DISTRICT CHOPHOUSE

United States Brewpubs,

District ChopHouse

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Right along the historical downtown Washington DC area next to the Verizon Center in Penn Quarters, DISTRICT CHOPHOUSE opened May ’95 and grew to have affiliate brewpub-restaurants in Denver, Boulder and Cleveland. Though my wife and I only stopped in for a few mid-afternoon beers on our March ’12 Maryland-Virginia three-day journey, this upscale chain takes great pride in its seafood, steaks and sandwiches.

Since Bruce Springsteen’s in town tonight, parking’s at a minimum. But we find a free spot along the National Gallery of Art. Within minutes we’re at District Chophouse, a capacious 7th Street beer hall sporting a maroon awning, historic marble columns, exquisite mahogany interior, and basement banquet room. A right side dining area (with moonlit chandeliers), lofty mezzanine area and open kitchen (with hearth) complete the score.

We sit at a table next to the left side bar watching the Penguins and Flyers fight throughout a late-season hockey game while consuming some of the finest mid-Atlantic suds I’d come across. Brewer Barrett Lauer’s wide-ranging ales, crafted at the mezzanine brew kettles and listed on two blackboards, are all on the mark and usually one step beyond stylistic design.

Though the astringent Light Lager’s strictly for amateurs, its corn-oiled popcorn pungency and dried citrus snip bettered Bud-Coors-Miller ‘lite’ beer. And even if Amber Ale suited lighter thirsts, its bolder stylistic approach allowed styptic wood-toned Cascade-hopped spicing to deepen caramelized apple, lemony peach and marmalade undertones.

As smooth as its name, Velvet, defined as a ‘slow pour nut brown,’ pleated wispy charred nuttiness with dainty dark chocolate. Better was the similarly styled Nut Brown, a mildly creamed medium body receiving a sweet toffee, caramel, and chocolate boost above peanut-shelled hazelnut vestiges.

Moderate juniper hop bittering saddled lacquer-fruited IPA, leaving tangy pineapple, mango, peach, pear and apple notions all over its dried fig backend.

Breaking stylistic confines, Oatmeal Stout grazed its expectant milky dark chocolate repertoire with abrupt wood-burnt molasses flickers.

Saving the most exceptional fare for a mesmerized closing trifecta, I drifted off into three ‘big beers.’ Cherry Blossom Fest, an adventurous wheat ale boasting dark sweet cherries tucked candied stone fruits, tart cranberry and leafy dry hops inside whiskey-soaked malts.

Reaching complete euphoria, I sipped remarkable Belgian-styled pale ale hybrid, Brewers Marker, where aromatic French-roast coffee grounds seep into mild wood-singed dried fruits and contrast candied yeast spicing.

Best bet: Bourbon Stout aged in Woodford Reserve Barrels. This resolute oatmeal stout gained luscious bourbon tonicity above dark chocolate frothing, oaken vanilla mellowness and roasted caramel creaminess, finishing with a soothingly warm feel.

www.districtchophouse.com

PUB DOG PIZZA & DRAFTHOUSE

United States Brewpubs

Pub Dog Pizza & Drafthouse - Columbia | Columbia, Maryland  Order Online! Pub Dog Pizza & Drafthouse - Columbia | Paytronix

COLUMBIA, MARYLAND

Since the original PUB DOG PIZZA & DRAFTHOUSE in Baltimore’s historic Federal Hill section (shown above) didn’t open ‘til 5 PM as of this March 2012 sojourn through Maryland-Virginia, my wife and I headed a few miles southwest to the industrial-bound Columbia-based franchise an hour earlier on the Sunday trip back to Jersey.

Situated at the right corner of the white-topped, red brick-bottomed Lakeside Retail Mall in quaint suburbia, Pub Dog may be considered a pizza joint by foremost designation, but one step inside proves it more closely resembles a commodious public house. Hundreds of Grand Marnier bottles decorate the walls alongside maps and charts of dogs, verifying the assumption.

Opened in September ’07, six years after the initial Baltimore location began operations (but didn’t sell ‘house’ beers until ’07), Pub Dog’s clean black interior leads directly to the right side sportsbar, where three TV’s show different basketball games and a shuffleboard table keeps kids entertained. A small outside deck allows dogs to roam while their owners ironically quaff a few canine-designated ales.

Sitting at one of the twelve booths in the elevated left side dining area watching hockey and downing suds, I chomped on the Big Dog Salad, a red-peppered romaine lettuce with grilled chicken, smoked gouda and gorgonzola vinaigrette. My wife enjoyed Mr. Green Jean’s Pizza (with olive-oiled mozzerella, feta, spinach, tomato, mushroom and basil) while downing Peach Dog, a tart peach ale with blanched peach lacquering, washed-out stone fruiting, astringent hop bittering and tannic grape souring.

