We’ve noticed a trend in a handful of our neighborhood bars lately. It seems that staff who pride themselves in stocking high-quality, flavorful beers are figuring out ways to undermine their need to sell yellow water to the masses. And they’re speaking up about it.

The Black Squirrel, for example, has a section of their beer list dedicated to “lightly-hopped lagers” and describes them as “classic” and “mild,” the kind of beers that “whisper instead of scream.” A use of euphemism if we’ve ever seen one.

The Reef’s approach is even better. Their description of Miller Light states it’s from “somewhere in America” and reads, “The aroma of beer precedes a distinct beer taste. Finishes like beer.” Next to their thoughtful descriptions of the craft and imported beers they can always be trusted to have on draft, this is an obvious slight.

Bourbon is by far the best example, as you can see from the photo above. They boldly state how they feel on their board, as well as their beer menu, which has ”Something Light” listed where the  fizzy yellow stuff should be. When we asked our server recently why they couldn’t bring themselves to write  the B-u-d word anywhere in the bar, he said they didn’t like that stuff there and that it was a jab at the weekend clientèle who demand it.

We’ve heard some bar owners say it’s good to carry what your customers want and then nudge them along toward more flavorful styles. We’ve also heard beer directors with a “no-crap-on-tap” mentality say that the big beer companies make enough money without their help. We pose the question to you. Have you seen treatment like this anywhere and what do you think about it?

Mmm…beer and cheese. Better yet, beer and cheese made with great care by monks in Belgium. You can get your hands on some this Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30pm at Marvin. James Williams from Manneken Brussel Imports and Jeff Wells of Ale Street News and DOPS, Inc., will be highlighting the wonderful Trappist Ales from Abbaye des Scourmont, producers of Chimay. The cheeses, Vieux Chimay and Chimay a la Biere, will be free while supplies last. Although you have to buy your own beer, you do get a complimentary Chimay glass with any purchase of Chimay Red, White, or Blue (just one per person; it’s not a free-for-all like we’ve seen before). For an extra special treat, at 6:30 sharp James and Jeff will be popping open two Jeroboams of 2008 Vintage Chimay Grande Reserve. That’s what we’ll be going for. We’ll see you upstairs on the patio.

Kelly Zimmerman leading a ladies-only tour of Clipper City

As a follow up to yesterday’s post about prominent women in the national beer scene, today we are posting a list of local and localish beer-loving ladies. DC and the greater Washington area have a very decent number of beer women, from restaurant and bar owners to brewers, wholesalers, and other business folk.

And this segment of the local beer scene continues to grow, as exemplified by female-themed beer events like the Clipper City ladies night (pictured above). Tammy attended a ladies-only chocolate and beer pairing at the Baltimore brewery in July and highly recommends going next time. Better yet, why not start having events like this here in DC. Any takers?

As with yesterday’s list, the group of names below is not exhaustive. For example, there are a number of great female bartenders and servers who spread the beer gospel every day. Feel free to chime in with shout-outs for other noteworthy local libation-loving ladies in the comments.

Read More “Women of Craft Beer Part 2: The Locals” »

As we mentioned, the Lagerheads have been reading The Naked Pint by Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune, in anticipation of meeting them this week (which you can do Tuesday night at ChurckKey). The book naturally appeals to women because it is written by two female beer experts, and when you’re into something not that many other women are into, it’s nice to be able to reach out to each other.

That said, although the female perspective represented in the book is both thoughtful and entertaining, The Naked Pint is a thorough guide to all things beer written for anyone, not just the ladies. Still, all this talk of women and beer got us thinking. In addition to gals like Christina and Hallie, what queens of beer do like-minded female beer geeks have to look up to? We put together a not-at-all exhaustive list below.

Read More “Women of Craft Beer: A Quick List” »

Paste Magazine’s most recent “List of the Day” surveys the 25 best American breweries of the decade. Just hours after it was posted, a friend asked us what we thought. Overall, we think it’s pretty solid. We’ve had beer from all of the breweries, some more than others, especially Paste’s picks for the two top spots, Dogfish Head and Allagash. Still, we have a few beefs…

We wouldn’t have placed Victory or Founder’s in the top five. Those spots should have been reserved for cutting-edge breweries like Lost Abbey and Russian River. Similarly, we love Weyerbacher but probably would have placed Bell’s in its top 10 spot. And Jolly Pumpkin way down at 19? We don’t think so.

Perhaps going beyond the bounds of Paste’s rating method, we would have  listed Brooklyn, Stone, and Samuel Adams much higher for their widespread efforts to inform American drinkers that there’s more to beer than Bud, Coors, and Michelob, as well as raise the status of beer in general. We also would have tried to squeeze Flying Dog, Left Hand, Troegs, and Duck Rabbit somewhere into the top 25.

