Beers that got us through the winter: 7 Locks 35 restaurant 5 IPA Series Halpine Edition in cans at Smoke, Bethesda

Date:  April 25, 2019

The Story— We love 7 Locks Brewery.  It’s close enough to be a local, it’s inviting for families and couples and wandering other spirits.  There’s a great vibe in the brew house taproom with Ginga games and hot and cold running children.  But for us, the beers are too sweet and the sugars just don’t sit well.

The Halpine Edition, however, seems cleaner and better attenuated than many of their beers.

The Beer— Nice flavor of pine and tropical fruit on a clean lightly toasted malt. Late bitter with a bit of chalk. Some metal, earth, and stone fruit rolls in late with some dank notes.

Value — good to very good.  We tasted this at Smoke Barbecue restaurant in Bethesda.  Beers they serve there are always nicely priced.

 About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.Next week we’ll return to visiting fun places to explore beer — and much more–a different destination each week.   Our beers of the day will feature beers from this wonderfully wet destinations.  For this week, though, we’ll take a quality break and give a shout out to brewers from all over that made the winter a bit warmer.  The upside is that some of these beers may be available in a good beer store near you.

A caveat as always: the vast majorities of craft breweries may have a few beers that are usually available, but their most interesting beers are usual season or one-off brews that we may rave about, but you can’t find.   Our specific beer descriptions, can tell you what sorts of beers the brewery does well; if you don’t find the exact beer on tap, you’ll probably find something similar.

Beers that got us through the winter: Track 7 Poor Pitiful Me IPA,  Sacramento, California on tap at Railroad House, Marietta, Pennsylvania

Date:  April 24, 2019

The Story— This is another beer we found in the downstairs caverns of the Railroad House in Marietta. Pennsylvania.   There is no way a bar this good should lie under a pretty routine B&B, but it’s a reason to go there, book there, drink there, and listen to the trains running just a few feet from the end of your bed.  We loved the whole experience.

We’re happy that Sacramento, an early craft beer city, has returned to the fold with some nationally distributed  pleasures.   IPAs aren’t all that hard to brew, but with 7000 breweries in the countries, mistakes are made.  Track 7 does this well.  Ellie liked it, I loved it.

The Beer- A gold malt base  with dried fruit and floral hops. Both grow and mingle with more yeast at the end. Dandelion, some Demerara sugars. Richness and hoppiness as it drinks.

Value —  Good.  Six and a half bucks for an American “pint”.  The beer is good, the bed is near,  Just get out your credit card and enjoy

 About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.Next week we’ll return to visiting fun places to explore beer — and much more–a different destination each week.   Our beers of the day will feature beers from this wonderfully wet destinations.  For this week, though, we’ll take a quality break and give a shout out to brewers from all over that made the winter a bit warmer.  The upside is that some of these beers may be available in a good beer store near you.

A caveat as always: the vast majorities of craft breweries may have a few beers that are usually available, but their most interesting beers are usual season or one-off brews that we may rave about, but you can’t find.   Our specific beer descriptions, can tell you what sorts of beers the brewery does well; if you don’t find the exact beer on tap, you’ll probably find something similar.

Beers that got us through the winter: Connecticut Valley Trail Blazer, Strong Gold Ale, South Windsor, Connecticut @ Railroad House, Marietta, Pennsylvania

Date:  April 23, 2019

The Story—  We encountered this beer in the downstairs bar of the Railroad House B&B in Marietta, Pennsylvania.   Railroad House is a former rail workers boarding house and now a separate if slightly linked, B&B over top of one of the best restaurants in the area.  The rooms are…well, former railroad worker’s, though there are bathrooms and more conformable beds than those guys ever got.  The very active freight railroad runs a few yards from the front of the place.  Take a front room for a wonderful “hey I’m on a railroad” experience at three in the morning– which we absolutely loved– or book farther back for a snidgen more peace and quiet.

The downstairs bar is clearly the work of a beer enthusiast.  Almost a speakeasy, it has a range of just shy of a couple of dozen taps.  Even if there weren’t a pretty decent brewery down the road, the place could qualify as a destination– especially since you can struggle upstairs to your bed.  If you’ve had enough you might not even notice the trains in your back yard.

The Connecticut Valley Brewing Company was a new one for us, and a surprise to find in the basement of our B&B.   But, good for them, they brew well and their NEIPA resonates as much as a holly strong gold ale as a NEIPA.

The Beer—Chewy and very chalky base on which rides a boat of citrus tannins and even a bit of soft juice later as it drinks.   Ellie noted the zest oils and the very chalky end.

Value — Very good.  The bar has Pennsylvania prices and 21st century beers.

 About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.Next week we’ll return to visiting fun places to explore beer — and much more–a different destination each week.   Our beers of the day will feature beers from this wonderfully wet destinations.  For this week, though, we’ll take a quality break and give a shout out to brewers from all over that made the winter a bit warmer.  The upside is that some of these beers may be available in a good beer store near you.

