Review: Flying Dog Brewing Tasting Room

The folks and myself made our way west to lovely Frederick, Md. Saturday to revisit the Flying Dog Brewery and tasting room. Flying Dog relocated to Maryland from its home base in Colorado several years ago, acquiring and sharing its current facility with Wild Goose Brewing.

Flying Dog is open on Saturdays from 130-4 PM, with tours at 2 and 3. We skipped the tour this time, but its usually lively and casual and recommended if you have the time and haven't done it before. Flying Dog also has a small gift shop to pick up glasses, shirts, clean growlers and so on.

The tasting room was the focus for us this time. Most of their regular lineup was pouring, except they had subbed the Kerberos Tripel for an offering from their Wild Dog series, Dog Schwarz. That Dog Schwarz, bytheway, was quite smokey. I was expecting something a bit more sweet and subdued, but this came out like a smoked/rauch beer, such as Alaskan Brewing's Smoked Porter or the famous German smoked beers from Schlenkerla in Bamberg.

Additionally, they had a full line of Wild Goose taps including their winter seasonal Snow Goose and their fall seasonal pumpkin beer. Flying Dog also had a cask although it wasn't pouring, and a "nitro blend" with their Horn Dog Barley Wine and something else mixed in there. For those unfamiliar, a nitro tap is what something like Guinness usually (always) is poured from, it seems to soften the beer and creates that cascading effect which is so visually enticing. The reason I was excited to go, however, was the day-of availability of their spring seasonal offering, the Garde Dog modeled after the French Biere De Garde style beers.

The tasting room inevitably ends up a very lively place packed with people, but Flying Dog has wisely done some things to tone it down a tad. The last time I was there, you could purchase a glass for $5 and there would be pretty much unlimited half-pours. Now, all the glasses are marked with a 6 oz line and you are handed (6) fanned bottlecaps upon entry to redeem for tasters. What you choose to do with them is your discretion.

I targeted the Garde Dog but was told they were out. Stunning. However, about an hour later I found them pouring from the Garde Dog tap, so I guess another keg had been put on, which didn't last long either. I had it from a bottle once last year and enjoyed it, but like many beers this came across much more lively and fresh on tap, even at just over six ounces. It was spicey and earthy, pale in color but not so floral or funky as some saisons but in a similar general range of flavor to it. I was hooked.

Equally impressive, and to my surprise, was their Doggie Style classic pale ale. I've generally passed over this beer, but several ounces in it woke me up a bit. The flavor was solid, but what really hit me was the aroma. It reminded me of some of the great IPA's and pale ales I had been enjoying recently in San Diego. Checking their literature, Flying Dog named the hops: Northern Brewer and Cascade. It was described as having a "powerful Cascade hop aroma with a sweet caramel body and a distinct hop bite. Dry hopped during fermentation with a shitload of Cascade hops".

Which prompted me to text my friend Steve, Anchorman style, "I love Cascade". I love Cascade!

Only now have I begun paying attention to hopping and the details behind beers, so apologies for sounding like a novice at times even a year into this Baltimore Beer Guy thing. I don't homebrew although I am looking into that. However I did work with Steve to make a Belgian Pale Ale on my recent trip to California, more details about that later in another entry. But back to Flying Dog.

Everything else there was fun, obviously we didn't try every beer, but got around to most of Flying Dog's offerings and a few from Wild Goose, which tends to be a bit conservative in flavor for me. They're modeled more after British ales and lagers, so are more subdued and classic in temperament.

It is also worth mentioning Flying Dog offers growler fills. They sell growlers in the store, but many people there had brought their own various growlers to take home the good stuff. Near the entrance to the tasting room there is a beer fridge where guests can get take-home 4, 6 and 12 packs of whatever Flying Dog's put in the fridge. As mentioned here a few days ago they also have 12-packs of the 7-oz "pony" bottles, that are available. I saw one customer also had a 750ml bottle of the Dog Schwarz ready to go.

This being winter, everyone was crammed inside, but in warmer times there's a patio that I've read employees will sometimes crank out the BBQ, and people can generally relax just outside the tasting room. The patio covering was draped with hop vines last time I was there, but was empty this time. Hopefully those make a return.

Coming up ... a review of Growlers (Gaithersburg, Md.)

Pictured above: two nice ladies we met at the tasting room, Deborah and Barb; Baltimore Beer Guy feeding the goose

Random Note: The Owl Bar

Stopped into the Owl Bar this afternoon, as I was a little early in advance of the Brewer's Art 4 PM opening. Its in the Hotel Belvedere (really, a converted hotel that is now home to condiminiums), across from the Brewer's Art. Nice place, I've written about it before, as has Beer In Baltimore.

It has that really cool prohibition feel, the usual taps were on and I went with an Owl Pale. Quick question since I forgot to ask today, who are they contract brewed with to make those, since I don't think they brew their own beer? Thanks.

Its not the biggest craft beer place ever, but I do recommend it if you're in the Mt. Vernon area before Brewer's Art opens or if for some reason you're at BA and don't enjoy it. Apparently the Owl Bar and sister property The 13th Floor in the same building are for sale though, not sure what that's all about if true so might want to enjoy it while you can if true just in case new ownership changes the theme.

Quickie Diamondback Tavern Update

As previously noted here and other places, the Diamondback Tavern is officially open. It is in the former Tiber River Tavern in downtown Ellicott City, just up the hill from the main drag there. It has a Maryland theme, and is quite nice inside, about as nice as a place can be given the facility.

The menu is decent enough, the old man and myself had some wings, the unique scotch eggs and a smushed meatball sub. As for the beer -- they've got two bars that seat I think about nine each, one on the main floor and one upstairs. There are six tap handles: Guinness, Smithwicks, Yuengling, Fordham Tavern Ale, Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and Clipper City Winter Storm.

