From the Manual

The J. Peterman Company is having a sale on all Beer-esque items.  So if you desperately need this sign from the Longbow Pub in Turnbridge Wells, UK, it’s marked down from $850 to $498:

Whither Beer Club?

From Emily Garr’s email:

Hey friends of Beer Club:

Sorry I didn´t catch up with you earlier.  As some of you regulars may have noticed, Beer Club´s on hiatus til February (we think).

If we keep at this, it will be with renewed passion for learning a bit about what we´re drinking (“Seriously, man. Garr hasn´t even brought the right type of beer the last two Rounds”). Oh yeah, and the doors will close at 8…maybe.  Obviously we have a lot of thinking to do.

Thoughts anyone?  Put ’em here: http://theregulars.wordpress.com/ .

See you next year, and happy fesivities!

Brad, Emily, Emily, and Evan

Recap for newcomers:

Who: People interested in tasting different beers for cheap(er)…and drink with good company.

What: Beer Club. Bring a 6 pack, a pint glass, and don’t forget to take a few of your favorites home at the end of the night.

Where: Brad, Emily, Emily and Evan’s place, 3635 13th st. nw. between Columbia Hts and Petworth metros

When: 2nd Wed of every month, 7-10pm

Xtreme brewing

There’s a great article in the New Yorker this week about extreme brewing.  Xtreme beer can describe any brew with Xtremely high alcohol content, Xtremely unique ingredients, etc.  The article also gives a fascinating look into the background, operations, and founders of Dogfish Head Brewery.

TO THE MAX!

Xtreme H/Ts: D-Hall and Evan Maryland.

Ye Olde Anglo Beer Club – November 12

The weather is finally turning cold, so it’s time to transition from those watery summer beers to syrupy beers that can be substituted for a meal. We’ll kick things off next Wednesday (the 12th), with Brown Ales.

Browns originated in London, but varieties are now made throughout England, Belgium, and North America. They tend to be sweet with hints of caramel or chocolate, and are sometimes nutty. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_ale

I’m also told that Brown’s pair well with “meat and cheese, ” but isn’t that true of ALL beers? Mmm. Cheeseburgers.

See you next Wednesday!
- Brad, Emily, Emily, and Evan

Recap for newcomers:

Who: People interested in tasting different beers for cheap(er)…and drink with good company.

What: Beer Club. Bring a 6 pack, a pint glass, and don’t forget to take a few of your favorites home at the end of the night.

Where: Brad, Emily, Emily and Evan’s place, check yer email for the address

When: 2nd Wed of every month, 7-10pm

p.s. Whoops! We forgot to post for October but, not surprisingly, the theme was Oktoberfest, and we had a session that, in true Oktoberfest fassion, was a little less discursive, and a little more drunken.

Meeting #7: Monroe Doctrine, September 10th

In a brash demonstration of our hegemony over the DC Beer Club scene, the theme of next week’s gathering will be the Monroe Doctrine.  Beer of any nation in the Western Hemisphere other than Canada and the good ol’ USA is eligible.  So you have a lot to choose from: Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.  Bring a six-pack, a glass (if you can), and remember to take home a few beers at the end of the night.

What: Monroe Doctrine Beer Club Meeting

Where: 3635 13th St. NW (North CH)

When: Wednesday, September 10, 7-10pm.

Why: “…The occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents’ [beer drinkers], by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European [brewery]…”
– Pres. James Monroe

Please post the beer you plan to bring in the comments.  Thanks!

Meeting #6: Amber Ales & Red Ales, August 13

After much debate, Evan and I have settled on the theme for next weeks’ Beer Club…

Amber Ales & Red Ales. We were thinking just Ambers for awhile, but we were worried we wouldn’t get a diverse selection, so when the Wikipedia told us that most Red Ales, in America, are just an Amber with some roasted barley, we decided to combine them into a single session.

Background info:
Amber Ales are on the darker (“light copper to light brown”) end of the pale ale family, and tend to have low to modest levels of hops. The deeper color typically comes from a small amount of malt added to the pale ale base.

And some baseline facts for the forgetful (like me), from Wikipedia… What is the difference between an ale and a lager? Ale uses top-fermenting yeast while lager uses bottom-fermenting. The result of this is ales tend to have a stronger flavour and cloudy colour, while lagers are usually clearer and more crisp.’

We’ve yet to have a lager night, but we’ll get to that in the fall or winter.

Who: People interested in tasting different beers for cheap(er)…and drink with good company.

What: Beer Club. Bring a 6 pack, a pint glass, and don’t forget to take a few of your favorites home at the end of the night.

Where: Emily, Brad, Emily and Evan´s place. Check yr email 4 the addy.

When: 2nd Wed of every month, 7-10pm

See you next Wednesday!
-Emily, Brad, Emily* and Evan

* Yes, you’re reading that right; our house is gaining another Emily.

