Category: Beer

Three Days in Tidewater

Posted on by chappyshi

I went down to see my sister and my brother-in-law in Suffolk, VA, on my three day break this week.  What with my work schedule recently, I haven’t done much on my days off but try to catch up on my sleep so the trip was a nice change.  I drove down on Sunday after a few hours of sleep in the morning.  That afternoon and evening was just hanging out, lazing in the pool, and chatting.  I was good to see Kim and Don who I hadn’t seen since late February or early March.  Kim’s friends the Kent’s came over for dinner which was based on some awesome ribs that Kim did in the oven.  We even got to break in Don’s new Cornhole boards.

On Monday, my intent was to go down to Virginia Beach (VB) in the morning, have some lunch, and head back to Suffolk to kayak.  I hoped to stop in at the Beach Brewing Company to check out their establishment and taste their beer but since they were only open on the weekends that did not pan out.  I did get out on the beach for a couple of hours where I read the paper and enjoyed the scenery.  Since I haven’t had good experiences lounging and swimming at the beach with much of a drive in front of me I didn’t make it into the water.  They don’t have much in the way of changing facilities at VB and I didn’t relish the thought of making the drive back to Suffolk with a bathing suit full of sand.

I did have a tasty Starr Hill Brewery Northern Lights IPA and chicken Caesar salad for lunch at the 11th Street Taphouse Bar and Grill.  They had quite the beer selection that made me want to grab a nearby hotel room and just hang out for the rest of the day and night.  As it was, I head back west only to encounter traffic slow downs and blockages due to bridge openings and car fires.  I was able to get off the highway onto a road I recognized and planned to get on eventually so that worked out okay.

By the time I got back to back to Suffolk, I decided not to kayak and headed toward a local place called Cogan’s Pizza where they have a pretty good beer selection.  I missed my turn and ended up at Buffalo Wild Wings which wasn’t a bad thing.  There I tasted the Beach Brewery Pale Ale but was not impressed.  I did enjoy immensely the O’Connor Brewing Company Great Dismal Black IPA.  Black IPA’s are quite the rage in the craft brew community this year.  I have had at least four different ones this year and enjoyed them all.

Monday night was relaxing.  We did leftover ribs and such and watched a movie that I didn’t make it all the way through.  I was still running on a sleep deficit and despite that fact that I should  be awake nights because that is the shift I work, I still had to crash.  As it was, I woke up early and tossed and turned before finally giving up and getting up.

I did my two crossword puzzles for the day and read a bit of the paper before heading out to kayak on Bennett’s Creek which is just a short drive from Kim’s, and if you read anything I write, you will recall is one of my favorite places to paddle.  I put in at the local park and either paddle upstream until  I run out of creek or paddle down to the James River and back.  The journey was a good as ever with numerous sitings of wildlife including Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Green Herons, Belted Kingfishers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Ospreys, and one Muskrat.

Since it was Don’s day off, we got together with Kim for lunch where I finally did make it to Cogan’s Pizza and we enjoyed a tasty Supreme pizza and I had a Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, always a favorite.  We had a bad experience there earlier in the year when the service was iffy and the pizza cook seemed to be having a bad day but they were back in good form on  Tuesday.  Later in the day we caught up with friend’s of Kim and Don, one of whom is a preacher, at the movies to catch “Horrible Bosses.”  That  was an incredibly raunchy, but very funny, movie, albeit interesting to watch sitting next to a preacher.

We had a quick dinner when we got home which was about 1830.  I was tired and called it a night early.  I wanted to get up early in the morning to get on the road home w/ a stop en route to paddle.

I stopped at one of my new favorite spots on the James River, Deep Bottom Park, in Henrico County off Route 5.  Unfortunately the tide was out and I couldn’t get all the way into this large pond off of the river that I wanted to go into.  I have seen hundreds of herons and egrets in there and wanted to see if I could get some pictures.

The birds there are very skittish so I hoped to just float around and minimize the disturbance.  That was pretty much a no go since there were huge mud flats exposed due to the low tide.  I ended up paddling back past the launch and up a creek I had seen previously but not yet explored.  It wasn’t a bad paddle overall but it was hot and my boat was leaking so I wrapped it up sooner than I intended.

