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What a weekend. In fact, it felt like it was my birthday all week. On Monday night, a couple of my friends brought by a bottle of Ola Dubh 16 year, a 2005 Thomas Hardy’s Ale, as well as some other solid offerings. Wednesday night was just for me. Friday during the day, a water main broke downtown and gave me the afternoon off to run some errands, and that night I made time for some happy hour specials and the Sam Adams Summer seasonal.
So by the time Saturday rolled around, the festivities were in full swing. Some friends of mine came into town for the celebration and we got to work on a Mexican-style seven layer dip for the party that would take place later that night. No sooner had we finished putting it all together when I noticed it was time to hit the restaurant for dinner.
The place was Cuban-themed, and with the night breeze coming in, it felt incredibly comfortable. I soaked up the atmosphere, the tasty food, and the waitress was easy on the eyes, so that made it worthwhile. After a slice of key lime pie, a mojito, and a cigar, it was time to move along.
As if you couldn’t already tell where this was going, we ended up at Capital Ale House. Some of my favorite bartenders and servers were working, and one of the managers was there just having a drink in her off-time. Much to my surprise, she brought out an enormous slice of chocolate cake and a bottle of Unibroue Quatre-Centième Brassin Commémoratif, a beer for the 400th Anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. I have no notes, as revelry was the focus of the evening. But, and this may be no surprise to some, it tasted a lot like La Fin du Monde, from what I recall. Many of their beers taste similar, not unpalatable mind you, but they just don’t seem to stray a whole lot from their main premise. Nevertheless, it was honor to celebrate my birthday and a 400th anniversary a little late, but in style as usual. And as always, much love goes to Cap Ale for throwin’ down for me in such a manner. Thank God (or… the Devil?) they had one decent option for music on the jukebox: Billy Joel.
After that, the good times kept rolling and the good beer kept flowing back at my place. Even cracked a bottle of the Belgian-style homebrew for some attendees to sample while trying to play bartender, serving up Gin & Tonics like a madman. And I can’t thank my friends enough for coming out and helping me celebrate. So while I’m still drying out, I figured I’d pass along the story of one of the most fun birthdays I’ve had in quite some years.
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably kicking yourself right now (or will be by the time you finish reading this post). That’s because Coastal(/Fordham/A-B) Brewing is closing the Old Dominion brewpub.
Why didn’t I just make the drive up there and sit in their newly-renovated brewpub? Or, better yet, head up
there before the buyout and the remodeling to try some of their smaller batch creations? Because I’m a beer moron, that’s why.
Anyway, it seems that keeping the brewpub open is just not a profitable enough venture, and Old Dominion is keeping their eyes on the prize by solely producing its regular line of production beers. Call it economic downturn, or perhaps just being located in an industrial park miles outside of an area of concentrated population density as a lot of these places are, but whatever the case may be, they’re no longer keeping the pub open, in addition to still having the facility temporarily closed to tourists.
Really though, I’ve got my suspicions, but I’ll keep reserved about them. I’ll let other, more qualified persons do the talking.
If only I had bought that last six-pack, the cruel hand of the free market might not be putting the screws to us… I blame myself. And Coastal Brewing. And the economy (stupid). And perhaps the agronomy.
Even though today is almost already over, I feel obliged to tell you that it’s my birthday. Was tonight a wild, devil-may-care evening full of fun and debauchery, perhaps with good beer involved? Well, at least one of the above is true.
Fear not, the fun and debauchery shall come Saturday night, when it’ll be work-appropriate to cut loose. Tonight, however, is reserved for a brisk walk down by the James River, a little comic relief on the television, and a bottle of Allagash 11th Anniversary.
I had to pick a special beer to open on my birthday, right? So what better selection than a limited, one-off release from a favorite brewery of mine? I’ll be honest, Allagash has put out some things that I’ve found less than stellar, but for the most part, they deliver. This beer was released in May of 2006, and only 5,700 750ml bottles were issued. The méthode champenoise is used for all of the beers Allagash bottles, but this one uses Champagne yeast in primary and secondary fermentation. I couldn’t justify holding onto this any longer on today of all days.
