Beer Within Steps of History

Recently, it seems that vacations have been hard to take. So many things have conspired to occupy our time that the Savage Boleks have not truly been able to relax. That changed when we took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. We wanted to learn more about pre-revolutionary times, hang out around period actors, and enjoy some period eats at one of the taverns. 

And, with any trip that the Savage Boleks take, one can rest assured that, at some point, we will find ourselves in a brewery, taproom or brewpub. There are bonus points if it is a place that we have not been before. Those points were awarded this time because we found ourselves at the Virginia Beer Company, which was only footsteps from the history that motivated this particular vacation. 

We happened to visit the Virginia Beer Company when it was celebrating its sixth anniversary. Co-owners Chris Smith and Robby Willey started this craft brewery in an old C&P Telephone warehouse less than a mile from Colonial Williamsburg. The 10,000 square foot facility now houses a 30 barrel brewing and 5 barrel pilot system. The brewers have worked with over 300 recipes, with the motto of Beer - People - Purpose.

As part of its sixth anniversary, the brewers at Virginia Beer Company featured their "Waypost 2022." There were three beers, each of which was an Imperial Milk Stout. The first is the Cascara, which is stout aged in bourbon barrels with coffee and cherries. The second beer is the Mexican Chocolate, which I will save for a post on its own. The final beer is the Sidecar Waypost, which will become the subject of this post.  

A Sidecar is a cocktail whose origins date back to around the end of World War I. The first recipes, which appeared in 1922, call for the drink to be prepared with Cognac, orange liqueur (think Cointreau) and lemon juice. Once mixed, the drink has been described as a lighter, fruity whisky sour. If one were to watch the movie Star of Midnight, he or she would see William Powell play the role of Dazell, someone who downed several of those drinks, only to leave the tab to a Miss Donna Mantin, played by Ginger Rogers.

However, I am not William Powell and I don't drink mixed drinks. Nevertheless, Virginia Beer Company's Sidecar Waypost presents the flavors of a Sidecar for a beer drinker. The brewers start with Columbus hops, and Chiswick yeast, along with a variety of malts, such as 2-Row, chocolate and roasted malts, to brew an Imperial Milk Stout. The nod to the Sidecar comes first with the use of orange zest and lemon zest. However, it really comes through with the aging of the beer in Cognac barrels. 

It is the use of the Cognac barrels that sets this beer apart. I have had many a barrel-aged beer. Most are aged in bourbon barrels, which add a flavor that is easily recognized and, quite frankly, easily repeated. The flavor added by the Cognac barrels was distinctively different. It was smoother, and, if possible, a little boozier than the beers that I have had in bourbon barrels. That booziness was perhaps a little much, especially with the roasted malts, because it became a little difficult to try to ascertain the orange and lemon flavors in the beer. It took some effort, but I was able to discern them as I enjoyed the beer.

The Waypost Series were excellent beers and, if Virginia Beer Company produces these beers every year, it is definitely worth the trip down to the tap room. I think we'll be back again very soon. 

ENJOY!

A Hideaway in Sin City

Over the next few months, I will be doing a lot of traveling for work, which means that I won't be doing a lot of cooking.  The traveling has already begun, with a trip to Las Vegas.  My job usually requires me to make a trip to Vegas at least once (and up to four times) per year. 

Whenever I am in Las Vegas, I inevitably look for a place where I can go to get away from work and relax.  A year or so ago, I found one such place.  It is a little bar tucked away in a corner on the Strip. The small bar is lined with approximately half a dozen seats and another half dozen taps. From those taps pour the beers of Sin City Brewing.   

Each time I made my way to that spot, I would sit down and quickly scan the taps.  The same six (or so beers).  I would then order the "seasonal," which happens to be the same beer every time.  The double India Pale Ale.  The only difference is whether I get a 16 ounce or 24 ounce cup. (The picture on the right is the 24 ounce cup.)

