Drinksgiving 10: Day 2 - The largest isogrammic number in the English language plus other hits!

We got off to a good start on Black Friday at our first stop, Wasserhund Brewing. It was here where I reached my benchmark 5000th unique beer check-in on Untappd. I knew it was going to happen on this trip, so I wasn't too concerned about saving a special beer for such a monumental occasion. I'd started using Untappd in November of 2012, so it took me 5 years almost to the day to hit 5000 beers. I'm no mathematician, but that's like 1000 different beers a year. Thankfully, many were shared pours or sample size servings. With that said... hooray me. Now let's move on.

Wasserhund's logo. Gotta love dogs!

Wasserhund is situated in a shopping center in VA Beach. It didn't look like much on the outside. However, the interior kind of reminded me of Pizza Port OB, so I was hopeful for good beer. We perused the menu and made our selections. I noticed a few off-the-wall offerings that sounded interesting, and I'm always up for the challenge. Brewslut and I each ordered our own sampler flight of three beers. Here's my run-down:

• Haywire Husky - Wasserhund's signature coffee lager
• Hop Hund - DIPA brewed with Germany's new guard of hop varietals: Hull melon, Saphir, and Mandarina Bavaria
• Black Shepherd - porter brewed with Merlot grapes. This sucker's aura was purple!

Wasserhund brews German-style beers "with a kick," and I'd agree with that statement. The beers were experimental enough to appease more jaded craft beer fans and approachable enough for the "common man." With that said, I found all of the beers to be well-done. I've had coffee blonde ales before, but never a coffee lager. This was a bit more crisp and the coffee nose was quite pleasant. But the Black Shepherd took the gold (and turned out to be one of the most memorable beers of the day). Since it was my favorite of the three, I chose it for my 5000th Untappd check-in. We were indeed off to a good start on our first full day. I'd also like to point out that Kelly, while she wasn't partaking in any drinking, has quite a developed palate and was excited to sniff each beer we sampled on the entire trip. She was also able to offer some great insight and notes on aromas for the various beers without even tasting them. Now them's some impressive olfactory observations, right Pleeps?

Pleeps... drinkin' some fuckin' Merlot!

Our next stop, Home Republic, was right downtown in the midst of the tourist section of town. Inside, it reminded me of countless other chain brewpubs I've encountered in our travels. While it isn't part of a chain, it did have that feel - large and expansive inside with high ceilings, visible brewing equipment and an outside patio area. Once I perused the beer menu, my hopes had elevated a bit. There was plenty available, too. We decided to split two sampler flights, which afforded us the opportunity to try eight beers.

Our female server was young and "didn't really drink beer." This is a somewhat troubling statement I'm always surprised to hear uttered by a bartender at a brewery. I will go on record and reveal that one of my favorite aspects of visiting breweries is speaking intelligently about beer with the folks who brew it, serve it, and drink it. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. Sadder still was when she served us our flights in plastic 4oz. flutes. I can't recall EVER getting a sampler flight served in plastic. Granted, these weren't plastic cups (think mini solo cups), but they didn't elevate the beer at all. It came across as cheap. Pleeps, what do you think?

Yup. Thought so, buddy. With that said, it didn't surprise me either. Perhaps they suffer from theft or excessive breakage of sampler glasses. Who knows? But it did strike me as more of a "tourist" brewery in that it lacks a regular crowd in lieu of one-time business from vacationers passing through looking for local beer. Perhaps I'm wrong, but that's what my gut was telling me. It doesn't fib too often, either.

But I digress. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. Believe me, there were plenty of other places we visited that fell below our expectations. Here's everything we sampled out of our little plastic vessels:

• Salted Caramel Ale - brown ale with sweet caramel notes and a hint of sea salt
• Galaxy Pale Ale - single hop Pale Ale brewed with Galaxy
• Juice Sea Fruit IPA - IPA with fresh citrus juices
• Azacca Rotator IPA - single hop session IPA brewed with Azacca
• Cup of Joe - brown ale brewed with local cold brew from Lynnhaven Coffee Roasters
• Dark Side Imperial Stout - brewed with cacao nibs.
• PB & Oats - oatmeal peanut butter stout
• Slightly Sour Ale - not sure what this mess was, to be honest.

