April 28, 2008
Spring Beer Roundup
Spring is in the air, and that means it's time for innumerable happy hours, barbecues, and various other events that involve drinking beer. Brasserie Beck was scheduled to open it's outdoor patio tonight, but it seems the rain may spoil the fun. They should be open tomorrow night if tonight is rained out. The setup is a brand new 4-draught system imported from Belgium, and as such, there will undoubtedly be some kinks that still need working out. However, if you want to drink some great Belgian beers in the gorgeous spring weather, Brasserie Beck is a very good option. While there, you can go inside and sample any of the other excellent beers that they're pouring at the moment (try the Cantillon Cuvée des Champions if it's still available, the $14 price is worth it).
Other good outdoor beer options include the roof deck at The Reef in Adams Morgan, and the outdoor seating at Belga Cafe in Capitol Hill. And there's always the back patio of The Big Hunt, which is pouring Troeg's Pils and Mad River Extra Pale. The Troeg may be the most simple, satisfying thing I've had to drink in a while - hoppier than most normal pils and seriously delicious. Area brewpubs are bringing out some spring seasonals: Gordon Biersch's Maibock was tapped a couple weeks ago, but supplies at the downtown location are running low - stop by soon if you haven't already. Capitol City downtown is getting in on the action with a Hefeweizen and an Altbier on tap.
Photo by staceyviera
In festival news, the SAVOR beer and food festival is coming up next month in D.C. (May 16-17). The $85 ticket price per session may seem a bit steep, but the brewery lineup is impressive, the speakers are world-renowned, and the food alone looks like it may be worth the price of admission. Along with several local area breweries, the lineup is joined by Avery, Full Sail, New Belgium, Russian River, and many others that rarely venture this far east. Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head is still one of the most entertaining speakers in the beer world, and talks by Jim Koch, Randy Mosher, and Garrett Oliver should all be excellent sessions.
In the week leading up to the festival, local beer bars are having a host of events. The Brickskeller is hosting its "Lupulin Reunulin" hoppy beer tasting on May 13 and 14, and then a Sierra Nevada tasting on May 15 (reportedly, there will be a harvest ale made with hops grown in the southern hemisphere). May 13 is also the night of a Bell's dinner at Rustico in Alexandria, while Birreria Paradiso will be tapping a new "Elusive, Exclusive, Delicious" keg every night that week, including: Stone Russian Imperial Stout, Hitachino Nest Celebration, and the Harviestoun Ola Dubh (aged in Highland Park barrels), among others. It promises to be a very good week for the D.C. beer scene, hopefully one that will be repeated every year. More details will undoubtedly be available about the surrounding events as we get closer to the actual weekend.
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Can anyone recommend a decent, locally brewed ale in the style of English bitter beer? My go-to beers are Redhook ESB and Bass, but I'd like something a little fresher without too much distance on it. And I'm not interested in the XXX suicide-by-hops stuff. I had an IPA recently and it tasted like I just went down on a priapic hop dragon. Pass.
@Monkey: That's a tough one. I think Shelter Pale Ale from Dogfish might hit the spot.
have you taken a swig of the Potomac? it's local and free! last time I did, it was pretty bitter, had a nice head on it, and i got amazingly drunk too.
Mcgillicuddy: Watch out.. you'll start growing things in new places if you get carried away with that stuff. Not sure if that concerns M. Rotica, though.
Hooray, Beer!
Saloon is and always will be the spot.
But I hear ya on hops, Monkey. Bodingtons, Wolivars, and any Oatmeal Stout are my preferred diversions.
wow, eric, thanks for throwing this together. i've got some ideas for a few soon-to-be-wasted evenings now.
Disco Stu, I love drinking at Saloon when it's winter. Too "cellar"-y for my spring/summer beer jones.
monkey...maybe Dominion Ale? I don't think it's a particularly good one, but it's in the general style you're looking for. The problem is that session beers don't travel particularly well, and all the best breweries in the area are several hours away. The solution? Start homebrewing.
Disco Stu, I agree on Saloon. Related, last week I went with some friends. The downstairs was full so, for the first time in my history of going to the bar, we were sent upstairs.
It's a beautiful and quite spacious area. It's all wood and bricks like the bottom floor, but a bit brighter and much more wide open. There is also a whole separate bar on that floor (with slightly fewer beer selections, but still good stuff). The bartendress was extremely nice, like the rest of the wait staff there, and since the top floor was pretty empty that night, it was quite personal service.
Saloon has always been my ideal, low-key bar. And I think this makes it that much cooler.
Monkey, what about Fullers ESB or London Pride? Black Sheep Bitter and Rogue's Younger's Special Bitter are worth trying too.
Also, note to the article's author: Brasserie Beck was scheduled to open "its" (not "it's") outdoor patio tonight.
Hmm, just noticed that you mentioned locally brewed. Goose Island from Chicago, IL does an ESB, Honkers Ale; Shipyard from Portland, ME has the Old Thumper Extra Special Ale. Can't think of anything much closer; maybe some of the smaller MD breweries have ESBs, no sure. I still prefer the stuff from across the pond.
And there's always edenman's suggestion. I brewed an English-style ESB last year that aged pretty well.
I'll give another vote to Honker's ale, although the 6% makes it a bit higher than monkey is probably looking for, and I'd be surprised if you can get hold of it in DC.
omg, saloon has a second floor??
