MAD FOX BREWPUB

Mad Fox Brewpub, located off Route 7 between Seven Corners and Tyson's Corner, is the long-awaited independent project of adorned local brewer Bill Madden. Madden has achieved fame with winning brews at Capitol City Brewing Company and most recently, Vintage 50 in Leesburg. Recognized as a major player in the brewing world, Madden is often seated alongside some of the biggest names in beer at panel events like the Lupulin Reunulin at The Brickskeller.

According to the website, the venue's concept is somewhere between an English gastropub and a European brasserie. The restaurant's focus on local ingredients will drive a seasonal menu with daily and weekly specials, and a high-domed, wood-burning oven will likely make the brewpub a popular place for Neapolitan-style pizza. But let's move on to what The Lagerheads care most about: the beer.

Madden will pull as many as 10 staples and a rotating selection of over 20 seasonal brews in German, English, Belgian and American styles from his repertoire of over 50 recipes. In typical brewpub fashion, most standards will fall in the low-ABV range, while many of the seasonals will pack more flavor and punch for more adventurous drinkers. Two of our favorites, Madden's Kölsch and Wee Heavy are shoe-in's for permanent slots (we hope). The beers will flow from 12 drafts and 6 hand pumps. (That's six casks people, which is significant.)

More exciting than merely adding another beer place to the local scene is the fact that Mad Fox Brewing Company has plans for production and distribution beyond the brewpub's walls. These plans include growlers, corked bottles, and a barrel room for wood-aged beers. In addition, the Falls Church location moves Mad Fox into the position of being D.C.'s nearest production brewery, for the time being.

MUSSEL BAR

In stark contrast to Marcels, BRABO, and Brasserie Beck, 2009 DC Chef of the Year Robert Wiedmaier's newest Belgian-influenced venture  is described as a casual gastropub and rock-n-roll bar, which sounds like a more appropriate setting for a late-night happy hour to us. Not to hate on Brasserie Beck's location, but K Street is not our first-choice neighborhood (if you can call it that) to spend a Friday or Saturday night. And we have had some of our saddist D.C. moments dodging BMW convertibles down there during rush hour.

As for the food, in addition to serving everyone's favorite bivalves and accompanying frites, Mussel Bar's menu will have savory wood-fired tarts, Belgian custard, and a handful of Flemish entrées. In what is perhaps a throwback to Mediterranean-themed Levante's, the business that formerly occupied the soon-to-be Bethesda beer hotspot's location, doner kebabs also appear on the menu.

But most important to beer freaks like us, the bar will stock upwards of 130 Belgian beers in bottles and on draft (8 taps to be exact), thanks to the direction of Beck manager and beer director Thor Cheston. The selection will likely have many of the same Belgian beers as Beck, and of course includes Antigoon, Wiedmaier's commissioned house beer from Belgium’s Brouwerij de Musketiers.

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There is plenty of fun to be had this week, starting with a Baltimore beer invasion tonight. You can celebrate the DC launch of Stillwater Artisinal Ales at ChuchKey, where Baltimore-based Brian Strumke, a former techno DJ turned nomadic brewer (think Mikkeller), will be on hand to talk about his Stateside series, the three different versions of Stillwater Saison availalbe (draft, cask with a poundan ounce of French oak chips, and regular cask), and all other things craft beer and beyond.

If that doesn't suit you, head out to Clarendon for a 4-course, 5-beer dinner at American Flatbread with Heavy Seas (formerly Clipper City) brewery founder Hugh Sisson. The charismatic brewpub pioneer will have great stories, a cask of Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale, and bottles of Siren Noire, an 8%-ABV Imperial Chocolate Stout that is the Baltimore brewery's latest release in their Mutiny Fleet big beer series.

On Tuesday you can score a 6-course, 7-beer Mediterranean-themed dinner for only $60 at Acacia Bistro featuring dishes by Chef Liliana Dumas paired with beers from 7 different breweries including Victory, Great Divide, and St. Louis gem Schlafly. Also Tuesday is Magic Hat's Mardi-Gras-themed beer dinner at the State Theatre in Falls Church, which will include four beers from the Vermont brewery's Spring Fever Variety Pack.

If you are looking to avoid green beer and loud crowds on St. Patrick's day (and don't mind the drive), you can trek out to Leesburg for Vintage 50's 6-course, 7-beer dinner prepared by Brewmaster Dean Lake and Chef Aaron McCloud. If you're up for getting that far out of DC, you may as well had to Baltimore on Saturday for the SPBW (Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood) Real Ale Festival at Pratt Street Ale House, which will have some amazing beers but is almost certainly sold out, so perhaps plan ahead for next year.

For more details, click on the events in the calendar.

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.

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)

As a follow up to our very own Beerspotter's conversation about top five desert island beers, we offer this account of what some craft-beer stars consider to be the finest beers on the planet. During this year's Lupulin Reunulin at RFD, a glorious night of drinking and mayhem where a handful of the most innovative American brewers bring out their best, the panelists were asked what they would choose as their last beer on Earth. Here's what they said.

Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River in California was the first to respond. Emphatically, he said his last beer would be an Orval, on draft at the brewery in Belgium.

Tomme Arthur of Port / Lost Abbey in California, after confirming that he would have a whole ten minutes left to live to enjoy the beer, said that he would choose one from Alpine Beer Company. He settled on Alpine's Pure Hoppiness.

Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head in Delaware without hesitation named Saison Dupont as his final beer. If you were expecting something more extreme, remember that every great brewer has their roots in the classics.

Adam Avery of Avery in Colorado, in true spelling-bee form, asked for the question to be repeated and then hemmed and hawed before finally naming Blind Pig IPA, a beer from Russian River.  The next panelist in line to respond, Rob Tod, quickly remarked that after such mad props, Adam and Vinnie would definitely be hooking up later that evening.

Rob Tod of Allagash in Maine whole-heartedly agreed with Vinnie Cilurzo that Orval was the best beer on Earth and would be his last if he had any say about it. This one should come as no surprise considering  Allagash's strong line-up of Belgian-style ales.

Bill Madden of Vintage 50 in Virginia said it would have to be a fresh cask ale and named Fuller's London Pride as "the one." We're not sure if it was the thought of a cask or a British bitter (probably both), but he got the best audience reaction for the choice.

After the panelists gave their responses, the question was opened up to the audience and several high-profilers offered their choices. Among them were Natalie Cilurzo of Russian River who picked Malheur Brut. Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada in California, considered by many to be the grandfather of craft brewing, reminisced about buying Spring beer for 69 cents a six-pack. As the first beer he ever had, he  said one of those would do.

Other members of the audience named such great beers as Port Pizza's Poor Man's IPA, Schlenkerla Urbock,  and Lost Abbey Angel Share. Tammy's would be any Kasteel, but she prefers the Bruin over the Trippel and the Rouge. Bruce's would be anything from Weltenburger Kloster, but the Asam-Bock is pretty flippin' awesome.

What would yours be?

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?