The 11th Anniversary graces my shapely Allagash glass with a hazy, tawny and copper-colored liquid that produces a finger of condensed bubbles, which slowly diffuse into a whisp of quaint foamy colonies. Swirling the glass, the aromatic volatiles bring to mind apple cider, molasses, and candy. A stray funky yeast note wanders into the picture with another flick of the wrist.
At the outset, this beer is round and juicy on the palate, with apple, date, and cider-spice flavors mingling nicely. These fruit-like features are swept away by a drying bitterness of Cascade and Northern Brewer hops that stretches out until the finish. Sounds like an odd pairing, but it works. As it warms, it clears up, the molasses and cider notes become drawn out underneath the drying middle portion, and the aftertaste begins to take on the sweetness of candy, albeit subdued.
The juicy introduction and dry, bitter midsection keep me coming back, just as my palate begins to expect each of these flavors to appear at a designated point in each sip. There are a few things going on here, and they seem to shift position ever so slightly each time I put the glass to my lips. It’s complex without being complicated, under control at all times; just a few solid flavors intertwine to form its flavor profile. Allagash 11th is delightfully drying from the selection of yeast and hops used, mellow with age, and a perfect example of how America is taking cues from Belgium on how to innovate in the realm of good beer.
That is, unless you were to accept a free pint from The Sun anywhere in Merseyside.
Knut Albert beat me to the punch regarding a free pint promotion from Carlsberg, shirt sponsors for my favorite EPL team Liverpool, and The Sun, the tabloid magazine that handled coverage of the Hillsborough Disaster poorly, making spurious allegations about fan conduct in order to move product. Needless to say, they didn’t make too many friends at Anfield.
Well, I may be a few steps behind again, but I figure that it’s worth passing along anyway. Carlsberg has decided to pull its promotion due to the reaction of several justifiably upset Liverpudlians. So while they’re busy consolidating their holdings around the globe, at least they’re able to take the time to apologize for such a naive marketing mistake.
The morning of May 31st was a rather solemn one. Amidst an early haze, our well-traveled group was internally pleading for just one more sun-filled day, one more wild night along the canals of Venice. As the porters came for our bags to load them onto their boats and take us to the mainland, we knew that this was it.
A ride through a village or two outside the city proper gave us a rather rustic vantage point on our way to the
airport. The light of the morning sun lent an almost golden aura to everything, and shined like a bastard in my bloodshot eyes. When we got there, and as the automatic glass doors opened up, we saw the lines of people queued up from the check-in desk to the entrance: a veritable stand-still. As luck would have it, an attractive airport worker in Lufthansa garb motioned us over to check in on an electronic device to speed up the process. When asked about the long lines, even though flights were on time, she non-chalantly indicated that there was a strike in progress. I even caught a brief smile, which gave me the impression that this is a common occurrence and wasn’t a cause for too much concern. What a lifestyle.
Warsteiner from Venice to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt, I spent some time deciding between tallboy cans of Becks or Bitburger, and went with the Bitburger. I drank it. Yeah, I’m not proud of it, but it was the best I could find in the terminal, and nothing like first setting foot in Munich with a Schneider. Oddly fitting. Everyone was in a rather sullen mood, and I couldn’t blame them, but I at least wanted a little excitement if we were going to be stuck in another airport for a while.
There were some humorous YouTube videos to keep us occupied. Dan had a book of Sudoku puzzles and ripped out a couple pages of the more difficult ones for me to do. I drank substandard beer from a can and worked out the problems in my head.
After hitting JFK, the goodbyes were rather brief. People waited near the baggage carousel, feeling jet-lagged and disappointed to be thrust back into their impending routines. I knew I was in America when I participated in this dialogue at the checkpoint:
(in a distinctly brusque New York accent) “Hey, pal. What’s in the bag?”
“Hand-crafted glass from the island of Murano… pal.”
“Arright, whatever. G’head. Next!”
I could only think how great it was to be back in my native land.
