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Beer the three, in four parts.
Bluejacket, Navy Yard
Shortly after completing my first Hills of Anacostia ride with BicycleSpace, I rolled downhill (thank god) to Bluejacket for a beer. 2 hours and 21 minutes with a bunch of gnarly hills over 27.3 miles had gotten my thirst up.
Coaltown
“English Brown Ale (Dry-hopped w/ East Kent Goldings hops in the cask)
roast + soft & silky / abv 4.9% / temp 55F / nonic pint
a classic english brown ale brewed with 5 malts, hopped exclusively with east kent goldings & open-fermented. nutty, dark ready flavors join notes of coca & hints of fruit on the palate of this smooth & sessionable ale.”
Severed at a proper ale temperature of 12C, it allows subtle notes to emerge that are normally frozen in very cold beer. What those notes are I’m not sure, but I like them.
Bear Mountain
“Raspberry Farmhouse Ale
fruit & spice + bright / abv 8.7% / temp 54F / pokal
a strong, dry saison fermented 4 weeks with a blend of farmhouse ale yeasts + a blend of brettanomyces bruxellensis & brettanomyces claussenii, then aged for 3 weeks on 300 pounds of locally-grown red raspberries (sourced from sucker farms (lancaster, pa)).”
I’ve not tasted this yet but the red liquid in the glass is speaking to me, calling to my baser instincts. A deep inhalation of the heady aroma yields a sour note, as if aggressively challenging me. A first sip is surprising, begging for more. In consideration, it has a plain mouthfeel and seems underwhelming whilst upon the tongue. There is a lingering sour at the back of the mouth that is not my favourite thing, but also not unpleasant. Whilst an enjoyable experience I’m glad I only got the 4 oz pour.
Mexican Radio: S’mores Edition
“Spiced Sweet Stout (Finished w/ marshmallow fluff in the cask)
roast + dark & dry / abv 7.4% / temp 55F / snifter
a spiced stout brewed with oats & lactose milk sugar, then finished with vanilla beans, ancho chili peppers, cinnamon sticks & locally-roasted cacao nibs (from undone chocolate).”
This is one of those beers you try because of the weird thing they did to it. In this case, it’s finished in a cask with marshmallow fluff. This is a dark beer. This is a complex beer. This complexity is probably wasted on me. It’s not a bad beer, but it probably isn’t something I’m going to have more than one of.
Nobody’s Darling
“Imperial Schwarzbier
profile = roast + dark & dry / abv 12% / temp 54F / snifter
amped up black lager combining 7 different malts & flaked oats + columbus & saaz hops; richly roasted & exceedingly smooth, w/ suggestions of dark bread, blonde coffee, leafy hops & black pepper; brewed in collaboration w/ great raft brewing (shreveport, louisiana).
The final beer of this four beer journey. It is as dark as the Mexican Radio, but with finer bubbles as it is from a keg instead of drawn from a cask. On first taste I think I may have saved the best for last. It is full bodied with a clean finish with delightful roasted malt. Mmm
.
