get used to the fact that I can just jump in the car and take off somewhere. Road trip anyone?

Hurricane Irene

Not one week from our first major earthquake we have a hurricane. I swear I heard there was a tornado a few days ago as well. As is common it was rather nice before the storm. A change from the typical humidity. Around 10:30am on Saturday morning a line of rain hundreds of miles long hit Arlington. It didn’t really rain that hard throughout the day. Around 7:30pm I went out to Fire Works to ride the storm out at a location with food and lots of good beer. The tropical winds were supposed to hit around 8:00 or so. The winds were sustained at about 35 once it got going but it didn’t seem all that bad. The trees and rain were pounding the windows but it would lighten up on occasion. The media and internet hyped up the storm pretty good. You never know what is going to happen with Mother Nature. Everyone at the bar was enjoying themselves and people seemed to be a little more open and having more fun than normal. Some woman had a flashlight in her purse and that was being played with at the bar.

Lots of people lost power but that was about it around DC. Lewis thought he came through OK till he found 20K dollars of estimated roof damage. The river behind Robie’s house rose on Sunday quicker and higher than it has in the last 100 years or so. He had about 7 feet of water in his basement. He isn’t supposed to get power turned back on until 9/8. That is bad but not as bad as Vermont. The flooding is crazy up there.

It was an interesting week of natural disasters.

Robie's neighbor in the WSJ: Reporter’s Notebook: At Home, a Deluge

5.8 quake and aftershocks

At 1:51 in the afternoon when the earth quake hit I was sitting in my office on the 10th floor over looking the Potomac and DC (best view in the city). The quake had to different and distinct waves. The first was small in duration. I felt the building move for a few seconds. It was subtle but I definitely felt it. There was no sound and no reaction from within my office. Having never been in a quake before and not knowing what was going on I stood up and took a step towards my 10th floor window to observe what I could outside. Not the best advice during an earth quake. The second wave came just a second or two after the first and it was big and sustained. You’d think it was over and then it kept going. Up on the 10th floor there wasn’t a lot of impact. Nothing was falling over, no ceiling tiles falling or anything, just the swaying of the building. I looked around outside for some other evidence and I could see one person looking around and not exactly standing still. That verified to me it wasn’t just the building and I had just experienced my first quake. I always wanted to be in an earthquake.

Being in the mid-Atlantic no one knew what to do once the quake was over. People reacted in all sorts of ways. A few people, including Robie, dropped everything and immediately left the building. Of course they all stood outside under and between very tall office buildings. Other people (including Teri) sheltered under their desk. I figured everything was good and started checking out twitter and the USGS earthquake site. All the locals I followed on Twitter immediately confirmed that they felt the same thing. It took a bit before it showed up on USGS site (quake stats). I hung out in my office with many other coworkers wondering what to do. Apparently all over DC and Arlington there were thousands and thousands of people who emptied out on the streets. I was trying to text Robie to see what he was doing and what we should do. The feds evacuated all buildings and shut down for the day. Most other companies followed. Eventually we all went home. Of course just like when the feds let out early for snow it turned the commute to gridlock. The metro was running at 15 mph because they weren’t sure of all the tracks. Buses were completely full. As I rode home on my bike I noticed huge lines at the bus stops, empty taxi stands, and people everywhere trying unsuccessfully to hail a taxi.

I heard that people were running out of the Washington Monument for a good half hour or so. A 4 foot crack appeared at the top and it is closed indefinitely. The National Cathedral had some damage. An apartment building in Maryland with 110 units was totaled. A chandelier in Teri’s apartment lobby hit the floor. The center speaker screen on my entertainment center fell out but that is about all I noticed at my place. I popular picture online, which may have been taken by Michelle Winston’s friend, showed items all over the floor at a Fredericksburg CVS. The barbershop stayed open and I was able to get my haircut without waiting in line. The bars did the best happy hour business they have ever done.

There were over a dozen aftershocks. I felt a 4.2 aftershock but that was the only one. It was a topic of conversation for a week.

More info on the quake is here.

New Belgium Beer Dinner

Even though I wasn’t so happy with my first beer dinner at Birch & Barley I kept this second reservation to hear the New Belgium brewer and take Rachel to her first beer dinner. I wasn’t surprised to see the menu set up in the same manner with a few small dishes, then the three cheese dish main course, followed by dessert. I’m not a big fan of a cheese main course but the food is excellent and they do put a lot of thought in the pairings.

Today was the first day New Belgium beers are distributed to the DC, VA, and MD markets so this was their coming put party and long time brewer Peter Boukaert was here to talk about the company and their beers. He has been with the brewery since 1996. He is originally from Belgium and has a lot of interesting stories about brewing at New Belgium in Colorado. He definitely has a passion for beer. As he said he could talk about it all night after he has a few drinks. I can relate when he says it is a big decision for him to pick out a beer when he opens his fridge. And then decide which glass to pour it in. It was nice to chat with him for a bit when he came by our table.

