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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

DC Beer Week: Summertime in Allagashington

DC has become a decent beer town. We have gotten a few nice beer bars that have excellent rotating selections and bring in new and unique beers from across the country and world. In the last year we have about four or five new breweries that have started brewing. SAVOR brings the whole craft beer industry to DC and we celebrate with a week’s worth of events. And we also have DC Beer Week (DC Beer Week origins). I don’t mind how it came about I’m just happy to take advantage of the fun. This year there are dozens of events going on during the week with brewers from all over the county and rare beer that isn’t distributed to the area. I only have one or two events planned but I hope to show up to a few more.

On this first day of DC Beer Week Teri and I rode bikes down to Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown for our favorite pizza. They had an event called Summertime in Allagashington in which they had five Allagash beers on tab. We had a hop flight that included an Oliver’s Ironman on cask and two Mikkeller Hop Series beers. We also had an Allagash flight with Victor, Victoria, and Fluxus. I've talked up their Victor and Victoria for years with their grape wine characteristics but I liked the Fluxus the best on this occasion out of the Allagash beers. I think my favorite was the Pratt St. Ale House Oliver’s Ironman Pale Ale on cask dry hopped with citra hops. We also ate their special pizza for the week which we both loved. It had sausage, roasted corn, fresh mozzarella, and something else I’ve forgotten.

It was a good start to DC Beer Week. I thought the Victor and Victoria would be the highlight of the day but it turned out that I enjoyed the Ironman on cask and special pizza the best. Teri rode back to Rosslyn and got her car and I rode back home. Tomorrow’s event may be the highlight of the week.

Oktoberfest just out of July

I happened to be in Ted’s Montana Grill getting a burger. The Sam Adams seasonal on tap was Octoberfest. The last few years many of us have complained about how early the seasonal beers come out. Each year they seem to come out earlier and earlier. I’ve heard the brewers talking about brewing fall beers this year but I haven’t heard about any fall beers actually being on the market yet. The shelves will be full of fall beers next week I’m sure. Season creep. It is like scope creep on my projects at work.

biking and beers

Teri and I got out of work early on Friday being that the office was about empty anyway. We headed to Mad Fox for some good food and beer. My first beer was their Defender APA on cask which is one of my favorites. I also brought home another growler of Orange Whip IPA.

Then on Saturday Teri and I rode bikes to ChurchKey for a few beers. It was a nice ride there and not too overwhelmingly hot. Here are the beers I sampled at the bar:

Oliver's Cask Punk (dry-hopped w/ Amarillo and Citra Hops in the Cask)

Pratt st. Ale House - English IPA - 7% - full glass

Snake Dog on cask

Flying Dog - American IPA - 7.1%

The Public

DC Brau - American Pale Ale - 6%

Face Plant IPA

Lost Rhino - American IPA - 6.2%

Blanda Drops (blend of 4 different Haandbryggeriet ales)

Haandbryggeriet - Belgian Dark Ale - 5%

Aphrodite (Brett beer w/ raspberries and pears added in fermentation)

Ommegang - saison - 8.9%

120 Minute IPA (hopped for 2 hours, dry-hopped in fermenter for 1 month then aged one month on flower hops)

Dogfish Head - Imperial IPA - 18%

I believe I'm missing one of the beers I tried because their menu is out of date. Teri had a nice saison flight and a belgian blonde flight. We split the 18% 120 Minute so we could still bike home.

Lots of great tastes. We tried the cheese board for the first time. The bartender did a good job pairing the three cheeses with three beers. A smoked beer was paired with the cheddar. The Aphrodite was paired with a creamy cheese. And the last mild blue cheese was paired with some beer I can't remember. We watched the first half of the Manchester United vs Barcelona soccer game that was going on here in DC. Then we rode back to my place to watch the second half.

I think the Aphrodite was our favorite beer of the day.

Smuttynose tasting

Rustico in Ballston had a Smuttynose event with beers previously unavailable in the area and the brewer in attendance. Five minutes before 5:00 I escaped from the office and ran home so I could get a decent seat for this lineup. After a bike ride home and a refreshing shower I was able to get a seat at the bar not much after 5:45.

My first round I got a full serving of the Smuttynose A'muttonator '08. It is a dunkles doppelbock at 9.6% ABV. I’m a fan of dunkle beers which is a big reason why I started with this one. Then I noticed a dunkles doppelbock from Duck-Rabbit so I ordered a sample of the Duck-Rabbitor which comes in at 8.5% for a comparison.