Could be worse, and I'm sure they'll rotate a bit. I hunch the Guinness and Yuengling will be permanent fixtures but the rest should allow for creativity and inspiration.

I enjoyed the view from my table downstairs by the bar, you can look onto the street, down the hill or watch people going by. Its fairly spacious overall, looks like they didn't try and cram a bunch of tables in where they could have gotten greedy and done so -- makes it a more inviting and friendly space. Its a unique building, with a few twists and turns here and there, very Ellicott City.

There won't be a craft beer crowd here, but its a nice place to grab a bite, get a decent beer and bring friends or family before heading elsewhere in Ellicott City (Judges Bench or Ellicott Mills Brewing Co., perhaps?).

Brew Review: The Bruery Batch Levud's

Batch No. 1 of Orange County, California based The Bruery's Batch Levud's, a Belgian style pale/golden ale brewed with Belgian sugar (#1038/2157). Shipped to me courtesy of the great Steve at Summer of Beer.

I'll be parallel tasting this with Summer of Beer Steve, with our review notes appearing at a later point on his website.

First things first, I'll pour this into a room temperature tulip glass as recommended. This beer comes in a 750ml green glass bottle, and is signed (awesome) by what looks like Tyler King (the head brewer I believe) and Patrick Rue (the owner).

Unlike most of the Bruery tastings so far, this one doesn't go crazy with the carbonation and head. There's an absolutely gorgeous bright white, big bubbled but overall modest sized head cresting the glass.

Its a medium murky dark golden color, smells fruity right away, like pears and passionfruit. The head is a sight to behold, Steve calls it sea foam-like, good description there. First taste is ripe fruit, more of the same flavor combinations, with a little something else I'll chase for a bit. This is nothing like the standard BSPA's, much less yeasty and hoppy, more malty and fruity.

If you've had the Ozzy BSPA from Baltimore's great The Brewer's Art ... this is nothing like it. They share a similar color and general direction, but this one veers off from convention (and Ozzy itself is unconventional) and goes fruity, sort of like a white wine meets BSPA.

Once again The Bruery has taken us into what I assume is uncharted territory. These guys have a special talent in doing the obscene and making it palatable for the 21st century beer drinker. In a way they have probably a certain similarity to the extreme brewing going on at Dogfish Head, but with less alcohol and a much greater nod to classic and Belgian styles.

I'm struggling to come up with a comparable beer, but my memory is surging with thoughts from some of the beers I tasted at The Trappist, a truly great Belgian beer bar in Oakland, California that I visited this summer.

This is quite refreshing, a bit out of season now in the Eastern fall as the leaves turn, the sun sets early and my mood darkens just a touch. It's not so refreshing as a fantastic summery Saison, but is more in the heavily fruited white wine class, like a beer-y Gewurztraminer with apples and pears and passionfruit to go with the grape.

Its going to take a while to drink this tonight, as it's really, really sweet. Anyway, I'm off to enjoy the rest of it, I'll offer any other insights if the relevant thoughts surge into my brain.

Brew Review: The Bruery Saison Rue

This is one of those beers my great friend Steve (Summer of Beer) sent me a few weeks back. The Bruery is a Belgian-styled Brewery in Orange County, California that is making some very interesting stuff.

I've previously done a Bruery "parallel tasting" and this adventure is more on my own. Ask requested on the bottle, I poured ever-so-slowly into a tulip glass. It is described as a "Belgian-style ale brewed with rye and Brettanomyces (yeast)".

The first batch of several of the Bruery's beers I guess were overcarbonated, this one included. My hand was steady and my pour slow, but the bubbly stuff still got the best of me. Be forewarned on these at least from the early batches that a lot of impossible to prevent head is coming your way.

After using several top secret measures to get that head down, it's tasting time. I'm not getting a whole lot in the nose although that may have to do with the death of the perilous piles of head. I got too caught up in putting out that fire and forgot to take a few whiffs. Poor form for any beer nut.

Right off the bat I get a taste that reminds me seems like something of a trademark. Hard to describe, but you know it when you taste it from particular brewers. The Bruery has its own unique taste that runs through most of the beers, and this one carries it. Its sort of pleasant and perhaps a bit peachy and light.

I can definitely taste the carbonation here, its sort of bitey on the tongue as I take the first few sips, this beer is also still a bit cool, that seems to wear down most of the time as they warm up.

Color is deep golden, just as described, and with a hef-like cloudiness thanks to it being unfiltered. There's something visually awesome about an unfiltered golden ale, and the Bruery hits it here.

I'm starting to pick up the brett just a bit, as this has some definite sourness and the faintest hint of that really delicious brett aroma that drives me wild in certain beers (think Orval, which no joke I can spend a night joyful just sniffing the bottle).

As saison is a wide-ranging style, this successfully can be classified as one without reminding me in the faintest (as of now) of the classics like a Saison DuPont or an Ommegang.

There's a certain sweet and sour thing going on here, with sweet dominating on some sips, sour tartness on others.

Overall I'm enjoying this. It's not a raver, but its worthy. Like almost everything I've had from the Bruery, this one forces you to slow down and figure it all out. Sometimes I'm in a rush to enjoy what I'm drinking at face value, and this beer puts the brakes on that a bit and says "hold up, you won't enjoy me at that rate, slow down, let me warm up a bit, there ya go, better, huh? Yeah now what about me is it that you like, and it shouldn't be obvious". And yes, I have conversations with all my beer.

Another thing I want to point out: while listening to a homebrewing podcast recently, the hosts were discussing how the people at Lost Abbey, Russian River etc. are on a whole nothing "taste" plane, that they were somewhere beyond the nuts and bolts of the craft and untethered in their deep understanding of brewing and creating new tastes from this. I'm not sure the Bruery is at their level, but it says something to see how they've gone about some of their initial beers.

