Best New Beer In DC

No, it is not from New Belgium, Its from Troegs Brewing Company. These two brothers have been turning our quality, very drinkable beers for over a decade now and they've just knocked another one out of the park with the Dead Reckoning Porter. While I find many porters too malty and sweet this one is perfectly balanced. Dead Reckoning starts off toasty, has good mouth feel, and the hops provide the perfect finish that leaves a pleasant aftertaste. Do yourself a favor and go grab one of these before the end of the run for this season.

As a side, I think Troegs, Stoudts, and Victory are waaaaayyyy underrepresented in DC. I have several of beers from all three, all located within 100 miles of each other and yet, apart from the varieties everyone knows about (Stoudts pils & APA, Victory Hop Devil) there are several great brews that don't exist or are incredibly hard to find here.

Pedestrian Problem

Is it just me or are the pedestrians in DC just awful? I see it all the time, when I'm cycling, in a car, even walking; pedestrians will constantly start walking as the light in their favor turns to yellow and red. The WORST part is, it seems that they wait until it turns to go. Is this a DC phenomenon? Are there too many people used to the burbs in this starter city that they think the 1.5 seconds when the traffic lights in both directions are red is the only time to cross?

Another issue I seem to find is that people will look right at me and step off the curb to cross the street or hail a cab into my lane of travel, even when the traffic light is in my favor.

I think that this behavior is more likely to be found in small/starter cities like DC. In any place that is less of an overgrown burb these people would get themselves killed trying to Frogger across the streets. Not only that but the lack of common courtesy/respect is frustrating.

Life Cycles Movie

Life Cycles OFFICIAL Trailer from Life Cycles on Vimeo.

Belgium, Hungary, and Poland

Belgium
Brussels and Brugge are beautiful. Unfortunately I was there for such a sort time I wad not able to experience much. Being there did give me a new appreciation for Belgian beer, which some say is the best in the world. I don't know if it is the best, but it is damn good, better than any Belgian style I've had in the U.S. The beer this is very complex in the nose, and in taste but not in an over the top, in your face kind of way that many American beers are.

Hungary
Budapest is an awesome city. It has a great feel and energy to it, Pest is extremely flat which would make it great for biking and Buda provides awesome views of the city (also beautiful in it's own right).

The food in Budapest is hit or miss. I had some absolutely amazing meals, while others were just a disappointment. The great meals included duck, goose liver pate, goose, wild boar soup (good the first time, not a good the second), venison soup and miso salmon (home cooked and delicious). The issue seems to be consistency. It was pointed out by a recent transplant I know that there some meals can be great and the same meal, at the same restaurant the very next day can be very different and not as good (the wild boar soup mentioned above falls into this category.

The most disappointing meal was in a "diner" type place where the waitress was asked for a recommendation and what came to the table was a pile of chicken and frites in a paprika sauce. Awful, plain awful.

Budapest is also known for it's thermal mineral baths. We went on a cold, snowy night and it was phenomenal. Even in the outside pool, with air temps around -6 degrees Celsius, the water was very warm. With the air temp so low and the warm water pouring out of the fountains it created large clouds of steam that were constantly rolling over us as the snow slowly fell. As the snow would fall onto my arms and shoulders it felt like small needle pricks because of the difference in temperature from the water.

(to be continued)

When I grow up I want to..........

I've finally figured out what I want to do when I grow up:

1. Road biking, would minimize the impact of #2 & 4 and is a great way to see the world
2. Eat, the more interesting, traditional, regional the food, the better
3. Travel, can accomplish this with #1 and would help me accomplish #2
4. Beer, both brewing and drinking, it also goes well with #2 & 3, wine is good too
5. Mountain biking, extremely fun and a great way to experience nature

Trip to Belgium

I'm going to beer heaven, though being a hop head it might just be beer bliss but I'm still excited. I'm really looking forward to it and if anyone has any must tries while there let me know. The challenge, fitting as much in as possible in 3 days. The plan at this time is to get a beer in the airport before grabbing the luggage. I'm not drinking Stella, and would like to know if the airport bars have decent beer.

Some Guy English IPA

Brewed a batch of English style IPA back in October and it's finally ready to drink.

The beer was in primary fermentation for the first 3 weeks. The liquid yeast was the most active I've ever had, there was actually a nice head coming out of the airlock. After that it was in the secondary for 2 weeks, and I got around to the pain in the ass task of bottling 2 weeks ago.

I was not looking forward to the beer, not because I thought it was going to be bad, but because it had a heavy dose of Kent Goldings hops. Recently I've thought that beer with the KGs have had an odd aftertaste, this one does not. It is a deep amber in color, almost like maple syrup, mostly a clear brew and has a nice balance between the hop and malt characteristics. Maybe it's because the other beers I've drank/brewed that had the KGs have been lighter ales but I thought the KGs were the problem After tasting this it will require more research.

At this time I'm happy with the brew and will be happy to give a couple bottles to the people who have asked for some. Of course as I hand the bottle over I will have to warn them to "point it away from your face when opening". I had a bad experience that was a small but important life lesson, a story for later.