Notable Releases - DC/NOVA/MD

SMS and Double Duckpin at Norm's.

 

There were 4+ cases at the Leesburg Wegmans yesterday if you are still looking. 15.99. May have been 14.99. I was many beers deep and being chauffeured around at the time.

 

MAX'S
RAR DANK DAY – DRAFT RELEASE
MONDAY MARCH 21 @4PM

ON DRAFT

RAR Hyde
RAR Reaper
RAR Chopdank

 

Why would a wholesaler refuse a product like that?

 

I've never had an issue with any bottled Maine Beer assuming it has a recent bottling date - which, for what it is worth, are very very clearly marked.

The price maybe bad for some, but if it makes their beers easier for me to acquire I'm okay with it. Everybody gets to vote with their wallets.

 

What's OUT at Calvert Woodley this week...

Randy.

Apparently he quit on Saturday after irreconcilable differences with management. They're very old school and some were clearly uncomfortable with the speed of the drastic change he brought to the store. Hopefully he was able to get his KBS order in before leaving!

 

@hshand17

What?! Fuck!!! There goes the best beer buyer in the City.

 

Yeah, it sucks. I actually spoke with him this morning and he's in good spirits. He'll hopefully land on his feet somewhere soon.

 

That really is disappointing. I'm frequently in Van Ness and saw a huge improvement in CW's beer selection since Randy started. Definitely interested to see where he ends up next.

 

He'll make wherever he goes better. Also curious to see what happens to CW - will they remain the awesome beer destination they've become or sell off their stock and go back to the store they used to be?

 

No matter their intentions, they need someone running the ship that knows something about craft beer (nobody there now) and has the key distributor relationships. I suspect they'll stay a good spot for wide release stuff, but extremely limited stuff was only making it there b/c of who Randy knew.

 

Pre-Order request just went out from a local bottle shop here in Central VA. Here's pricing so you have a number for comparison.
Cascade Apricot-$27.99/750ml
Cascade Blackcap Raspberry- $27.99/750ml
Cascade Cranberry-$27.99/750ml
Cascade Noyaux-$33.99/750ml
Cascade Sang Noir-$33.99/750ml
Cascade Sang Royal-$33.99/750ml

 

<_< Those fru-fru-fruit beers must be really special.

 

Sexual Chocolate at TW Alexandria

 

I've had the apricot, noyaux, sang noir and sang royal and those are good, but not $34/ 750ml good.

 

by the way, the apricot was the sourest beer i have ever had. face-puckering vinegar.

 

At the very least I may have to pull the trigger on the Apricot based on that. I do enjoy a good pucker sour!

 

I think the Apricot is great, although I would not use the word "vinegar" to describe it, and I probably wouldn't buy another one unless I was really hard up for an apricot sour. It is definitely a really nice beer though.

 

This really bums me out. Randy was wildly helpful even to a relative novice like me. I always enjoying picking his brain and he was really a welcome addition to a store that historically I've only thought of as a place to buy wine. I think the broader issue was probably that the owners of CW, in addition to not appreciating the speed at which he was genuinely transforming the beer component of their business, just don't have the appreciation for craft beer that they do for wine or spirits.

While CW was really accessible from my office - I look forward to following Randy to wherever he ends up next.

 

Maybe more like a warhead. i am going off memory. the last one i had was about four years ago. it was definitely way more sour than cuvee des jacobins rouge or duchesse de bourgogne. I've also had some upland sours and it was more sour than those.