This is ambitious stuff. A tripel with rice and thai basil? An outlier saison with rye and brett? This is some unusual stuff. Yeah it's sort of crazy for crazy's sake, but it works which is the mark of talent and someone finding their way and trying to ascend to new heights.

I've yet to find that Bruery beer that I'm absolutely in love with, but its a young brewery and I like where they're going.

Weyerbacher Night at Frisco Grille Review

As previously mentioned on here, Frisco Grille hosted Weyerbacher beers for its weekly Wednesday pint night. The free pints were gone by the time I arrived around 7:30, but no matter (although they were nice-looking tulip glasses).

Frisco had seven Weyerbacher beers on: the famed Double Simcoe IPA, the Blasphemy (a Belgian style quad), Hops Infusion (an IPA), the Imperial Pumpkin Ale, the Slam Dunkel, the Heresy (a Russian Imperal Stout) and the Merry Monk's Ale (a tripel).

I had a taster of the pumpkin ale which was decent refreshing but not something I'd have a full drink of as I just don't enjoy that type of beer in large amounts. I also had a half pour of the Hops Infusion which was quite good and kicked before the night was over.

My nemesis, the Double Simcoe IPA, was also tried. I enjoyed it much more this time, but its still not a beer I really like or enjoy as famed as it is with the hop heads.

My favorites were definitely the Merry Monks tripel which was refreshing and aromatic and highly enjoyable, and the Slam Dunkel which was on the lighter side for a dunkel and also quite refreshing and a bit sweet.

One real treat was that the brewery rep was there to talk to and also provided several bottles of a yet-unnamed "smoked lager". The Frisco people poured the occasional taster of that for customers and I really enjoyed my sample so be on the lookout for that from Weyerbacher at some point.

Review: Dog Pub (Columbia)

In case you missed the headline, Dog Pub is located in Suburban Columbia, just a few doors down from the great Frisco Grille. It's a little hard to locate the first time, but is right in a beer corridor with Victoria Gastro Pub just up the way on Snowden River Parkway (near the 100) and The Perfect Pour in a shopping center just off 175.

The original Dog Pub is in Federal Hill in downtown Baltimore. I haven't been there, but I did overhear a customer in the Columbia location tonight say "this is much bigger than downtown" as she entered.

The layout is pretty unique. There's not much to see from the outside except the wooden double doors that give no hint at what's inside (which is maybe why I've been so hesitant to come here in the first place?). Once inside it's not like anything I'd expect. There's a sharp turn and then you make a choice: left or right. To the left is a dining area, tables and high-backed booths. To the right is a lonely fireplace and the bar area.

I went to the bar area.

The bar itself is looooooooooooooooooong, running the length of the establishment. There's a huge gap between the bar and the outside wall of the place that is rimmed with a few small bar tables and some kind of shuffleboard game. Just outside is a patio area that welcomes dogs, so bring your pooch if that's your thing. The layout looked more than a little odd and took some getting used to.

As far as food, the menu is straightforward with just a few small appetizers and salads giving way to an extensive list of 10" personal sized thin crust pizzas. They won't exactly be world famous, but I enjoyed the variety of pizza options and what I ate.

More importantly, let's talk beer. They make their own beers, which are listed in sort of a diagonal panel panel above the bar. It's unusual and fun and negates the need to pull out a menu to see what's available. They had one seasonal (an Oktoberfest beer that I had a small sample of ... eh) and then the usual offerings on tap in dog themed names:

IPA (Hoppy Dog), the fruit beers (Peach Dog, Blueberry Dog, Raspberry Dog), an Amber (Amber Dog), a red (Irish Red), a brown (Brown Dog), a stout (Black Dog) a blond (Blond Dog) and an English style beer (Thirsty Ale).

You can also mix various beers in what they call "Mixed Breeds". I passed, but there's several suggested offerings such as a "Reservoir Dog" made of Black Dog and Hoppy Dog. You get the picture.

I tried the Hoppy Dog and the Blond Dog. The Blond was meh, but the Hoppy Dog was surprisingly good. It was refreshing and had a crisp hop bite in the West Coast style.

What's unique here is that they serve the beer in small 8 oz mugs, two at a time. I don't get it, but that's their thing and I'm not one to rock the boat.

They also sell their beers in take-home 750ml bottles with those weird Grolsch-style swing caps. I was half-tempted to grab one of the IPA's -- maybe next time. And that's the thing, there will be a next time. This isn't a great "beer" place and outside of the seasonal their selection won't vary, but there's at least one good beer and several traditional styles to go with a unique bar setup and "hangout" type vibe. Pizza and *good* beer is a classic pairing, one not exercised enough in Baltimore, at least where I've been so far.

If you're 100% agro about perfect beers this isn't your place (I usually am that way), but if you can settle for something different and relaxed that doesn't take itself too seriously with decent food and a few decent beers, this might be something to check out. At worst it's a quick walk to Frisco Grille if Dog Pub doesn't satisfy.

Website
Google Map
Howard County Beer Map (created by Baltimore Beer Guy)

Fun Beer Time In Downtown Baltimore

I write this mostly to reference the simple fun beer-related things that can be done in and around Baltimore and Maryland.

Last Sunday the family had a pair of Ravens tickets, and I was the odd man out. No biggie, but I turned that into an opportunity to piggyback a ride into town. It saved gas and let me be a bit more freewheeling in what and how much I could drink.

I chose to start at Fell's Point, specifically the great Max's (around 3 p.m. Eastern). As most Maryland beer nuts know, Max's is an outstanding place with just a ridiculous amount of taps, most of them high quality and in high rotation. The owners have good connections so there's always more than a handful of hard to find goodies.

The problem was it was NFL Sunday, and Max's is supposedly jammed on Sundays. I took the risk and it paid off. I was able to find a seat at the bar within about 10 minutes. It was crowded in there, but could have been much worse (this was still about two hours before the Ravens game, maybe that had something to do with it). Max's has a deal where you can get 32 oz of beer in a plastic (eh) cup for $6. I passed on that and dove into two Belgian beers: an Ename Triple and a Kasteel Rouge.