Thankfully, I had an easy trip home and got a few things done before I had to go to work.  I had a productive and relaxing three days and it was great to see Kim and Don.

Local Craft Brew News

Posted on by chappyshi

While having a beer at Vintage 51, found that they are now pouring CAT 50  IPA which is brewed at their sister restaurant, Vintage 50.  Apparently they had to jump through some hoops with Virginia ABC laws and distributors.  It is just ridiculous how hard the ABC makes it for a company to actually sell the beer they brew.  They are selling growlers of the CAT 50 for $10 which is very reasonable and a far cry from the $24  or more they have to charge for growlers of their other beers.

Also, while reading the mid-Atlantic Beer News, I saw that Lost Rhino Brewing Company is up and brewing and they are brewing “New River Pale Ale” which was an old favorite from Old Dominion Brewing Company.  I was told by the bartender at Vintage 51 that they had a keg they were waiting to tap.  I’ll have to pop back out their to check it out!  Anyhow, Lost Rhino is purported to be selling kegs and growlers at their location in Ashburn and plans are in the works for a brew pup similar to that of Dominion.

Creedence Clearwater “Revisited” at Wolf Trap Last Friday

Posted on by chappyshi

I saw Creedence Clearwater “Revisited” on Friday night at Wolf Trap.  They are a tribute band that includes two of the original members of Creedence Clearwater Revival.  We got there a little before 1800 which was plenty of time to get in line and get good lawn seats near the middle of the amphitheater.  I thought the gates opened at 1800 but they did not do so until 1830 so we had a bit of a wait at the gate and then a longer wait for the music which did not start until 2000.  There was no opening band.

CC Revisited sounded very good…much like the original and covered many of their most popular songs.  Unfortunately they only played for about 1.5 hours.  It seemed like an awful run around and wait for that much music.  Thankfully, Wolf Trap is a great venue where, if you are on the lawn, you can bring in food and drinks of any kind.  Plus it is like a festival atmosphere on  the lawn with people just hanging out, meeting new people, talking,  and dancing.

We also ran into some friends at the show who joined us at my sister’s house afterward for a beer and concert review.  All in all, it was a good time.

I Thought I Had Recycling Issues….

Posted on by chappyshi

When I got home from work on Thursday, I noticed one of those huge tractor trailer sized dumpsters, one of those that they have on construction or demolition sites, in front of one of the adjacent apartment buildings.  The dumpster was overflowing with crap.  I noticed that both of the sliding glass doors were open in one of the second floor apartments.  I wondered if there had been a fire in an apartment.

Walking from my car to my building I saw a guy come out on the balcony of the apartment in a low-grade HAZMAT suit.  That freaked me  out so I popped into the management office to see if the would tell me what was going on.  Apparently, the apartment was trashed.

The apartment manager was freaked out.  He said it was the nastiest thing he had ever seen.  Apparently the renter was dink on his rent and the manager had been trying to get a hold of him for six weeks or so.  Residents of neighboring apartments had been complaining of bad smells.  The manager had to get a court order to enter the apartment.

Upon entry, they found a wasteland.  There were cats in the apartment unattended.  The renter had apparently left  plenty of food but the cats had run out of water and were nearly hysterical when the maintenance crew got water for them.  Of course the cats had to be taken away by Animal Services.  The maintenance crew then proceeded to haul 80 bags of garbage/trash out of the apartment the first day.

On day two, they called in a cleaning crew experienced in HAZMAT cleanup.  The cats had urinated and defecated all over the apartment.  There were flies and maggots all over including in the walls and floors.  They are having to tear everything out of the apartment including the walls, floors, cabinetry, appliances, etc.  And to cap it off, the bedroom was filled from ceiling to floor with bags of empty beer cans!  Recycling anyone?

