The night before SAVOR has traditionally (three years' worth anyway) had two big events in D.C. The Lupulin Reunulin at RFD, which is hosted at the Brickskeller this year and called ReunuLess in honor of the absence of several key Lupulin competitors, is as formal as a beer panel and tasting/roast can be with brewers like Rob Tod from Allagash, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and Bill Madden of Mad Fox poking fun at each other while sharing their most innovative beers with a room full of loyal beer enthusiasts.

While that event's tickets are long gone, the other Friday-before-SAVOR tradition is an informal hang at Birreria Paradiso in Georgetown where many of the brewers and brewery staff in town for Saturday's big event pass the night ordering from the bar's outstanding beer list.

This year Southampton Publick House brewer Phil Markowski will be on hand with copies of his book, Farmhouse Ales: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition and Flying Dog brewer Matt Brophy will be there with a cask of Flying Dog Raging Bitch  and a keg of Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter (settle down, it's not the aged one).

Other breweries that are likely to have representation are Ommegang, Victory, and Three Floyds, but many surprise guests are sure to drop in. This event has no cover and is open to as many beer fans as can fit in Pizzeria Paradiso's Georgetown basement. If you were bummed about not having tickets to Lupulin tonight, we hope news of this brewers' party at Birreria will cheer you up. If you are taking tonight off but up for more beer fun over the weekend, check out our SAVOR Week event master list for your options.

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We have on order six water jacketed English-made Angram hand-pumps designed into the backbar mill work for a beautiful display and have searched for the right size refrigerated cabinets so we can have the firkins on display. We have 50 firkins on order as well to ensure that we can keep a good reserve and maybe while away some gems for future vintage tappenings.

Angram is a brand of handpump, and I haven't the foggiest what "water jacketed" means. But six handpumps means...six casks on tap! Six! Churchkey has five, and that's absurd on its own — I believe there's only five total in the rest of the District (between Pizzeria Paradiso, CommonWealth, and RFD). All of which plays perfectly into the paws of Bill Madden, who is deft with English brewing traditions. From the projected beer list on the Mad Fox site, he might bring with him old favorites like the Head Knocker, his golden, honeyish English barleywine.

Then there's the second bit of info: the 50 firkins. Firkins are the physical cask containers, the kegs that look like oversized beer cans. As Madden writes, having that many around means they can always have some properly conditioned casks on deck, which means all six taps should be firing round the clock, and the ability to stash some away for aging. Just something to look forward to for when all this snow clears in, oh, three months.

As one year ends and another begins, the Lagerheads are taking a moment to glance back at the year in beer and reflect. First up, a look at the local front,  in two tomes. Below we give you five of the most influential local happenings in the beer scene in 2009 and what they mean for an up-and-coming beer city like DC. Take a look and tell us what you think.

1. SAVOR (and SAVOR Week) - This May, DC enjoyed the second wildly successful SAVOR food and beer pairing event. It gets our Number 1 spot because of the sheer number of excellent American brewers and breweries it brings to our city. Sure, it's a fairly expensive and exclusive night of eating, drinking, and schmoozing, but SAVOR also results in an entire week of opportunities to meet and learn from American craft beer celebrities (and more important, DRINK THEIR BEER). Mark your calendars for SAVOR #3, which returns to the National Building Museum on June 5, 2010.
2. First Official DC Beer Week – SAVOR's success undoubtedly paved the way for our Number 2 item, last August's inaugural DC Beer Week. Most events sold out, which speaks to the number of locals out there who are interested in learning about and enjoying great beer. Since August, there have been a few just as busy weeks of beer events (remember late October?!), and we expect our DC Beer Events calendar to continue to fill up. So take advantage because there are sure to be DC Beer Weeks, official or not, throughout 2010.
3. Opening of Two Giants: Birch & Barley/ChurchKey & Pizzeria Paradiso Dupont - What can we say? We got two great beer bars/restaurants in 2009 that help put DC more visibly on the national beer map. Each spot not only has an amazing selection, but is also run by passionate people who have the right philosophy about respecting beer. A small mention goes out to Room 11, which opened in August and has a modest but solid beer selection. We are fans of their Monday night specialty keg series.
4. Independent Brewpubs Announced: Black Squirrel & Mad Fox – DC has fresh local beer, but it's primarily in the form of national chains like District Chophouse (owned by RockBottom Restaurants, Inc.) and Gordon Biersch. We love them both dearly, but in order to be a great beer city a wealth of local independent brewpubs is a must. Last year Bill Madden and Amy Bowman each announced plans to open their own brewing operations, Mad Fox Brewpub and Black Squirrel Brewery, respectively.  These brewpubs will join Capitol City Brewing Company as options for fresh, corporate-free, locally brewed beer. A big step for our fair city. *Okay, so Mad Fox will be in Falls Church, which is a bit out there, but NOVA is the "5th quadrant" (a real 4th quadrant if you look at the map), so stop fighting it and look forward to getting out there for great beer.
5. DC's Belgian Beer Knights Tally Goes up to Four - Last year Brasserie Beck's Thor Cheston and Belga Café's Bart Vandaele joined the exclusive ranks of Belgian beer aficionados knighted by the Belgian Brewers' Guild. Our fair city having a total of  four beer knights (including the Brickskeller's Dave Alexander and local beer ambassador Bill Catron) has to mean we're doing something right around here. The Lagerheads wonder how many other cities can boast so many Belgian beer knights per capita.