Following a few goodbyes, last-minute photo ops, and some talk of dinner plans for people staying that night in the city, everyone split in what seemed like an instant. Before I knew it, I was standing alone in a crowded airport. I ran into my roommate from the trip, a good guy who I got along with great. He lives in northern Virginia, and we were heading back around the same time, but on different flights. We stumbled to find food to sustain us for the wait and our brief flights south.
Boarding for my flight was called, and we then parted ways. Being exhausted and operating in a different time zone, I felt ethereal, otherworldly; it was almost as if I could not be responsible for my own actions because I felt as if I was on some narcotic that made me invisible. I could not touch or interact, I could only observe. The world was happening all around me. I watched the Celtics in the NBA Playoffs on the plane and tried to wrap my head around everything that just happened.
Oyez, oyez, oyez! Capital Ale House has recently announced its tapping schedule for the Beer Geek Week 2008. Each year, these purveyors of fine ales and lagers put on a special week for people in the Richmond area that is designed to drain my wallet of what little cash I actually have, and they succeed. This year, it begins August 25th and runs through the 31st, plenty of time to taste some fine, rare offerings.
Below I’ve copied their schedule from the BeerAdvocate forum. If you’re in the area and plan on attending, I suggest voting on which inky black imperial stout you’d like to see flowing through the coffee-filled Randall. Last year, at Kerstbier Fest, they used Bell’s Expedition, which was delicious.
If you’re as foolhardy as I am, and wish to attend, then peruse their slated tappings, why don’t ya…
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Monday, August 25th@ Capital Ale House INNSBROOK
NIGHT OF IMPERIAL DARKNESS
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout? (in current lead) 2007 poured through
The coffee filled Randall (Caffirandall) in all its jittery glory
5:00pm- Hitachino Espresso Stout 2008
6:00pm- Bells Expedition 2007 & Ommegang Chocolate Stout 2007
7:00pm- Weyerbacher 13th 2008
8:00pm- Oskar Blues Ten Fidy 2008
Tuesday, August 26th@ Capital Ale House ALL LOCATIONS
STEAL THE GLASS NIGHT- TBA
Wednesday, August 27th@ Capital Ale House INNSBROOK
NACHT, STOCK & 3 DELICIOUS BARRELS
5:00pm De Dolle Stille Nacht 2007, One of the highest gravity beers of Belgium
5:30pm JW Lees Harvest Calvados Aged Wooden Lined FIRKIN
6:00pm North Coast Old Stock Ale 2008
7:00pm Blue Mountain Dark Hallow 2008 Local and Barrel Aged
8:00pm Hitachino XH 2008 Aged in Sake Barrels
Thursday, August 28th@ Capital Ale House DOWNTOWN
ATTACK OF THE HOP HEADS!
Tapping of the Weyerbacher Simco Double Hop FIRKIN!
5:00pm- Bells Hop Slam 2008
6:00pm- Dogfish 120 Through the Randall The Enamel Animal
7:00pm- Dogfish Burton Baton 2008
8:00pm- Smuttynose Big A IPA 2008
Plus a few Surprises!
Friday, August 29th@ Capital Ale House MIDLOTHIAN
GOOD BREWS COME IN SMALL BATCHES
Limited edition and small batch brews. These we had to beg for!
Tapping of the Harvieston Ola Duhba 30 year FIRKIN (Very few of these in existence)
5:00pm Wintercoat Double Hop IPA 2008 (Only keg that made it into VA)
6:00pm Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron 2008 (12% Imperial Brown Ale aged on santo wood from Paraguay)
7:00pm Smuttynose Farmhouse 2008 & Smuttynose Maibock 2008 (only ones in Richmond)
8:00pm Franches Montagnes Abbey De Bon Chien 2007 (one of the most complex and rare beers you will ever taste!)
Saturday, August 30th@ Capital Ale House DOWNTOWN
HAPPY BIRTH DAY STONE BREWING!
Join us in celebrating a belated Birthday to one of our favorite west coast breweries!
6:00pm Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Stout 2008
7:00pm Stone 11th Anniversary Black IPA 2007
8:00pm Stone 10th Anniversary Double IPA 2006 & a toast to Stone
Plus a few surprises!
