catching up and getting ahead

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am really quite a responsible drinker. What follows appears otherwise, but give me some credit-- I spent a week in a city I adore, with old and new friends, catching up and enjoying the company. I will try to keep each of these short, since there were a few of them during the week...

Fireflies Amber Ale: I stayed with Paul my first two nights in the area. He took me here, which had excellent food (especially the fries!) and great beer. He recommended this in the blog and to my face, so I went with it... and much to my surprise, so did he. He's letting me get ahead right now, since this summer I will not be active in this little tongue-in-cheek contest we have going. (Also he was a bit under the weather.) Anyway, this is a good beer! Generally unoffensive to anyone, I suspect. Very clean, not too heavy, not too boring. Nice.

Left Hand Fade to Black: My second night, I made my infamous easy beer marinade for Paul with this and then drank the extra 4 ounces, making it a legit entry on the list (we have an unwritten code about these things). This was my kinda beer! Really dark, with strong flavor, definitely a bit coffee-y.

Flying Dog Amber Lager: Nice, refreshing beer. Flying Dog is pretty legit.

Sweetwater's Straight Shooter Stout: So I'll sneak this tidbit in here: I had a job interview whilst in the area last week, and at the end of it, I went to Sweetwater with a fellow former Mary Washington Geographer for a quick round. I obviously ordered the stout, because I like those. This one was a good one! Well rounded, no particular flavor too strong, not too heavy, just the right amount of awesome.

Flying Dog Pale Ale: Rutgers co-hosted an AAG party with Clark University at RFD Washington. I brought Paul. I hear the place was great, but there were only a few beers on tap in the back room where we were, including this one that I'd never had before. It was a little hoppier than I'd prefer, but for being pale and hoppy, it didn't kill me. That means that it's an accessible pale ale, even if you're not into super hoppy nonsense (like me).

Kilkenny Cream Ale: This came up in conversation when out at the aforementioned Sweetwater, so I was pleased to see it on the menu at Murphy's, which was across from the conference hotels. This was another really great beer! It was a little bit sweet but not in a sickening oversweet sort of way like doppelbocks that I generally haven't been too into. Very smooth, very nice. I would do this again.

Mooney's Irish Stout: Also at Murphy's, this was a very chocolatey flavored stout. Very very obviously chocolatey. However, not bad. I liked it. But then again, I like stout. One of my friends I was out with ordered it as well, so I clearly wasn't the only one who liked it.

Murphy's Lager: Yes, three at once place! My college friends came into D.C. to hang out for the evening, so we spent quite a while at the restaurant waiting for everyone to arrive after work. This was pretty straightforward, no nonsense, dry lager. Whatever.

Tusker lager: Went to Brickskeller on Saturday night, a place Paul has mentioned more than once for their incredible selection. Seriously, go read the menu. I estimated about 1000 beers on the printed copy I was looking at, from all over the world, and reasonably priced, too. This place rocked. I watched the Caps game with Deron and Scott while enjoying this "whatever lager" from Kenya, for no real reason other than the fact that I'd never had an African beer before.

Starr Hill Dark Star Stout: This was excellent, also from Brickskeller while we watched the third period end in a tie. This was a bit coffee-y, especially compared to the Mooney's the day before with its absurd amount of awesome chocolate flavor. But I enjoy a strong beer, and this totally fit the bill.

Mike's American Lager: Out dinner with amazing host family #3 of my week, Alison and Scott Berry, I had this beer, which is apparently brewed using bottom fermenting yeast, like a lager, but using an ale recipe. I don't even know what that means, but this was a nice clean beer to go with my great dinner (I totally recommend the grilled portobello!).

Kona Wailua: Back at the Berries', Scott had some of this waiting. They had it on their honeymoon in Hawaii last fall, and he's a huge fan. This is a wheat beer brewed with passionfruit, which I tried for the first time in Mexico last summer-- delicious and sweet, but really difficult to eat because it's got seeds galore. In my beer, it worked out very well! Not too sweet or fruity, just a hint of interesting on top of a very nice wheat beer.

Legend Lager: This is also a "whatever" lager, but I was at the excellent J. Brian's in Fredericksburg with the excellent Hilary, who is originally from Richmond, like this beer. It was just fine with my delicious quesadilla and my fabulous company!


This seems ludicrous but I guess you had to be there to see that it wasn't really so crazy. MANY thanks to all of my wonderful friends who joined me for these!
Paul: 222
Colleen: 236