For the next round I got three sample size tastings of strong ales. There was the New Holland Beethoven Triple at 9%. And the Epic Brainless on Cherries which is a Belgian strong ale with cherries at 10.8%. And the third one was the Smuttynose Homuculus '11. It is a Belgian strong blonde at 9% and is the debut of this beer in Virginia.

The third round was another mix of samples. First was the Smuttynose Wheat Wine at 12% ABV. It was a great beer, quite mellow; I didn’t taste any alcohol at all. The Smuttynose Gravitation '09 was another good one. There are 200 lbs of raisin puree added to each batch which provided that grape taste. I thought the raisins and aging brought out a very wine like character. The third was the Smuttynose Imperial Stout at 10.1%. It was dry hopped with Cascade pellets then matured with Cascade & Columbus whole flowers. It was very good, hard to say why, maybe because it is a dark beer without the roasted aftertaste?

The last round was an Oskar Blues G'Knight Imperial Red/Double IPA at 8.7% ABV. It was on cask which made it that much better. The Oskar Blues beers are full of favor and I assume they all would taste great from a cask.

Before I left I noticed Tom hanging out at the bar who used to hook me up at my local Whole Foods. I haven’t seen him for awhile and it sounds like he is inbetween jobs. He said if he hooks up the job he is lining up I’ll get 30% off my beer in the future. I’m crossing my figures for him!

Tuesday Tapping

On some Tuesdays Mad Fox will tap a new beer that isn’t currently on their rotation. Often its either a new beer or one they haven’t had in awhile. Previously Teri and I have hit up the Tuesday Tapping of their Strawberry Blonde. On this Tuesday they were tapping their very popular Orange Whip IPA. From what Bill and his bartenders tell me this is by far their customer favorite. The citrus hops give it that very citrus taste. As has been mentioned before on this blog I believe the reason he doesn’t brew it more often is the lack of citrus hops on the market.

I did the metro/bike combo a few weeks ago during the Mad Fox 1st Anniversary. They had some special food, some special beer, and a band playing that weekend. They had 250 1st Anniversary glasses that they gave out and went quick. It was a hot day but I took the metro to Falls Church and rode my bike the rest of the way. It was a short metro and bike ride. That day I hung out with a home brewer and ran in to Teri who was there to pick up a growler.

I did the metro/bike combo again today. It only takes about 35 minutes or less to metro or bike the whole way. It was crowded and there wasn’t any room at the bar. I asked to share a bar table and met an F1 fan and biker. The best part of the night was getting a growler of Orange Whip IPA for less than my pint. Their Tuesday Tapping special is half price on growler fills. The 2 liters of Orange Whip I took home only cost $5. Not bad for one of my favorite beers.

I was tempted to ride all the way home but I did jump on the metro. Now I’m enjoying an Orange Whip IPA at home in my Mad Fox 1st Anniversary glass. Having access to such great beer is a wonderful thing.

a couple fine fruit beers

On Tuesday’s Mad Fox often taps a new beer. On this Tuesday they tapped their first ever fruit beer. It took Teri and I forever to get there because a truck full of hay caught fire on I-66. Not too many people were there although they said the beer had been popular that day. It is a wheat beer made with strawberries called Strawberry Blonde. It was very mellow and refreshing. Perfect for the sweltering summer days. It reminded me of 21st Amendment’s Hell or High Watermelon Wheat that Teri was drinking at Super Ball. Probably because they are both wheat beers. Bill’s Strawberry Blonde was excellent though and I took home a growler fill. Teri dropped me off at the metro and took off to Michelle’s.

Once home I jumped on my bike and headed to ChurchKey. I hadn’t ridden my bike in the dark much yet this season. They had sent out a tweet earlier that day about tapping Founder’s Blushing Monk. This is a very special beer by Founder’s. They last brewed it in 2007 and it has been highly requested since. It is a Belgian Raspberry Ale made with real raspberries. It is 9.2% ABV. It was not as sweet as the Lindemans Framboise of course. It had the perfect carbonation. A bit of a tart after taste. It was very good. You could tell it was made with real raspberries. Definitely a sipping beer.

The next beer I had was DC Brau’s The Corruption. It was excellent. Dry hopped I think. I wonder if it was so tasty because of its freshness being a DC beer?

When I went back out to my bike I had a flat tire. Not exactly what you want to fix after a few beers in the evening. I’ve gotten quick at it though on my road bike and was riding home in no time. I had stage 4 of the Tour de France to watch that night.