The second floor is mostly used for private parties. But going upstairs was amazing, I prefer it to the main floor.
Good update on all the patios! Any idea whether they're smoker-friendly? (Flame away, flame away..)
@ Monkey - have you tried the red ale at either of the area's Rock Bottoms? They're a bit hoppier than Red Hook's ESB, but they're by no means a pale / IPA kind of thing. RB Arlington also brews a seasonal 'fire chief' ale that's even more up your alley. Not sure if they still have it, but if they do it's fresh, and definitely worth a try. Good luck.
re Saloon: They do use it for private parties, but the night I was there the bartender told me they were going to try and open it up for the general public more on busy nights.
And as RJ said it really is "amazing." It all just seems so roomy, especially when compared with the cellar that is the main floor.
I felt like I was climbing into an attic and finding all these wonderful treasures that had been hidden away for too long.
Yea, the Saloon second floor is kinda like that episode of Futurama where Fry is staying at Bender's place and then he opens the closet and finds it's 100 times bigger and actually inhabitable. What, no one else watches Adult Swim (er, now comedy central..) Anyway, I love the Saloon, and it doesn't make much difference to me, but if I had that space I probably would have naturally made the upstairs the primary gathering spot.
"Can anyone recommend a decent, locally brewed ale in the style of English bitter beer? My go-to beers are Redhook ESB and Bass, but I'd like something a little fresher without too much distance on it. And I'm not interested in the XXX suicide-by-hops stuff. I had an IPA recently and it tasted like I just went down on a priapic hop dragon. Pass."
Why local, just out of curiosity?
I'm going to guess you mean something you can buy by the six-pack (as opposed to at a bar), so by default I'd say if you're looking for an English-style ESB that's local DFH Shelter or Dominion Ale are good but nothing to write home about, though now that Old Dominion's been taken over by the big guys [Budweiser?] it depends on your definition of "local".
If willing to include beers all the way from Delaware, though, I'd skip it and just get a six-pack of Bell's Pale Ale. Mmmm. Or better yet, say to hell with it and get a six-pack of Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale in cans (which you can find on occasion at Schneider's on the Hill).
Or you could do like I do and just go to the Harris Teeter in Pentagon City for a thrice-weekly four-pack of Greene King Abbott Ale in pub-draft cans.
The suggestions to start home-brewing are pretty funny, though.
Q: "Hey, can you recommend any good bands?"
A: "Dude. You should start your *own* band."
Q: "Ummm. Thanks..?"
"Other good outdoor beer options include the roof deck at The Reef in Adams Morgan, and the outdoor seating at Belga Cafe in Capitol Hill."
Don't forget the back patio at Granville Moore's... Oh, damn... No...forget I said anything...
ibc - I'd prefer local beers just because I want to patronize local companies. That, and I've had some pretty skunky beers that don't travel well.
I actually like Dominion Ale. Has a good combination of low carbination and hoppiness. If I made more money, I'd buy Fullers more often. I'll give the Bells a try. It's always at Wholefoods.
And in my salad days, I used to homebrew. Still have the carboy, air lock, and gear. I might actually take this back up, what with a brew supply company in my backyard. Once I have a batch, you're all invited to a tasting party for Monkeyrotica Brand Three-Legged-Devil Amber Lynn Cream Stout with a Pearl Necklace Finish.
I must ascend to this mythical second floor! I've heard whispers...
Otherwise, window seat makes it not too bad. Or later evening when it's dark anyway.
"I used to homebrew"
Yeah, I just brewed my last batch, but I haven't worked up the energy to bottle it yet. (Guess they were right about newborns being a lot of work and taking up a lot of space... Plus, somehow I'd never really noticed the pictogram of the drowning toddler on the side of the brew-bucket till recently.)
Do try the Green King Abbot Ale if you can find it, though (Pentagon City Harris Teeter). It's not local, but it's in pub draft cans, and it's approximately 10^999 times better than Boddingtons...
Wow. It's better than Boddington's? That's like saying bone cancer is better than lymphatic cancer, but I'll give it Green King a try nonetheless. Is it anything like that Chubb Scotch Ale I always seen in cans? I've been curious about that, but I don't want to get raped by hops AGAIN.
ibc: once you keg, you'll never go back to bottling :) also, i'm not sure Dale's Pale fits...the 6.5% and the higher hop content put it decidedly out of the "english bitter" category and into the "american pale" category. it's a really good american pale, though :)
Old Chub is a malt-bomb: very little hops, and 8%. Delicious, but again, not quite what you're looking for.
I always forget about the Rock Bottom locations we have here. Need to get out there one of these days, I've had some damn tasty beers at the VA location.
"Is it anything like that Chubb Scotch Ale I always seen in cans? I've been curious about that, but I don't want to get raped by hops AGAIN."
Nah, like edenman says, the Scotch Ale's more of a 9% super- malt-heavy ale.
I haven't been there in a while, but I would check up on Pizza Paradiso in Georgetown. Every once in a while they get a decent local cask-conditioned bitter (i.e. hand-pumped). Man, there's nothing else like a nice, naturally carbonated, moderately alcoholic English bitter.
The danger here, of course, is that you'll gradually become "That Guy" who calls local zymurgocentric bars asking "What's on cask?" growing mutton-chops, wearing a DCU scarf, &tc.. Anyway, it's almost worth it.