Both came in chalices, and the bartender wisely asked if I'd had the Kasteel before (I hadn't, but I knew what was coming). I'd had a different Kasteel on a recent trip to Dr. Granville Moore's in Washington D.C., but this one was special. As I've written before, beer is sort of an avenue to satisfy my sweet tooth at times. The Kasteel Rouge is a "Belgian Cherry Ale" and it was like malted Kool-Aid, absolutely delicious. I was hooked and would have had more but I was trying to not get stuck simply at Max's (which isn't exactly a problem, but I had adventure on my mind).

The Ename was far more bland, served a bit warm as well, but there were some floral notes to it that I liked but a bit mild in flavor. Many tripels are that way so I didn't hold it too much against them, but I've had more enjoyable tripels.

From Max's I walked to Ale Mary's, about five minutes away. I'd read about them before having never been, as a place with a slight religious and Belgian beer theme. The facility itself is tiny, very narrow with a long bar and a long row of narrow seating past the bar. It opens to the street which is nice. The regulars there were a bit older, and glued to the television just a few minutes before the Ravens game kicked off.

I ordered their famous "cheesy tots" -- self-explanatory -- and the house Belgian pale ale. I expected a bit more out of the pale, but it wasn't a dud either. It had some spices and complexity in the nose and taste but was also a little off-putting. The service was great, as the person who handled my tab was one of the rare people to notice the "ask for ID" section on my credit card. We had a good laugh about that. The bartender woman was also friendly and offered everyone shots after her Redskins had just pulled off a victory. I passed, but that was festive and lively and part of what makes a place like that fun.

They usually have about 5-6 beers on draft here from what I've read, including the house pale and a few more common beers. The notable exception that day (they usually have one really good beer on draft when people write about Ale Mary's) was a Victory Golden Monkey Belgian-style tripel which was calling my name but something I also passed on to save room for the next stop.

From there I grabbed a cab over to Brewer's Art just in time for their opening. Part of my mission was to try their 12th Anniversary beer they called the "Twelve Labors". That was my first order at the upstairs bar. It had a great nose, served in their great kolsch-style glasses. It tasted solid, too, but not spectacular. They describe it as follows:
"A wheated, Herculean 'Chesapeake Mild' brewed to celebrate the twelfth anniversary of our opening (4.5% ABV)"

Sounds about right. Good, not great, but quite enjoyable as most of their offerings are and why I'm such a loyal follower.

From there I shifted to the cavernous, brooding downstairs bar for several chalices of their seasonal "Saison Pecore". This is a ridiculously refreshing, aromatic, tasty and enjoyable saison-style beer and in line with other inspired offerings from Brewer's Art. They describe it as follows:
"A deep golden ale, hopped with East Kent Goldings and Willamette hops, spiced with kaffir lime leaves and paradise seed (4.9% ABV)"

The bartender upstairs mentioned this will be out soon, so I recommend heading over there for a few if they aren't out already.

Eventually the folks made their way out of the Ravens game and met me at Brewer's Art for another round and a bite to eat before ending the evening. Good times, as usual, downtown. At the same time I could say this stood out but it didn't which is part of the appeal to the beer offerings downtown. Only schedule and responsibility keep me from more regular trips like that.

Brew Review: Trappistes Rochefort 8

This is a classic "trappist" ale brewed by monks in Belgium, classified as a "Belgian Strong Dark Ale" by Beer Advocate. Real time tasting notes follow.

The 11.2 oz bottle was poured into my brand new Brewer's Art chalice. If you've been to BA, you know how cool these glasses are. This thing is murky and dark, more brown than black. Not much head retention. I poured way too strong so there's tons of "floaties" which are spent yeast that a more skilled pour would leave at the bottom of the bottle. Oh well.

I'm getting coffee and dark roasted malt in the nose. Not my favorite beer aroma ever but I like to try as much as I can from each style. Lots of carbonation here as the head recedes, lots of bubble action. A bit of candi sugar in the nose too, I wasn't expecting that.

First sip: suitable. Really easygoing, I was expecting more of an alcohol bite (this is listed at 9.2% ABV). Nice little numbness on the tip of the tongue (that almost always happens to me with these trappist beers). I taste a little red grape, perhaps. Overall this is pleasantly mild, way better than I assumed given the BSDA assignment. I can see why this is up there as a 4.31/5 on Beer Advocate.

There's a little bite to the mouthfeel, which would be off-putting and work against the mouthfeel scores, but I was expecting worse so that's worth balancing expectation and mostly enjoyable delivery.

Complaints? Not many. It wouldn't really be to style but I always love a bit more candi sugar sweetness, but seeing as how this doesn't have a syrupy, alcohol-y body like I expected I can easily do without.

This is a great, relaxed drinking beer more meant for home than at a loud bar. I wouldn't quite call it outstanding, but it does surprise and offer a great nose, a good body, a decent amount of complexity, a light sweetness and lots of malt body without being syrupy or too high in alcohol punch. Definitely lots going on with the malt base as this warms up a bit, a bit more roasty and coarse.

Parallel Beer/Blog Tasting: Lost Abbey Bourbon Barrel Angel's Share

As is the occasional ritual at Baltimore Beer Guy (Example #1, Example #2), I did a parallel blog/beer tasting with Steve from Summer of Beer last week. Silly me, I forgot to write about it until now.

From separate coasts we simultaneously drank a bottle of the Lost Abbey Bourbon Barrel Angel's Share from Lost Abbey in San Diego, California. I haven't had a ton of Lost Abbey until this most recent trip (I'll write about that soon), so this was a treat and a hard-to-find offering of theirs.

Steve's got the full review, so please do stop over there for most of what went on and my thoughts. Hint: this beer is delicious.

