Beering on Dupont Circle: Brickskeller!!!

AT LAST!!!!

The beer bar that has eluded my many trips to the Marlyand area for years, and I finally make it down there with the wife and a couple of friends. SOMEBODY PLAY MY F*CKING MUSIC!!!

The Brickskeller has been said to be the best beer bar in America. We got over 1000 beers in the place. I don't really know what to expect as we dragass on foot from the metrorail station at Dupont circle. I'm loving the atmosphere of Dupont cirlce. Beautiful brownstones, great restaurant scene, lots of metro people walking the streets on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I can't help but wonder how many Senators and Reps are living in this area. Lot's of money, probably over $1 million per unit. And damned if there's not a Krispy Kreme's right there. Timeout

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Beer Log: June 28, 2010

State: eating spaghetti, catching up on DVR's of MMA fights I've missed

Svyturys Maksimum

Picked this up at Specs some time ago. High alcohol at 7.5%. I drank this one one time before but cannot remember it being all that good, kind of like a Lithuanian Malt Liquor, if that makes any sense. Sugar sweet nose on top of a clear straw colored beer with a HUGE white long lasting head (no homo). The nose has some caramel malt in there as well. Beer has a sickenly sweet taste to it. Like I'm drinking sugar water before the kool-aid was put in it. Makes me grimace a little bit. A little too sweet for my taste, especially considering the thin body and lack of hops. 2 Stars.

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Ok I'm back. Actually I poured that beer out, so that's officially a 1 Star beer. So I kept myself from doing any research about Brickskeller beyond the address and the taplist. I had no idea what this place really looked like. And lo and behold it's a damn DUNGEON. We dragass downstairs in a thin stairway through a creaking door, to a poorly lit street level bar. No taps at all. The decor is dark brown stonewalls with rectangular shadow boxes with beer bottles and beer cans. The waitress sits me in the very back of the cutout area, no natural light, in the very back. Very few people in there at the time. I'm thinking that if I eat the food here I could never leave.

The wife and I ask for Bells Two Hearted but they were out, so I just figured I would shoot for something I've never seen before. Not much in the way of local area beer I've never had before, so we roll with it:

Beer Log: June 19, 2010
State: Chillin' at the Skeller, eating french fries

Utica Club Pilsener by Saranac
Yeah I've been going dutch lately with my food choices with my beer, just straight up french fries. Anyway I order this one b/c I'm a still pretty hot after the walk outside. Clear and straw, with a bready and somehow watery smell. The beer is not bad at all. Clean finish, balanced. Good hops and bread. A pinch of funk. 3 Stars.

Next up:
Bell's Pale Ale
If I can't get the double IPA, I'll take the Pale Ale. Nose is metallic, funky hops, and cardboard. With Bell's reputation and the dust on the bottle, I take it this beer has sat in the fridge for quite some time, or maybe warmed up. Clear straw color. The taste is a warmish hoppiness with an English PA smoothness. Lemony and grapefruit hops. No rating as I think it's just over-aged.

As we beered it up, the crowd filled up the place on that Saturday afternoon. Turns out the rest of the place has some good light, we were just off in the cut. Probably a good place to bring one of your girlfriends, unless Cheaters finds you, then you have nowhere to run. Otherwise I noticed a couple of folks enjoying dinner and nursing a bottle of Shiner Bock each. I don't think I ever tried to appreciate a beer for an hour like that unless it was a Barleywine. They even got an ice bucket that's typically used for champagne. Great food selection, may try the Buffalo Burger next time. Maybe even stay at the Inn they've got upstairs. And of course, LOVE THE BEER.