I countered with Blueberry Dog, an easygoing lacquered blueberry tonic with subsidiary cranberry, mulberry and quince hints over white wheat. More interesting was Belgian Blue Corn, a one-off hybrid tripel gathering lemony banana-clove tartness above sweet corn malts.

Before escaping, velvety Irish Stout, Black Dog, hit the spot (along with a courtesy shot of Grand Marnier). The soft-toned dark ale brought mellow coffee-roasted bittering to espresso-milked dark chocolate and toasted walnut.

On February ’24 revisit while staying at nearby Columbia hotel, enjoyed creamily mocha-bound Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, combining toffee-sugared brown chocolate with nutty cocoa powdered bittering above casual molasses oats.

Reviews of the bottled versions of Raspberry Dog, Brown Dog and Hoppy Dog are listed in the Beer Index.

www.pubdog.net

 

 

PORT CITY BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs

Brewery | Port City Brewing Company | Alexandria, Virginia

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

Off the beaten track in the Industrial section of Alexandria, PORT CITY BREWING COMPANY resides at a tan-bricked professional building. Opened January 2011 and visited in March 2012, this increasingly popular microbrewery’s tasting room was absolutely packed at 3 PM this Saturday. Hourly brew tours kept patrons busy when they weren’t sampling the four year-round ales (and one specialty beer).

Owner Bill Butcher and head brewer Jonathan Reeves craft amazingly consistent fare. Though tapped versions were sampled and reviewed herein, check the Beer Index for larger reviews of each bottled brew.

Fine Belgian-styled Port City Optimal Wit had a laid-back banana-clove serenity spread across subtle orange-peeled mildness and lemony Seltzer spritz to its honeyed wheat spine. Essential Pale Ale layered citra-hopped briskness atop vodka-tinged mandarin orange, lemon, lime and peach illusions.

Despite its mighty moniker, Monumental IPA was stylistically easygoing and approachable. Its floral-hopped pine resin cloaked apple-skinned apricot, nectar, pear and grapefruit dalliances.

Coffee-roasted Porter settled into a fine medium-bodied dark ale, seeping brown chocolate-y vanilla sweetness into dark-fruited dried fig, stewed prune and date nut breading.

Also available at the tasting station was the cyclical Tartan 80 Shilling Scottish Ale, a dewy midrange libation gathering brown chocolate, vanilla and caramel sweetness atop spice-hopped fig sugaring.

Each beer was more than up to snuff and deserved recommendation.

www.portcitybrewing.com

 

PORT CITY OPTIMAL WIT

Beers A-Z

Easygoing Belgian-styled witbier proffers brisk citric effervescence. Sunny lemon Seltzer spritz spreads across subtle coriander-spiced orange peel sweetness, laidback banana-clove conflux and herbal lemongrass-peppercorn splurge to honeyed wheat spine. Musty grain wisp and peppery hop bittering merely underscore delicate intricacies.

EPIC BRAINLESS ON CHERRIES

Beers A-Z

Vacillating magenta-bodied pink-blushed Belgian-style strong ale aged in French Chardonnay casks offers sweet-tart cherry pureeing to musty lambic-like sour fruiting as crackled carbolic fizz settles down. Mouth-puckering cherry tannins soak into hard cider, raspberry compote, green grape, cranberry and oaken vanilla illusions. Not far removed from rhubarb pie.

Brainless On Cherries - Epic Brewing Company - Untappd

TROEGS CHOCOLATE WEIZENBOCK

Beers A-Z

Heady German wheat beer hybrid (a.k.a. Scratch Beer Series #57), reminiscent of chocolate-covered cherry dessert, brings raspberry-pureed whiskeyed cherry frontage and fig-dried sugar plum midst to ample brown chocolate sweetness. On the mocha end, there’s Belgian chocolate spicing, chocolate cake richness and cocoa nibs pleasantries resting atop dewy moss. On the fruit side, cherry cordial, cherry jubilee and cherry pie illusions take hold. Well rounded, sufficiently balanced and quite enjoyable.

 

TROEGS BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs

HERSHEY, PENNSYLVANIA

One of America’s largest and most successful microbreweries, TROEGS BREWING COMPANY began in ‘97 at Pennsylvania’s state capitol, Harrisburg. But increased demand for their malt-heavy beers became so overwhelming the brotherly operation run by Chris and John Trogner had to get bigger digs. As of 2012, their well-respected suds could be found in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia.