The menu:

apéritif

Hoptober

Toasted Farro Salad

Grilled Cucumbers, Chilled Baby Shrimp, Malt Vinaigrette

Fat Tire

Handmade Potato Gnocchi

Salt Cod, Parsley, Pecorino

1554 Enlightened Black Ale

Prosciutto-wrapped Veal Loin

Heirloom Red Potatoes, Swiss Chard, Sage

Trippel

Pleasant Ridge Reserve

Honeyed Walnuts & Micro Arugula

Ranger IPA

Grayson

Dried Sour Cherries & Almonds

Lips of Faith: La Folie

Cave Aged Marisa

Peach Chutney & Micro Celery

Lips of Faith: Clutch

Almond Pound Cake

Nectarines, Sour Cream Ice Cream

Lips of Faith: Super Cru

digestif

Lips of Faith: Kick

I’ve had their Hoptober beer a few times and it is a favorite of mine. Peter said it has 4 malts and 5 hops.

The Fat Tire, their flagship beer of course, tasted much more malty relative to the Hoptober. This was New Belgium’s first beer.

Peter gave a bit of a story on the 1554 Enlightened Black Ale which was a favorite of mine until all these other black ales sprung up. I believe he said that he found an old 1901 book about beer in Belgium in the 1800’s and there was a recipe for a black beer. No one knew that they did a black beer in Belgium in the 1800’s. I looked it up to see if I could find when New Belgium first started brewing the beer and I found this on their web site:

Born of a flood and centuries-old Belgian text, 1554 Enlightened Black Ale uses a lager yeast strain and dark chocolaty malts to redefine what dark beer can be. In 1997, a Fort Collins flood destroyed the original recipe our researcher, Phil Benstein, found in the library. So Phil and brewmaster, Peter Bouckaert, traveled to Belgium to retrieve this unique style lost to the ages. Their first challenge was deciphering antiquated script and outdated units of measurement, but trial and error (and many months of in-house sampling) culminated in 1554, a highly quaffable dark beer with a moderate body and mouthfeel.

The prosciutto wrapped veal lion was good with the Trippel (7.8%). Peter said only New Belgium spells it that way. The heirloom red potatoes were from a local farm.

The Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese was an American cow’s milk from WI. The Grayson was a soft American wild cheese. And I think the Cave Aged Marisa was from WI and smoked. The Ranger IPA is a year round beer for them but the other two from the Lips of Faith series are more limited beers. The La Folie is a sour brown ale and went with the cheese quite well. Similar with the Clutch which is an 80% stout and 20% dark sour wood beer.

The Almond Pound Cake and Super Cru was a great pairing. I scraped off the almonds of course. Peter talked a lot about enjoying American beer culture when talking about this 20th anniversary beer. It is based on Fat Tire but with a saison yeast.

The last beer was the Lips of Faith: Kick. It is described as a “a rich and tart pumpkin cranberry ale blended with wood-aged beer”. As usual I can’t say much about the last beer. Rachel and I enjoyed it and had fun listening to Peter’s stories. Not sure I’ll be back too soon for a Birch & Barley beer dinner even though I really like the place.

DC Beer Week: Cask Night at District Chophouse

Two of the events I planned to attend during DC Beer Week were limited and required tickets. The Founders Beer dinner was the first and Cask Night at District Chophouse was the second. Originally they planned to have 10 local casks available along with food. You get a serving glass and have at it for a few hours till the casks are kicked. Before the event they said they would have 12 casks but I only counted 11 for some reason. I got tickets for Lewis and myself. It was hard to get out of work with a proposal due that day but you gotta maintain your priorities!

When we showed up they said they weren’t ready but after a minute or two we headed upstairs and started drinking anyway. They were ready. It was nice to have 12 casks sitting around the room without any lines. I think there were about 80 tickets sold. It got a little crowded in their upstairs room but I never waited for anything. It was all self serve. The beer line up:

Capital City Brewing Company, of Washington, D.C., and Arlington, VA

Peat Me Up Scotty: 5.7% abv Scottish Export Ale, primed with fermenting Kolsch wort

Du Claw Brewing, of Bel Air, MD, etc.