That's a lot of big beer news and five very good reasons why beer lovers like us are lucky to live in DC. Stay tuned for Part 2 with more beer happenings from 2009, and even more to be thankful for.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for...winter beers. You know the ones. Strong, dark, and sweet, just the way we like 'em. If you, too, are a winter seasonal fanatic, then you should plan on attending the Brickskeller's Winter Holidaze Extravaganzee next Wednesday.

What is usually a two-night affair (because of the sheer number of breweries that participate and the higher alcohol content of most of the pours) is going to be a one-night, no-holds-barred extravaganza where at least a dozen regional brewers bring their winter seasonals and stories to share. You can buy tickets, which cost $35, on the Brickskeller's event page.

The line-up isn't finalized yet, but below are some of the breweries that sent beers and brewers to last year's event and are likely to return this year.  We hope the final list will include beers from Flying Dog and Devils Backbone, whose breweries each won four medals at the Great American Beer Festival this year, as well as one of our local favorites, Bill Madden's Mad Fox or Vintage 50 brews.

• Capitol City Brewing Company, DC & Shirlington, VA
• District Chop House & Brewery, DC
• Gordon Biersch, DC & Rockville, MD
• Rock Bottom Brewery, Balston, VA & Bethesda, MD
• Clipper City, Baltimore, MD
• DuClaw Brewing Company, MD (various locations)
• Dogfish Head, Milton, DE
• Troegs Brewing Company, Harrisburg, PA
• Starr Hill, Charlottesville, VA
• Sweetwater Tavern & Brewery, VA (various locations)

A sixer of Dale's to go — on your desert island

I've had, and still do have, a proclivity toward lists and the ranking of favorites. High Fidelity inspires desert island-record discussions. Fantasy football drafts are a drug. And as tykes, my brother and I would sit cross-legged in the living room, surrounded by sorted mounds of Halloween candy or Pogs (depending on the season) and conduct elaborate trades and negotiations based on our arbitrarily prized possessions. (Should I be confessing this in print? If I ever run for public office, let's pretend this didn't happen.)

The point being: I'm no different today. So when I see the Alström brothers of Beer Advocate fame enumerating their top five desert island beers alongside a profile in The Boston Globe, I start getting ideas. Building a desert island list is a delicate task. With records, you need to take into account all the different styles, eras, and at least one sentimental favorite. You probably want some reggae in there, being on an island. So while ranking Pogs may be less nuanced, picking just five beers to drink for all of sand-locked eternity seems unfair, if not impossible. Or in other words, fun.

Like records, my favorite beers change frequently — probably every time I walk into a beer store. But here's my outline, the prototypical desert island beer list. And despite the urge to apply a beach theme, I have one rule: nothing with a lime in it. Ever.

1. The go-to quaff. You need one lighter beer, a refreshing lager you can drink by the case while watching the game (better believe my desert island gets NFL Sunday Ticket). This beer is also necessary for pairing with the fresh seafood your monkey butlers bring in off the trawler every morning. My go-to here is Victory Prima Pils, or in fantasy land, I'd take Pilsner Urquell, unfiltered and fresh from Plzeň. But no, if I really have to pick just one, it's Terrapin Rye Pale Ale from Athens, Ga. It's as light as Tahitian sand and bristling with dry rye flavor. Terrapin doesn't ship to D.C. yet, but I'm on their case about it.
2. IPA, at least one. What's a man without hops? Sad and alone on a desert island, that's what. But if there's a Bells Two-Hearted Ale or a Dale's Pale Ale in my coconut shell, I'm doing all right.
3. Sentimental favorite #1: big and hoppy. As with Jason Alström, I have to have some Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye. It's a dark, spicy beast with enough hops to put your average IPA to shame.
4. Something for the palate.You're going to want to invite guests over to the desert island, and you'll need something classy to pair with a fine cheese plate. Something in the Belgian style seems in order; I'd go with a trappist like Rochefort 8, St. Bernardus Abt 12, or a saison like Dupont.
5. Sentimental favorite #2: mellow and complex.I'm still lacking in slow-sipping beers, so I'm leaning toward a double IPA or barleywine. My choice here at the moment is Head Knocker from the Vintage 50 restaurant and brewpub in Leesburg. It's a lighter, golden take on an English barleywine, with a honey aroma and a sweetly smooth finish. The beer is now retired, but brewer Bill Madden will open brewpub Mad Fox in the fall. On my fantasy island, it's delivered in fresh casks via helicopter.
6. The cheating sixth beer. Come on, you knew it was coming. Who can pick just five beers? My cheating sixth: Fullers London Pride, the ultimate English bitter, in all its quaffable, buttery glory.

So fellow Beerspotters, let's hear it. What are your top five (okay six) desert island beers?