Now residing in a large freestanding warehouse (fourteen miles east of its initial location) just down the road from Hershey Park since the fall of 2011, Troegs new taupe-hued Derry Township home features a yellow-backed red-lettered Troegs-canopied insignia above brown aluminum siding and railroad-bound grain silo. Servicing the local community and curious out-of-state brew hounds, its ample front porch leads to a colossal indoor depot stationing a big 100-barrel production facility, enormous tasting room, glass-encased bottling plant, microbiology lab and shop.

After buying a Troegs T-shirt, my wife and I settle in the tasting room alongside dozens of cheerful customers this sunny Friday afternoon in late March 2012. A mini-brewhouse backs the prodigious bar where one lengthy community table and several booths lodge the primed weekend crowd. The high ceilings, exposed ducts and elongated steel fan allow for a haunting echo and The Clash’s vindictively apocalyptic “London Calling” plays loudly while I order up a beer and my wife’s $3 local roast coffee.

On tap today are Troegs’ Dreamweaver Wheat, HopBack Amber, Troegenator Double Bock and JavaHead Stout. The draught version of Dreamweaver seems to have a breadier wheat-cracked banana-clove resonance than the bottled versions I’d previously tried.

Also available this crisp spring day is the marvelous Chocolate Weizenbock, a heady elixir reminiscent of a chocolate-covered cherry dessert beer. Its raspberry pureed whiskeyed cherry frontage and fig-dried sugar plum midst saturate Belgian chocolate spicing. Peculiarly, the wafting Hershey’s chocolate kiss aroma makes this medium-to-full-bodied mocha-fruited brew seem stylishly analogous to the world famous chocolate factory down the street.

As we leave to head South towards Vintage 50 in Leesburg, Virginia, an hour away, dozens of new patrons join the throng of people still imbibing pre-dinnertime drinks. The times are certainly changing. And Troegs keeps getting better and more experimental, keeping the recipes consistent despite major expansion.

www.troegs.com

RUDDY DUCK BREWERY & GRILL

United States Brewpubs

 

SOLOMONS ISLAND, MARYLAND

Tucked away on Chesapeake Bay’s marina-bound Back Creek in Solomons Island, Maryland, RUDDY DUCK BREWERY & GRILL opened July ’09. Argentinean co-owner Carlos Yanez and veteran restaurateur Michael Kelley (formerly Tavern On the Green GM) hooked up with brewer Matt Glass to create this bustling family-oriented sportsbar and restaurant. In a freestanding building next to Hilton Garden Inn, the spacious chalet-styled edifice with brown wood trimming and red brick foundation was packed on Saturday evening as the Final Four college basketball tournament played on one of the bar’s three TV’s this last day of March, 2012.

At the wood-furnished 15-seat bar area were several cocktail tables (with engraved golden duck insignias), inlayed Western-styled flat stone partitions, exposed ducts, nautical paraphernalia, beer-listed blackboards and a left side private lounge. Behind the glass-separated white-walled bar, a huge dining area with high ceilings stretched out far and wide. Opposing the bar near the entrance, the copper kettle tanks stored the house beers and an open kitchen served the food.

My wife and I sat in the bar section eating fish tacos and Mediterranean pizza while watching Kentucky down Louisville to advance into the college-basketball finals. The seared sesame crusted tuna and artichoke spinach dip also looked good. A wonderful bottled beer selection included favorites from Dupont, Ommegang, Aventinus and Corsendonk. But I was here to try Ruddy Duck’s offerings.

While astringent lo-cal Rudd Light (with its bland lemon-limed maize parch and popcorn reminder) and gluten-free Biere Nouveau (a light ale placing raw-honeyed sorghum across sourdough wheat acridity and sugar-free gum droplets) were humdrum, the rest of the lineup fared better.

Traditional autumnal choice, Festbier, brought leafy-hopped foliage and spoiled orange tartness to soft-honeyed Vienna malting, finishing with a sourdough splurge. Soft-tongued Helles Blonde Lager had a dry-honeyed citric blotch and wispy banana bubblegum notch.

More distinct were sweet-buttered Imperial Belgian Wit, a pleasing medium-bodied wheat ale affixing clove-coriander spicing to lemon meringue and mandarin orange subtleties, and juniper hop-embittered Imperial IPA, a briskly fruited winner with honey-malted peach, pear, tangerine, pineapple, grapefruit and honeydew sweetness. Midlevel IPA ranked just below these with its dry resinous hop bittering and lemon-sugared grapefruit, mango, peach and melon tropicalia.

For dessert, I quaffed Ruddy Duck’s brown-chocolate-sweetened Oatmeal Stout, where fig-dried soy souring, coffee-roasted oats toasting and lactic alkaline acidity purged the expectant mocha malting.

www.ruddyduckbrewery.com