Beer Hunting in Washington D.C. and New York

Note: the ratings are based on the following: appearence 0-5, aroma 0-10, flavor 0-10, palate 0-5 and overall impression 0-20

The primary goal of this journey was NOT beerhunting (else, I would not have taken my wife and my 2 children with me...). Nevertheless, my hope was to taste about 50 new beers.

09/18/00 Bad surprise in the Swissair flight from Zurich to Washington: the only beer available is Bud (1/4/2/2/5). By chance, my attention was redirected on an interesting paper about taste differences between an Heineken brewed in Switzerland (by Calanda) and in Holland. Heineken, of course, denies that there would be any differences in the brewing process ... Landing on late afternoon, no more time for hunting today. Dinner in China Town with a Tsingtao (served in a tainted glass ! bitter hop aroma, full bodied, slightly bitter flavor - 3/6/7/3/13). OK, nothing new today, I will take my revenge tommorow.

09/19/00 The Beer Store I was looking for in Washington was Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits, 5544 Connecticut Ave.. Unfortunately it was too far from the Metro so I decided to go to Cairo Wine & Liquor, 1618 17th St.. Nice place ! With far more beers than I was able to drink in 5 days ... At a restaurant near Cairo Wine, I had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (pale amber colour, creamy, bitter aroma, fruity - 5/7/7/4/14). Back to the hotel in the evening the tasting can begin: Mendocino Blue Heron Pale Ale (great bitterness, very dry - 4/6/7/4/14), Alus Aldaris Zelta from Latvia, new country (amber colour, fruity aroma, well structured, bitter but a little bit simple flavor - 4/7/6/4/14), Anderson Valley Belk's ESB (great foam, slightly fruity aroma, flavor: great bitterness, nut - 5/6/9/5/16), National Zambezi Premium Export Lager from Zimbabve, new country too (light colour, too much carbonation, few aroma, plastic taste - boark ! - 2/3/2/1/5) and finaly the best of the day: Mendocino Black Hawk Stout (big foam, creamy, coffee aroma, roasted - great ! - 5/8/9/4/17).

09/20/00 Visit to the family of my stepfather. One Bud ... "Hi Phil, one more beer ?" "Would be fine but you have none ...". Dinner at the Capitol City brewing restaurant (thanks for the info, beergirl !): Prohibition Porter (black colour, roasty, hop bitterness, mild maltiness - 5/6/7/4/14), Bull Run Bitter (copper colour, served unfortunately much too cold, honey aroma, very bitter aftertaste - 4/8/6/4/14). Back to the hotel for some more tasting: Saku Porter from Estonia, new country (creamy, roasty with a hint of plastic aroma, coffee and chocolate flavor - 4/3/8/4/14), Anderson Valley Hop Ottin' India Pale Ale (amber colour, dry hoppiness, impressive bitterness - 4/7/8/5/15) and finally Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale (light amber colour, creamy, bitter and dry, orange aroma - 5/7/7/4/14).

09/21/00 Lunch in a mexican restaurant. No thanks, no Corona for me, I prefer to try Foggy Bottom Ale (amber colour, fruity (lemon, orange) aroma, full bodied, slightly bitter flavor - 4/7/7/4/14). Back to Cairo Wine & Liquor getting some more beers. Zlaty Bazant Golden Pheasant Premium Export (strong hop aroma, creamy, full bodied - 4/6/6/4/13), Dixie Crimson Voodoo Red Ale (red-amber colour, bitter hop aroma, creamy but flat, aftertaste very brief - 4/7/4/2/9), Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout (great complex coffee aroma, somehow uniforme flavor, nut aftertaste - 4/9/7/4/17), North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner (honey colour, full bodied, sweet (honey/caramel) flavor - 4/6/7/4/14) and a beer I was looking for since a long time Independente Xingu Black Beer from Brazil, (black colour, big guinness-like head, roasty, coffee aroma, creamy, sweet - 5/9/7/4/15).

