Category Archives: Beer Locales

Places to enjoy and experience the Beer.

Williamsburg: (Josiah) Chowning Tavern

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My wife and I visited Colonial Williamsburg last weekend and had lunch at (Josiah) Chowning’s Tavern.

Although the food was excellent and the sight-seeing was awesome, you obviously know I will talk about the brews!  At the top of their menu, they list both a “Seasonal Brew” and a “Specialty Brew.”

Yep, I had both. The first brew, the seasonal, was called “Old Stitch (Devil).”  It was a coffee stout at 5.4% ABV.  Excellent aroma and great flavor! Really hit the spot.  This beer is brewed for Chowning by the Williamsburg Alewerks.  I believe this is actually packaged as their Coffeehouse Stout.  I now have a bottle in my fridge (thanks Total Wine!) and I will see if it is actually the same brew.  We drank these brews out of the ceramic mugs.  Of course, since my wife can’t drink the beer (no Gluten) … she enjoyed a Hot Buttered Rum!

The second beer — the specialty beer — is their “Liebotschaner Cream Ale.”    I looked around for some reference to this beer and couldn’t find it.  It was a very tasty cream ale.  Apparently, this beer is made by The Lion Brewery (Wilkes-Barre, PA) as a contract brew.

Both of these beers were right in style–the only thing that stood out to me was the lack of any kind of head on the the “Old Stitch.”  Otherwise, it was quite tasty–the coffee came through right off the bat.  So, if you make a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, you won’t find yourself lacking in a good brew while visiting!

Enjoy,

Beer Mentor

 

#25: The Flying Saucer (Ft Worth, Tx) (#39)

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My daughter and I had the good fortune of being near Ft Worth, Texas on 23 Dec 2010.  A perfect opportunity to head over to The Flying Saucer!  It’s always good to head to the original … this is place #25 for me on the AllAboutBeer.com 125 Places to Drink beer list.  The Flying Saucer is right next to the Bass Performance Hall — a place with a neat history and a great facade (see picture) …

Now on to the Flying Saucer.  I love this place!  I immediately joined the UFO Club in anticipation of completing their 200 Beer Competition.  The food was excellent, the atmosphere was great and the beer list was exceptional!  All three qualities I enjoy in a nice pub!  Here are a couple pictures of the exterior (sorry, taken with my phone … I forgot my camera)

Oh, I forgot, another great thing about this place is a very knowledgeable staff.  Here’s a couple of interior pictures … not the excellent German Sausage plates we had!

Finally, a took a (blurry) picture of the menu … like I said, this place has great character!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

#s 21, 22, 23, 24: London “allaboutbeer” Trip!

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Recently I had the opportunity to travel to London and was able to visit 4 more places on the allaboutbeer 125 places to drink beer list!  The locations, in order, were: #51 – The White Horse Pub, Parsons Green, #14 – The Market Porter, Stoney Street, #92 – Belgo Centraal, and #30 – The Olde Mitre Tavern, Ely Court, Hatton Garden.

What can I say!  Wow!  These places were all worthy additions to the list (I think).  If I were to rank them on this trip, I would say 1) White Horse, 2) Old Mitre Tavern, 3) Belgo Centraal, and 4) The Market Porter.  I’m sure if the times/dates I went were different I might change the order.  However, since this was my trip, I’ll talk about them (briefly) in this order.

1) The White Horse Pub.  An excellent pub.  Their beer menu is extensive (they had Westvlteren on their menu), I had the best Bitter I’ve ever tasted there (Harvey’s Sussex Best Bitter), and I ate dinner here (Roasted Duck).  Wow.  Nice staff, great location–highly recommend it.

2) Ye Olde Mitre Tavern.  Any place established in 1546 deserves a visit from me!  We actually took a cab to this place — thank goodness!  The cab driver pointed down what looked like a sidewalk between two buildings … it was a very narrow alleyway … leading to this building!  The beer was excellent, but you go to this place for the locale!

This was the entrance to the alleyway … looks like a doorway …

3) Belgo Centraal.  This place was all about the Belgian beer (and food).  Once you get in this place, you realize all the wait staff are dressed in monk costumes!  Awesome.  We had dinner here … wow!  The food was great and there was a fantastic selection of Belgian Beers!

4) Finally, the last place on my list (but second visited) is The Market Porter.  I liked this place (a lot) but because I went there myself, and it was very close to closing time, I think this one deserved more of a chance.  Next Time!!

Yep … and then I had to take the London Tube back to the hotel … sweet!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

#20: Deloween! Dogfish Head Brewpub (#91) + Brewery!

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Once again my beautiful bride accompanied me to my next destination on my list of “pubs.”    We decided to make a weekend of it (over Halloween this year) and went to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware for what we call “Deloween!”  I convinced her to travel to both the Dogfish Head brewery in Milton AND the original Brewpub (#91 on the allaboutbeer list).

This is the outside of the brewery in Milton, DE.  The owner bought this treehouse from the artist … the style is steam-punk.  I thought it was pretty cool!  What was more cool was having the opportunity to see the inside of the brewery.  Here are a few candid shots of the inside.  Specifically, if you are a dogfish fan, you can see “Sir Hops Alot” plus some candid shots of equipment and ingredients … all quite interesting.  Additionally, the tour guide was quite knowledgeable …

From the brewery in Milton, we went to the Brewpub (original location) in Rehoboth Beach.  Here are some shots of that locale … you can see hops growing on the side of the building …

Here is a shot of the inside.

Yeah … it was good!

It just so happened that it was also Sea Witch Festival in Rehoboth Beach.  Cool.  We stayed at the Bewitched Bed and Breakfast … and strolled on the beach.  All in all, a great weekend!

Oh, and I took in a good haul of “goodies” at the end … a new bike jersey … plus they are making “distilled beverages” now … so we bought a bottle of Vanilla Vodka on site.

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

Jamestoberfest 2010: Biergarten Haus, DC

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Yes!  For my birthday this year, my lovely bride organized a birthday party for a group of our friends at the Biergarten Haus in Washington, DC.  What is this place?  Exactly what it says — a German-style beer “garten” in the heart of DC.  I love this place!   The staff were very accommodating for our group, the food was excellent, and the beer … well, wunderbar!

Of course, we encouraged folks to dress the part … and Jill and I upheld our end of the bargain!

Here’s a few more random shots of us having fun with our friends!  What a great time!  Jamestoberfest 2010!  W00t!

Beer Mentor

 

Galaxy Hut! Great beer in a small venue …

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So I subscribe to this “tweet” called “Beerspotter” here in DC.  They tell you all kinds of different things … but they recently had an entry about tapping a Firkin at a place called Galaxy Hut.  I just happened to be in the neighborhood (Clarendon) one evening and stopped in for a couple …

They had a nice selection of beer … and one cask-conditioned ale: the Blue Mountain Full Nelson Pale Ale … yep … this beer was a drinker … excellent Pale Ale.  I want to visit their brewery (soon) because they have a hop yard … see my next post (I’ll have some hop pictures of my own!)

If you are in Clarendon (Arlington, VA) this place is definitely worth a visit.  They are a very low key, subtle pub.  Great selection of beer … the food is good too.  For a nice quite, excellent beer hangout … give it a shot!

Enjoy,

Beer Mentor

Stumblingpiper’s Top 50 Places to Drink Beer

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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!

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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)

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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

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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