New DC-Area Brewery

Via BeerActivist

Looks to be a new brewery coming to the DMV. Name: Rhino Chasers, after surfers who are in search of “the big wave.” Both brewers(and owners) are of the recently sold Old Dominion stock. I have always enjoyed OD beers, though I don’t think they push the envelope too much.

In my oh-but-so-humble opinion:

Their Millenium Barleywine was really estery and nice if I remember correctly. I also had their Spring Bock, which was OK. Other than that, the regulars you’d expect from any brewery (pale ale, lager, amber) were middle-of-the-road examples, well made but not standing out in any respect. 

That, I would assume, had a lot to do with whatever the company OD wanted with its beers, so it doesn’t mean that these guys won’t break out and make something unique. At least I’m assuming they will make their own beers under this “Catoctin Brewing Company” brand. Now it looks as though they will be reviving the Rhino Chasers brand, because it had already existed once in California, and marketing beers under Catoctin. I will most certainly give Rhino Chasers a try, although much like Chris at BeerActivist I’m not sure what the surfer reference means to DC. I wish them well and hope to be drinking their stuff soon. 

Lost Dog Cafe: Carry-Out in Falls Church

Revisited. I’ve already posted my initial visit to Lost Dog, but last night Jenna and I decided to go the delivery route. 

Well, that’s how it started at least. 

We originally decided to reward our hour-long run with some good grub, and grub that we wouldn’t have to move to get — hence the delivery. We decided to go pick it up if it was going to take much longer than 30 minutes though, because one-hour runs make you hungry. 

I ordered the lasagna and Jenna the eggplant parmesan. I also wanted to order a Victory Old Horizontal – they deliver beer!

They didn’t have that, but I still wanted a barleywine (been on a kick lately) so I ordered a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. It was going to take 45 minutes so we decided to just pick it up. 

Got to the store and they didn’t actually have the Bigfoot, but they already rang me up for a Sierra Nevada single so I had to pick a Sierra brew. Annoying. What were they planning on showing up at my door with? I went with the Torpedo, which I think of as a revved up Sierra Pale Ale. It’s nice.

Anyway we got back, with our very heavy bag, and I really wish I had a picture of this lasagna. It’s the closest thing to the now defunct Rathskeller of Chapel Hill’s “Bowl of Cheese” lasagna that I have had. It’s hard to imagine anything topping the Rat’s, but this sure did satisfy. 

It came in a tin tray, of which the slice of lasagna took up about 60 percent. The other 40 percent, however, was full of sauce and cheese. It was hard to tell where the slice was because the tray was just a level layer of cheese across the top. It came with some garlic bread so I was piling on the excess cheese and sauce onto it. There was some good sausage and ricotta in the layers that were really well done.  I will be getting it again. 

The bite or two I had of Jenna’s parm was also delish. 

The beer situation was the only bone I had to pick. And that’s weird because Lost Dog has probably one of the finest selections in Falls Church, Va. 

Also, I was glad we phoned it in. When we picked it up there was a huge standing line waiting to get seated. I’m a big believer in the logic that places with big lines are the places you probably want to be, and this would hold true of the Lost Dog.

Stone Old Guardian

I had some Old Guardian for the first time about a month ago or so. It had been a 2008 version that I found to be quite balanced and well-mellowed out, from what I assumed was good aging. 

Last night I got a chance to try the most current version, 2009, alongside the 2008, and I was very impressed to find the two weren’t that much different. 

The 2009 was not too hoppy, nor too malty either. And when I say that I mean that it definitely had a lot of hope flavor, but that it didn’t overwhelm the beer. It was very dry with a fruity subtleness to it. It’s older brethren had a more subdued aroma, was slightly less bitter, but still had that balance.

Both poured a bright coppery color and got a tad hazy around the top and bottom with the middle being clear. If you swirled around the ‘08 it smelled a little more like alcohol instead of fruit but it wasn’t an overpowering fusely smell. 

After some of the “extreme” barleywines I’ve had in the past, this is a great change. I’d have put two of my thumbs up if one hadn’t been clutching the glass of it.

Stone and homebrew tasting

This is not breaking news about a Stone Brewing tasting in the DC area. It’s about the private one that will take place in my apartment this afternoon. My college roommate, Steve, is coming to town, and I have in my possession two vintages of Stone’s Old Guardian barleywine, the 2008 and 2009. I plan to do a side-by-side this evening with them. As well as try my Hefe from Hell for the first time.

Old Dominion Millennium Barleywine

I have had the Old Dominion Ale before and it was pretty good. I can’t remember specifics, but I remember thinking it was good, not excellent, just good. And it’s local so that adds something to it as well. 

I picked up a sixer of the Millennium  in Cairo a few days ago and was pleasantly surprised. 

It’s a reddish ruby-brown with a white head that pretty much disappears about a minute after you pour it. 

My nose is a little stuffy but to me it smelled earthy and prickly. Didn’t pick up on hops or malt as a dominant aroma. 

Starts off really smooth and bitter to toward the end. Very dry finish. I think I might be missing some of the flavor because it’s still very cold. I’ll wait for it to warm up a bit while I watch the Masters. 

 

………………15 minutes, a Tiger par save and a Kenny Perry birdie miss later:

 

It has more of a grapefruit aroma now. It sits one your tongue very unsuspiciously and then when you swallow you get an attack of bitterness. Finish is really really dry. Really makes you want another sip. On the whole I think it’s well-balanced. Neither malt nor hops come off as the overwhelming force. Tiger and Phil are going through Amen Corner now. Time to watch.