09/22/00 Lunch at the shopping center Pentagon City: Leinie's Red Lager I suppose this beer is from Leinekugel (?) (red colour, well balanced, creamy, slightly bitter - 5/5/7/4/13), Amstel Light (no comment... - 3/2/3/2/5) and Beck's Dark (dark brown colour, smokey aroma, full bodied - 4/7/7/4/13). Little visit to the Hard Rock Cafe: Light Gauge Beer (mild hop aroma, average beer ... - 3/5/6/3/10). Back to the Capitol City brewing for dinner: Nut Brown Ale (red-brown colour, nut aroma, roasted nutty finish, too much carbonation - 4/7/7/3/13), Saint Adrian's Alt (red-orange colour, bitter hop aroma, slightly sour - 4/6/5/3/11) and Black Out Stout (not much character - 4/4/6/2/9). That's all for Capitol City. At 5$ a pint, they slowed down my motivation to try all their beers. Back to the hotel for more pleasure: the great Dock Street Extra Best IPA (amber colour, great hop aroma, impressive bitterness, slightly spicy - 4/8/9/5/17), North Coast Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale (orange-red colour, deep fruity aroma, creamy, orange flavor - 4/8/7/4/15), Mendocino Red Tail Ale (amber colour, caramel aroma and flavor, slightly dry aftertaste - 4/8/6/3/13), and the Humboldt Red Nectar Ale (amber colour, caramel aroma, nice complex flavor - 5/7/8/4/15). Well, 10 new beers today: not bad for a tourist ! (eh, my name is not Oakes...)

09/23/00 In the Amtrak Train between D.C. and New York I had the bad idea to retry a Coors light Premium (light colour, few hop aroma, totaly disgusting flavor (plastic and rotten cheese) - not drinkable - 2/3/2/1/3). At the hotel in Manhattan: North Coast Blue Star (clean, sweet - 4/7/7/3/14), Sapporo Imported Black Stout Draft from Japan (black colour, few foam, slightly roasty, caramel flavor - 3/6/8/4/14) and finally the mysterious Sierra Nevada Stout. Why mysterious ? Well, it seems I'm the only one who really loves this stuff (it actually makes rank 4 on a total of 1955 beers !). All the other beer lovers are rating this beer quite poorly: "...as a stout, it fails miserably", "...not quite appropriate to the style.", "'simple' taste" and so on ... On my side I really don't care if a beer labeled "stout" tastes like an IPA or even a lambic. Anyway everyone is free and there is no truth, only human opinions. And here is mine about this beer: dark colour, big head, roasty coffee aroma, fantastic flavor, dry aftertaste - 5/9/9/5/18).

09/24/00 I had a list of beer stores but no concrete advice where to go so I went to the closest store of my hotel: Happy Deli, 750 8th avenue (anticipating the suggestion of Kenk...). Great selection indeed but the prices are very high. Once more there were here too much beers to drink in so few time ! Let's taste: Rogue Dead Guy Ale (red-amber colour, fruity (banana ?) aroma, few character - 4/7/6/3/12), New Amsterdam New York Amber Lager (light amber colour, nice foam, caramel aroma, something unpleasant in the taste - 4/7/3/2/9), Anheuser-Busch Tequiza Extra ((a beer flavoured with Tequila) light orange colour, sweet, tequila aroma, far too much carbonation - not good - 2/6/3/2/7), Anheuser-Busch Tequiza ((a beer flavoured with blue agave, lime and tequila) strong lime aroma, sweet, once again too much carbonation - 2/5/3/2/7), the beautiful Sierra Nevada Porter (dark colour, caramel, roasty aroma, full bodied - 4/8/7/4/16), the absolute disgusting Anheuser-Busch Bud Ice Light (Bud, Ice and Light are three words, which (taken individualy) already mean: "bad" to me. Putting them together ? Well ... horrible yellow colour, ammonia aroma and impressive plastic aftertaste - 2/2/2/2/3) and the wonderful North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout (deep black colour, port wine and caramel aroma, complex flavor, long aftertaste - 4/9/8/5/18).

09/25/00 La Constancia Pilsener Lager from El Salvador, a new country (very light colour, good hop aroma, plastic aftertaste - 2/6/3/2/7), Panorama Wolaver's Brown Ale (deep amber colour, caramel and sour aroma, spicy flavor - original and interesting - 4/8/7/4/15), the beautiful Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (dark brown colour, hazelnut aroma, nut flavor, great aftertaste - 4/9/7/5/17) and finally, a deception, a beer awaited with much impatience since about 3 years when I saw it as number 1 in the book of Bob Klein: Rogue Shakespeare Stout. Understand me: this IS a very good beer. But I was expecting something really exceptionnal and it is not (dark colour, nice foam, roasty coffee aroma, chocolate aftertaste - 5/8/8/4/17).

