Tag Archives: beer quest

LPBC 2011-03-12 All Points Beer Joints – Virginia, Marlyand, and Washington, DC

March 12, 2011 by Thomas · 4 Comments

This is an episode of the Living Proof Brew Cast.

In the intro, Thomas poured a Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron and John a New Belgium Fat Tire. John mentions that the other New Belgium beer a friend gave him was the Hoptober. We commiserate on not being able to get tickets to Savor but look forward to the City Paper’s 15th Annual Brew Fest and the Washington Post 2011 Beer Madness.

Our main discussion was another tour of the Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC area, this time to discuss beer joints of interest. That is places that do not necessarily brew on premises but have much to offer the enthusiastic beer quester. We lead off with Churchkey and Birch and Barley and mention in no particular order Tuscarora Mill, Fireworks Pizza, Magnolias Mill, Vintage 50, Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza, Founding Farmers, Pizzeria Paradiso, PubDog, Roots Market, Le Mannequin Pis in Olney, Iota (where Ditched by Kate recently played), Galaxy Hut, Elephant and Castle in DC, RFD, and Bier Baron.

Greg Engert, the beer manager at Churchkey and Birch and Barley, was the first to be recognized as a Beer Sommelier by Food & Wine magazine. John mentions the Ayinger Celebrator, a wonderful beer of its style well worth seeking out.

We close out discussing stores that are starting to cater to drinking and tasting on site. Especially Gillys but also Pinky and Pepe’s Grape Escape are a couple of local examples that go above and beyond places like Norms and Chevy Chase Wine and Spirits.

If you are interested in learning more about your own local beer joints, Beer Advocate is a great place to start.

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Savor Tickets On Sale Tomorrow, at Noon

March 2, 2011 by Thomas · Leave a comment

John and I are both planning on trying to get tickets. We talked about Savor in our early discussions of Discovery’s Brew Masters series as the unveiling of one of Sam’s beers took place there. I currently work very close to the venue and am excited at the prospect of attending such a big event in the beer world right in my usual stomping grounds.

You will be able to purchase tickets for Savor tomorrow starting at noon from their web site. They apparently reserve pre-sale tickets for VIPs and attendees from years past and those sold out in next to no time. I thought it would be a useful reminder for anyone else interesting in going, to be prepared to try to buy your tickets at noon sharp, just in case the rest of the tickets go as fast.

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LPBC 2011-02-26 Victory Golden Monkey 1-4-All

February 26, 2011 by Thomas · Leave a comment

This is an episode of the Living Proof Brew Cast.

We skip over our usual intro and get right into our tasting of the Victory Golden Monkey with our special guest, Chris Miller of The Secret Lair podcast.  While looking up the particulars of the Golden Monkey, John spots the Wild Devil a beer we are all now very curious to try. Its description puts me in mind of the wild ales available at Churchkey. Following on from some humorous jabs at John’s distinctive facial grooming, Chris mentions the charity with which he participates each year. John rewinds the conversation back to the discussion of wild ales to point out that Wyeast and White Labs offer cultivars of distinctive wild yeast strains and adjunct bacteria for home brewers. Daniel of Mountaineer Brewing Company is a friend of John’s well known to us for his taste for the funky, funky ales.

Chris poses a challenge to us and an offer of some audio for future shows in the from of trying to convert his fellow overlord, Kris Johnson, to beer drinking. I was reminded of how differently we can appreciate the same thing, that I can get chocolate out of a distinctive beer like the Harviestoun Ola Dubh 30 Year while a less experienced palate cannot get past the char. Bearing that in mind, there are certainly more accessible sweet chocolate beers like Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and Heavy Seas Siren Noire which John found on tap at Elephant and Castle.

While we don’t have a brewing update (despite having new beers in the pipe), Chris brought some weighty brewing questions. In response to his interest in wheat free beers to share with his wife, I suggest the Crispin Ciders as they use beer yeasts to carry recognizable flavors into the realm of cider. Turning Chris on to Sam Calagione’s Extreme Brewing may ultimately prove to come back and bite us if he ever makes good on his idea of a squid beer. Cthulhu pthagn.

