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Archive for July, 2013

Craft Beer Goes Crazy in DC!

July 28th, 2013 • No Comments

Union Market had a Memorable Craft Beer Shindig on Saturday, July 27th, 2013..

I attended the Eat Local First Farm to Street Party on a sunny day with a late outpour that brought true Foodies together..Capital Kombucha, Route 11 Potato Chips, Uncle Brutha’s Hot Sauce, Vigilante Coffee and a whole slew of local foodies, artisans, restaurants and craft beers all came together to create a true Foodie Gathering!

2013-07-27 13.18.07Craft Beer is really Hot in DC right now, and here’s the list of craft beers that Meridian Pint sponsored and poured at the event:

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Recent List of Local beers served at the Union Market “Eat Local First” Block Party –

3 Stars Citra & Lemon Peel Saison
Blue Mountain Full Nelson Pale Ale
Brewer’s Art Parking Lot Beer
DC Brau The Tradition
Devils Backbone Vienna Lager
Dogfish Head Festina Peche
DuClaw Euforia
Evolution Lot 3 IPA
Flying Dog UnderDog
Franklin’s Mandarin Summer
Hardywood Singel
Heavy Seas Loose Cannon
Lost Rhino Meridian Kolsch
Mad Fox Post Meridian Schwarzbier
Monocacy Riot Rye
Oliver Modern Life Is Rubbish
Port City Optimal Wit
Stillwater Cellar Door
Troegs Perpetual IPA
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I enjoyed quite a few of the beers – 6 to be exact, but I had recently tried the Stillwater Cellar Door at Birreria in Georgeotwn, and I’ve had the Port City Optimal Wit many times at local bars. Since it’s Summer, most of the offerings were lighter, lower in alcohol beers to refresh – it was about 90 degrees until the rains came!

Overall, the crowd was pretty young – I would say even younger than the average Union Market crowd, and I would assume that’s because of the nature of the event: an outdoor affair with great craft beers. To really tell you what it was like is impossible – the new DC Foodie and craft beer scene has to be experienced..so many people with exciting ideas, lofty goals and unique perspectives on what the future will hold. Looking at a crystal ball, my first assumption is that coffee is really happening – quite a few companies are opening roasting facilities soon and I’ll keep readers up to date on that. Kombucha is here and with over 3 vendors at the event, I think you’ll start seeing more in markets. The one question spot is food delivery – will people engage in websites that deliver specific ingredients with recipe instructions (I’m extremely skeptical) or more general delivery of food..it’s hard to say, but it’s also hard to know – personally, I still shop for all my ingredients at local stores, but honestly the strange behavior of shoppers (weird outbursts, unfriendly staff, and frankly limited selections) may change that for me soon – who knows..

Cheers!

Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler

Bacon + Beer at 918 F St.

July 10th, 2013 • No Comments

Whole Lotta Bacon..

2013-07-08 20.41.12I really enjoyed myself Monday night at 918 F St (Living Social) for a tasty pairing of two of my favorites: bacon and beer! 918 F Street in Washington, D.C. is quite a facility – 5 floors each with one or two rooms for cooking, mixing drinks or other events – it’s a pretty happening event space with literally thousands of people going through every month (maybe every week!).2013-07-08 20.29.01 The speaker for this event – Bacon + Beer – really knew his stuff – Jesse Raines, Beverage Director at VSLS, Living Social (but his card lists him also as “Speakeasy Manager”). Very simple setup: we sat at white table-clothed tables and were given a very explanatory tasting sheet with 4 beers and a selection of 3 bacons (two slices of each – way more than needed!) and finally at the end the chocolate covered bacon was put out separately (I assume to keep the chocolate from melting – it was served slightly chilled).
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Four Bacon Tastings with matching beers (and my comments):

• Honey Chipotle-Glazed Bacon with Abita Amber Lager
This was a very good pairing – The Abita Amber Lager is a Session beer with relatively low alcohol and has just a hint of honey which helped it go with the sweetness of the bacon’s glaze. Actually, the Abita pretty much went with every bacon – except for the chocolate covered..

• Espresso-Glazed Bacon with Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Delicious Beer (10% ABV!), great bacon with big coffee/hickory flavors, but the pairing didn’t work – simple reason: the Stout is a Big Beer with loads of alcohol and chocolate/coffee intense flavor (actually has no chocolate in it!) and there just wasn’t any synergy. I would have paired the Stout with something chocolate like cake and maybe even a scoop of vanilla ice cream which would cool down the heat of this beer..Some beers were meant to be drunk alone though!firestonewalkerwookyjackblackryeale

• Sriracha-Glazed Bacon with Firestone Walker Wookey Jack Black Ale
I hate to overuse the word “awesome” but this bacon was AWESOME!! The prior two bacons were hickory-smoked, while this one was apple-smoked and the bacon was more juicy/fatty/srirachi! Yum and yum, this bacon rocked! The big difference in this beer is noticeable hops and a slight rye whiskey flavor (so a spicy/smokyness..) which came from aging in rye barrels. This was a very good pairing with alot of complexity from smoke to hot Sriracha, from hops to saltiness..alot going on which is fun in your mouth!

