The District Part Deux

Well, technically Frederick, MD. After the work day, I headed north on I-270 for the 4+ hour trip home. Now that time estimate doesn't account for traffic. So after battling Friday DC traffic to Frederick, I was rather hungry. Luckily, Frederick is the home of two brew pubs, Barley and Hops and Brewer's Alley (and some other breweries, like Flying Dog). I chose to have dinner at the former. Now I have almost stopped in here what must be a half dozen or times or so. When I would be working in Frederick, I stayed directly across the street, but for some unknown reason decided to patronize the Houlihan's directly in front of the hotel than the brewpub across the street. So this time through, I decided to finally try it.

The brewpub is classic American decor - a wide open, warehouse-esque room with beer-related paraphernalia throughout. I took a seat at the corner of the bar and ordered a sampler and an order of wings. The sampler was 6 brews, 2 oz. each, which was nice because you could drink it and still have a pint and not be 5 beers in, but it only gave you a few sips to judge the beer. Now I've rated beer from less, so I was cool with it. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the beers. The Annapolis Rocks Pale Ale was the best offering (great malt and hop balance) and the Tuscadora Red was solid (caramel and chocolate notes). The service was fantastic - definitely top notch. You could tell that the regulars were there as much for Chelsea's service as the food and beer. The food was pretty standard, but then again I did only have the the wings, so don't take my word for it.

I would definitely recommend stopping in for a pint when in the area. Nothing off the charts, but a great little local brewpub with some good offerings.

Cheers,

Dave

One Night in DC

Well, not actually DC proper, otherwise I'd be writing about The Brickskeller and Capital City Brewing. No, this "One Night Only" trip to the DC metro area found me in Falls Church, VA around Seven Corners which is officially (IMO) the worst intersection in the US. But I digress, we're all here for the food and beer.

So where did I hit tonight? Well, after battling rush hour traffic and checking into my hotel, I headed over to Sweetwater Tavern to meet an old college buddy (a current theme on TravelBLOG) for dinner. The brewpub was warehouse-esque, one large dining room with a horseshoe bar in the center. They offered 5 taps (sparse for a brewpub) and an moderate upscale menu. I ordered a sampler of the brews to rate along with an appetizer of seared ahi tuna and the jambalaya pasta for my meal. The food was great, service was a bit slow (the place was slammed), but the beers lacked anything standout. They were solid offerings, but nothing about them put them much above par for the course. The Pale Ale was pretty standard, but the Oatmeal Stout and the Vienna were tasty, but not mind blowing. I guess I could have expected worse from a chain.

For a night cap, I ended up at the Dogfish Alehouse near my hotel. This was a converted Uno's Pizzeria (I had been there a couple years prior), and offered all the DFH standards and seasonals. I thoroughly enjoyed the Festina Peche on draft, and was quite intrigued by the Alehouse 75 (combo of 90 min and 60 min). There was also live music by a local band, Brother Shamus, a sextet that had some serious musical chops and only added to the ambiance, even if they were a bit loud playing to an almost empty house.

A pretty laid back night overall. If you find yourself in this area, definitely check out DFH, but don't go out of your way for Sweetwater. It was pretty standard.

That is all.

Cheers,

Dave