Occoquan & Oakton

I didn't have to venture far to taste some great beers this week. On Wednesday my mom and I went to Occoquan with some family friends of ours, Fran and Michelle.  We ate lunch at a little garden café:

then headed to the wine shops for some wine and beer tastings. At the first shop (I can't for the life of me remember the name- if it comes to me, I will post it!), we tasted five or six wines, then headed into their beer room for a tasting. I had already had everything in the line-up, but it was a tasty selection nonetheless.
1. Weihenstephaner Original (Munich Helles)
2. Bell's Oberon
3. Anderson Valley Summer Solstice Cervez Crema
4. Founders Cerise
Then we went downstairs to their little luncheonette area, where they have two taps. The selections that day (which I also already have had, but definitely did not turn down a tasting) were
1. North Coast Pranqster
2. DuClaw Devil's Milk
I would like to go back someday soon and sit out on the porch with one of the beers on draft, it was a cute shop with a great little beer (and food) selection. Below is a picture of Michelle and I sampling the Cerise.

The second shop, Olde Dominion Wine Shop features Virginia wines, and a small selection of craft beer. We tasted a red and white wine (the red was from Chrysalis, but I can't remember what the white was).

Today, Justin and I sat out on the deck and split a Bayou Teche LA 31 (Pale Ale). It is a nice "deck" beer, but nothing too remarkable about it. Then I had a glass of our English Pale Ale. :) 

Oh, I almost forgot. This afternoon, Justin and I also went to the new Oakton Wine Shop that recently opened, about a mile from our house. Port City Brewing was doing a tasting of their four beers: Optimal Wit, Essential Pale Ale, Monumental IPA, and Porter. All very delicious beers, and all very true to style. Justin and I bought a six pack of the IPA and also bought a Sinebrychoff Porter (Finland). The store has a nice beer selection, not to mention some nice wines, cheeses, and cupcakes!

Tonight Justin and I are going to Dogfish Head in Chantilly with a group of our neighbors for some beers and dinner. I am hoping to try something new- I actually haven't tried their My Antonia yet, so I might order that, along with the Black and Red...and maybe my old standby favorites, the 90 min IPA, Alehouse75, or Indian Brown..decisions, decisions. 

Wolf vs. Hound

I am dog sitting this week for a good friend of mine, and felt inspired to taste test Three Floyd's Arctic Panzer Wolf and DogfishHead's Hellhound.

Both are double IPAs. I went into this canine competition with high expectations for both.

As much as I adore Sam Calagione (see previous posts), and absolutely loved Hellhound's predecessor in the jazz/blues music series (Bitches Brew) the wolf was victorious by a longshot. The hops in A.P.W. kicked Hellhound's arse. APW was an intensely citrusy and resiny hop experience that from the first whiff of the aroma, you knew you were in for a treat. The aroma carried into the flavor with an onslaught of American hops that socked the palate. As for Hellhound, the aroma was very toned down compared to APW and gave way to a noticeably boozy aroma that carried through to the taste. For being a 10% beer, this might have needed time to settle down, but for a double IPA, who wants to wait?

Rusty

Will the real Ter(r)i please stand up?

New SAVOR picture!  This is a picture of Terri, Teri (me), and Teri at SAVOR. Best picture ever.

Special Delivery

After SAVOR, all things beer slowed down in my life for a few days. I have been super busy at school wrapping up the year. Only three days left until summer vacation!

Becky, a friend and fellow beer-lover, brought us some goodies last week from Munster, Indiana :) 
It's like Christmas in June! 

When Justin and I hosted a neighborhood beer tasting in early March, we went through a couple bottles of Dark Lord, courtesy of Becky. She came through once again with some delectable Three Floyds' spring treats.

Dreadnaught is Three Floyd's year-round double IPA. Justin and I have not opened it yet, so I will report back with tasting notes later.

We also got Arctic Panzer Wolf- we thought it was a draft-only release, but as one can clearly see from the picture, it's bottled. Yay! It's also a double IPA (seasonal). I am so excited to try this. Somehow we have showed restraint and not opened this one yet either.

We also got a six pack of their IPA, Alpha King (pictured on left). We traded two of our Alpha Kings with our neighbor Marc, for two of his fresh Gumballheads (an American Wheat Ale- pictured on right).

On Sunday night, Justin took me to the Indigo Girls concert at Wolftrap for my birthday. I offered to drive so Justin could drink (he is not a huge IG fan!) Justin was enjoying his Alpha King and let me try a sip. It was AMAZING. Extremely hoppy, citrusy, and resiny all at once, with a solid malt backbone, just the way an  American pale ale should be (with that extra boost of delicious Pacific Northwest hops). If Three Floyds markets this as their pale ale, I cannot wait to try the Panzer Wolf and Dreadnaught.
Anyways, as Justin was drinking his Alpha King, one of the guys from the group next to us tapped us on the shoulder and asked us where the hell we got Three Floyds around here. We explained a friend brought it from the brewery, and we got to talking about craft beer. Turns out the guy (whose name is Chris by the way) is also a craft beer fanatic and not only that, both he and Justin had both brought Hopslam to the concert! We exchanged contact information during the "Galileo" finale and we are hoping to meet up over a beer sometime soon.
Cheers!

SAVOR: Round 2

Thirsty for more?