Pictures from Vacation in Salvo, NC, on the Outer Banks

Posted on by chappyshi

It took me longer than I had wished to get all these pictures together.  The downside of digital photography is that we can take too many pictures and look at them before printing or publishing them with minimal  monetary impact.  Nonetheless, I spent the time and put together a set of pictures from our recent trip to the Outer Banks.  Many thanks to my sister who made the arrangements and paid for the place!

Check out the pictures here on my photo album or browse to my photo album from the main page of my blog and look for the Salvo vacation pictures.  The only real downer of the vacation,  other than a couple of trips  to Urgent Care centers, was the traffic.  For one four hour stretch, we averaged 19 MPH!

Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest, 2010

Posted on by chappyshi

The 3d annual Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest,  “A Celebration of American Beer,” will be held June 26 and 27th at Morven Park in Leesburg, VA, just north of Leesburg on Route 15 at Tutt Lane.

I went with my sister and brother-in-law last year and really enjoyed it.  The weather was perfect and the selection of beers was awesome.  Advance tickets are a bit pricey at $20 but cheaper than at the gate ($25) and that includes a 6.75 oz tasting glass and four tickets for tasting.  There is no fee for parking and parking (as well as exiting) is hassle free.

Follow the link above for more information including a list of last years breweries.  This year’s list has not yet been posted.

I’ll be out there Saturday afternoon…hope to see you there!

Washington, D.C., Cherry Blossom Festival Venture

Posted on by chappyshi

What madness!  I took the Metro into town on Thursday, April 1, to see the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin.  Last year I rode the scooter down to check them out but the area was so packed with people I just cruised through for a quick look and headed home.  This year, I wanted to walk around and get some pictures so the Metro was the way to go.  I got on at the Vienna, VA,  station and off at the Smithsonian station.  From there it was a reasonably short walk to the Tidal Basin where all the action is.  I ended up walking all the way around the Basin at a leisurely pace snapping pictures of the trees and the Jefferson and Washington Memorials.

There were people all over the place.  The advent of digital photography has not boded well for tourist destinations since now everyone thinks they are a photographer.  Walkways were blocked by phototogs trying to get snaps of their friends, family, and the monuments.  I believe that I can assuredly say that if all those people had to pay for film and developing, most of them wouldn’t be taking pictures.  I certainly take many more pictures  using my digital camera than I would using my analog cameras.  At least I have a history going back 26 years of taking analog photos and have four analog cameras to my two digital cameras.

That being said, I think I got a few decent photos.  I went into town late with the intention of staying through sundown.  I did do that but ended up shooting sunset photos on the mall of the Capitol and the Washington Monument rather than of the cherry blossoms.  This was mainly due to the fact that I had to pee and was thirsty as hell.  I walked down the south side of the mall near the Capitol looking for an Irish bar that I had been to years before but haven’t been able to find for the past few years.  I am not even sure it is there any more.

What is really odd is that it is so hard to find someplace to just stop and get a brew or quick bite to eat around the mall.  There are huge government office buildings everywhere and people have to drink and eat.  D.C. is very much a commuter city so perhaps the government workers are just in and out for work and there isn’t a good restaurant business environment.  I ended up going to Capitol City Brewing Company on Massachusetts Avenue just of Capitol Hill.  It is adjacent to Union Station which is a good venue for getting chow and such, not sure about brews, and also catching the Metro.

After making my bladder gladder, I managed to find a seat at the bar in the very packed restaurant.  I was so thirsty from walking around for four hours in the sun that I pounded down a pint of Kolsch and a pint of water in no time.  Since the sun was setting, I had to get back out on the mall, about 5 blocks away, snap some pictures and get back to the Smithsonian Metro station.  Even though it was about 8:15 PM, I just barely managed to get a seat and was hemmed in by people as the car reached standing room only a few stops later.  That lasted until about four stops before the end of the line where I  disembarked and headed home.

When I got home, I realized that I hadn’t eaten the sandwich I brought with me so I showered the city off of me, scarfed a quick brew, ate my sandwich, and chased it all down with more water.  Meanwhile, I was downloading 203 pictures from my camera to my computer.

Here are a few of those pictures.  More will  be posted in my photo album in the not too distant future.  Once that is done, I’ll make a note and put a link to them here in my blog.