I enjoyed the Salted Caramel Ale quite a bit. Kudos to the brewer for his or her ability to capture that flavor in liquid form. I thought it tasted pretty authentic. Also, Juice Sea Fruit was a pretty good citrus-forward IPA, apparently blended with various juices. The other hoppy offerings were kind of non-descript, and the dark beers were a bit too thin for my liking. Even the Imperial Stout wasn't as thick and chewy as I'd hoped.

Look at that face!

Commonwealth Brewing, on the other hand, was stellar. It turned out to be another one of those places where I wanted to try EVERYTHING! But even with a DD and an experienced liver, there were simply too many beers (around 20) on tap to try them all. Plus we still had two more breweries to hit today. So, we chose wisely. While the majority of these were sample size pours, I did get a few half pours toward the end of our visit. I couldn't help it. I just loved this place so much. Here's the run-down of everything we tried:

• Trouvaille - Saison aged in white wine barrels for more than a year, then dry hopped with Hallertau Blanc. Nice effervescent farmhouse ale with notes of Chardonnay and barnyard. 
• Halcyon - Blond sour ale with passionfruit and apricots
• Sophrosyne - Saison aged for 6 months in a foeder fermented with an airborne wild yeast strain.
• BA Dysphotic - Rich, bready dark Saison aged on wood. Spicy and tingly with a bone dry finish.
• Big Papi - super juicy DIPA and big brother to Papi Chulo IPA. I snagged a 4-pack of these cans!
• Marvoloso - bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout on nitro.
• Marshmallow Eyes - hazy, super soft wheat IPA made with wildflower honey and a boatload of marshmallows. Yes, marshmallows! 
• Wapatoolie - IPA with hints of pineapple, mango and tropical flavors courtesy of a carefully selected house Brettanomyces yeast strain. 

Pleeps amid greatness at Commonwealth Brewing.

Even for VA Beach, it was unseasonably warm outside for November. We decided to sit outside at one of the wooden picnic tables in the beer garden since the sun was shining brightly and provided some additional warmth. It was still a little chilly, but no matter, because the beer kept us warm and tingly on the inside. The three saisons were fantastic; some delicate, some complex, and some quite intense... or even all of the above! Brewslut and I both enjoyed the Halcyon (the fruit sour) quite a bit as well. I had noticed a handful of IPAs on the menu as well, so I asked the server for his recommendation. Without hesitation, we was quick to blurt out: Big Papi. This sucker was so good that I had to take some home with me to share with my Team D(r)INK peeps. Its awesomeness prompted me to order half pours of two other interesting sounding IPAs: Marshmallow Eyes and Wapatoolie. Both were indeed tasty but ultimately fell short of Big Papi. With that said, these IPAs were better than most we encountered during the trip.

Inside Commonwealth Brewing.

As I'd mentioned before, I typically reserve funds for a single brewery shirt purchase during a trip since I have so many (remember... beer and band shirts, folks). I made the decision (albeit a tipsy one) this early in the trip to plunk down the cash for a Commonwealth shirt. I dug the logo, which reminded me a bit of Hill Farmstead, and it was dark gray and black (my team colors) so it was a no-brainer. Here's a pic of Commonwealth's logo in "metal sign" form above the tasting room bar:

A wealth of not-too-common beers.

After a wonderful visit to Commonwealth, I felt pretty confident that I'd already found our best brewery of the trip. Bold words, I know. I mean, we still had three days to go! But it was one of those rare finds for us, one that we're lucky to find each time we take a "beer-cation." I mean, where can you go from here?

Enter Pleasure House. Let me tell you, this place was definitely not on any list of my favorite breweries. Disappointing, because I love the name Pleasure House. It sounds kind of dirty in a sexual way, like the kind of place you'd go to get a "happy ending" after a massage. With that said, I'd like to offer my exemplary beer-naming services to Pleasure House "quia gratis" and suggest the name "Sucky Sucky Five Darrah" as a Gose. Because, you know, taste kind of salty. 

Welcome to the house of... pleasure?

Pleasure House actually did have some pretty cool beer names. I'm thinking of one in particular: Squirrel Shot, which was a Belgian Quad. Not sure about its meaning; I just like squirrels. We have one that lives in a tree in our yard. I named him Dig Dug. Unfortunately, none of the beers here were memorable.