Brew Review: Founder's Devil Dancer Triple IPA

Yet another Brew Review here as happens occasionally at Baltimore Beer Guy. This is a "Triple IPA" from Founders Brewing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The bottle says it has 13% ABV, yikes. Founders is famous for their Breakfast Stout, Rubaeus and Kentucky Breakfast Stout.

Many thanks to my fellow beer geek Steve at Summer of Beer who sent this may way recently.

First off, it pours a very, very dark reddish-amber color. Not much of a head, yellowish what did fizz up though. I'm getting alcohol in the aroma right away. Hops too obviously, sort of sweeter hop aroma instead of bitter though. Maybe some malt sweetness too.

... First sip: whoah. Nice, filmy gooey texture that I like in pale ales and IPA's, but um ... this is ridiculously bitter. Surprisingly, it's up front more than back of the throat bitter as the unpleasantness mostly faded away in rapid fashion. That won't last for a full pint though.

... The taste is definitely distinctive, I'm getting some hop flavors but nothing familiar to most IPA's I enjoy. Just an odd brew right here. It comes in real strong but sort of retreats after a few seconds. Struggling to find what to compare it to. I appreciate originality in a beer so it's nice to taste something I haven't necessarily tried before (I've had many triple IPA's, but not one like this).

As far as the hop flavor, I'm starting to summon maybe the BridgePort (Oregon) IPA I had many, many moons ago when I was first learning about beer. There's something similar in flavors between these two although this is a much more aggressive, less refreshing example. If I remember correctly, BridgePort is a British style IPA. There's some things that are quite enjoyable about the Bridgeport and to a lesser degree this Devil's Dancer, but it's a strained revelation of those fun tastes where I like something more upfront.

Their website says this beer has more IBU's than any brewery has documented. Nice, so far I've stood up to them, but its intense. They dry-hop it for 26 days straight with a combination of 10 hop varieties. It is produced quarterly.

... It is starting to sweeten up (malt coming through!) as we go along. More balanced now with a bit of warming and a brief respite for the mouth to sort of get its act together. Not bad, I'd written it off but it's growing on me. Lots of fun little bitter elements if you know how to find them hiding in your mouth. The more I have, the more I realize how drinkable this is, which is surprising how off-putting it was at the start.

This is a good beer for someone chasing hops but who doesn't enjoy the west coast "hop bombs" but isn't particularly in love with the flatter, drab, stuffy British and east-coast style IPA's. It's a compromise, if that's possible for such a potent monster.

Alright, time to finish this sucker. Not bad, definitely improved as I drank it, lots to like, try it if you can get it from a rather famous and talented brewer.

Beer Tasting: Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

In progress ...

22 oz. bomber of this sucker poured into a nonic shaped pint glass, dark black, one finger head which is surprising as Steve from Summer of Beer couldn't coax a head out of his pour. There's a certain "Stone"ness to the aroma, a certain hop and malt character. The obvious whiff of coffee, but not overpowering which is good. Roasted grain.

Nice creamy first sip, a bit watered down for a craft stout, which is fine by me. No notable alcohol flavor -- again, nice. There's a certain mellow sweetness to this, not just malt, which I'm guessing is the chocolate working its magic. I'm not picking up the bitterness necessarily, but an overall more smooth profile.

There's a ton of writing on the back of the bottle, but the ingredients are the important part: barley, oatmeal, chocolate, hops, water and yeast. Easy does it, right?

I'm curious how this would be on tap (hopefully I'll have a chance to find out at the Stone night at Frisco Grille on the 27th), better yet on cask.

Going down better than expected, as this is my first real roasty, heavy beer in a while. I've been on a major Belgian beer kick, even avoiding my customary ridiculously hopped IPA preference. Maybe the tastes are changing? We'll find out, in time. In the meantime this isn't bad, I'm enjoying it cold but things will almost certainly improve as the beer warms up a few degrees.

Back! OK got sidetracked watching this. A wine guy doing beer, interesting. That's like when I throw a few great beers in my old man's direction. He's coming around to beer a lot more than I'm coming around to wine. I don't think that's an accident, and he's a huuuuuuge wine guy. Moving along.

I'm finally getting the chocolate out of this, it's quite good. The chocolate aspect, not so much the beer, not to knock this painstakingly crafted Anniversary offering from Stone, the beer gods of all beer gods in my world. This thing is getting a little more thick and creamy, without being slick, which I like. The chocolate is starting to come out. Its a little more bitter now, which might be the chocolate or it could be the alcohol too. The back of my tongue is now very much engaged after feeling sort of lonely for a while there.

Wrapping things up ... nice offering, high quality, few complaints although lacking some distinction. Interesting choice with the bitter chocolate. Didn't pick up much of the oatmeal or maybe it presented itself in the creamy character of the beer? Good stuff regardless, be sure to grab a bottle at The Perfect Pour if they have any left.

Review: The Owl Bar

Just down the street from Brewer's Art in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood, inside the lobby floor of the Belvedere Hotel is The Owl Bar. It is so named because during Prohibition days it was a speakeasy and the giant owl structures overlooking the bar would signal impending raids.

Today there are no such worries, and they are but a bit of the many eclectic items decorating this old bar and dining establishment. They have mounted zebra and other animal heads, other assorted owls, etc. on display throughout. The brickwork near the ceiling is rather elaborate and notes to a much different era than our own. There are some cozy booths to sit down in, but most of the dining is between the booths and the bar, with tables galore. They also have a brick oven off to the side for the in-house pizzas. Nice touch.

The bar itself is loooooooong, with two rows of tap handles at opposite ends of the bar. They have the usual all audiences stuff like Stella Artois and Sam Adams, but also a few craft offerings. Those include two in-house brews, the "Owl Pale" and the Ole something or other I've since forgotten. Also: Troegs Troegenator seems to be a regular, and I saw a Dominion Oak Barrel Stout, a Shiner Hef and a Leinenkugel Summer Wheat available. Nothing too fancy, but enough to intrigue.