Northern Virginia Craft Beer News

Posted on by chappyshi

I am pleased to note that we have two new eating/drinking establishments in my area:  Vintage 51 South Riding and Dogfish Head Ale House.

Vintage 51, hereafter known as V51SR, is an extension of Vintage 50, hereafter known as V50, in Leesburg.  V51SR’s website is supposed to be www.vintage51sr.com but is still not up and running, which is stupid in my estimation.  The restaurant  has been open for at least three weeks now but in truth it is still not up and running.  The menu is still not complete, prices are up in the air (a bit too high), but the beer selection is awesome.

V50 Leesburg brews some awesome beers in my estimation and I can get growlers there which is a major bonus.  However the drive to V50, 30 to 40 minutes, diminishes the value of the brew.   V51SR, less than 15 minutes away, has a nice selection of craft beers on tap from Ales, Pale Ales, IPA’s, Kolsches, Hefe-Weisens, Stouts, Lagers, etc, well as quite a selection of bottled beers.  Don’t expect to get a Coors, Bud, or Miller Lite there though.

They are supposed to be pouring growlers.  My initial impression is that they won’t be able to do so profitably, since they would be pouring growlers of beers purchased from distributors rather than those produced in house.  That impression has nearly been confirmed by at least one of their bartenders.  The initial pricing projections are way beyond what even the most devoted micro brew aficionado would spring for.

V51SR is in a weird spot.  First of all  let me say that the Virginia booze laws are wacked.  V50 in Leesburg brews their own beer on site.  They can’t sell their  own beer at another one of their own restaurants without selling it to a distributor and then buying their beer back from the distributor.  So V51SR would have to sell beer produced by the the same company that runs V50 and V51SR at a higher price than V50 sells it for.  WTF?

If you are half-way serious about craft beers, you will be familiar with Dogfish Head.  Their 60 Minute IPA is fairly widely distributed.  The 60 Minute IPA is a a great beer…it is the anchor of their product line for those of us who like ales.  Unfortunately, for one,  they don’t sell growlers.  I think if  they brewed the beer  on site they could sell growlers.  Secondly, the beer selection is good but also a bit exotic, particularly on the flavoring side.

Most people will like their Lawnmower Light and then have to do some tasting of the other beers to find what they might like.  The Aprihop is a good beer but I am not likely to have more than one at a time.  I recently had the “Festina Peche,” which I now remember, after finding reference to it on the web, was sour tasting, not as in bad but as in citrusy sour.  Like the Aprihop, I am not likely to have more than one at a time which could be a good thing.

Please don’t ask me about the food at either Dogfish Head or V51SR.  I eat at home.  I visit these places only to check out the beers and the talent.  I do know that both of the “Vintage” restaurants get many of their fresh ingredients from the Fields of Athenry Farm in Purcellville, VA, where, as I understand, everything is grown/raised, organically.  Fields of Athenry, is on Snickersville Pike, which is a great motorcycle ride from Rt. 50 west of Aldie to Bluemont on Rt. 7 west of Leesburg.

Enjoy your beers but not before you ride!

Life Is Tough

Posted on by chappyshi

What a rough day!  Beautiful weather.  Reading the Washington Post on the balcony loving life.  Headed off at about 3:30 PM for a friend’s house a few blocks over for a pool/birthday/football party.  Tons of food there all designed to set my cholesterol level even higher than it needs to be before I get blood work done tomorrow morning.  My back is bothering me from an incident 10 days ago so I couldn’t get involved in the Cornhole competition which was looking quite intense.

My intention was to cut out of there after two beers which I did…with some difficulty.  I went to the Giant to get some beers to have at the house should I desire them.  On the way home, I stopped by Julie and Ed’s to check the house and found a crab and clam feast going on at the neighbor’s house.  Chris and Courtney invited me over.  Kathy Slover, who I always enjoy seeing, was there.

Chris had three bushels of live female crabs and just keep cooking away.  I had to get home at about 7:30 PM but before I left three or four more people showed up and the feast just kept going on.  I really did not want to leave but my cat needed to be fed and I needed to find some sanity.