Bad Moon Porter: 6.5% abv, aged in a Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrel

Franklin's Restaurant & Brewery, of Hyattsville, MD

Ludicrous: 6.3% abv, sour-mashed rye saison

Gordon-Biersch Brewery & Restaurant, of Rockville, MD

Gose: 4.4% abv, wheat beer brewed with slightly salted water, and fermented with lactic bacteria

Heavy Seas Brewing, of Baltimore, MD

Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA: 7.3% abv, dry-hopped with varities of hops: Ahtanum, Cascade, Centennial, Palisade, Simcoe, and Falconers Flight (a proprietary blend from Hop Union)

Lost Rhino Brewing, of Ashburn, VA

New River Pale Ale: 5.4% abv, "extremely aromatic American-Style Pale Ale."

Mad Fox Brewing Company, of Falls Church, VA

Wee Heavy: 8.6% abv, strong Scotch Ale, primed with Virginia honey

Oliver Ales, at the Pratt Street Alehouse, in Baltimore, MD

Strongman Pale Ale: 9% abv, dry-hopped with Sorachi Ace

Rock Bottom Brewery & Restaurant, in Bethesda, MD

Atom Smasher: 9.4% abv, 'English-Style' BarleyWine

Sweetwater Tavern, of Centreville, VA, etc.

Pale Face Summer Wheat (A L'Orange): 6.1% abv, HefeWeizen primed with orange liqueur

The beers were pretty tasty. I’ve only had a few previously which is nice. Lots of local beer folks were there. I talked to a bartender and server from Mad Fox who both work in the brewhouse. The brewer Charlie was there but I didn’t talk to him. I talked to Greg Kitsock from the Washington Post for a bit. I also talked to Tom Cizauskas who is a beer blogger and wholesaler. He said he gets scooped a lot on beer stories because he can’t write about certain stuff he is involved in. A Lost Rhino rep was there, not the guys I met on Tuesday night, who said he does fabracation for all the local breweries. I also talked to the brewer for the District Chophouse who I recognized from Brickskeller events. He is a cool guy to talk to. I recognized and talked to a few other beer geeks that I commonly see at events.

My favorite beers of the night were Loose Cannon, Lost Rhino’s Pale Ale, Strongman, and the Wee Heavey. I think the Loose Cannon was my favorite as it was excellent in the cask form. They had lamb chops, meat balls, pizza, pasta salad, and hummas to eat. Lewis left around 8:30 or so and stayed for another hour or so. They had a raffle to give away growlers that you could fill at the end of the night. Lewis’s ticket was one number away from winning. I swapped info with some people. It ended up being a great event. I definitely wasn’t the only one who was rather intoxicated at the end of the night.

DC Beer Week: Lost Rhino at Fire Works

I wasn’t expecting anything to be going on at Fire Works when I showed up on Tuesday. I was just getting some dinner after work as I often do at my favorite neighborhood beer bar. When I walked in I noticed Dave Engbers from Founders who I recognized from the previous night. He was with what appeared to be some distributors by their shirts. I talked to Dave for a few minutes before I sat down at the bar. He seems to be a pretty cool and nice guy. He said he has enjoyed DC and the dinner last night at Birch and Barley. He seems genuinely happy about introducing his beer to new customers and introducing new beer to existing customers that hasn’t made it out to DC yet.

Although I ran in to the Founders co-founder the promotion at Fire Works that night was for a new local brewery called Lost Rhino. They took over the Old Dominion location and have just recently gotten their three beers out on the market: Face Plant IPA, New River Pale Ale, and Rhino Chasers Pacific Pilsner. I had one of each and got a Lost Rhino glass to take home. Sitting at the bar I talked to both brewers and owners at Lost Rhino. They are previous Old Dominion brewers. They seemed to be happy and busy. There is a great chance in a few years from now they will be sitting back and enjoying the profits of a successful business. A local wholesaler named Jeff was also there who Matthew from Lost Rhino gave some credit to. Favio, a Lost Rhino brewer, said they want to do bus tours from DC to the brewery. When he ordered a Face Plant IPA I asked if he usually drinks his own beer. He said he liked to try the Face Plant because it is unfiltered and different at each place. Both co-owners were excited about the local keg competition at Mad Fox tomorrow. About five local breweries are each having a keg tapped at 6:00 tomorrow at Mad Fox and the first one kicked wins. Favio said they made a “Brewer’s Cup” out of some beer keg or something that looks like the Stanley Cup. They are hoping to take it home but they don’t have a chance against Orange Whip IPA. We’ll see if I can show up for that tomorrow and at least get a growler of my current favorite beer.

DC Beer Week: Founders Brewery dinner

Birch & Barley scheduled a Founders beer dinner this week and a New Belgium beer dinner next week. I preferred the Founders dinner because the founder of Founders was to be there but unfortunately it was sold out when I tried to make reservations. I put my name on the waiting list and didn’t expect much. Sure enough the night before I got a call from a last minute cancellation. After a crazy day at work Teri and I headed over for the 7:00 dinner.

