On the verge of 44: Part 2

Back at the cabin on Saturday night, we broke open the remainder of the bottles I brought along to share. Up first was an unlabeled 750mL bottle that was given to me by Mike Hiller, head brewer at Strangeways in Richmond, VA. Mike was the owner and brewer of the now defunct Bavarian Barbarian Brewing Co. in Williamsport. I should say it was "left" for me because unfortunately we weren't able to connect when we swung by for a visit on the way home from our Drinksgiving trip to VA Beach back in November of last year. I'd forgotten what was inside the bottle, so I figured why not crack it open and see what it might be? After a few sips, we unanimously determined the mystery beer was in fact a Belgian-style Tripel based on its flavor profile. Upon perusing Untappd for Tripels brewed by Strangeways, we deduced that it was likely a beer called The Burton Threshold. I enjoy me a well-made Tripel, and this one did not disappoint.

Up next was another beer from Allagash called Émile. Aged in red wine foeders with Lactobacillus and Pediococcus (types of bacteria introduced to coax "funky" flavors), this delicate beer boasted a vinous, grape skin-like flavor with mild tartness and traces of oak and vanilla. Keeping things going with "big beers," Bourbon Barrel-Aged Painless from Ocelot was on cue. Another gift from a brewer during my previous birthday trip with D&C and fellow Team D(r)INKers James and Lisa (aka the Yoobergs), this pitch black Russian Imperial Stout aged in Heaven Hills bourbon barrels for eight months was definitely no slouch. Ripples of vanilla and toasted coconut mingled with dark roasted malt, coffee and chocolate notes with a hint of earthy leather and tobacco. It's everything you could want in a barrel-aged RIS!

After the enjoyable BA Painless, we were starting to feel no pain. Deuane swung by Tröegs and picked up some bottles of the recently released Splinter Series beer, Blackberry Tizzy, which I'd been anticipating since first tasting it right from the cellar before it was finished. Similar to Freaky Peach but with blackberries instead of peaches (plus brown sugar and vanilla beans), this complex, fruity, earthy, boozy treat is reminiscent of blackberry bourbon sauce drizzled over French vanilla ice cream.

We ended the evening with an ancient bottle of Victory Old Horizontal from 2005. This uber-aged version was much more enjoyable than the 2015 vintage we'd shared the previous evening. I would have thought it would be the other way around! With only slight oxidation, thirteen years in the cellar was kind to this one. It still mustered up plenty of pleasant boozy caramel-candy goodness with a tinge of dark candied stone fruit and toffee. And with that, folks, I was laid out. They don't call it Old Horizontal for nuthin'! Stick a fork in me. It's time for bed!

The next morning after breakfast (turkey bacon, eggs, English muffins and fried potatoes courtesy of Deuane), we decided to drive separately into Frederick, MD, to hit a few breweries before heading back home. On the agenda were a pair of familiar places and one new-to-us brewery. First up was Rockwell, one of the familiar ones. We'd first visited back in June of last year on the way home from the Iron Maiden concert in Virginia. While I seemed to remember Rockwell more by its beer names (many featuring puns or references to rock music songs) than the actual beers themselves, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the brews this time around.

Rockwell's figurative "beer jukebox."

First on the agenda was Wicked Gangnam, a hazy NE-style IPA described as Rockwell's "Olympic Brew" due to its use of a variety of international hops, in this case Southern Cross, Galaxy, and Mandarina Bavaria. Truth be told, I had no idea what "wicked gangnam" meant, and I soon discovered why. Gangnam Style is the name of pop song by South Korean musical artist Psy. The phrase can also refer to his massively viral music video and the famous, much-imitated dance performed in it. So there's your answer: modern pop music. You know what I say to that? FUCK THAT NOISE! Obscure (to me, anyway) reference aside, this beer went down way to smoothly. I could have had a second, but I was eyeing up another IPA on the menu (actually a DIPA) called Crucial Velocity. This big, unfiltered, unrefined beer is dry-hopped with Enigma, Mosaic and Cascade for a juicy blast of tropical and citrus fruit. It's also named after a Clutch song (another one I had to look up). (My buddy Sayten would have gotten the reference. R.I.P. buddy.)

