CulturAle Press

No Guinness?  Great Stouts for St. Patrick’s Day: Rudy Duck Irish Stout, Dowell – Solomon’s Island, Maryland

Date:  March 16 ,2019

The Story—  The Rudy Duck lies across a parking lot from a Hilton Garden Inn.  If you want to go a bit farther along towards town you can stay at a first class B&B: the Solomon Victorian Inn.   The advantages are that you’re right in the heart of the maritime area and every room has a water view.  It’s close to some good seafood restaurants and although the famous (or infamous) Tiki Bar is closed — at least for now– you won’t have trouble finding a beer in town.    [nv; 5Q,2K]

We stay at the HGI for the convenience to the brewery– and because it’s a reliable room and breakfast, often at a very attractive price. The location is very hard to beat. On the other side of the HGI parking lot, the Ruddy Duck is an oasis of fine beer in a somewhat remote part of the Solomon experience

The Ruddy Duck is a bar/restaurant/brewery that is very close to a destination attraction.   An extensive menu of well prepared food keeps your stomach well lined for a full evening of sampling.  And the sampling is well worth the trip.   The Ruddy Duck has had some top tier brewers  over the years — one is now the head brewer at the NoVa standout Port City Brewing.   In our experience they’ve managed to maintain quality.  They brew a wide range of beers mostly well.   Side step the low gravity fruited follies formulated for people who fear beer, but you’re on solid ground choosing traditional styles.  An ordinary British Bitter was one of the best we’ve had in the US and IPAs range from OK to quite good.   This Irish Stout fits the style at 4.7% but you won’t confuse the flavor with Guinness. We’re huge Guinness fans, but when we want Guinness, it isn’t hard to find Guinness in good Irish condition.

The Beer—HEAPS of black patent, ash and a bit of licorice.  Unrelievedly dark.  Roasted unmalted barley and maybe some semi-burned shoe. From Ellie:  I could drink this all night too.

Value —  Very good.  $5.25 for a pint of beer this good is a wonderfully value.

 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.

St. Patrick’s weekend interruptus:  St. Paddy’s day on a weekend.   What a huge benefit for bars across America!   Even in Ireland, where the holiday was a decidedly small change event until recently has started to embrace the excuse to party.  Most of this month, we’re looking at some of the many “spins” brewers put on IPAs these days.   We have enough, even holding ourselves to no more than two of a style, to range into April.

But it’s Saint Pat’s day and if the Irish still don’t celebrate like we do, Boston is the third largest city in Ireland by population, so here are three stout stouts that deserve a tip of bowler to these gems styled for the emerald isle.