Sunday, August 31st@ Capital Ale House INNSBROOK
GRAVITY CALAMITY
5:00pm Lagunitas Brown Shugga 2006
6:00pm JW Lees Harvest 2006
7:00pm Dogfish Head Fort 2008
8:00pm Bells 3rd Coast Old Ale 2008
Other potential interesting items that will be tapped
A Wooden Lined Firkin of Regenboog Kerst. It is so delicate that it has to be rotated every few days so the wooden Keg doesn’t get dry and crack. This 12% treat has been sitting in this wooden FIRKIN since February. Either poured on Weds or Sun
We might get a special green hopped version of Blue Mountain Full Nelson to pour through cask. Its being made currently and won’t be ready until a day before. If ready will be tapped on Thursday Downtown
A special Legend Cask dry hopped with local hops from the “Hop Man” Lindsay Weiford’s back yard! Thanks Lindsay! If ready will be tapped on Thursday Downtown
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I’m not even trying to attend every night, and I doubt it’s humanly or financially possible. However, I’ll try to be around for the Downtown location events, seeing as how I live so close. Innsbrook used to be my after-work spot, until work changed. So have fun with your barrels and your imperial stouts out there. I’m holding out for the surprises Downtown has to offer, plus the Double Simcoe Firkin. Not only that, but to be able to try some locally hopped beers on cask? Yes, please!
Lately I’ve been getting some emails that I’m wary of, to be honest. Marketing companies contacting me about beer-related things. Now, I’m not totally rejecting capitalism in all its forms or leading the October Revolution, but I just feel strange when marketing people contact me regarding beer. I know that breweries are in business, but I see marketing as a separate entity that is also in business for itself, and may not share the same ideals. While I may not be pushing “beer gear” on you from brightly flashing links, I may be getting free samples to review if all goes well and these questions can be answered.
Now, before you think I’ve sold out, remember, I have a day job. That’s what funds my beer exploration and enjoyment. So keeping that in mind, I’m accepting beer like many actual beer writers and bloggers would: on the condition that I give it an honest critique. I want to make that clear to you, dear reader, and any marketing- or brewery-related person that may happen to be stopping by. Furthermore, I don’t want to be targeted for advertising junk mail or spam, so leave it out, will ya?
That being said, we’ll see if this actually works out. Hopefully I can make it happen without Andy Crouch exposing me for the unethical, no-talent hack that I am. Anyone wanting to send me free samples, check the About page.
Moving along, to a beer review, as it were. Cantillon Kriek.
This was the first beer I intended to open in order to celebrate the occasion of my new place. Well, that didn’t happen, and I’ve been delighting in a variety of good beers since then. But tonight, with nothing better to do but to take care of some chores and watch a little Arrested Development, I decided to give this one a whirl.
The pour reveals an absolutely enticing garnet color that experiences an interesting head formation. As the carbonation develops at the top in the form of medium-sized bubbles of weak constitution, it fades in the blink of an eye as the bubbles burst. Then, a second wave of small fizz begins to swirl after the first subsides, culminating in an ever-so quaint ring of tight bubbles around the extreme edges of the beer at the very top.
That particularly Belgian lambic funk comes to the fore in the nose, casting a long shadow over the subtle,
tart fruitiness of the cherries. Still, that pleasing sweetness lurks in the background, begging me to take a sip.
On the tongue, the sour character overtakes and drowns out most everything else. However, the funkiness seems rather multi-faceted, offering the quintessential combination of barnyard and Band-Aid qualities when scrutinized. The tart cherries play a supporting role, making themselves known toward the middle, and the finish is back to the “horseblanket” kind of sour, slightly medicinal. “Horseblanket” may look like such an inane adjective to describe a flavor in beer, but when you try it, you’ll know; you’ll also find it tough to call it anything else. In the aftertaste, a brief flare of tartness makes a cameo, but then fades gracefully.
So what did I think? It was alright.
Yeah, I said it: just okay. Rated a World Classic by Michael Jackson, Tim Webb, and the Shelton Brothers apparently. To me, it’s so-so.
