Celebrating American Craft Beer Week!

American Craft Beer Week

14-20 May 2012

More info HERE

What are you doing to celebrate #ACBW? 


As you know, I am strongly pro-beer. I am an all-things-in-moderation guy, and I am all about variety, choice, and discovery. So for me, savoring small samples of many different brewed offerings with a few friends is not only fun, but also enlightening and liberating. 

So I couldn't be happier about the state of American Craft Beer today the the prospects for the future. More brewers, more beers, more styles and choices, more venues, more creativity, more competition, more customers.

And of course, the burgeoning brewing scene in our Nation's Capitol is making DC a beer-lover's Mecca.

I have enjoyed 24 American Craft Beers in four local venues this week. This included a tour of Mad Fox Brewery on Meet the Brewer Night Thursday and a beer tasting event at Rick's Wine & Gourmet Saturday. 

Get out and support your local brewers.

American Craft Beer = Good for the Soul!

Recap of American Craft Beers (in order of tasting)

1. Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold, worth its GABF Gold 
2. Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale   
3. Great Lakes Eliot Ness Amber 
4. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, a perennial favorite 
5. New Belgium Shift Pale Lager new from New Belgium, and their first lager. Wonderful!
6. Flying Dog Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout, scary-nice! 
7. Mad Fox Broad Street IPA 
8. Mad Fox Big Chimney's Porter  (Cask) 
9. Mad Fox Tinner Hill IPA 
10. Devil's Backbone Eight Point IPA 
11. Yards India Pale Ale (Cask)
12. Mad Fox American Pale Ale aka Defender APA from the zwickel
13. Mad Fox Diabolik Belgian Strong Ale aka Devil's Due  from the zwickel   
14. Mad Fox St. James Irish Dry Stout  from the zwickel and from the tap 
15. Mad Fox Mason's Dark Bitter, brand new 3.5% Mild, flavorful and ultimately sessionable.
16. Widmer W 12 Brewmasters' Release 
17. Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA 
18. Victory Summer Love 
19. Devil's Backbone Belgian Congo Pale Ale 
20. Sixpoint Apollo 
21. Samuel Adams Norse Legend Sahti 
22. DuClaw Soul Jacker 
23. Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA 
24. Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter 

Recap of American Craft Beer Styles 

1. Amber Ale 
2. American Pale Ale 
3. Baltic Porter 
4. Belgian IPA 
5. Belgian Strong Ale 
6. Dark Saison 
7. Dortmunder Gold 
8. English Mild 
9. Farmhouse IPA 
10. Imperial Coffee Stout 
11. India Pale Ale (5)
12. Irish Dry Stout 
13. Krystalweizen 
14. Lager 
15. Light Ale 
16. Pale Ale 
17. Porter (2)  
18. Russian Imperial Stout Barleywine 
19. Sahti 

Recap of American Craft Brewers (in alpha order)

1. Boston Beer Co, MA
2. Devil's Backbone, VA (2) 
3. Duck-Rabbit, NC 
4. DuClaw, MD 
5. Flying Dog Brewery, DE (2)
6. Great Lakes Brewing Co., OH (4)
7. Mad Fox Brewery, VA (7) 
8. New Belgium, CO 
9. Sierra Nevada, CA 
10. Sixpoint Craft Ales, NY 
11. Victory, PA 
12. Widmer Brothers Brewing, OR 
13. Yards, PA 

Recap of US States in which these American Craft Beers were brewed (in alpha order)

1. CA 
2. CO 
3. DE 
4. MA 
5. MD (2)
6. NC 
7. NY 
8. OH (4)
9. OR 
10. PA (2)
11. VA (9)

Recap of Venues (in order of patronage)

1. Casa del Foam
2. Virtue Feed and Grain
3. Mad Fox Brewpub
4. Rick's Wine & Gourmet