Category Archives: Beer Locales

Places to enjoy and experience the Beer.

Stumblingpiper’s Top 50 Places to Drink Beer

Posted on by
4

Ok, these are in the order I can remember them.  The key for this list is: 1) I can remember where the place was and can get back there, 2) it’s a place that you can get to to drink beer, 3) it will be a place that, no matter if you’ve been once or dozens of times, you will want to go back when the opportunity presents itself.  I will adjust this list as I remember places …

  1. My House … currently in Springfield, VA
  2. Great American Beer Festival, Denver, CO
  3. Aventinus Festival … Schneider Weisse Brewery, Kelheim, Germany
  4. Hahnen Fest … Queidersbach, Germany
  5. Savor Fest … Washington, DC
  6. Delerium Cafe … Brussels, Belgium
  7. Fruhlings Fest … Bad Cannstadt, Germany
  8. Cellar Bar … Breuberg Schloss, Germany (during B.A.G Summer School)
  9. An Spailpin Fanach … across from the Beamish Brewery, Cork, Ireland
  10. Beer Tent. Glengarry Highland games … Maxville, Ontario
  11. Beer Tent. Fruita Fat Tire Festival … Fruita, CO
  12. Firkin Rendevous (Bristol Brewery) … Colorado Springs, CO
  13. Cafe Trappisten … Westmalle, Belgium
  14. The Auberge de Poteaupre … near Chimay, Belgium
  15. Abbaye de Notre-Dame d’Orval … Orval, Belgium
  16. In de Vrede … Westvleteren, Belgium
  17. Jack Quinn Irish Pub … Colorado Springs, CO
  18. Campus Pub … Simon Fraser University … Vancouver, British Columbia
  19. Spinnacker’s Brew Pub … Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
  20. Rock Bottom Brewery … Bellevue, Washington
  21. Naturfreunde Haus … Volklingen, Germany
  22. Irseer Klosterbrauerei … Irsee, Germany
  23. Bier Garten on top of the Staffelberg … Bad Staffelstein, Germany
  24. Bier Garten behind Vierzehnheiligen Church … Vierzehnheiligen, Germany
  25. Raglan Road Irish Pub, Downtown Disney … Orlando, Florida
  26. Jack of the Wood Irish Pub … Asheville, NC
  27. Purple Fiddle .. Thomas, WV
  28. Westville Pub … Asheville, NC
  29. McGillin’s Old Ale House … Philadelphia, PA
  30. The Golden Bee … Colorado Springs, CO
  31. Durty Nelly’s … San Antonio, TX
  32. The Perch Bar … Orient Beach, St Martin
  33. Sloppy Joe’s Bar … Key West, FL
  34. Bull & Whistle Bar … Key West, FL
  35. The Hotel Bar … Georgetown, Ascension Island
  36. Bräustüberl Weihenstephan … Friesing, Germany
  37. Hofbrauhaus … Munich, Germany
  38. RiRa’s Irish Pub … Arlington, VA
  39. Clark’s Alehouse … Syracuse, NY
  40. Old Triangle Irish Alehouse … Halifax, Nova Scotia
  41. St Georgen Braustuberl … Buttenheim, Germany
  42. Peel Pub … Montreal, Quebec
  43. The Noble Savage … Shreveport, LA
  44. Trinity Brewery … Colorado Springs, CO
  45. Galaxy Hut … Arlington, VA
  46. Coconuts on the Beach … Cocoa Beach, FL
  47. Meg O’Malleys … Melbourne, FL
  48. Biergarten in front of Burg Nanstein … Landstuhl, Germany
  49. Dogfish Head Ale House … Fairfax, VA
  50. O’Brien’s Pub … San Diego, CA

NoVa Brew Fest and Hair Raid!

Posted on by
3

Two big events for the Beer Mentor today.

#1)  NorthernVirginia Summer Brewfest near Leesburg.  The nicest thing about this fest is that I won my tickets at On Tap magazine. If you are in the DC area, you should click on the On Tap link and peruse their site.  They have listings for all kinds of events, etc.  It’s a great website.

Now about the Brewfest.   Let me just say that my views are a little jaded due to my attendance at both the GABF and Savor.  These events are a single purchase price ticket, one tasting glass, and all the beer you care to taste in about a 4 hour period–with close proximity to public transportation to get you home safely.