Beer Club Round 5: Cheap domestics

(Copied from Emily’s email…)

Upon special request, we’re doing the 4th up right:

CHEAP AMERICAN BEER

Wednesday, July 9th

7-10

With hot dogs, veggie dogs (?) and the like.  Here’s the test to see if we can really tell a Coors Light from a Miller Light, … or a PBR from a Bud…

Variety might be our only issue, so I’d suggest replying to this post with the name of your beer.

Hopefully y’all can make it.

And for those who haven´t yet graced us with your presence: how could you even think about passing up a Natty Light!?

Yours Truly,

Emily, Brad and Evan

Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest

If you can bear to enter the state of Virginia this weekend, Magda points us to what sounds like an outstanding beer festival:

Almost four dozen American breweries are bringing their beers to Leesburg this weekend for the first Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest. You’ll find microbrews and craft beers from all over the country, as well as Budweiser and Coors — since, you know, you’ve probably never tried those, or their offshoot beers like Blue Moon or Shocktop. Skip the big guys (Yuengling? Seriously?) and enjoy tasting products from Lancaster Brewing Company, Lexington Brewing Company, Weeping Radish or Mendocino Brewing Company. A good number of Virginia breweries are represented, including Starr Hill, Blue and Grey, St. George and Williamsburg Ale Works. Admission is $20 in advance or $25 at the gate, which includes a tasting glass and four 6.75-ounce tastes. Additional beer tasting tickets are $1 each. Besides beer, the festival includes live music by the zydeco-loving Crawdaddies (listen) and a number of pop-rock bands from the NoVa circuit, including Everyone But Pete and Road Soda. We shouldn’t have to tell you not to drink and drive — y’all are adults — but if you can’t find a designated driver, check out a bus trip organized by Party DC, which offers transportation from the Front Page in Ballston.

$25 at the gate, and $1 for additional 6.75 oz tastes?  Wish I could be there.

Bud to become a Belgian beer?

Not in the sense of flavor or quality, of course.  From NPR:

InBev has made a $46 billion bid for Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob. If the deal goes through, InBev would become the world’s largest brewer, adding the iconic American brands to a lineup that includes Stella Artois and Beck’s. But the deal is a long way from being final.

In the political vein, one blogger speculates that Anheuser-Busch distributor and aspiring First Lady Cindy McCain could have to register as an “agent of a foreign principal”.  I say, that Cindy McCain is clearly conspiring with the always-sinister Belgians to ruin the beer of good red-blooded Americans.

H/T: Prince of Petworth.

Recap: Summer Ales

After 4 meetings, a pattern has definitely emerged: Big Beer Club, Little Beer Club, Big Beer Club, Little Beer Club. Personally, I’m loving it, because both sizes have their perks.

This time around, we had 9 people and 7 beers. Since Summer Ales is a fairly subjective category, we had quite a variety, although most of them were fairly light, wheaty, and sweet – a very sharp contrast to the stouts and porters we tasted in May.

I lost track of the order we tasted them, so I’ll just mention them in the order they appear in the above picture, from left to right. (Also, note that we are making good progress on our bottle cap collection drive, but still have a long ways to go, and we can’t get there without your help.)

Anchor Summer Beer (Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco CA) – This one had the crazy big “whipped egg white” head. I don’t remember the taste too well… can anybody chime in?

Summer Weizen Ale (Smuttynose Brewing Co, Portsmouth NH) -This beer had the “party in my mouth” energy of a strong Hefe, but without the “hangover in my throat” aftertaste. A bit smoother going down.

Woody Creek White (Flying Dog Brewery, Denver CO) – “Wow, that’s Belgian,” said Evan. Please elaborate. 18 IBUs.

Samuel Adams Summer Ale (Boston Beer Company, duh) – Everybody knows what to expect with this one… its the staple of refreshing summer brews, and the one most likely to be found on tap.

Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema (Anderson Valley Brewing Co, Boonville CA) – I threw one of these back while gardening before everyone arrived, and I loved it. It was the first beer we tasted, and the general consensus was that it was really drinkable (yummy?) but kind of unremarkable, and that the description of its “notes” were kind of overstated. As the night wound down, though, a few of us returned to it and were stunned by how much different it tasted in comparison to the others. Very malty flavor and a silky texture. Dessert-like. This may be why you’re “supposed” to taste beers from light to dark…

River Horse Summer Blonde Ale (River Horse Brewing Co., Lambertville N.J.) – Somebody else better comment on this one, as I remember opening it and nothing more. I need a notepad.

Oberon Ale (Belle’s Brewery, Comstock MI – One of the attending Michiganders remarked that “the only bad thing about this beer is that its so good and they start selling it early, so you drink too much of it and get tired of it before the end of summer.” I guess that makes it the spring fling of summer brews.

I hope somebody else chimes in with more comments, as my memory is . . . bad.