Like those taps, the double IPA is also always the same, a tribute to consistency.  It pours light golden color, with a thin foam covering the entire surface of the beer.  This double IPA does not pack the "in your face" punch of the piney or citrusy notes of other double IPAs that I have had in the past, such as the Columbus Brewing Bodhi or the D.C. Brau Deus Ex Machina.  The aromatic and taste elements that one would expect are there: hints of pine and citrus greet both the nose and the palate. These elements are moderated by the malts, which are more present in this beer than I would have expected for a double IPA.  Nevertheless, the moderation of those elements make this an easy drinking double IPA. That can be as dangerous as Las Vegas, given the IPA comes in at about an 8.3% ABV.

Now that I have given away the little corner where I go to relax, I will have to work on finding new ones.  Perhaps it is time to check out some new breweries or brewpubs in the Las Vegas area, like Tenaya Creek Brewery, Craft Haus Brewery or Banger Brewing.  We'll see what the future holds. Until next time ...

ENJOY!

The Crooked Crab

This is a first for me, especially when it comes to my brewery series ... writing a blog post about a brewery while I am sitting in that  brewery. A couple of asterisks first. I have been to this brewery before. That visit was a kind of scouting mission.  I want led to check the place out, and, as it turns out, all of the pictures for this blog post come from that first visit. The other asterisks is, of course, there has been some editing of the post after the fact. I have to admit that it is really damn hard to type a blog post on a phone.

With all of that out of the way, the brewery is the Crooked Crab in Odenton, Maryland. It is one of a couple of new breweries in Anne Arundel County. I stopped by the first time with my beautiful Angel and my kids to try the beer and to pick up a growler for our crab feast later in the day. 

As has become my practice when visiting a new brewery, I start with the sampler. This allows me to try a range of the beers and to get a sense of how the brewers approach different styles. The tap list at the time our visit had a variety of pale ales, such as the Haze for Days (New England Pale), I Fought the Claw (IPA, and props to the reference to one of my all time favorite Clash songs), Space Master Flex (a NE IPA), the Wit-ty IPA (a cross between a With and an IPA) and Too Much of a Good Thing (the Triple IPA).

After getting the sampler, it was off to the tasting. The sampler included the Space Flex,  Wit-ty IPA, I Fought the Claw, and Too Much of a Good Thing. It also included the Ryeders of the Sun, which is their Rye IPA.  So, basically all of the seasonal beers plus the year-round IPA. I liked all of the beers, particularly the I Fought the Claw and the Too Much of a Good Thing.  However, I have to say that I loved the Wit-ty IPA. In fact, I liked it so much that it was the beer that would go into the growler for our crab feast.  Given how well Crooked Crab did with pale ales, New England Pales, double and triple pale ales, I decided to try the Chuck Brown, which is their brown ale.  That beer was a very good example of a brown ale. 

In the end, the Wit-ty IPA won out and, as I noted, I bought a growler of the beer because I thought that it would work best with the flavors of the crab meat and Old Bay The beer pours like an IPA, with a golden amber hue that suggests a very hop forward beer.  However, this beer cannot be judged by its appearance.  The elements of the beer strongly suggest aromas one would expect from a Belgian Wit. Elements that suggest coriander or some citrus that one would not expect from an IPA, like orange. The Wit carries through to the taste of the beer, and this is what I think sets the Wit-ty IPA apart from the other Belgian Pales that I have tried. There is a significant coriander, along with a some clove in the taste of the beer.  The fact that one can get these elements before the traditional citrus elements of a pale ale makes this beer far more enjoyable to me.  In the end, the only bad thing I can say about the Wit-ty IPA is that as I sit here during my second visit to the tap room, the damn beer had been tapped.  

I am a big fan of the Maryland craft beer movement and Crooked Crab is the perfect example. This brewery hit on all of the beers that I tried and the Wit-ty IPA is the best Belgian pale ale that I have tried in a very long time. If you find yourself in the Odenton area, you should check out this brewery. Hell, if you find yourself in the State of Maryland, you should check out this brewery. Until next time,

ENJOY!