The dining menu looked solid as well, including Bang Bang Shrimp which I need to try at some point. Happy Hour is impressive as myself and my guest were able to turn jumbo portions of nachos and Old Bay wings plus four pints for less than $18. The Old Bay wings were new to me, but our bartender sold us on having to try them to be a true Baltimorean. They were delicious, with more of a salty flavor than an old bay flavor, but the key was the wings being fried. Not enough places do that right, there was no slimy skin or slightly undercooked chicken meat to be found, just moist, crispy skin and meat.

The Owl Bar is listed at Beer Advocate, so they're seen as a place to enjoy craft beers, but they're far from the first place I'd go. They did have some stuff I don't see often which is part of the appeal, but they also make sure to cater to all audiences which isn't the worst business decision ever. The rest of the experience is quite nice and worthy of more visits, partaking in the history of the place and drinking downtown somewhere other than Fell's Point or Canton.

(Image: imogene.org)

Side Beer Trip To Washington D.C.

Suffering under the occasional fit of restlessness, I trekked down to Washington D.C. last Saturday for a good old fashioned beer trip. 'Twas a good decision, and a good time.

Thanks to the help of Google and the Beer Advocate forums, I was able to patch together a rough plan of what to hit. My goal was to get to 3-6 places, with about a beer at each stop, and hopefully nail down a few of those stops on the Metro rail instead of driving all around town and trying to find parking everywhere. Mission accomplished.

In order, my stops were:

1)Pizzeria/Birreria Paradiso
2)Capit0l City Brewing Company
3)Regional Food & Drink (RFD)
4)Cafe Berlin
5)Dr. Granville Moore's

There's much more to do in D.C. and I'll keep that in mind for future trips, heading to places like Belga Cafe, Brasserie Beck, The Big Hunt, the Brickskeller, and the District ChopHouse & Brewery.

Without a doubt, the two best stops were the first and the last. I arrived at around noon in Georgetown, right around the opening for Pizzeria Paradiso. After fighting to find parking, I discovered their much hyped downstairs bar hadn't opened yet. However, they sent me over to the smaller upstairs bar and I was told all their tap offerings were available just the same. Cool.

The beer menu was tremendous, with about 18 tap offerings (mostly Belgian beers including a ton of hard-to-find brews) and almost limitless and eclectic bottled selections including rarities. I ordered a glass of Augustijn to go with my terrific pizza. What's cool is that after my pizza I tried a "build your own" 5 oz. taster flight. They let you pick 3 or 4 draught beers (or choose their preset offering) for $9 or $11. I went with the Belgian flight, knocking down an Avril, Hopsinjoor and XX Bitter. Good stuff. It was nice to relax and people watch, as Georgetown was hopping and filled with beautiful (and not so beautiful) people.

After that it was a fairly quick if turnabout-crazy drive across town to Union Station. From there I grabbed a quick ride to the Metro Center stop and walked a few blocks over to Capitol City Brewing Company. It was hot and I made a bland choice in going with the Boysenberry beer. Eh. The big windows and high ceilings are inviting and some of the offerings looked interesting but that particular beer hastened my departure. They have about five house beers and another five seasonals available.

From there it was a quick walk over to the bustling Chinatown, and RFD. RFD is the sister establishment to the Brickskeller, which boasts the world's largest bottled beer menu. I heard many complaints about Brickskeller and passed. Notably, it seems you have to order several beers before they have something in stock. That adventure was for another day, so RFD it was. The interior was boring, but I enjoyed my first ever Bell's beer. I chose the Oberon, which was refreshing. They had about 18 tap offerings as well, plus a decent sized fridge stocked with great beers.

From there I hopped on the Metro again and got lost for a while, grabbing the wrong train. Happens. After rerouting, it was back to Union Station and a quick walk to a nice German restaurant called Cafe Berlin. They usually have 3-4 beers on tap, and I went with the hef (I think it was Paulaner?). They serve them in cool half or full glasses with various German brewery logos. A guy a few tables over was actually drinking out of one of those oversized beer boots. I try not to listen in to conversations but he mentioned to someone at another table that was the only boot there and he'd gotten there early to ensure the boot was his for the evening.

So uh, if drinking authentic German beer from a boot is your thing, Cafe Berlin is the place to be.

From there I grabbed the car again at Union Station and made my final stop at Dr. Granville Moore's. GM's doesn't open until five, just a word to the wise. This place was featured on FoodTV's "Throwdown" with Bobby Flay, which is how I heard about it. They're famous for their Belgian food, particularly the mussels & fries (moules + frites). But of course they have Belgian beer, and who can pass that up?

Some people may be a little put off by the neighborhood this place is in, but it reminded me of my days at USC, living near a poorer section of town. I can see how people say parking can be a hassle, but I found a spot on a parallel street just behind GM's. Unfortunately there's no easy Metro or transit access here (or Pizzeria Paradiso, for that matter), so driving is the best bet even if it's only a mile from Union Station.

The upstairs area of GM's was featured in the TV show, but I opted for the dark and moody downstairs bar. I ordered up some frites with ALL their available dipping sauces and went with a Gulden Draak and something Donker. Both were quite delicious and served in appropriate glassware. GM's only has about four taps, but a tremendous bottle list of Belgian beers, many of them listed on the chalkboard as you enter.

Thing were quiet until about 630 when a steady stream of people rolled through. It's a tiny place, so that was my cue to surrender the seat for a more thirsty soul.

Not a bad day, in particular at Paradiso and Moore's. Washington D.C. clearly has a lot to offer and explore when it comes to beer and I'll definitely be back (hopefully while the weather is still warm!).

