Notable Releases - DC/NOVA/MD

BA old raspy and helldorado at WF on P.

 

The 3 Stars/Other Half collab is really good

 

Anyone see Bell's Blacknote yet in Frederick, Washington or Carroll counties in MD?

I talked to a distributor stocking shelves last week, and said the store I was in Frederick, should get a limited supply soon, but none was there on Wed. this week when I stopped by. Just wondering if any sightings yet.

Hopefully the stores in Frederick will do a 1 bottle limit with Black Note. When Founders hit stores, distributor gave lots of KBS to several stores, and some A-hole drove around and bought out every store on the first day of release. I can't believe every store mgmt. was that naïve and stupid, but I guess they were, or the customer had very deep pockets. I almost wonder if it was an insider to the distributor, hoping to hoard and trade/sell them.

 

And the a-holes will inherit the beer.

 

Awesome Bullfrog is making inroads this far from home. If 'Fuzzy Green' makes it down that way, make sure to give it a try, really like it. Also - be on the lookout for any of the recent LeRoar - in 22oz bottles - it is their highest rated offerings.

 

Dominion had a LeRoar when I went yesterday. I was intrigued based on reviews (it was a 750 of Grrz) but at 39.99, I had to pass.

 

Someone mentioned it, but though I'd reiterate. 3 Stars released bottles of their first barrel aged sour yesterday, a collaboration with Other Half called Ricky Rose. Imo, it's the best beer they've ever made by far. Dunno if they still have bottles today, but I'd highly recommend picking some up if so.

 

Ya know... I grew up in Williamsport and still go there every time I'm home to visit my parents. BUT... their beer isn't very good IMO. The small release sour bottles have been great (like insanely great), but Edgar is no good and I've had it very oxidized at the brewery before. Their draft sours are very hit or miss. Other standard offerings are just sub par. Good for them, but I'm not a fan.

 

They still have some bottles left, just got back. Yes, it is really good and clearly their best beer yet, but it is insanely priced at $15 for a 375ml. They also raised the price on all their (shaker) pints to 7 or 8, up from $5, which was previously the only place to get a reasonably priced draft from them. As a side note, Ultra fresh is still pretty crappy.

 

I mean this in good fun, but it's overpriced for their only good beer, they 50% increased pints, and their new DIPA also suxxx.... Yet you just got back from there? That's a little bit funny.

 

Yeah, I see the irony, but I'm there all the time to get homebrew stuff either way. Had no idea of the price of the bottles or the price rises before getting there. Don't think I'll be getting an occasional pint when I'm there anymore, and just a bit salty because we actually went up just for Ricky Rose this time and weren't about to pass on bottles after taking an Uber up there (plus a buddy asked me to grab some for him). So yeah, in short, Ultrafresh = suxxxx.

 

There's a new bottle/homebrew shop in Courthouse on Wilson Blvd not too far from Georgetown (assuming you live in the city). I haven't seen any mention of it anywhere, I stumbled on it a few weeks ago when I walked something to a post office and decided to continue my walk. Seemed like about 1/3 of the store was devoted to refrigerated packets of pellets, and had all kinds of stuff for the homebrewers. I haven't been to 3stars either but this was the most extensive homebrew shop I've ever seen.

http://www.arlbrew.com/products/

 

Anyone else go down to Richmond yesterday...wow. The Answer is the real deal! Had really only tried a couple of their hoppy brews that they had brought to DC which were great, but drinking their Andall beers yesterday was a treat. Veil is pretty darn great too. Technically not DM(northern)V but anyone who has the chance should head down there.

 

I must say the overall rating of that beer (Hopsphyxcitration) was skewed well below the average because the only "review" of the beer was the outlier, and reviews get higher weighting in the overall score. If you look at the straight ratings, they were in the upper 3s in most cases. I gave it a 3.8+, myself.

The more detailed information was available to indicate this was a better beer than the overall ranking indicates. If you look now, every rating has a high rDev except that one outlier. Also a sort of poster child for taking a little time to review your beers .

Of course, you can totally ignore me thanks to your last line - one of the things I love about Dominion .

 

Somehow passed them up the last couple of times in Richmond, too busy pounding Crucial Taunt I guess. Heading there next weekend though so gonna try to swing by this time. Are crowlers filled on demand?

 

The Veil is excellent as well. The Answer though, particularly what they're brewing under "The Andall", is on par with Funky Buddha in my opinion. When I was there for the CCB event on Friday they were only doing crowlers of their three hoppy beers-Larceny, Hard in the Paint, & Wheat in the Knees. I'm not sure if that's the norm or an adjustment given the traffic they were expecting for the event.

 

The Answer will fill crowlers on demand on a typical day. However they do not do crowlers/growlers of the Andall beers, it's usually just the hoppy beers.

 

If you're looking for hoppy beer in Richmond, The Veil and Triple Crossing are your top options IMO. Triple Crossing fills crowlers and growlers on demand.

 

This. The Veil and The Answer both deserve all the praise they get, but Triple Crossing gets overlooked (at least here) and is making beer on the same level. Every hoppy offering I've had from them (Clever Girl, Falcon Smash, Blood Gulch, Easy Now) has been outstanding.

 

1) fuck JWB and his scammy operation
2) the other half/RAR collab is GREAT