120 Minute IPA

After what I heard on my search last Saturday I assumed there was no way I was going to get any Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA this year. Only 20 cases were supposed to come in VA (or Northern VA). So only a few lucky stores were going to get it and they were only going to get one case each. It was going to go quick so if it arrived in the middle of a week day as it was scheduled I didn’t see how I could get any. There was a limit to one bottle per person at all the places I talked to. The one Total Wine that did get it in the previous week said it sold out in two hours. I made some phone calls on Monday to see what was up but didn’t have much hope. When I called the Chantilly Total Wine they claimed to have a couple cases. I didn’t ask questions and took off during lunch to make the long drive. Once I arrived there was no 120 Minute IPA. Their case had not yet come in. They said none of the Total Wines in the area had it yet. The person on the phone must have confused it with 90 Minute or something. So on the way back I called Norm’s Beer and Wine in Vienna. I assumed theirs would go in minutes being that they are the popular non-chain beer store in the area with lots of loyal customers. The woman on the phone said that they got their case in two days ago but that not everyone had come in to pick up their bottle and they had one or two they could give away. Thirty minutes later I had my 2011 bottle of 120 Minute in my hand. Only $10 for the 12 ounces.

The next day I tried again at the McLean Total Wine. They said they were getting their case in that Tuesday. When I called at 11:00 they said the truck was there and the beer should be in the store within the hour. I showed up around 1:30 and they said I was the 15th person and that it wouldn’t last the hour. I now had my second bottle.

On Wednesday the Springfield Total Wine location was supposed to get theirs so again I went during lunch. Apparently they have a different distributor and got two cases. I was allowed to get two bottles. I gave one to Robie being that he has been talking about how much he likes 90 Minute IPA lately.

On Thursday the Alexandria location was supposed to get their two cases. I called around 10:30 and they didn’t have it yet. When Teri called around 1:30 it was all gone.

It was a lot of time and effort to get my four bottles and I figured I was very lucky to get any so I called off my search. After assuming last Saturday that I wouldn’t get any I’m happy to have three bottles for my beer stock. I’ll drink at least one now and save at least one for a few years. The third one will be opened for some special occasion. Maybe at the same time I open my 2008 bottle.

parents visit

It has been a crazy month so far and this weekend and next weekend will continue the run. This weekend the parents came down for the annual visit. They hung out in Raleigh as usual leading up to the weekend. On Friday we had Jen’s engagement party at Scott’s house. A lot of Scott and Jen’s friends were there as well as Mark and Michelle. I brought over a growler of Sierra Nevada Southern Harvest Ale to share. There was food from Uncle Julio’s as well as cake. Lots of beer and food. Beth, Matt, and I crashed out at Mark and Michelle’s place that night.

Mark made an excellent breakfast on Saturday. We decided to go on a beer run and look for Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. I heard it was supposed to be released on Thursday or so. There are only 20 cases coming to Virginia (or Northern Virginia depending on who you ask). It is a very sought after beer especially since the 2010 version was dumped down the drain as seen on the Brewmasters TV show. I was hoping that Total Wine or Whole Foods may have just gotten their case that day or still had some in stock. On the trip out I made some phone calls and found out it was either sold out or not yet in stock at all locations. Those that were still getting it in were only getting one case and it would be during next week. I assumed there was no way I was going to be getting 120 Minute this year. Quite the bummer. We did pick up some fine brews for the evening though.

We also picked up a bushel of med-large live crabs. After some appetizers we opened my last bottle of Infinium to celebrate Matt’s birthday. Only a few ounces for nine people but it was still tasty. Then Scott steamed up the crabs and I ate a lot. First time in two years. After dinner we drank my two bottles of SAVOR Flowers and people seemed to enjoy it. I got a few comments that it went well with the cake. The SAVOR Flowers appeared to lose a lot of the flower taste and smell but was still present. We went back to Mark and Michelle’s again Saturday night. We played Set and I actually participated and won a round this time. We also ordered a pizza against Mark’s recommendation and it was the best pizza ever. On Sunday we lazed around a bit and waited for my parents to arrive and check out the aquarium. I was dropped off at the metro and went home to relax for a bit before dinner.

The parents, Scott, and Jen came over before dinner to check out the new TV and entertainment center. We watched a few 3D shows from On Demand. Everyone seemed to enjoy the 3rd dimension. We had dinner at Fire Works. I had a Flying Dog Pale Ale on cask and it was very delicious. I can only assume because it was so fresh. It was dry hopped but tasted wet hopped. I could have drank a few of those.

The parents left on Monday and that left one more big weekend coming up.