January - February Beer Roundup

There's been much 'brarian-ing in this space, but not much beer-ing. In large part, this is because much of the latter is taking place over at DCBeer.com. Here's what I've been up to.

The most exciting news is that DC is getting yet another brewery. Hellbender Brewing Company has a location, and, like other DC breweries, they're taking advantage of DC's surfeit of industrial-zoned space on the east side of the city, not too far from where I live. In fact, this may be the closest brewery to my house, no small feat given the locations of the other three. You can read more about Hellbender here, and stay tuned for more updates on this brewery.


View Washington, DC Breweries in a larger map

The second bit of news is that we all got together to make a Kolsch-style ale. It's lagering as I type this.

Temperature control! Pic via DCBeer.

In addition, it's Girl Scout cookie season. They're delicious, beer is delicious, so why not pair them? Here's a sample:

Trefoils: Deus. Bubbles cut the buttery fat of the cookies basically treating this like sparkling wine and brie. Saisons tend to have higher carbonation than most kinds of beer, and would also work here Sierra Nevada's Ovilia saison and Ommegang Hennepin. Another option is to go with a more mild, flavor-wise, beer, like kolsch (Reissdorf, Gaffel, Schlafly or a pilsner on the lower end of the bitterness units scale for that style, like Eggenberg.

It's also hoppy beer season. Hopslam has come and gone, but the next round of Stone's "Enjoy By" IPA will hit shelves soon (April, 1st, 2013 edition) in Maryland, and Troeg's Nugget Nectar is plentiful. I wrote about these beers here.

Next month the Craft Brewers Conference comes to DC, which I'll be covering for DCBeer. Watch this space as well. Cheers.