A Brewery for the Working Class

For those who know me, a brewery for working people is just my type of brewery.  My day job consists of me fighting for the rights of working men and women across the United States.  So, when I heard about the appropriately named Working Class Brewery, which is located at Kamm's Corner in Cleveland, Ohio, I made sure that I would pay a visit.  Needless to say, the visit left me thinking I may have found a new place to hang out whenever I am back in C-Town.

The people behind Working Class Brewery are Richard Skains and Carmen Rusionello.   Skains was a teacher and band director for the Cleveland City School District, but his side passion is brewing beer.  As a home brewer, Skains won the Best in Show competition with his Smoked Bock made with Chipotle Peppers.  After that, Skains worked as a part-time, assistant brewer at Rocky River Brewing and Fat Heads Brewery.  (As followers of this blog know, Fat Heads is my favorite craft brewer.)  So, the working class motif along with the experience working with an expert brewer like Matt Cole of Fat Head's is definitely a combination that appeals to the beer lover in me.

The working class motif is evident throughout the tap room.  There are the black and white pictures of working people, separated by logos of various international and local unions, including the International Union of Operating Engineers, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the Bakery, Confectionary and Tobacco Workers, and the International Association of Machinists.   The names of the beers further emphasize workers, such as the Bricklayer Brown Ale, the Oil Rigger Chocolate Stout, and the Pipefitters Porter.  

The beers also underscore what I think is the Fat Heads inspiration.  Working Class Brewery has a wide range of beer styles that pour from the re-purposed tap handles (which were anchor bolts from the brewing system). The styles that include, but are not limited to, an American blonde, a brown ale, a dunkelweiss, a pale ale, an IPA, a porter, a smoked porter, a chocolate stout, a Russian imperial stout and a tripel.  They even had a radler, which is a rarity on brewery tap lists.  

Given the wide range of beer styles, I decided to do a five beer sampler.  (I would have tried a ten beer sampler but for the fact that I had a beer or two at lunch.)   The five beers that I chose were the Snow Job Christmas Ale (which was released on the day that I visited the tap room), the Bricklayer Brown Ale, the Aviator IPA, the Pipefitter's Porter, and the Overtime Session IPA.

All of the beers were excellent, with each one fitting very well within its style.  I had to go ahead and try individual samplers of the two beers that could not be included with a five beer sampler.  These were the Bank Boss Tripel and the the Cube Done Russian Imperial Stout.  Once again, the brewers hit the mark for each of the style.

It is rare to go to a brewery taproom and leave with the conclusion that all of the beers sampled are excellent.   They exist, like Fatheads Brewery in Ohio, D.C. Brau in Washington, D.C. and Jailbreak Brewing in Maryland.  Now, I can add Working Class Brewing to that list.  If you happen to be in the Kamm's Corner neighborhood, the Working Class taproom is definitely worth the visit.  Until next time ...

 ENJOY!

The 7 Locks of Maryland

If you live in the DMV (that is, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia), you should know about the seven (7) locks.  I knew that the 7 locks are locks of the Chesapeake & Ohio canal.  A lock is used to raise or lower vessels between different stretches of a river or a canal.  The 7 locks refer to Lock Numbers 8 through 14, which are located on a one and one-quarter mile stretch of the C&O Canal.  It begins with Lock 8, located just south of the Clara Barton Parkway in Cabin John, Maryland, and ends with Lock 14, which just beyond Interstate 495.  A walk along the paths that connect those locks provides one with an insight into a chapter of our transportation history that is truly remarkable.

But, this is not a blog about transportation.  It is about food and beer.  And, with respect to the latter, the 7 Locks refers to a relatively new brewery in Rockville, Maryland.  My beautiful Angel and I have visited the 7 Locks taproom a few times to sample its beers.  Standards (that is, year around offerings) like the Surrender Dorothy Rye'PA and Devils Alley IPA are very good.  However, during our last trip, we both decided to try the Oktoberfest.  Perhaps it was the season.  Perhaps it was the beer.  Actually, it was the beer, because we bought a growler of the Oktoberfest to enjoy at home.  

According to the brewers, the Oktoberfest is "[a]n American take on the traditional German Marzen style."  According to the Beer Judge Certification Program, a Marzen an amber orange to a deep copper red color.  The 7 Locks' take does not achieve ether of those hues, taking on a more golden color.

