A Pint Half Full

Yes folks, I have achieved the impossible - I've become THIRTY years old last week.  I didn't think it'd affect me too much but in fact, when I woke up that fateful morning, it struck me.  I'm no longer "twenty-something"; I now have the privilege of saying I'm THIRTY.  That's a big number.  As odd as it may sound, the distance between a 29 year old and a 31 year old shrinks alot when it becomes the difference between a 30 year old and a 32 year old.

Anyways, I'm over it, as I had time to celebrate over the weekend with friends and revisiting some old haunts from when I first moved down to the Northern Virginia area.  Clarendon (a neighborhood of Arlington) pretty much typifies the NoVa nightlife experience - young professionals, in polos and jeans, gather to listen to 80s/90s cover bands, drink cocktails, and swig Miller Lite.  Not the preferred scene for everyone but fortunately, there are gems in a neighborhood that don't conform to this style and bring unique attitude and most importantly, awesome beers.  Galaxy Hut was the first stop on my birthday night and it was awesome.  The place is small, with a few booths and tables (including a pinball and 80's arcade machine tables).  The main attraction here for me was the beer selection.  They offer a large variety of craft brews on tap as well as bottles that rotate in and out (check their website for latest offerings).  Even with its hipster vibe, you feel welcome in the laid back atmosphere.  I had 4 beers here that I had never tried before and I will try to describe what I can remember here.

In this edition: Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale, Heavy Seas Big DIPA, Russian River/Avery Collaboration Ale, Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot Brown Ale

Purchased from:
Whole Foods, Fair lakes

ABV%:
11.5%

Type:
Imperial Pale Ale

Color:
Orange amber color with a burnt sugar colored head.

Aroma:
Sweet and bitter, bittersweet.  The aroma clears the sinuses and entices.  Grassy hops and a bit of toffee to balance it out.

Taste:
First some sugary followed with a woosh of flavor and bitterness from the hops finishing dry.  Decent balance considering the DOUBLE dose of hops and malt.  Again, the freshness and boldness of the hops clears the nose.

Overall:
I was walking around my local Whole Foods and guess what, Flying Dog Brewery had a rep there!  They were offering samples from something like 12 of their different beers.  I had to stop by and make my way through their free samples from light flavored to stout.  They had a great mix of flavors with the Belgian IPA and this Double Dog Double Pale Ale sticking out to me.  It was nice to contrast all the flavors from the beers and talk about it with the rep.  I walked away but then returned to purchase a 4 pack of the Double Dog Pale Ale.  Double means they added double the hops and double the malt.  The hops definitely come through with a one-two punch of bitters and hoppy flavor.  Delicious. These flavors are bold and fresh but didn't mask the maltiness that followed it up which was great.  Alcohol levels are high so go easy on this one.  Great to get that big hop fix you're missing.

4.25/5

I haven't delved too deep into dark beers so much on this blog as I think I generally favor hoppier styles.  When I think of Porter-style beers, I think of dark, rich flavors but since I'm a novice at this, I didn't know much beyond that.  I imagined they'd be bitter and syrupy or something, possibly "crunchy" tasting.  After reading about Porter, it looks like it is a close cousin to Stout beer, both using dark malts and emphasizing dark fruit (raisins, cherries), coffee, chocolate, and roasted flavors.  I like all those things so Porter is probably something I'd like.  I've tried two examples in recent days - one being a definitive version of the style, Fuller's London Porter, and a newcomer on the scene, Kona Brewing's Pipeline Porter. 

Purchased from:
Gift from my bestest buddy

ABV%:
7%

Type:
English Strong Ale

Color:
Orange hued, caramel color which a thick, creamy head

Aroma:
Nice hop aroma, flowery fragrance with apples balanced with some toffee sweetness

Taste:
Great mix of the bitterness and flavor of hops.  The bitters and balanced with some nice toffee malt, and shortbread.  Finishes dry and generates saliva in the mouth, giving the beer a 'juicy' texture.