A caveat as always: the vast majorities of craft breweries may have a few beers that are usually available, but their most interesting beers are usual season or one-off brews that we may rave about, but you can’t find.   Our specific beer descriptions, can tell you what sorts of beers the brewery does well; if you don’t find the exact beer on tap, you’ll probably find something similar.

Dulles Airport Take-Off Tasting Tour:  Sterling, Ashburn and more:  Ocelot The Gallows Imperial Red, Dulles, Virginia

Date:  April  22, 2019

The Story—  Ocelot is a brewery that knows what it’s trying to do and pretty much does it.   They aren’t going to be the next success story scooped up by InBev or Heineken, they aren’t going to be on every multi-tap in the DC area and they aren’t going to have cans in your nearby beer emporium.   They sell most of what they brew on site, they brew an enormous range of beers and they celebrate music — and occasionally vaping.   I hope they enjoy what they’re doing as much as they seem too.

Moderate strength beers, such as there are, are quite good, but Adrian soars with the big stuff.   We could have as easily highlighted a couple of Imperial IPAs or their yummy Black IPA.  I don’t usually like red, and though she tolerates them more than I do, Ellie’s not real fond of them either.   Crystal malt, unless handled with exceptional skill, turns to leather and burnt sugar.  Here, no problem.

This was one of our highest rated beers in 2018.  Unfortunately, like the points on Who’s Line Is It, it doesn’t really matter how we rate it because it just won’t be there when you take the trip into the backwaters of the Dulles airport that you should.   They turn over styles and names as quickly as any large brewpub we know and seem to be limited in beer names only by the number of songs that have been recorded in the past 100 years of so.   But even if Adrian doesn’t have this beer waiting for you, he’ll have something just as good.

The Beer— Big booze smooths as even fruits, toasted malts, and herbal hops create breadth.  Hot alcohol shows as it drinks.  Hits of chocolate and flowers late. make it even more interesting.

Value — Very good to good.  Great beer at a good beer price.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

For the next several weeks we’ll feature fun places to explore beer — and much more–a different destination each week.   Our beers of the day will feature beers from this wonderfully wet destinations.  Today we’re concluding a week of beers in the Dulles-Sterling are of Northern Virginia.    A caveat as always: the vast majorities of craft breweries may have a few beers that are usually available, but their most interesting beers are usual season or one-off brews that we may rave about, but you can’t find.   Our specific beer descriptions can tell you what sorts of beers the brewery does well; if you don’t find the exact beer on tap, you’ll probably find something similar.

Dulles Airport Take-Off Tasting Tour:  Sterling, Ashburn and more: Dynasty Fest Helles, Ashburn Virginia

Date:  April  21, 2019

The Story—  We were excited to learn that one of our most respected brewers in the area had found a home and was brewing again.  We recruited Favio Garcia to be an early guest at the Brickskeller tasting series when he was brewing really good beer at the Richbrau brewpub in Richmond.  He eventually landed at Old Dominion and brewed the last batch of Tuppers’ Hop Pocket Ale from that brewhouse, then went on to Lost Rhino, where we collaborated on Mother Tupper’s Back of the Cupboard Imperial Rye Pale Ale.   He’s now an integral part of the Dynasty Brewing Company in Ashburn, a short hop from his Old Dominion and Lost Rhino roots.

Now the brewer at Dynasty Brewing, Favio is again turning out exceptionally good beers.  OK, we can’t get excited about his milkshake beer or peanut stout, but the established styles are in his wheelhouse and he doesn’t miss.   If you review the last several beers of the day, they’re all big beers in flavor and usually alcohol.  Few breweries could stake their reputation on easy drinking lagers. Favio can.

A “Fest Helles” is less of a misnomer than it appears.  Americans are used to the Marzen Amber fest beers of the nineteen sixties it’s a different world in Germany now.  Fest biers are still Maerzens  they take months to age, and are wonderfully smooth and complex despite their sweetness.  But they are as gold as a pilsner.

Favio has produced a helles fest that wouldn’t be allowed in a tent where beers are required by law to be above average in strength, but he’s brewed a big helles that could be a center attraction in a small town fest in Bavaria.   In truth, it’s easier to have a few liters of this than the eventually cloyingly sweet German fest biers.

The Beer— Very clean.  Clean pale malt but with a full body.  Tangy crisp finish with noblish floral hops.   Moreish- with more hops than a Munich beer would have.

Value — Good to very good.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

For the next several weeks we’ll feature fun places to explore beer — and much more–a different destination each week.   Our beers of the day will feature beers from this wonderfully wet destinations.  This week we’re featuring beers in the Dulles-Sterling are of Northern Virginia.    A caveat as always: the vast majorities of craft breweries may have a few beers that are usually available, but their most interesting beers are usual season or one-off brews that we may rave about, but you can’t find.   Our specific beer descriptions can tell you what sorts of beers the brewery does well; if you don’t find the exact beer on tap, you’ll probably find something similar.