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA Tasting

Courtesy of the fine folks at Dogfish Head who actually sent me a bottle of this (as well as a Palo Santo Marron and a DVD about the Palo Santo Marron and some stickers) a few months back. The cool thing is that it has been aged a little over a year, smoothing out the flavor profile just a bit.

And like the Palo, I'll be simultaneously tasting with my good friend Steve from "Summer of Beer". My bottle is dated 6/10/2007, his a 10/10/2007.

Poured into a Dogfish Head logo snifter purchased at the Milton, DE brewery facility. Initial pour, rapidly dissipating, bright yellow head. Slightly cloudy amber color. Unusual aroma, not very pungent surprisingly. Sort of got a root vegetable smell/earthy. No hop aroma that I'm aware of.

Sweet, fruity flavor, like passion fruit maybe. Only mild bitterness. Definitely not what I expected. A lot of people have called this a sweet beer, and I agree with them.

Steve just said something really interesting, and after a few sips I think he's dead on about this:

Steve (9:59:22 PM): the finish is really strange

Steve (9:59:25 PM): like sugary something

Steve (9:59:34 PM): like burnt marshmallows

Steve (9:59:41 PM): like when you set the mallow on fire

Steve (9:59:49 PM): and then you taste that carmelized burnt outside part

I wonder when the 21% alcohol starts to kick in?

Still getting lots of sweetness, starting to get a bit sticky now. Some kind of fruit in there, haven't quite nailed down but its refreshing. Definitely not like any beer I've ever had before.

Another good offering from Steve, who seems to have a good grasp of this beer tonight:

Steve (10:02:59 PM): i hate to use the term for so many beers but maybe it's like an orange marmalade

Steve (10:03:13 PM): certain hops really give off that sorta sweet orange flavor

After a while this tastes distinctly Dogfish Head. It's interesting how certain brewers have a trademark flavor no matter how differing the styles they brew. If I'm blindfolded and trying a bunch of beers and you try to sneak anything Stone or Sam Adams in front of me for example, I'll know. Same thing with Dogfish Head, it seems.

Its hard to describe the specific uniform taste, but it never fails to reveal itself.

Anyway, this is nice, much less harsh than I would have expected. If not for the ridiculously potent alcohol level (21%), I'd probably say this is a beer you could repeat in a single sitting and many times over the months. That's an unusual thing given my mixed relationship with several other DFH offerings (although the 60 and 90 minute IPA's are tremendous and are good early and often).

Many thanks to Sonia at Dogfish Head who sent all these fine DFH offerings to me. It's been tremendous fun. Now if you don't mind, I have a few more ounces of this DFH 120 Minute IPA to enjoy.

(Image: newyorkbrew.com)

Trappist Achel Tasting

I'm on a Belgian kick lately if you can't already tell.

This is a 330ml bottle of a dubbel, and I'm pouring it into a tulip glass (although a snifter probably works even better).

Ohhh yeah, big head here, lots of cool looking bubbles there. It looks a bit more like that crunchy snow that could use a little more water. Smells sort of like a lager, but with some spice. Naturally for a dubbel/bruin it's dark. Held against light reveals some purple, some burgandy, even a little green tinge.

The first taste fires right away with malty sweetness and body. It's a little tart/bitey, but not what I'd expect. Alcohol is definitely part of the flavor profile. There's a little fruit in there, oh so quiet, something between a mild apple and mild cherry. Yeah another big alcohol blast there. Normally that'd be off-putting but I've run into several beers lately that are far worse in this department.

Enjoyable so far, each sip is a little better than the last. A certain tart/sourness is pervasive, which I don't mind but is worth noting. A lot of Belgian beers seem to be that way. Nothing too sweet here, definitely a little more subdued on the sweetness compared to say, the respected Belgian dubbels. The sweetness here seems to be more from the malt than candi sugar or other additives. I love the candi sugar taste, but there's nothing to complain about here.

Refreshing stuff here.

Update: I'm a dummy sometimes. Changed from BSDA to dubbel, which was what I thought when I first tasted. Ahh, distinction. Whatever, I like dubbels, and you should too!

(Image: ericandrachel.net)

Trying Out Brewers Art's "Le Canard"

And by trying out, I mean I'm locked in for a 750ml bottle here, purchased at The Perfect Pour.

It is a seasonal offering from Brewer's Art, in their description a "strong, copper-colored ale with a mild, sweet malt character. Brewed with lots of Belgian candi sugar and slowly fermented for a month. Sublime (8.5% ABV)".

Got that?

Notes: I love the cork and cage setup, always a good start. The cork was incredibly stubborn on the way out, however, and embarrassed my normal steady hand with a loud pop after what I thought was a nice finesse opening. Oh well.

True to form there's a coppery, almost honeyish color. Cloudy. Massive but consistent head, lots of medium sized bubbles, quite fun to look at. Lots of spice in the aroma. Good start with that typical Belgian bitey/stingy hit on the tip of the tongue to start. Initial mild sour/tart flavor through the back and sides of the tongue. I think a little while that will start tasting more sweet than tart as the candi sugars (and malt sweetness) come to the fore.

Starting to sweeten just a touch. I should mention I poured this in a snifter (bearing the Dogfish Head logo, purchased at the Milton, DE location). I love drinking out of my tulip glass, but Beer Advocate suggested a snifter over a tulip. I'm getting more of the candi sweetness than the malt.

Really smooth to drink after the peppery, active liquid start. Creamy but not syrupy, about where this style should be. Well done on many of the technical elements (beer BS talk alert!). Not my favorite beer ever, but this is fun and I'm pretty much enamored of everything I've tried at Brewer's Art.

Second pour: another massive head. I've got a room temp glass and the bottle's started to warm up as well, so that shouldn't be the problem. Lots of proteins in the beer, perhaps, or just a terrible pour, heh. Whatever, I can wait. The aroma isn't going to knock your socks off, straightforward for a BSPA, but still nice with the spice notes in there (is that nutmeg? coriander? Maybe even a little banana fruitiness).