While the Oktoberfest may not meet the BCJP's expectations of the color, it hits the mark on both the aroma and taste.  The BCJP describes a Marzen as having aromatic notes that are rich, bready and toasty.  These notes come from the heavy emphasis on the malts.  The Oktoberfest meets this part of the standard.  As for the taste, the BCJP expects that bready, toasty nature to shine through, with a little bitterness from the hops (but no hop taste). The hops are meant to balance the sweetness that could arise from the malts.  That is what takes place with this Oktoberfest.  The beer has great malt tones, which provide some bready and toasty flavors.   While the brewers suggest "a hint of cherry wood smoke," I did not detect that in this beer.  

In the end, the Oktoberfest  may come closer to the BCJP's description of a Fest Bier as opposed to a Marzen.  But, who cares?  It is a very good beer and one that I'll be back for next year.  

Until next time....

ENJOY!

The Black Flag Flying Over Columbia

The Black Flag stands in direct opposition to the established norms.  That is a statement tat, as a fan of punk music, I would expect from Henry Rollins, the singer for the hardcore punk band that goes by that name.  However, the italicized sentence sums up Black Flag Brewing Company, a relatively new brewery in Columbia, Maryland.  

I have to admit that the name is catchy, because I am a big fan of the punk rock band, Black Flag.  When I saw the signs for the brewery, Black Flag, thoughts emerged In My Head about how I'm the One who would drive From Hell and Back to grab a Six Pack for a TV Party in a Padded Cell known as Room 13.  6 song titles and 1 album title in one sentence about getting beer.  Not to shabby.

With that out of the way, we visited Black Flag Brewing to check out the taproom and the beers.  The brewery is trying to keep from being type-cast in the craft beer world.  Its owner does not want to be known for a specific style of beer (for example, Sierra Nevada and its IPAs).  Thus, the ten taps that lie behind the bar have a range of styles including a blonde, Belgian saison, sour, breakfast stout, pale ale and a Double IPA, as well as seasonals like an Octoberfest and a pumpkin beer. 

The first beer I tried was the Mambo Sauce (which itself is a reference to the condiment found in Washington, D.C. area restaurants that is akin to a barbecue sauce.   Black Flag's Mambo Sauce is nothing like the bottles that might grace a restaurant table.  The brewery describes its beer as a "big tropical monster," with "huge juicy hop additions hidden behind smooth bitterness."  

The Mambo Sauce DIPA is pictured to the right.  The beer pours a golden-orange color, with a little haziness; but, it comes as advertised.  The aromatic elements are full of ripe citrus fruit, such as grapefruit, tangerine and lemons.   Those aromatic elements carry through to the taste of the beer, although they are couched in the malt tones, which add a little sweetness to the flavor profile of the beer.  The latter are the result of the brewers' efforts to smooth out the bitterness of the hops.  The effort to round out the bitterness represents, to a certain degree, the efforts to be non-conformist.  After all, most DIPAs push the bold hop aromas and flavors, not thinking too much about the malts.  

In the end, Black Flag Brewery illustrates the promise of the craft beer movement in Maryland: new  breweries open, creating beers that stand out on their own.  We will definitely be stopping in again ... very soon.  

ENJOY!

Tugboat Brewing, R.I.P.

The year was 2007.  That was the first time I visited Tugboat Brewing Company.  I had traveled to the city of Portland, Oregon for work.  That work guaranteed that I would be in Portland for a few days.  After I finished my work, I would return to my hotel, the Benson, and take some time to think about what I would do for dinner and a drink.  The drink was almost always a pint of craft beer.  

I knew of Rogue Ales and I visited its Portland taproom.  I learned about Deschutes Brewing and ate at its brewpub.  I enjoyed both of those breweries,  their food, and their beers.  But, if one were to ask which Portland brewery was the most memorable, my response would have been Tugboat Brewing Company, with its slogan: Small. Powerful. Hardworking. 