Alas, our visit to Rockwell got me thinking music, which ultimately led to vinyl (my other addiction). I finished up my second beer beer ahead of the rest of the group and decided to go off on a little tangent. My trusty Vinyl District app informed me I was in the vicinity of a cool-sounding record store called Rock & Roll Graveyard. I always have to check out at least one local record shop when we travel to get my fix. Plus it offers a slight break in my daily drinking schedule, which is more than welcome... especially when I'm driving! So, I made a little detour and picked up some gems including an original pressing of the debut Nazz record (Todd Rundgren's original "garage" band, for lack of a better term) and a Devo album I didn't have, among a few others.

After a bit of digging, I reconvened with the group over at nearby Attaboy, the other familiar brewery on the agenda for the day. Since I spent a bit more time at the record store than I had anticipated, this was a one-and-done stop for me. I also had to refuel, and luckily there was a great food truck - Boxcar Burgers - offering a few vegetarian burger options. Brewslut and I ordered both of the veggie burgers plus a box of fries and shared, and both were bangin', especially the black bean burger!

Outside Attaboy Beer (courtesy of Google images).

After perusing the beer menu, I settled on Galaxy Maid, Attaboy's flagship hazy NE-style IPA. By now I'll bet you're thinking, "Man, for someone who bitches about the inordinate amount of hazy IPAs, he sure as fuck orders enough of them!" Well, in this instance, I've had the luxury of having already tried this beer during our first visit... and it was a damn fine beer! Soft and only moderately bitter, this beer features a nice smack of grapefruit. It's no wonder why this beer is its flagship.

Meanwhile, it was hard to drag Deuane away from his sporting event, so the rest of us shipped off to our next stop while he caught up on the second half of the game. I would have liked another beer, but we still had to drive home to PA, which was about an hour-and-forty-five minute drive from Frederick.

Outside Frederick's Monocacy Brewing Company.

I decided to make up for lost time at Attaboy by going with a sampler flight at our final stop of the trip, Monocacy Brewing Company. Several of the beers were part of its "Blank Slate" series, or experimental beer series a la Scratch. It was great to see lots of unusual offerings as well as about five flagships. 

Here's the run-down:

• Blank Slate #60: OATomatic Pale Ale - brewed with flaked oats and hopped with Meridian (U.S.) and Summer (Australia) for a smooth, fruity flavor.
• Blank Slate #59: Violent Delights - Triple IPA brewed with oats and spelt and hopped with Huell Melon, Mosaic, Calypso and Denali. Brewslut was quick to recognize the name of the beer as a reference to Romeo and Juliet. 
• Mic'd Up Mango - mango puree-infused hoppy IPA. This looked identical to a glass of orange juice. It had a nice bitter, pithy almost peppery finish amidst tons of mango juiciness. 
• Brewtus - This imperial coffee stout was probably my favorite of the bunch. Carolyn concurred. 
• Blank Slate #57: Ashen Cold - smoked lager brewed with applewood smoked malt and a variety of specialty malts. I was ready to sing some campfire chants after this one!
• Radiance - shared this juicy, citrus-forward DIPA with Brewslut. This, I was informed, was Monocacy's most popular beer, so I had to try it. 

Pleeps posing at Monocacy.

All in all, we enjoyed each of the three breweries quite a bit. Rockwell seemed to have upped its ante since our last visit, Attaboy was solid as ever, and we were pretty impressed overall with Monocacy and its variety of solid beers across the board. The staff there were pretty entertaining as well... right Deuane? Frederick is only a stone's throw away from Central PA, and offers a convenient beer day trip for those interested in checking out some cool new places without having to drive too far or spend the night.

Pleeps gettin' tipsy with the tips.

So there you have it! Another birthday weekend soaked in beer. Next year, we'll see if I can get spun like a record as I turn 45 and start the downhill tumble toward the half century mark. Until next time...