Ok, I'm satisfied, this is a really nice beer. Score one yet again for Brewer's Art, our surprisingly secret imaginative slice of the best of Belgian beer, right here in Maryland. Be on the lookout for their bottled releases and buy some (save me a few!).

Update: just switched to the tulip glass, this seemed to help. I'm getting a little more complexity here, a little more malt sweetness and complexity. Yes, glassware matters! Be sure to google around and find a place for some good beer glassware or pick some up at Crate & Barrel type place or breweries themselves.

Maybe I'll review the Ozzy later in the week, I've already consumed two or three bottles of that in the limited time since its bottled release, with another one in my fridge crying out to me every day "drink me! drink me!".

The canard has spent a lot more time on the shelves and isn't as popular, but it's much better than I thought. Maybe it's the packaging? Sort of a drab brown label with a duck just chilling out. One thing beer bottles (and beer bars!) could use more of is identification. There's still sort of this speakeasy feel to beers, like you're supposed to know ahead of time what someone's beer is by the name. This Le Canard bottle, all it says is "Ale". Being an ale man and a Brewer's Art fan, that should be enough, but for the casual, new beer person I think a little more explanation is in order.

Ale is simply too broad of a descriptor, as is the physical appearance. Even in decent light it was a bit challenging to see if it was a dark or light liquid. Why not just write "Belgian Strong Pale Ale" on the bottle? Many people still might not understand what that means, but once they begin to try more styles they can begin to categorize it in their minds.

Same thing at beer bars. I go crazy when all that's listed is the brewery and the name and maybe a one word style reference such as "stout or IPA". That's good, but what kind of stout? Plain Jane stout? Oatmeal Stout? Flavored stout? Is it a regular IPA, a double IPA, a triple IPA? English style or Hoppy West Coast style? These things matter and as informed as most of us beer folks are we don't always remember each and every brewery's exact detail in our heads.

Sure, part of the fun is trying (and Lord do I blindly try things), but a little extra information never hurts. Just sayin'.

Latest Brew Reviews

They can all be found at Beer Advocate.

Sierra Nevada 2008 Summerfest (Czech Pilsener)
Flying Dog Garde Dog (Biere de Garde)
Smuttynose Hanami Ale (fruit beer)
Grozet Gooseberry & Wheat Ale (Scottish Gruit/Ancient Herbed Ale)
Fraoch Heather Ale (Scottish Gruit/Ancient Herbed Ale)
Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale (American Strong Ale)
Einbecker Mai-Ur-Bock (Maibock/Helles Bock)
Clipper City Heavy Seas Red Sky at Night (Saison/Farmhouse Ale)

The Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale got my highest grade, an A-/4.15. I'm still getting used to the "ancient ale" style, so the Fraoch and Grozet were difficult to grade.

Maryland Natives Clipper City and Flying Dog both fared well.

Also, be sure to enjoy Flying Dog's brewer video about what went into making the Garde Dog.


Flying Dog Brewery Garde Dog Biere De Garde from Flying Dog Brewery on Vimeo.

Brew Review: Clay Pipe Hop-Ocalypse IPA

Poured this Maryland native from a 12 oz bottle into a standard point. Sort of a weird, bright white, crunchy head. Mild aroma. A watery IPA. Reddish-amber in color.

This didn't fit the West Coast massively hopped IPA taste profile despite the ominous name. It kind of flies solo as far as IPA's go, not West Coast, not East Coast, not British IPA (flavor-wise), which I sort of appreciate. I actually liked this beer, but it's just quite watery and mild for an IPA but the flavor, while challenging to describe, was suitable.

Folks new to IPA's might like this beer, as it doesn't kill you with the sort of tart, potent hop bitterness of most IPA's, particularly the more popular versions. My notes from last night said "highly drinkable". The flavor was more pine than citrus as far as the classic IPA "pine and citrus" definition goes.

Worth a try, feel free to let me know in comments what you think of this Maryland native! It earned a B- (3.49 average) at Beer Advocate.

Brew Review: Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA

Hmmmm ... not good.

This beer sounded quite interesting and had splendid reviews on Beer Advocate (4.23 average score!), but I really struggled with it.

It was billed as a double IPA, "without the harshness". Weyerbacher used synthetic Simcoe Hops, developed in 2000 by Select Botanicals LLC, allowing for maximum aromatic oils and minimum harshness. For whatever reason, and this is likely a purely personal thing, this went down poorly. Obviously this is nothing against the brewer particularly of such a well regarded beer, but it didn't work for me. Maybe my tastes were off, maybe it was a skunked bottle, who knows.

It's rare when I struggle with a beer as much as I did this one so I'm a little depressed at the experience. I don't know how to describe it other than that I was almost queasy in the stomach as I finished the last half of my pint. I absolutely love harsh IPA's and their power. This thing actually came across as equally powerful but with something else strange going on.

As far as the basics, it came from a 12 oz bottle poured into a standard pint glass. There was a fun root beer float type head, and the pour was your standard dark amber IPA color. Its aroma was almost candylike, quite sweet and light. The hop taste was much more pine than citrus, but there was an odd back of the mouth taste.

I asked my friend Summer of Beer Steve about this and he also didn't like it, although as we looked at his review over instant messenger he laughed that it sounded tasty right now given what he'd said about it.

It's anecdotal at this point, but Alexander D. Mitchell IV of "Beer in Baltimore" also disliked this double IPA, saying "Weyerbacher's Double Simcoe a few years back left me almost wincing in semi-pain as just too "over-the-top" in more ways than one". Yikes. Our voices are in the minority, but that's taste for ya, everyone's is a little bit different.

We're open minded here so this Pennsylvania brewery and the particular beer won't be written off, but this wasn't the best of starts.