Happy International Beer Day

Happy International Beer Day!

World of Beer Becomes CraftHouse in Northern Virginia

The World of Beer is undergoing a reinvention in Northern Virginia this week.  The three franchises - Reston, Arlington, and Fairfax - have transitioned from World of Beer and will be known as  CraftHouse.

The locations, owned by Eban Metz, have been laboring under the World of Beer logo since they opened, paying for the menus and supporting the computer systems. Metz believes that he could do so much more with an expanded beer selection and an updated menu without the World of Beer fees.  The Fairfax location has already made the transition, and it is safe to say that the Reston and Arlington locations have likewise done the same.

The Fairfax location, because of it abundant outdoor area, is one of the top 10 locations for World of Beer, headquartered in Florida. The Reston location was within the top 10 until Fairfax opened, so two of its top flight locations will be leaving the fold, a fact not to be missed by World of Beer.

New Sign, Same Content - Whole Foods - Fair Lakes

New Sign, Same Content - Whole Foods Fair Lakes

On the Road - Pirogue Black Tripel by Warped Wing Brewery

Last week I was on the road again visiting a friend (Hey, Steve!) in Dayton, Ohio. The purpose of the trip was simple - see the location where the Wright Brother's worked on the discovery of flight (yes, I know, Kitty Hawk, NC is the place where they flew) by visiting their bicycle parts business.  (Really interesting link between bicycles and airplanes.)

Visiting the Wright Brothers also meant going to see the public viewing space of the US Air Force base at Wright-Patterson. (Spoiler alert: They have a B-2 Spirit!) Finally, you have to wrap up visiting the breweries that have popped up around town and as a bonus, cover the Packard car museum. Its a lot to cover in just a couple of days, so lets get started!

Not so Warped, but still really good!

Out of the wide range of beers, I am going to focus on the Pirogue Black Tripel by Warped Wing Brewery. (26 Wyandot Street, Dayton, OH, 45402 - www.warpedwing.com) The night I walked into Warped Wing Brewery, the staff was rolling out the first night of Pirogue Black Tripel.

The brewery is in a large building (large by brewery standards) in an industrial/commercial area and has parking across the street. The bar is against the right side (the brewery is behind the wall but out of site) of the building and it has a large set of wooden tables and chairs going out to the left. It is pretty impressive and has wide range of male and female drinkers. There is room for even the kids and there are plenty of them!

Pirogue Black Tripel comes in draft with an ABV of 9.0% and IBU of 24. This beer is tightly put together so that it drinks smooth and with a lot of flavor. The aroma has a few hops in it, but not too many that you will walk away from it. The taste is what really sells this as a black tripel. The hops and the other flavors in the beer really work well together and with a barley malt, they just sing out with black tripel flavor. Overall, it is a really solid beer.

I gave it an Untapped rating of 4 stars.

Skal!

Just Type in "All That's Brewed"...

in your web address bar (www.allthatsbrewed.com) and read the same message in smooth and glorious text. That's right, you can read the same message, only faster, on www.allthatsbrewed.com.

Come over and try it out!

Yagar Dark - Cerveza Austral

Just when I thought that we had received gold from Rich and Carol Kitchens (I am considering making them our traveling reporters), I received another missive from the pair coming from the Chilean side of Patagonia.

This one concerned Yagan Dark (https://www.cervezaaustral.cl/producto/#yagan-dark) by Cerveza Austral (www.cervezaaustral.cl) which has a “with very subtle hints of chocolate, eminently drinkable, with the vicious weather of Chilean Patagonia bristling in the chilly background.” With an ABV of 6.1% and a serving temperature of about 44 degrees (approximate), this is a beer has you chortling at the rough weather in Patagonia.

So, we will be kept abreast of the Kitchens travel plans by the next beer they send back for us to take a gander at and marvel.

Skal!

What's on Tap?

What's on Tap? Well here is the list at Whole Foods - Fairfax

World Wide Stout - Dogfish Head Brewing

Nothing says winter like a nice warm stout. The basic stout is a great remedy to everything that is wrong with winter. The blistering cold, wind whipping, storm intensity...you have the idea.

Stouts have a way of saving the day on so many occasions, and a really good stout is always a fine treat. So, when I walked into the Dogfish Head Brewing Company to face the mob and decided to check out their World Wide Stout, I thought I would have a nice warm brew on a chilly night. Wrong.
But not for the reasons you think.

World Wide Stout by Dogfish Head Brewing Company (www.dogfish.com/front) seeks to become the firm's numero uno stout. Though the keep it refrigerated, you hardly notice the cold when you pick it up. When I looked to find its ABV, it listed it as between 15-20%. That's right, even they don't know what it is supposed to be - they have a range! It has to be one of the only profession brews to do that!

Its aroma is of a really strong stout, but it has alcohol bubbling up through the center of it.  Make no bones about it, it is alcohol friendly. This beer is close to sizzling. In terms of taste, it is really simple - alcohol with strong stout - in that order. The alcohol is only for the first few minutes. As you get to drinking it, it simmers down and you can taste a bit of the stout, tempered by some of the additional flavors. A tempest of dark fruit comes to mind.

A wickedly wild stout that reaches for the stars - and matches a few of them!

So, when the weather turns cold and its getting bitter, turn to World Wide Stout. It could be the last thing you will do, but it will be memorable.

Skal!

Four Corners - Easter Island

OK, I come from the Left Coast. Specifically, Piedmont, CA, which you won't find on anything but a detailed map of the San Francisco Bay Area. We like our anonymity because it is a small town and we like to keep it that way.

But people in Piedmont like to travel. If there is a corner of the world, someone from Piedmont or associated with Piedmont has been there.

So, in the midst of my beer blogging, I get a message from Mr. Rich Kitchen. Mr. Kitchens served as one of the gatekeepers coming out of Piedmont High School. For a lot of us, if you didn't pass Kitchens class, you weren't going to be leaving Piedmont.

Mr. Kitchens, and his beautiful wife Carol, who also taught for a while at Piedmont (still trying to figure that one out - nice going Mr. K!) send a note from Easter Island in the South Pacific that they are visiting. And then a second note with a picture of a beer from Easter Island! Yeah, Easter Island, addressed to me and for incorporation into the blog.

Mahina Pale Ale is bottled at Cerveceria Rapa Nui at Hanga Roa which is on Easter Island and it under the administration of Republic of Chile. It has a rich peach and apple taste taste combined hop flavor.

So, here is the beer shot:

A little Mahina Beer from Easter Island.

Thanks a lot, Mr. Kitchens!