This festival had your entry ticket with four “drink tickets” and a 4 oz sampling glass.  Basically you were paying $20 to get in and drink a pint of beer.  You could purchase additional sampling tickets for $1 each.  Oh, and this festival was out in the boondocks, so unless you had a definite designated driver, the four tickets were about all you were going to drink.   This festival had a nice variety of breweries (from all over the US–approx 50 of them) and each brewery served (usually) 2 beers.   In all honesty, I liked this festival but it didn’t rock my world–next time I’ll bring a designated driver!   Oh, but I was there with some great friends and I had my beer for the day: Mad Fox’s Franconian Kellerbier.  This is a brand new brewery in Virginia and they will be making German-style beers.  I enjoy the Keller bier style and this one was quite tasty.  Can’t wait to visit their brewery/pub.

#2) Hair Raid concert at the Tortoise and Hare pub (Crystal City).  I had the opportunity to join this “80’s Hair Band” for a song on stage.  They were a blast!  If you get a chance to go to one of their shows take advantage of it!  You might even see me there …

This was my second big event for the day … let’s let the pictures speak for themselves …

Beer Mentor

RiRa’s Irish Pub (Arlington)

Posted on by
Reply

Stopped in to my favorite DC Irish Pub — RiRa’s in Arlington.  I’ve been visiting this place for the last 3 years … I’m a member of the Pint Club and actually have my name on the plaque showing a finished one of the beer cycles.  I’m on my second card now.

Since I was there I thought I might as well add to my card: today’s beer? Anchor Steam Beer.  This beer went very well with my Smoked Cheese Burger … it was quite refreshing.  This particular bottle I had seemed to have a distinct alcohol taste … almost metallic — I’m not sure if that was the hop profile and I’ve been so used to IPAs that it threw me off or if it was something else.  I’m going to have to give this beer another try.

Beer Mentor

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

Posted on by
Reply

Wow.  What can I say — it’s good to be back in the USA, especially in the DC area!  For those who enjoy a great craft brew, it’s hard to miss out when you can find great selections within a couple of miles of your house.  Both Whole Foods AND “Total Wine and More” (focus on more) have excellent selections!  I purchased a nice six-pack of these Dogfish Head 60-minute IPAs at my local Whole Foods.

I won’t go into the details of how they use a hopback, etc … but you can read it here. This is just a fantastic IPA … from the first look at the color to the wonderful hop aroma to the final finish.  I love this beer.

Oh, and if you are in the mood to have it on tap (and you live in the DC area), just hop over (pun intended) to the Dogfish Head Alehouse in Seven Corners … and you can get all the other Dogfish Head brews there as well.   Well worth the trip!  DC is great!

Beer Mentor

Green Dragon Pub (Bilbo Baggins): Alexandria

Posted on by
Reply

If you are a “Lord of the Rings” fan AND a beer lover you will enjoy the Bilbo Baggins Cafe in Old Town Alexandria, VA.  This place  has an excellent beer menu (not large, but definitely a nice varierty).  I think this place has been in Alexandria since the mid-80s, so it was a Lord of the Rings place before the movies actually came out.

They rotate their beer selection seasonally so I would check back frequently before heading over there.  The pub/cafe is Lord-of-the-Rings-themed, but only subtly.  You will see some murals, different references to characters/places, and just a comfortable place to be.  I highly recommend the location for drinking beer (in the bar).

For those tempted to eat food there as well–apparently, according to reviews, the food selection is hit-or-miss … so eat at your own risk, but drink the beer on my recommendation!

Oh, so my beer for today was the Victory Stout on the menu.  It was seriously dark, nice chocolaty aroma, and the flavor was right were I expected for a stout.  The Victory folks have done a nice job with this beer.

Beer Mentor

Sanwald – Weizenkompetenz seit über 100 Jahren

Posted on by
Reply

The Sanwald Brewery specializes in Wheat Beer.  That is all they make.  They were purchased by Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu (around 1977) … however they have been making Wheat beer for over 100 years.  They have four primary beers — the Hefe, the Kristall, the Dunkel (the dark) and a Low calorie Weizen.

As you will know from reading your BJCP style guidelines, “These are refreshing, fast-maturing beers that are lightly hopped and show a unique banana-and-clove yeast character. These beers often don’t age well and are best enjoyed while young and fresh. The version “mit hefe” is served with yeast sediment stirred in; the krystal version is filtered for excellent clarity. Bottles with yeast are traditionally swirled or gently rolled prior to serving. The character of a krystal weizen is generally fruitier and less phenolic than that of the hefe-weizen.”

I really liike that banana bread flavor you get with the Hefe, so it is my preference.  You will see in some later posts that I also like to mix my Weizens with some fruit juices (lemon-lime or grapefruit … maybe even banana!) … that combination is called a “Radler.”  The German word “Radler” roughly translates to “Cyclist.”  When I lived here before, I rode with a group of Germans who would stop halfway through a ride, have a couple of Radlers, and then ride back.  The juice have a little sugar kick and the mix kept the alcohol consumption / content down.    Have I stated lately that I love Germany?

Beer Mentor