• Chocolate and Sea Salt-Dipped Bacon with Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter
This was some rich dark bittersweet chocolate – I mean I actually tasted more of the chocolate than the bacon! Nice pairing – it was on the rich side with chocolate, bacon and “Imperial” Porter (BTW – Jesse mentioned that “Imperial” added to a craft beer title pretty much just means high in alcohol!) and of course my palate was coated with a nice bacon fat/hops/maltiness, so it takes some strong flavors to come through.2013-07-08 21.06.55

We ended the evening with a fifth tasting in the Speakeasy (my Bad – I forget the name of the beer!) and I had a couple of Whistlepig Whiskeys to clear my head, and all was good in the world – Cheers!

Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler

Upcoming Beer Events on TasteDC:

Belgian Restaurant Week’s Mussel Throw Down and Blind-folded Beer Tasting at Eastern Market (Saturday, July 20th, 2013)

Artists & Artisans Summer Celebration at 3 Stars Brewery, Washington, D.C. (Sunday, July 28th, 2013)

Drink the District: Beer Edition (Saturday and Sunday, July 27th and 28th)

 

Video: Venezuela: Arepera Guacuco

July 7th, 2013 • No Comments

These two women – Kate Thorman and Nora Chovanec of Abbott & West Productions – seem to have alot of fun traveling, filming and eating their way through countries – this video is from their “The Innocents Abroad” Series:

American Terroir: A Whiskey Tasting at 6th & I

July 2nd, 2013 • No Comments

Best Deal in an Artisanal Spirit Tasting with an Entertaining Speaker..

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Lindsay Marsh, Speakeasy Spirits

Lindsay Marsh, Speakeasy Spirits

Mondays are always tough to get to a whiskey tasting, but I really enjoyed the 6th and I’s Summer Spirits: A Whiskey Tasting held on July 1st, 2013. It was a sell out crowd of about 150 Whiskey lovers and novices. The tasting was of Leopold Brothers Classic Spirits which are distributed by Leopold family member Lindsay Marsh (Lindsay’s brother in law is a Leopold) of Speakeasy Spirits in Washington, D.C. Lindsay employed quite a bit of family story telling and humor to introduce Leopold’s whiskies and spirits – and a few curious facts including that Mormons who don’t drink alcohol, actually were the first investors in their family brewery in Michigan, prior to their starting a distillery. Family and high real estate costs in Michigan helped the family decide to move to Colorado to expand the distillery.

We tasted through four of their products and then had a Gin and Tonic for the final taste and drink. Below are the whiskies and spirits with some basic tasting notes. If you’re new to artisanal hand-crafted spirits, Leopold is one of the originals.leopoldbrothersspirits Lindsay, who spends much of her time at tastings and in stores in the District promoting and telling the story of Leopold Bros., said that credit for the explosion of American’s interest in small spirits producers should be given to the craft beer industry and home brewing which exploded on the scene a few decades ago with Boston Beer’s Sam Adams, and hasn’t let up. A key point is passion – one of the founding brothers, Todd Leopold, got his start in distilling after  he received his Diploma in Malting and Brewing from the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1996. He and his brother (who is a an Engineer specializing in environmentally sustainable manufacturing processes) do everything from hand and with small production methods: they try to use local ingredients when possible including malting their own grains, fruit from American producers, and even a cyprus wood fermenter which can never be truly cleaned like a stainless steel one – so the character of each fermentation is carried over to the next – this is American Terroir!

Spirits Tasted:

American Small Batch Whiskey – This is aged less than a year in new American oak barrels, but has a surprisingly good flavor from the touch of rye and barley added to the 65% corn mash blend. Could drink neat or in cocktails, this spirit isn’t aged the 2 years minimum for a Straight Bourbon, which gives it more flexibility as a mixer in cocktails.

2013-07-01 20.26.31New York Apple Flavored Whiskey – the Apple juice is actually added to the Whiskey and then aged in bourbon barrels. Some sweetness is left over which makes this a great aperitif or a good mixer in a cocktail like a liqueur – it is 80 Proof though!

Rocky Mountain Blackberry Flavored Whiskey – although Lindsey said this was sweeter than the New York Apple, it seemed drier to me, but this may because of the intensity of the dark blackberry fruit which added also a slight tannic almost red wine characteristic.

Rocky Mountain Peach Flavored Whiskey – the juice of peaches blended with whiskey and aged in used Bourbon barrels. Although this had peach aromatics, because of the intensity and concentration of the fruit it was more varied to me in aromas – maybe even some ripe pear and mango..spirits and fruits always bring out nuances in aroma that are unexpected!

American Small Batch Gin – made small batch from a still (vs. industrial style column still), this is more citrus and less piney juniper. This also has an interesting story: unlike 99% of gin makers, Leopold Bros. distills each botanical (like juniper, coriander, etc.) separately to keep their respective characters in the final cut – again, all about craftsmanship – what “artisanal” really means!

Of course at the end of the class, because I was hanging out with Catoctin Creek Distilling‘s own Emily Landsman, we had to try a few more spirits including the Absinthe, French Press Style Coffee Liqueur, Three Pins Alpine Herbal Liqueur, and quite a few others including a Maraschino Cherry flavored whiskey. Definitely seek these spirits out – they are part of America’s culture. American terroir definitely exists!

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Upcoming Whiskey Events in DC:

Whiskey, Swine and Wine (Sperryville, VA) – July 13th at Wasmund’s

Rum Tasting Class at Ceiba – July 20th in Washington, D.C.

Beer, Bourbon & BBQ -VIP Whole Hog Pig Pickin and Tasting Glass – September 21st in Reston Town Center, VA

Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler