Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The DuClaw Brewing Co (Brewpub)


Beer Log: December 22, 2007
Status: I'm hungry.
Brewpub review:
Damn damn damn James! These cats know what the hell they are doing. Great that they take chances, have plenty of seasonals. If I lived in Hanover, I'd be up in here all the time. They damn near have a different brew for each month.


DuClaw Brewing Co, Brewpub in Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, Maryland



These chumps know what the hell they are doing. My bratty 2 year old nephew (by marriage) was given oodles of crayons and play menus to keep quiet, while the wife and I could enjoy some excellent beer. I found that DuClaw likes to take some chances. Then again, how hard is it to make money in craft beer in Maryland. Try this "venom" stuff off Texas dudes will be crying like Marian Jones in a federal prison. (I did it dammit!) I went to this place as it is close to my Mother-in-Law's house, which is where we stayed for the Winter break.

We got the flight and went for it, 9 beers in all (about 6 beers above my minimum.) They only had 5 on the menu, but they had 4 seasonals for us to try. I'll give you these reviews in the order in which I tried them. Keep in mind that this is my FIRST time actually writing down reviews, so these reviews are pitifully short. My next pub review was much more descriptive.

Funk (American Wheat Beer):
We want the funk, give us the funk! Tear the roof off the sucka. I found this puppy to be lightly hopped, with wheat and barley in there. Some spice as well. Told you these first reviews were short. Damn good beer though.

Bare Ass Blonde Ale:
They call this one the Naked Truth. We got ourselves a medium body, with a sudden fruity sweetness. Great stuff. Nothing that's going to knock you over with hops, just like a Blonde ale should be.

31 (Halloween):
I don't even think this stuff is on the website. Released on All Hallow's Eve, this beer is a great version of an Oktoberfest or Fall seasonal with a great cinnamon and honey flavor. Scary that they had some left considering it's been out since October 31st.

Food: the mozzarella sticks have shown up. I think they called them moons. But whatever, get my nephew (by marriage) some more crayons before the boy starts crying, again!

Mad Bishop (Oktoberfest):
I gets high on your love, don't know how to behave. I want some more brown sugar. With a medium body and medium bitter. Oh yes! It was beers like this and the 31 that have made Oktoberfests and Fall Seasonals my current favorite style. With the weather in Houston, the coldest it ever gets is "Fall" to most others.

Misfit Red (Amber Ale):
deep amber color with some malt and hops.
Food: ah the Thai pasta is here. Seafood with some serious hot thai spice. Probably the reason why I now like taste bud assault by pairing spicy food with...

...Nightmare Venom (Pale Ale):
Venom is this stuff they put in the beer that make the beer very hoppy. Some call it hops, other call it hops. Cute name, but this stuff is IPAish hoppy, ubersmooth, bitter, with a long lasting lacy head. It had to be a good hour that it had been sitting there and that head remains. Venom is a great marketing name. As a FAMU Rattler (class of '02), I can really appreciate it.

Venom Pale Ale (American Pale Ale):
we got ourselves another PA, with a hops aftertaste and some sweet cinnamon in there. Looks like I shouldn't have tried this one and Nightmare back to back, hard to get a gauge on it. We'll get it right on the next visit. Though knowing my luck, there will be another 6 beers on seasonal that I'll be too scared to miss, and by the time I make it to the Pale Ales, my palate will be shot like Jamie Lynn Spears' career on Nickelodeon.

Bad Moon Porter:
very dark brown with a roasted malt thang going on. I'm tasting serious coffee flavoring with a smooth full dark body like my lovely wife.

Blackjack (Imperial Stout):
Black with brown head. lightly hopped with something like white sugar in the flavor. I taste it again and the words cherry liquor come to mind, very thick.

And we're done. The boy is such a brat, he would go nuts if we tried to take off his little gloves. So he ate his fish sticks and fries (with ketchup) with his cotton gloves on the whole time. FYI, Uncle Beer Brotha don't play that mess, and by the end of the trip, he was much better behaved.

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