| This Week's Beer Tasting! |
Just 12 months ago, the beer landscape in the NoVA/DC Metro area began shifting. Make that seismic shifting.
In early January 2011, Alexandria's own Port City Brewing Co. began brewing and by Super Bowl Sunday, they were dispensing their first growlers of Essential Pale Ale. (Six-packs weren't available until April.) Since that auspicious day, DC Brau, Chocolate City, Lost Rhino and Three Stars all have started selling locally brewed beer in one form or another, and more are on their way. Hurray beer!
In recognition of this momentous anniversary, the Beermudgeon has put together a Saturday lineup of brews produced in Virginia and Maryland. Included in the lineup will be a growler's worth of Port City's One, their first-anniversary brew that is available on draft only, but we needed to sample it, too. We'll start pouring at noon!
In other news, some un-local beers from Hawaii's Maui Brewing Co. have hit our shores, er ... shelves, this week. We have Bikini Blonde, Mana Wheat, Big Swell IPA and their flagship, Coconut Porter, all in 12 oz. cans.
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Check the list below for the rest of this week's other new and returning arrivals and keep an eye on our Facebook page. Be sure to call or e-mail
if you would like to reserve or special order something. First come,
first served. As always, we will hold unpaid reservations for only one week, but if you pay in advance, we'll hold it until you get here.
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Beer Reservation Policy
Going forward, we won't be having any lists, any
pre-orders or any lotteries for any new or special release beers. We'll continue our usual diligent efforts
to bring in everything new, unusual and in-demand. When they arrive, we
will post their arrival on our Facebook page and include them in
our weekly e-newsletter. At that point, they will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to per-customer limits. We think
this will give all of our customers equal opportunity to enjoy these
special beers without having to worry about being on a list or asking
the right questions. We hope you will agree.
Of course, once availability is announced, you can still contact us to hold your beers and/or pay for them over the phone. And, of course, we are still happy to special order beers that we do not normally have on our shelves, assuming that we are able to procure them from our wholesalers. Thanks you for your understanding.
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Saturday, February 4, 2012, 12 noon - 5 p.m.
- Lost Rhino New River Pale Ale: Those of you who may have frequented the old Old Dominion Brewing Co. brewpub in Ashburn likely fondly remember New River, which was contract brewed by the late Kenny Lefkowitz of Blacksburg beginning in 1999. After he died in 2002, his business partner, Chris McRae, and his mother, Judy Luria, continued brewing New River (a silver medalist at the Great American Beer Festival in 2004) until 2007, when Old Dominion was purchased, then moved to Delaware. Fast forward a few years to when some of the Old Dominion gang, led by head brewer Favio Garcia, regrouped to form Lost Rhino (again in Ashburn), which acquired the rights to New River and Kenny's original recipe. We're pretty sure you are going to like it, if you don't already. ABV: 5.4%, $4.49/22 oz.
- Blue & Gray Chocolate Raspberry Stout: As Valentine's Day approaches, this chocolate-and-raspberry-infused stout from Fredericksburg is one of our standard offerings. If Virginia is for lovers, so is this beer. Be sure to visit their brewpub, Lee's Retreat, when you visit Fredericksburg! ABV: 5.0%, $5.49/22 oz.
- Stillwater/Brewer's Art Debutante: We're really happy to offer this collaboration from two of the best practitioners of the Belgian style of brewing. Volker Stewart of The Brewer's Art, a wonderful Baltimore brewpub, and Brian Strumke of gypsy brewer Stillwater Artisanal Ales brewed this American farmhouse ale at Dog Brewing Co. of Westminster, Md. The saison-ish ale is brewed with spelt and rye and flavored with heather, honeysuckle and hyssop. ABV: 6.4%, $11.99/750 ml.
- Heavy Seas Black Cannon: Heavy Seas' ode to the oxymoron that is Black IPA. Black Cannon is a version of the Baltimore brewery's flagship, Loose Cannon, that is brewed with black malt. This would have been the official beer of Blackbeard, had he lived to taste it, we reckon. ABV: 7.25%, $9.99/6 pk.
- Port City One: Cheers to PCBC's Bill Butcher and head brewer Jonathan Reeves for this Belgian-style Imperial stout that promised flavors of espresso, dark Swiss chocolate and a hint of orange peel. We're looking forward to the first in what we hope will be a very long series of anniversary beers from our friends down the street! ABV: 9.5%. Not for sale, but we'll have a growler's worth to taste. Visit the brewery on Wheeler Avenue if you want a growler of your own!
- DuClaw Retribution: Retribution is an Imperial stout that is aged in for six months in charred, American white oak bourbon barrels before bottling. Expect big aromas and flavors of coffee, chocolate and malt along with vanilla and caramelized sugar imparted by the bourbon barrels. (NOTE: Before you get TOO excited, be aware this is NOT Divine Retribution. But if you want, we also have some Colossus on hand to allow you to blend your own.) ABV: 9.0%, $13.99/22 oz.
Beers for tasting and prices are subject to change.
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This Week's New & Returning Brews:
- Boddingtons (England) Pub Ale
- Antigoon (Belgium) Double Blonde Ale
- Tuppers (VA) Hop Pocket Ale
- Dominion (DE) Millennium
- 21st Amendment (CA) Bitter American
- Avery (CO) New World Porter
- Dogfish Head (DE) Raison d'Etre
- DuClaw (MD) Oak-Aged Black Jack, Retribution
- Lost Rhino (VA) New River Pale Ale
- Gouden Carolus (Belgium) Classic
- VanHonsebrouck (Belgium) Bacchus Flemish Red
- Straffe Hendrik (Belgium) Quad
- J.W. Lee's (England) Calvados-aged Harvest Ale '09
- La Chouffe (Belgium) Golden Ale
- Lagunitas (CA) A Little Sumpin' Sumpin', Censored, Pale Ale, IPA, Hop Stoopid, Imperial Red, Maximus, Pils
- North Coast (CA) Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin XIV
- Stone (CA) IPA, Pale Ale, Levitation, Ruination, Sublimely Self-Righteous
- Weihenstephaner (Germany) Dunkel Hefe
- Green Flash (CA) West Coast IPA, Hop Head Red, Rayon Vert
- Left Hand (CO) Milk Stout
- Maui (HI) Bikini Blonde, Mana Weat, Big Swell IPA, Coconut Porter
- Smuttynose (NH) IPA, S'Muttonator
- Stillwater/Brewer's Art (MD) Debutante
- Sierra Nevada (CA) Ruthless Rye
- Chimay (Belgium) Grand Reserve
- Guinness (Ireland) Extra Stout
- Young's (England) Double Chocolate
- Kaliber (Ireland) N/A
- Magners (Ireland) Hard Cider
- Heavy Seas (MD) Black Cannon
- Abita (LA) Mardi Gras, Amber, Purple Haze, Turbodog, Restoration Pale, Jockamo IPA
- Blue & Gray (VA) Chocolate Raspberry Stout, Fred Red
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