Yesterday evening was the second and final night of SAVOR. I checked people in for the first hour again, then headed over to the tasting tables. I started with Cigar City Humidor IPA and Oakshire Line Dry Rye & Overcast Espresso Stout. Then I went to the second half of the room that I didn't get to Friday evening and the debauchery commenced. Justin, our friend/neighbor/fellow BURP member Terri, and I had set a goal earlier that evening to taste every beer at Table Group 14. Here's what was there:

Willimantic Brewing Co.

-Downtown Willi India Dark Ale

-Victorian Neighbor Ale

Funkwerks, Inc.

-Funkwerks White (they were out of their second beer, a saison)

Devils Backbone Brewing Company (Local beer!)
-Azreal

-Vienna Lager

Captain Lawrence

-Golden Delicious

-Smoked Porter

The Captain Lawrence beers (from Pleasantville, NY) were some of my favorite of the weekend. The Smoked Porter, in my opinion gave Alaskan Brewing Company's a run for its money.

I spent a lot of time at Laurelwood again, not only because their Workhorse IPA was perhaps my favorite beer of the weekend, but also because the head brewer Chad, is so friendly and has such a great sense of humor. (Justin better look out) ;) Here is a picture of Chad and I:

And here is a picture of me wearing Chad's stylish eyewear:

I also ran into my friends Lee and Peggy and we tasted some Yazoo (Sue (an Imperial Porter) & Rye Saison).

Justin, Lee, Peggy, Teri, and monks

After trying some Big Boss Brewing Monkey Bizz-Ness & High Roller, and Buckbean Brewing Company Original Orange Blossom Ale & Tule Duck Red Ale, I made it a point to get over to Evolution to try the Rise Up Stout & Migration, Spring 2011. Both were outstanding. The stout had a deliciously intense espresso aroma and taste.

At some point Terri and I lost Justin, but we ran into Yancy, who is also in our homebrew club (and by the way he makes incredible meads). He looked incredibly strapping in his kilt. Yes, I peeked underneath to see if he had any underwear on. (He did). Here is our photo, "Yancy with the Terri's".

Luckily I made it over to Odell Brewing just as they were pouring their last bottle of Friek, which is a sour ale with cherries and raspberries. I absolutely loved it. I also enjoyed their Woodcut no. 5 from their oak aged series.

I wanted to try Shorts but they ran out of beer :(  That's OK though because I think I have a few bottles of their beer down in my 'beer cellar'.

At the end of the evening I said hello to Charlie Papazian. Justin has his Joy of Homebrewing book (I haven't read it yet, but Justin has probably read it five times).

SAVOR was incredibly fun. It was great to sample so many beers and meet so many people. I am already counting down the days until SAVOR 2012.

SAVOR Round 1

This is what I like to refer to as a "Calagione-Koch" sandwich. Yes, it's as delicious as it sounds.
I jumped into this Salon during it's second half and listened to the history behind 'SAVOR Flowers', the collaboration beer (Dogfish Head and Boston Beer Company) brewed especially for this event. I have not yet tasted the beer, but if it tastes even half as yummy as Sam looks, then we have a winner.
After checking in ticket-holders for about an hour or two, I was free to sample the beer and food for the rest of the evening. I am a "Northern Exposure" addict and made a beeline for Alasakan Brewing Co. to sample the Smoked Porter, which lived up to all expectations. I also adored the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie from Cigar City, which served as beverage, dinner, and dessert all in one, it was that rich and delicious.
Some of my fellow BURP members were pouring at Coronado, so I downed a couple samples of the Red Devil and Idiot IPA before heading over to Firestone Walker for the bourboun-y Parabola (amazing).
In between the above, I stopped to try the Maryland DOG Brewing Company Wild Cherry Porter, which was fantastic. The sweetness of the tart cherries in the aroma led one to believe that the beer would finish overly sweet, but the addition of brett dried out the finish.
Laurelwood Brewing Co. was easily one of the highlights of the evening. The head brewer, Chad Kennedy, was extremely friendly and informative. The Workhorse IPA was phenomenal. The "A" it receives on Beer Advocate is well merited. This beer was dry hopped with 4 different varities (if I remember correctly!), and the aroma stole the show with its Centennial, Columbus, Amarillo, and Simcoe hops.
Did I visit more tables? Why, yes I did. I quickly stopped by Boston Beer Company to try the Samuel Adams New World Tripel (which was paired with banana bread by the way, which is probably my favorite food). The evening was finished with Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, Bohemian Brewery's Cherny Bock (huge pour!), Boulevard Brewing Co. Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale & The Sixth Glass, Caldera IPA and Mogli, Diamond Bear Two Term IPA, Two Brothers Brewing Company Cane and Abel & Domaine DuPage.  I sauntered over to the Yards table to taste the Thomas Jefferson Ale and for some strange reason I acted as if it was the first time.   And as if I haven't had enough Double Jack in my lifetime, I stopped by Firestone Walker a couple times to remind myself how freaking amazing that beer really is.
PS: This was one half of the room, tomorrow I will visit the other. ;)

Beer Tasting

Justin and I just returned from the Fairfax Whole Foods where we attended a beer tasting for Lee's birthday. I enjoyed favorites such as Orval, Dragon's Milk, and Maharaja, and sampled a few new ones such as Viking's Blood mead (Okay, technically not a beer), and Full Sail Elevation IPA.
When we got home, we tried for the first time a glass of our java stout, the first beer we ever brewed. In the meantime we have brewed and tasted our English Style Pale Ale, but our java stout was not ready to drink until this week.
Tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday night we are volunteering at SAVOR. Although I hope to sample lots of new beers, my real reason for attending is to hopefully meet Sam Calagione. Cross your fingers for me!