Overall:
I first tried this beer New Year's Eve 2010.  I asked my friend to get me some beers from the New England area and this was one of the special ones.  It was ice cold out of the fridge and poured into my Sam Adams Perfect Pint.  It smelled great but at first sip, the hop presence was harsh and startled me and my friend who was having some with me.  Basically, there was not sweetness to counteract the hop flavor and aroma which Geary's Hampshire Special Ale has a ton of.  As it warmed, all the flavors came together and has since become one of my favorite beers.  Too bad I haven't seen too much of it in the Mid-Atlantic area!

What the HSA brings to the table is big malt profile with some molasses and cookie sweetness  PLUS hop bitterness and hop flavor.  These are all quite distinct in the beer and one can savor all the different flavors.  Some might argue that the beer is unbalanced due to its flavors being a little bit disjointed and on opposite ends of the spectrum but I didn't find this at all and the beer pronounces all the flavors with boldness and clarity.  Tasty beer!

4.25/5

Purchased from:
Gift but I've seen it at Whole Foods around here

ABV%:
5%

Type:
Wheat Ale

Color:
Straw yellow with a bit of cloudiness, barely existent, soapy, thin head

Aroma:
Ginger, lemons, with a wheat backbone.  Pretty fruity and light in the nose, fizzy

Taste:
Surprising tang and sourness from the lemon with a hint of the ginger and clove in the background.  Hardly any hop flavor to speak of.  I actually puckered at the taste.

Overall:
Wow.  What to say.  I expected alot from this.  My experience with white ales was Allagash White, Hoegaarden, and I loved both.  When drinking a white ale or other wheat beer, I expect a smoothness, a bit of citrus blended with spice, and overall a refreshing experience.  Perhaps my expectations were too high with this one because even though I got some of the things I expected, it was all destroyed by this sourness that dominated the flavor.

When I first poured the drink, it seemed thin based on the head and color.  I saw there was some leftover stuff at the bottom and kept pouring.  What came out was this deeper yellow stuff.  I have no idea what it was - maybe lemon/ginger residue that had settled out?  Anyway this made the first sip horrible as the sourness just blew me away.  I puckered and ended up with this bitter taste in the back of my mouth that I felt like washing away with water.  The over-carbonation helped in that it diluted this flavor a bit to make the drink bearable.  To make things worse, as the beer warmed, the beer became something like a lemon juice.

I'm really confused at what Kiuchi Brewing is going for here.  I get they are incorporating different flavors (as seen in their Red Rice Ale) in to their beer but it just fails here.  The balance is off and screws with the taste.  Behind it all there is a decent beer there, I think, but I couldn't get over the hump.

2/5

Purchased from:
Gifted but can be found easily

ABV%:
6.5%

Type:
Ale, Maibock-style

Color:
Light amber hue, a little orangey, like those fossils

Aroma:
Caramelly malt, a muted hop scent and a hint of oranges.

Taste:
First, lots of toffee-like sweetness sweeps through the mouth, hop dryness and bitterness hit the back of the palate but it is somewhat muted and fades fast.  Leaves dryness.  Well-balanced and alcohol is hidden.

Overall:
I loved the design of the bottle.  The little skeleton "dead guy" looks so chilled out on top of that barrel and it got me excited because I wanted to be like that while drinking this beer.  After the first sip, I was a little underwhelmed because the sweetness turned out to be a little more than I expected.  As I continued drinking however, the balance worked itself out and the hop flavor, with a decent level of carbonation countered the malt profile.  Rogue Dead Guy Ale turned out to be a solid beer with good flavor, albeit nothing too complex, robust yet sessionable.  My first brew from Rogue and I won't hesitate to try their other offerings.

3.5/5

With the growth of the craft and microbrew industry, it seems that more and more "mainstream" restaurant/brewery chains are opening up.  In the DC metro area alone I can think of a bunch.  Dogfish Head has grown their restaurant chain to three or four locations in the DelMarVa area.  Great American Restaurants has their Sweetwater Tavern.  Capitol City Brewery, Rock Bottom Brewery.  The beers that are brewed range from all over the spectrum, decent to great.  I think they serve their purpose in pairing great food and bringing purposeful beer to the people.  I met up with a couple friends the other day at Gordon Biersch and tried a beer style I hadn't had before: Dunkel (DOON-kl).  Yum.