the good, the bad and the uggghhhhh-ly

Greetings from Midlothian, Virginia! My adventures leading up to Justin and Deb's wedding continue.

This post is a mix of all sorts of things, just like my week has been. These beers were all tried at Galaxy Hut in Arlington, a bit dark but overall a cool place. I met up with a gaggle of geographers and associates (hooray Jonathan "Crumpet" Trenary, Scott and Alison Berry, Taylor Harper, Matt Gallo and Anna Cloeter!) and it was really fun to catch up over a few new brews!

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast Stout: This was a bit pricey but good. It had a strong coffee flavor to it (how appropriate for something named "breakfast") but surprisingly almost no aftertaste. Very clean finish. Really smooth beer.

After that one, I couldn't really decide what I wanted, so I made use of the bar's 4 ounce "flights" to sample a few different things:

Cricket Hill Wet Hopped Pale Ale: Where did this appreciation for hops come from? I really liked this. It was hoppy but still really gentle and drinkable. Hooray New Jersey beers!

BBC Bourbon Barrel Stout: This would be "the bad" part of this post. I should have known BBC stands for Bluegrass Brewing Company. I've had other beers that were aged in various barrels usually used for some sort of liquor or something, but this just tasted straight up like bourbon. Good for people who like bourbons and stouts, perhaps, because it definitely had stout weight to it, but I could barely finish this without gagging. I do not like liquor. I absolutely did not like this beer. (Alison rather enjoyed it though, as she is a fan of bourbon.)


After the epic disaster of the bourbon beer, I decided to try two IPAs side by side, just to see what happened-- Sierra Nevada IPA and Terrapin Hopsecutioner IPA. I found the Sierra Nevada to have less of an aftertaste and overall better balanced, while the Hopsecutioner had a bit of a lighter flavor but I found it to be a little weirder fruiter. Hopsecutioner had the better name, but I think I preferred the Sierra Nevada. Both were good though!

And now the uggghhhh part. Last night was spent in Richmond with the imminent newlyweds and assorted friends. That's not the ugghhh part-- that was pretty great! We hung out at Justin and Deb's place in the Church Hill section of town before heading a few blocks down to Patrick Henry Pub. This was the first time in a long time I was greeted by a ton of cigarette smoke, which I wasn't totally thrilled about, but focused on a new beer on tap, the french fries we planned to order, and the good company. Uggghhh number one: I was not served, as my license expired on the 31st. Not good. Uggghhh number two: the kitchen was closed?! At 10PM!? LAME. I wasn't offended that the bartender was following the law and not serving me, but I was offended that their kitchen was already closed before we arrived, not even that late in the evening. So much for "delicious and reasonably priced food" that they advertise first thing on their website. At least we had good company!

A few more days in Virginia, including tomorrow-- Justin and Deb's big day. Very excited! A slightly early congratulations, friends!

Paul: 324
Colleen: 350 (how nice and even!)