Look, I’m no stranger to lambics or gueuzes, and I’m (just) smart enough to know that they’re supposed to be sour. But that’s the thing, I’ve tasted some outstanding ones, and just don’t see how this is better than Liefmans. Call me what you will, but drinkable is drinkable. This beer is more of a challenge, as my stomach told me toward the end of the glass.
Not to say that I didn’t appreciate it. As you can tell, I really picked up some interesting traits with this beer, but it just didn’t strike me as mindblowingly good. Despite all that effort the brewery has put in (and my near $20 for the bottle), I can say that without hesitation.
How’s that for being honest and up front?
Obligations have kept me busy this week and away from the computer (probably for the better), but I figured I’d recap some of the beer-related events I’ve gotten myself into over the past several days.
I forgot to mention that last Friday there was a tasting going on at a corner market right near where I work. Sierra Nevada and St. George Brewing reps were on hand to dispense some of their wares and promote their products in-store. Boar’s Head was also on site to give out free meat and cheese samples. Apparently there’s another addition to the Harvest Ale line called Chico Estate, which is supposed to use a variety of hops grown right their hometown of Chico, California. Here’s to hoping it’s better than the Southern Hemisphere, and just as good if not better than the original Harvest. I’m just glad to know some of these little shops are selling some halfway decent beer!
Over the past week, Pilsner Urquell has been my go-to brew. Just one right when I get home from work seems to hit the spot for some reason.
Thursday night I went to a keg party. Now, I’ve got a routine going where it’s early to bed (relatively) and early to rise, day in day out. When I happened to meet a friend on the street that day, he told me to come by later in the evening and I couldn’t say no. I hadn’t seen a few people who were there in a while, and was glad to break up the monotony of the work week. So, it was some Yuengling Lager in plastic Solo cups, which isn’t all that bad, and seems to taste better on tap than in bottles. Sorry, no notes. Another friend stopped by later and opened up a bottle of Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, which I have sitting in my fridge but haven’t bothered to crack yet.
Friday night was a relatively tame one, but a great way to start off the weekend. Some after-work blues, no cover charge mind you, and some beer went perfectly together. Started off with a Gaffel Kolsch, which I’m not sure why I like so much, and then enjoyed yet another surprisingly good beer from Williamsburg AleWerks. It was called Springhouse Ale and it was pretty damn tasty. Nothing over-the-top, but subtle sweetness and some fruity notes going on, with an attempt to get a slight funk going on in there. Almost like a mellow saison blended in with their All-American Cream Ale.
Also this week, I finally tried the Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron. That I did take some notes on, and did not drink out of a plastic Solo cup.
From a moderate pour, I could barely wrangle a centimeter of beige head from the thing, but the liquid looked rather viscous, one incredibly dark shade of brown. The nose offered up notes of freshly ground coffee with chicory, very robust and unlike any other beer with coffee-like aromatics I’ve smelled. Also, dark fruit provides a clue to its complexity against a boozy backdrop that opens up the nostrils a bit. Since it was aged in vessels made of Palo Santo wood from Paraguay, there are some interesting vanilla, coffee, and brown sugar notes that emanate from the beer.
A word that normally doesn’t come to mind when thinking of Dogfish Head’s products is “balanced.” I’ll admit that sometimes, I’m looking for a beer that completely rips my tongue out and punches me in the face with flavor. Palo Santo Marron, however, takes a different path with its attention to nuance and keeping things in check. It makes a polite introduction with its dark malts, hinting at a little chocolate and coffee, but actually has a more velvety texture than anticipated from the carbonation level, and also doesn’t take the offensive with its flavor profile. The fig-like dark fruit seems to coincide quite nicely with the very well-masked, but still detectable, alcohol presence rolling into the finish.
One of the best parts about this beer: the wood-aged taste that appears at the very end. Something I think craft brewers can go overboard with is barrel-aging, at times focusing too much on a parching wood taste that, in my opinion, can completely ruin a beer and distract from its finer qualities. Dogfish Head practices some restraint with this offering and lets each member of the choir be heard without shouting over another.
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