Beyond that, if we could have done a Top 40, we would have tried to get O’Dell’s, The Bruery, Boulevard, Full Sail, Captain Lawrence, 21st Amendment, Sly Fox, Anderson Valley, New Holland, Clipper City, Bear Republic, and Elysian on the list, but it would have been very difficult to decide who goes where. Since many of the aforementioned breweries are up and coming, we have a good feeling several of them will be on next decade’s list.

Read More “Paste Names Best 25 American Breweries” »

Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune are smart, funny, beautiful, and really know what they are talking about when it comes to beer. Their recent book, The Naked Pint, made our list of top five beer reads last week. At that time, we tortured you with the fact that we would be among the lucky few to meet the L.A. duo this month at an exclusive media-only event.

Well, thanks to the hard work of some folks at Flying Dog and ChurchKey, and steady encouragement and applauding from us, there is now a fabulous opportunity for you to meet the talented writers. Next Tuesday, November 17, from 7:00 to 9:30pm, Christina and Hallie will be at ChurchKey at 14th and Rhode Island, NW, doing what they do best, sharing their love of craft beer.

The two famous beer chicks will be on hand to talk about beer, give away signed copies of their book, and sample and discuss ChurchKey’s offerings with you. On top of the Logan Circle hotspot’s regular list, there will be a special selection from local award-winning brewery, Flying Dog. Drafts include Gonzo Imperial Porter, Double Dog Double Pale Ale, and Belgian IPA Raging Bitch, which the Lagerheads got to try at the beer’s world premiere at the Brickskeller in May. The cask will be Flying Dog’s Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale, and as if all this great beer wasn’t enough, the brewery will be giving away plenty of schwag.

Read More “Hang with The Naked Pint Authors at ChurchKey Next Week” »

We’ve written before about the aged-beer craze, but this is getting out of hand. This Saturday, the auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son will host the bidding for a bottle of Lowenbrau lager that survived the 1937 crash of the Hindenburg near Lakehurst, New Jersey. The zeppelin was completely destroyed when it caught fire and exploded, killing 36 passengers and crew. From the ashes, a local firefighter pulled six bottles of beer and buried them before investigators closed-off the area. He went back later and dug them up. Today, only two bottles are known to remain–one having been returned to Lowenbrau; the other bound for the auction block. But even if you have the $8,000 that this particular brew is expected to fetch, don’t even think about drinking it: auctioneers say the beer spoiled in 1938 and today would taste “putrid.” Yum! Whatever the Hindenburg beer goes for, it will most certainly take the world record for the most expensive bottle of suds in history, easily displacing the current record holder, a $400-bottle of Carlsberg lager.

The little guys seem to be winning left and right lately, at least in the beer world. First we had the Rock Art Brewery vs. Monster Energy (but really Anheuser Busch) debacle over the word “monster.” After an intense social media campaign, the corporate giant meanies backed off and brewery co-founder Matt Nedau declared victory.

Then just two weeks after all the hub-bub about Black Rooster being forced to close its doors, we heard the DC bar was being allowed to stay at its downtown location.  According to Mike Dolan at DCBeer, the bar is open for business again starting November 16, and they are set to have a Grand Re-Opening Party November 20.

Just when we thought the underdogs’ day was done, we got news last week that there are plans to reopen Dr. Dremo’s at a new Clarendon location. The historic bar closed in January 2008, a casualty to a land redevelopment plan, but owner Andrew Stewart has a grand scheme to bring Dr. Dremo’s back this spring. Yours For Good Fermentables has all the details and a set of links with background info.

If you read our posts you know we have a soft spot in our livers for a handful of things, and Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam Calagione and collaboration beers are two of them. Now that Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada are producing what will be each brewery’s the latter’s first collaborative effort, Life & Limb (and companion beer Limb & Life), we seem to have hit the blog jackpot.

The supportive atmosphere and camaraderie among American craft brewers is often commented on,  so it should be no surprise that brewery founders  Sam Calagione and Ken Grossman decided to make a beer together over a couple of cold ones at last year’s Craft Brewer’s Conference in Boston. In early September, just months after Grossman initiated the idea, the two met to brew at Sierra Nevada’s pristine facilities in Chico, California.

The beers were designed to show the personalities of each brewery and the men behind them. We think they have done just that. According to the Life & Limb website:

Read More “Dogfish Head & Sierra Nevada’s Collaboration Ale, Life & Limb, Coming Soon” »

Think you have it in you to make great beer? Here’s your chance. This Saturday, November 7, is the sixth annual Learn to Homebrew Day, sponsored by the American Homebrewer’s Association (AHA). We got into the game a couple of years ago when our friend Jeff agreed to show us the ropes and, since then, have made three batches of delicious beer. Not exactly a commercial pace of production, but a welcome addition to our refrigerator.

Our experience reflects a national trend. It’s been legal to brew your own beer since 1978, and that change in U.S. law has been responsible for the “Craft Beer Revolution” we’ve seen in this country over the last 30 years. These first homebrewers in the late 70’s moved from their garages to starting the first wave of microbreweries in the early 80’s, and then many like Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman developed their operations into today’s craft beer giants.

Read More “Join the Homebrewing Horde” »