Maryland - September 2012

We usually take a trip to the Wisconsin Dells with our church in late September but Tony had some meetings to attend in Gaithersburg, MD which conflicted.  So, I decided to take the time off anyway and go with him.

We stopped at Mad Fox Brewing Company in Falls Church, VA

We tried samples of Molotov Hoptail (Double IPA) Defender APA, Dingo IPA and Renegade Imperial Red IPA.  All of them were delicious.

We split an eggplant and roasted garlic pizza.

Another special destination on our list was Dogfish Head.  Although Tony has been quite a few times on previous trips to Gaithersburg, this was my first trip.

Tony started with an Alehouse 75 (a mix of the 90 minute and 60 minute IPA) on the right and I had the 60 minute IPA.

I had scoped out the food menu before arriving and decided that being in Maryland, I needed to try some fresh crab items.  So, we started with the warm three cheese and crab dip.  It was fantastic.

We moved onto the next beer selection.  I had the Shelter Pale Ale and Tony had the Burton Baton. 

Next we ate some Jerk Rum Wings.  I'm not a huge dry rub fan, nor am I a huge wing fan, but they were crispy and tasty.

Reading the description of Theobroma, I had to try it.  Their website says, "Theobroma is a celebration of chocolate, the food of the gods. This Ancient Ale comes from a recipe dating from 1200 B.C., based on chemical analysis of pottery fragments found in Honduras that revealed the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink used by early civilizations to toast special occasions. It is brewed with Aztec cocoa power and cocoa nibs, honey, chilies, and annatto (fragrant tree seed)."

I expected it to be a darker beer but was pleasantly surprised to see it be a caramel color. It was delicious.

Next, we ate the crab cakes.  Honestly, if I'd known crab tasted so good I would have been eating more of it.  Of course, maybe it is only this good on the coast.

We were fortunate enough to be there on a night when Bitches Brew was on tap.  This beer is part of their music series honoring Miles Davis and is described as "a bold, dark beer that's a fusion of three threads of imperial stout and one thread of honey beer with gesho root."  It was a great way to end the evening at Dogfish Head.

We always meet great people when we're traveling or visiting microbrews and this visit was no different.

We met a Darren, his wife Lisa and Lisa's Mom, Karen.  Hopefully Lisa has decided to let Darren start home brewing!  If so, post a comment and let me know how it is going!

We also spent time getting to know Chris.  Originally from Boston, Chris has his own I.T. consulting company.  Chris was such a friendly young man.  We spent time talking about our families, brewing, work and lots of other things.

My first trip to Dogfish Head was memorable, and full of great beers, delicious food and great new friends.