The brewery opened in 1989 in a small hole in the wall on S. Ankeny Street.  One block up, turn left.  I remember the little storefront, with the neon sign.  I opened the door and was greeted by cigarette smoke.  It was thick.  It hung in the air, just as naturally as the books that lined the shelves on the wall.  Straight ahead was the bar, with the handles.  There were about half a dozen Tugboat handles, which was quite a feat for a brewery that had enough equipment to brew only one beer at a time.  The rest of the handles were "guest beers" from other breweries, both local and distant.  I was not there for the guest beers.  I was there for the beers that embodied the brewery.  Small.  Powerful.  Hardworking.  

I walked up to the bar, where there would be one or two other people sitting.  I ordered a Tugboat beer and tried to relax. I spent the time trying to forget about the work that brought me to Portland, while thinking about what I could do with my free time.  And, in between all of that, I kept thinking about how this small brewery kept going.  Pint after pint.  Day after day.  Year after year.  Until the end of August 2017.  

I'll be honest.  I don't remember the names of any of Tugboat beers.  I cannot describe any of the beers for you as I write this post. After all, it has been several years since I have been to Portland, Oregon. However, I can say that the beers were very good.  How do I know that?  The answer is simple: every time that I visited the City of Roses (Portland), I made a visit to Tugboat Brewing, sat down at the bar, and had a couple of beers.   

Recently, my parents were traveling through Portland.  I asked them to stop by Tugboat to buy me a new hat.  (The hat I bought on one of my trips was getting old.)  That's when I learned of the news.  Tugboat Brewing had closed its doors.  The issues had nothing to do with the brewery itself, but with the other tenants in the building.  Still, it is sad to lose a little spot where I gained some memories. I hope that the owners of Tugboat Brewing decide to revive their little brewery.  If they do, I'll make my way back to Portland.

ENJOY!

A New Project in the Bluegrass State

Whenever we travel, my beautiful Angel, Clare and I like to check out the local scene.   We look for interesting things to do, cool restaurants to try, and, of course, a brewery or brewpub to check out.  Recently, we made a trip to the Bluegrass State to visit with close friends who live in Louisville.  

We arrived the day before and decided to check out the town, with one of the stops being, of course, at a local brewery or brewpub.  We have been to Louisville in the past, and, I have been to Bluegrass Brewing and Against the Grain, both of which are very good.  But, this time, we wante to try something different.   I asked Google for the nearest breweries or brewpubs, and, it responded, "Holsopple Brewing."

Holsopple Brewing opened in February 2017 in the Lyndon neighborhood, which is not too far from Shelbyville Road and I-264.  The brewery's owners -- Sam Gambrill and Kristy Holsopple -- opened the brewery with a tap room that features 8 drafts.  When we visited the tap room, we were greeted with beers that spanned different brewing styles from the classic pale ale and single-hop india pale ales, to a lager, pilsner and even a dunkel.   The tap room also had games and crayons, providing some kid-friendly activities while the parents sample the beers. 

Clare and I tried a few of the beers.  Clare ordered the Hefeweizen, which was a good effort at the beer.  I tried the Project Alpha "B" IPA, which I believe is one of their efforts to brew a single hop India Pale Ale.   I also tried their Paula Pilsner, which was a very crisp and clean pilsner.  It was a good contrast to the hoppy Project Alpha B IPA.

The Project Alpha beer is the second in a single hop IPA experiment of the brewers, with the goal being 26 different single hop IPAs.  From what I could tell, the Project Alpha B IPA is brewed with cascade hops.  As you can see from the picture to the right, the beer pours a orange color with a thick foam covering the surface.  The aromatic elements feature the hops, with the citrus notes, but also a fair aroma from the malts.  This balance carries through to the taste, with the result being a good balance between the hops and the malts.   This balance helps make this beer a little more approachable to people who are usually turned off by very hoppy IPAs.  

Overall, our visit to Holsopple Brewing was a good one, especially given this brewery has been only open for a few months.  If you happen to live in Derby City, you should check it out.  When we make our way back to Louisville, we will definitely make another stop to see how the brewers and the beers have evolved.  Until next time ...

ENJOY!