Shore Drive Dortmunder Lager - German-style "export" lager
Worthy Sir - citrusy "West Coast" style DIPA
3025 Shore Drive - straight up American Pale Ale
Tricks - pumpkin ale brewed with French saison yeast, cinnamon, ginger, and random pie spices

I seem to recall thinking the Dortmunder wasn't so bad, but perhaps it's only because I seldom see them on tap. I appreciate the style quite a bit. Even one of my early favorite Scratch Beers at Tröegs was #6, a Dortmunder lager. Like Rauchbiers, I'll typically order one when I see one on tap. Tricks was drinkable, but the others were forgettable in the grand scheme of things. Brewslut wasn't as kind, but since I write the blogs that make the whole world sing, we'll leave it at that. So, what now? Off to another brewery, of course!

Our situation improved at Deadline Brewing Project, our final brewery of the day. Not only was the beer tastier, our company was superior. The bartender (a younger guy) was quite friendly and talkative, and the slightly older couple occupying the barstools next to us were really into beer and pretty knowledgeable about the local scene. The guy in particular pulled no punches and was quick to praise (or smote) a number of breweries in the area.

Deadline sample flight (thanks Google!)

Deadline's tap list was small compared to a few of the places we'd visited so far, we decided to share a sampler flight of all four of the following beers:

• Orange Vanilla Milk Blonde - light blonde ale brewed with lactose. Think orange creamsicle!
• IPA - no frills, straight up IPA
• Milk Stout - your average, everyday sweet stout
• Maple Cranberry Stout - stout with the pleasant combination of sweet maple syrup and tart cranberries

No clever or witty names, but the beers were pretty solid here. Nothing boner-inducing; just good solid beers with a touch of experimental aptitude. The IPA was probably the weakest one. With that said, it seems like sweet beers are in Deadline's wheelhouse. From the looks of it, they are a pretty new operation, but they had a decent crowd for a Friday evening and seem to be on the right path.

Since we were enjoying the company of our bartender and new beer friends, we decided it was an opportune moment to crack open a bottle of Tröegs' recently released Mad Elf Grand Cru, a "director's cut" of the original brewed with tart Balaton cherries from Michigan. It was a rousing success and everyone enjoyed it (including the recent addition of the couple's young daughter, who'd joined us when we moved to a larger table). It was one of those times when conversation trumped photography, so sorry to say we didn't snap any pictures at Deadline. 

Afterwards, we briefly met up with Kelly's friend, Dave, and his party at the piano bar attached to Il Giardino Ristorante Italian Restaurant, which is basically right on the beach. They were just finishing up some drinks, but Dave was nice enough to offer to buy us a round. I quickly perused the tiny beer menu and we both decided on El Guapo IPA from the local O'Connor Brewing. They were on our list for another day, but it was cool to get a sneak peek at one if its flagship beers. Although Kelly's friends left after a few minutes, we decided to stick around and enjoy the evening's live entertainment. Entertainment comes in all shapes and sizes, and I'm pleased to say that we hung out just long enough to have this guy etched into our brains for all eternity.

Occupying the stool at the piano (actually I believe it was an electric piano or keyboard) was a middle-aged bloke with glasses (though definitely older than me... I mean, I'm middle aged!) providing some interesting background music for the two dozen or so patrons in the bar area of the restaurant. Being a musician, I tend to pay much more attention to live music than the average person. After a few classics and holiday numbers, my head spun completely around as I heard the opening strains of "Only Wanna Be With You" from - yes, folks - Hootie and the Blowfish. Except this wasn't the rich baritone vocal range of Darius Rucker crooning us; it was Randy Newman gnawing on some salt water taffy. He even had backing tracks that sounded like 80s synth horns and an old drum machine. In addition to the aforementioned Hootie, he also did a rollicking version of Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat." But Hootie definitely took the cake... albeit a sad, slightly disturbing, half-eaten cake that your 4-year-old grubby little rugrat stuck his fingers in after playing in the dirt for a few hours. I'm definitely glad I snagged some video footage of this. Perhaps it might even make it up on YouTube some day. You never know. I just might get drunk enough to upload it some night.

Stay tuned for Part 3 as we make the rounds in Norfolk. Until next time...