09/26/00 Shopping some more beers at Pioneer (289 Columbus ave.). The degustation began with a beer I already had (shit!): Celis Pale Bock (red-amber colour, nice head, spicy aroma, creamy, slightly bitter - 5/7/6/4/14). It continues with the sweet Dogfish Head Craft Shelter Pale Ale (honey colour, honey aroma, honey flavor ! - 3/7/6/4/13 Did I eat too much honey before ??). At lunch bad luck again with one more beer I already knew: Michelob Amber (deep amber colour, spicy aroma, bitter orange flavor - 4/7/7/4/14). OK forget this day ...

09/27/00 Celis Raspberry (quite an horrible colour but a nice foam, chemical raspberry aroma, sweet and sour flavor, quite disgusting - 3/3/3/2/6), Baru Panama Lager, from Panama, a new country, a beer I was waiting for since 6 months at my local beer store ! (light golden colour, poor hop aroma, dry and unpleasant - 3/3/3/2/6), Pyramid Apricot Ale (honey colour, strong apricot aroma, disgusting flavor with plastic aftertaste - 3/5/3/1/6), Otter Creek Mud Bock Spring Ale (red-brown colour, roasty coffe aroma, hazelnut flavor, remembers me more to a porter than a bock (bock<>ale ?!) - 4/8/8/4/16) and finally the interesting Carlsberg-Tetley Double Diamond Original Burton Ale (served in a deep-frozen glass ! - amber colour, slightly fruity aroma, nice bitterness - 5/7/8/4/15).

09/28/00 It's Rogue time ! Rogue Artisan Lager (amber colour, strong malt aroma like a bock beer, caramel, sweet - excellent - 4/8/7/4/15), Rogue St. Rogue Red (copper colour, roasty aroma, nut flavor - 5/7/8/4/16) and Rogue Brutal Bitter Ale (red colour, fruity aroma, great bitterness, too much carbonation - 4/8/7/4/15). It's Sierra time ! Sierra Nevada Wheat (cloudy, spicy aroma with a somehow flat flavor, too much carbonation- 3/8/5/3/12) and Sierra Nevada Summerfest (golden colour, nice foam, medium hop aroma, creamy, full bodied - 5/6/7/3/13). It's Pinehurst time ! Pinehurst Village Double Eagle Golden Ale (light honey colour, slightly spicy aroma, light bodied with a quite unpleasant aftertaste - 3/6/5/2/9) and Pinehurst Village Double Eagle Scotch Ale (amber colour, hazelnut, Portwine aroma and flavor - nice - 4/8/8/4/16). A last one before bed time: Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter (deep dark colour, roasted, herbal flavor - 4/7/7/4/14)

09/29/00 Good surprise on the Swissair flight back to Zurich: they have not only Bud but also Fürstenberg Premium Lager (beautiful golden colour, nice foam, well hopped, spicy, sweet - a wonderful lager - 5/7/7/4/14).

09/30/00 - 10/02/00 Back home, tasting the beers I brought back: Rogue Mc Rogue Scotch Ale (brown colour, overwhleming alcohol and malt aroma, sweet, no character - 2/3/4/2/6), Rogue Old Crustacean 1996 (quite an horrible appearence: dirty brown colour, no head; strong alcohol Port wine aroma, EKU 28 taste-like (means: bad), absolut tragic aftertaste - boark ! - 1/4/2/1/2), Rogue Smoke Ale (nice smokey bacon aroma, clean and smokey flavor - 3/8/7/4/15), the fantastic (Ohhh My Head are right !) barleywine Dogfish Head Craft Immort Ale (copper colour, vanilla aroma with a hint of maple, sweet, complex, strong alcohol presence, dry - great and original - 4/8/8/5/17), Pyramid Hefeweizen Ale (cloudy, honey colour, spicy (?) but quite unpleasant - 4/6/4/2/9), Ab Pripps D. Carnegie & Co. Stark Porter 1998 (dark colour, roasty coffee aroma, sweet flavor - 4/7/8/4/15), New Amsterdam India Pale Ale (copper colour, nice foam, honey aroma, sweet and simple flavor - 5/8/6/3/13)

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