Nice Little Weekend

I feel the hardest thing about moving is getting to know the area.  When we jumped from place to place in Baltimore, we stayed in the same neighborhood, but each time our closest restaurants changed.  Since we lived in Canton, the first year we walked into the square to get something to eat or drink.  This wasn't our type of crowd (mostly BMC drinking right out of college crowd- we prefer smaller, quieter places).  We enjoyed a lot of the food at the places, but started to look for different restaurants off the square. At our second and third places, we were able to find great places closer to our doorstep.  It was nice to be able to walk 3-5 minutes and be at the restaurant, eat great food, and have great conversation.  

For the past one plus year, we keep trying to find the local places around our house. It is different now, because in the city, we would take the dog for a walk and see the new places to try.  Now, we rely on the internet or ads in the newspaper for tips on new food joints. Luckily, we found one right down the road.

This past weekend, my parents came down to visit over night and to take us out for our first anniversary. We made reservations down at McCleary's Public House in Marietta.  This is a place that on Friday and Saturday night is usually pretty packed.  It had been closed for a couple of weeks (like most other places in Marietta), due to the flooding.  They also had a band (Big Red) that was going to start playing later in the evening.  This is a place that I occasionally come to grab wings with a couple of friends, so I know their beer selection is pretty good (starndard Guinness/Smithwicks/Harp tap and 4-5 rotating craft taps, and a very nice bottle selection). My mom ordered a raspberry cosmo and my dad got whatever he always drinks.  I ordered a Founders Red's Rye.  The beer was very good, a strong bitterness starts off the beer but gives way to the malt and rye.  Very easy drinker.

Our meals came out and they were about as good as you could have, except that they thought my father ordered the black and blue burger instead of black and blue steak- which they quickly took care of (they definitely felt worse about it than we did). I ordered the "surf and turf" which was filet mignon and a crabcake.  The filet was grilled perfectly medium, and melted in my mouth. After living in Baltimore for 4 years, I am usually disappointed after ordering a crabcake, but for the first time, I was not.  The crabcake would have fit in perfectly at any restaurant in Canton, Fells Point, Harbor East, Federal Hill or anywhere else.  It was delicious.

Once the band started playing a nice bluesy, jazzy, funk 70-90's rock (mostly original music from what I think I heard), I ordered the Flying Fish Organic Amber ale and then the Stoudt's Oktoberfest. The Flying Fish was a nice basic amber. It didn't wow me nor did I want to return the glass, a simple beer to enjoy.  The Stoudt's was a good Oktoberfest, nice malty backbone with a bit of bitterness that broke everything apart.

We left after listening to the band for an hour to get back home.  Overall, it was a nice night.  If you get around Marietta, McCleary's is a great place to check out. It is a place with good food, friendly waitstaff and a nice beer selection.

The Imperial Red

A couple of months ago, my brother (who is a much better homebrew than I ever will be), told me he was in the process of formulating his next beer, an Imperial Red.  I had not noticed imperial reds before.  Never even thought of it. But now, it seems like I keep running into them.

From my friends at Side Street Brewing (a couple homebrewers with craft beer intentions) to Rogue XS Imperial Red to Lagunitas Lucky 13 and more, it just seems to me like the imperial red ales are being noticed more often.

On the heels of this comes Flying Fish Exit 9:

Created by Head Brewer Casey Hughes, Exit 9 Hoppy Scarlet Ale is a richly flavored red beer crafted with a variety of domestic and imported malts and a classic American yeast strain.  It is assertively hopped with Amarillo, Centennial, Chinook and Citra hops for a bouquet with complex notes of citrus and tropical fruits and an appropriate bitterness in the finish.  Hughes recommends it with spicy foods, such as gumbo or curry, as well as alongside rich blue or sharp cheddar cheeses, or just by itself.

The Exit series has been a very good line (in my eyes).  I haven't found much fault in may of the beers.  The Exit 1 Oyster Stout was great (even though I don't like oysters), the Exit 4 triple was fantastic, and the others that I tried, Exit 6 Wallonian Rye and Exit 11  Hoppy American Wheat, were very good. It is good to see these beers on the shelf or on tap, as I know that I can always give them a go.

In My Glass- Flying Fish Exit 4

From Flying Fish's website:

For the first release, we chose Exit 4--right up the street from the Flying Fish brewery. Because we were one of the first craft brewers to embrace Belgian-style beers, we've chosen as our representative beer, a Belgian trippel finished with plenty of American hops.

This inspired Belgian-style Trippel has a hazy golden hue and the aroma of citrus with hints of banana and clove. Predominant Belgian malt flavors give way to a subdued bitterness in the finish. Bottle conditioned, this beer will develop as it ages.

This was one of the beers from the mixed 6 pack that I picked up at Honey Go Wine and Spirits. It says that it is an American Trippel. Very nice to look at. It didn't pour with much of a head, but I am probably the worst person at pouring. The head didn't wait around for me to examine it, as it dissipated quickly. You can smell the sweetness pouring out of the beer. I am thinking added honey. You can also pick up on the hops and some spice, maybe from the yeast.


The taste is more complex than the nose. Lots of bubble gumish flavors, followed by the Belgian yeast. A bit of hops push through, where I assume that the "American" part of the style comes in. A little more carbonation than I like in a beer, but it still is a very nice beer to drink.

Overall, I think this is a really nice beer. Nothing special, but it would be something that I would pick up in the future.