When we arrived 10 minutes before 7:00 they weren’t letting people in the restaurant area downstairs so we hung outside for 15 minutes. The dinner started a little late and went slowly but it was very well put together and I’m sure it took lots of time to prepare each course. It was a great beer line up with beers formally only available at the brewery. It turned out to be an excellent dinner overall although on the light side. The menu:

Apéritif

All Day IPA

Crudo Of Spanish Mackerel

Heirloom Tomatoes & Gooseberries

Cerise

Torchon Of Foie Gras

Spiced Almond Purée, Frisee, Mâche

Blushing Monk 2011

Grilled Skirt Steak

Toasted Farro, Mustard Greens, Roasted Cauliflower

Cashew Mountain Brown

Quicke’s Cheddar

Pinenut Butter & Micro Arugula

10K IPA

Ossau-Iraty Vieille

Dried Currants & Candied Almonds

Founders Imperial Stout

Roquefort D’Argental

Port Wine-Glazed Figs & Micro Celery

Nemesis 2010

Classic Peach Shortcake

Creme Fraiche Biscuit, Bourbon Caramel, Virginia Peaches

KBS 2011

Digestif

Devil Dancer 2011

The co-founder of Founders Brewery, Dave Engbers, was in DC for his first time and on hand to talk about the brewery and beers. He was a pretty cool and straight forward guy. The dinner consisted of nine beers and five “courses”. The main course combined three of the cheese pairings which is how they came up with five. Greg Engert, the Birch & Barley beer director, first talked about how they put the dinner together and then introduced Dave from Founders. Dave talked about All Day IPA a little and gave a quick background of the brewery. Founders seemed to have a similar story to other breweries from the 1990’s that are still around. Investors thought they were crazy and it took many years of hard work to convince distributors and bar owners. Craft beer finally came around and in the last five years they have had trouble meeting capacity and have been growing tremendously each year.

The All Day IPA was an excellent beer. As the name implies it is a session beer at only 4.5%. And as Dave from Founders said they don’t do small beers. It had a great grapefruit smell and taste. A wonderful beer. A little light bodied but with all the aroma and taste. Something you could drink all day. Dave said this was going to be a regular Founders beer and should be available in March.

The mackerel, tomatoes and gooseberries were good. The mackerel was served basically uncooked. Teri is not a fan of sushi but she liked it. Of course I didn’t eat the tomatoes. But tasting the Cerise I can see how it would be an excellent pairing with tomatoes. Dave said that they used to brew a raspberry beer and when the auto industry in Michigan took a dive they decided to use local cherries instead. He said 90% of the cherries in the country come from his area in Michigan. So they made this cherry beer to help the local farmers.

I’m not a fan of foie gras but I gave it a shot. It wasn’t too bad with the salad type stuff around it. I can enjoy a lot of things when they are paired with a Blushing Monk. I visited ChurchKey for this specific beer awhile ago. Dave said they use 33,000 lbs of fresh raspberries and they do not make any money on this beer.

They served their pretzel bread at one point between courses. All their breads are wonderful.

The grilled skirt steak was the heartiest of the courses. Everyone commented on how good the roasted cauliflower was. And it was pretty good. Not sure I’ve had roasted cauliflower before. This was paired with the Cashew Mountain Brown ale. This was a favorite beer among everyone. As Dave said “nothing we release is going to be schwag”. He also called is a “stupid good beer”. Apparently he likes his own beer. This is a bourbon barrel aged beer. Roasted cashews were used in the brewing process and the beer is usually only available at the brewery tap room.

Next came three cheese dishes all as one course. And three beers to go along with each one. Each cheese and beer had a unique character and the pairings worked well together. The cheddar and the hoppy 10K IPA were good. The 10K is supposed to be an imperial west coast IPA. I’m not much of a blue cheese fan so I didn’t eat the Roquefort D’Argental. It’s supposed to be one of the best blue cheeses in the world. I did drink the Imperial Stout and Nemesis though. The Nemesis is an annual beer but they do it differently each year. Apparently they had trademark issues with this beer.

The dessert dish was nice. The bourbon caramel went well with the KBS 2011 which is aged in bourbon barrels. It used to be called Kentucky Bourbon Stout but they had to change the name for legal reasons. Same with Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS).

We finished off the night with a Devil Dancer. A triple IPA. This beer is dry hopped with ten different types of hopes (can you taste each one?) and over 12% ABV. Dave said this was an example of “fuckery” where they take an existing style and fuck with it. He also said it smells like sweet bong water which I didn’t understand too well.

The dinner was excellent. Although for the price we felt sorta jipped that we were still hungry. It was great to hear from Dave and get a chance to talk to him. It is always nice to put a personality to a brewery.