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LPBC 2011-02-12 District Area Brew Pubs

February 12, 2011 by Thomas · Leave a comment

This is an episode of the Living Proof Brew Cast.

In the intro, we discuss the beers we are drinking. Having mentioned it enough in previous casts, I enjoy a Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout. It was one of several beers we picked up at Franklin’s on our last trip there. John enjoyed the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine. Before we finish the intro, I also chat about a wonderful brew pub, Schlafly’s Tap Room, that I visited on a recent trip to St. Louis.

Our main segment is a whirlwind tour of the DC area brew pubs we’ve visited and plan to visit. We discuss the District Chophouse and Franklin’s both of which we’ve visited very recently. While at Franklin’s we picked up several beers including the North Coast Old Stock Ale Cellar Reserve 2009 and Stillwater Ales’ Love and Regret. We are also glad to share that our home base, Growlers, is open again after the storm damage over the Summer. The former brewmaster from there has opened Lost Rhino (which used to be 28 North). We also mention Capital City Brewing and Rock Bottom. We’d like to get out to the Ram’s Head Tavern and Mad Fox.

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LPBC 2011-01-30 The Wood Aged 3-4-3

January 30, 2011 by Thomas · Leave a comment

This is an episode of the Living Proof Brew Cast.

In the intro, we discuss the beers we are drinking.  For the first time we are in the studio together for both the intro and the brewing update (see below).  We share a Chatoe Rogue Dirtoir Black Lager that I picked up from Gilly’s.  I enjoyed the Chatoe Rogue Wet Hop previously so had a good idea this second beer in the series would be fun to try.  It certainly makes effective use of the new de-husked black malts that we’ve written about before.  Rogue consistently turns what would seem like mere novelties into wonderfully crafted expressions of the brewing art, like their Mocha Porter and Chipotle Ale.

Our main segment is a series of three tastings with returning guest, Chooch.  All three beers share that they were aged on wood.  The first we tried was the J.W. Lees port word reserve.  In discussing it we mention Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout and Burton Baton.  I also compare it to an example from one of my other passions, single malt scotch, in this instanced Glenmorangie’s Quinta Ruban.

The second beer we sample is the Blue Grass Brewery’s Clay Street Series Bourbon Barrel Stout.  If it is a high gravity beer, it hides it well like the Southern Tier Old Man.  John mentions wanting to do a comparison to the Jefferson’s Reserve bourbon barrel stout.

Our third beer was the Southern Tier Cuvee Series 3.  In tasting it, we mention almost every Southern Tier beer we’ve tried before.  I mention the Ommegang Hennepin as pushing that funk that John’s friend, Daniel, from Mountaineer so enjoys.  John likens the brettanomyces note to Victory Golden Monkey.

We also have a brewing update.  We taste my Sun-dial stout that has been in the bottle three weeks and is just about ready to share.  John shares the latest on his stale, vatted IPA, the Green Grass and High Tides, which is coming along nicely.  He has also pitched the fruit into the pair of lambics that we started on our last brew day.

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New Belgium Coming to DC/MD/VA

January 26, 2011 by Thomas · Leave a comment

The news, from the DCist, is really only of interest to our local readers.

Beers from Colorado brewer New Belgium have achieved some level of cult status. Part of the reason for this is that despite being the third-largest craft brewer in America, the brewery did not distribute east of the Mississippi until 2009. However, that is all about to change as we find out from DC Beer that New Belgium is seeking to expand their distribution to D.C., Maryland and Virginia some time this fall. The timeline will reportedly depend on the distributors in the localities, but demand may be high enough to force the distributors to respond quickly.

I have not had a chance to try anything from New Belgium, yet, missing it the few times in recent history I’ve traveled far enough west for it to be available. I am looking forward to picking some up this Fall.

New Belgium to Expand Distribution to D.C., DCist

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