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.

Playing Catch Up

,A little review of the beers that I have had in the past little bit.

A while back, I was finally able to break open my bottle of The Bruery Autumn Maple. We were having steak and a sweet potato to eat that night for dinner. I didn't know what the Autumn Maple would taste like, and was surprised that the most prevalent taste to come would be yams (or sweet potato). I would call it luck, except yams aren't my favorite thing to eat. So if you like yams, find a bottle and see what you think.

A few days later, I broke open a bottle of the Brewer's Art Coup de Boule, a Belgian Strong Ale. It was a good beer, but nothing special. Spices abound in this beer, and trying to figure it out could have been an all night job. Nicely done, smooth drinking beer.

One of my fiance's favorite restaurants in our hometown serves Tex-Mex and is called Terrapin Cantina. The started serving Terrapin ales, which was a nice surprise when we went there with her family a few weeks back. I was served a Terrapin Rye Pale Ale. It was an ok pale ale, with that nice rye bite to it. It was by far the best beer they serve (normally I order a Dos Equis).

Also mixed in there was a trip to Elliotts Pour House. A great beer bar that not many know about. They have a tower with about 20 taps on in (although some are repeat taps). While there I sampled the Clipper City Holy Sheet 2010. I was fortune enough to have a pint of 2009 the week before, and I could notice that they made this abbey not as sweet as its predecessor. Other beers that I had at EPH include the Mendencino Imperial IPA (ok, typical Imperial IPA) and the Old Dominion Oak Barrell Stout (very good stout).

Other beers of note from the past couple of weeks include Tuppers Hop Pocket IPA, North Coast Brother Thelonious abbey and Max's had Stoudt's beers for a Pint Night, and I was pleasantly surprised with their hellesbock.

What have you had lately?

PA beer and Wieters- and Happy Birthday Brad

Good day yesterday. Grabbed a Stoudt's pint glass from Max's on Pint Night. Followed it with a Weyerbacher Foxtrot (Biere de Garde). And then, finished the night off watching the O's beat the Mets- with Wieters crushing an opposite field HR.

The Stoudts was their American Pale Ale. It is a very basic APA, exactly what one would expect, nothing special or different from a general mold. I thought it was a golden color (wish it was darker), little head (can blame the bartender) and the nose was a little hops with some malt to cut it up. The taste is balanced with malt and hops, nothing over the top (could use a little more hoppiness to it). I thought it kind of tasted watery when drinking it. Overall, I think this beer could work as a summer BBQ beer. Not afraid to drink it, and very drinkable.

The Weyerbacher was more complex. I found it hard to describe. I will try. The very dark brown colored concoction had a sugar/caramel/molasses smell to it. The molasses came though on the taste followed by a coffee-esque roastiness, but they didn't get beat out by the undertones of the mild hops, which were present but not overpowering (this was from Weyerbacher, you never know). There was some other stuff mixed in there, but either a) I can't remember or b) I wasn't sure what I was tasting. What I do know is that it is a good beer. I wouldn't drink it for and entire night, but I will be grabbing a few more in the future.

Weyerbacher is 2 for 2 on the new beers I have tried from them. I am glad I was able to try a pint.

Eric grabbed a Kona Fire Rock Ale. I had a sip. Not a bad beer. Seemed like a beer to drink for an entire night. Light and airy in the mouth. Very drinkable.

Best part of the night- Matt Wieters. He has steadily gotten better. One step at a time. Thank goodness.

And a Happy Birthday to Brad. Enjoy the Beer and the Game.

Wednesday at Max's

I should have sat outside, but the chair was too comfy inside. They had some great beer on tap (as always), and it took all my strength to not order the Oak Aged UnEarthly, Double Simcoe on cask or the 120 minute. I did "settle" on the Great Divide Belgina. It is their Belgian IPA. Very nice beer. Nothing special, but it was exactly what I thought it was. Sometimes that is nice. I kind of wanted it to surprise me a bit.

My second beer was the Lagunitas Correction Ale 2009 (on cask). Very nice American Ale. I thought it was very simple, not sweet with a good hops/malt balance. I was actually thinking it would be hoppier. Very nice, drinkable beer.

The last beer I tried was the Pint Night beer. Stoudt's Abbey Double. I wasn't quite in the mood for a abbey style, so I left it for last. I thought it was what I wanted. I found out that I was wrong. It just didn't hit the spot for me. Overall, I typically like this brewery's offerings. I think maybe the first two beers threw my tastes off. I will try this in the future to give it a fair chance.

Cheers. Have a good weekend.