Dogfish Head - 2000 "Olde School" barleywine

Due to the pandemic, my shop is no longer doing draft beer to go except for occasional pre-fills from kegs we already have. In clearing out our stock, we came across some pretty vintage beers which impressed even I: a sixtel (15.5gal) of Goose Island's 2014 Bourbon County stout; and two kegs of Dogfish Head's "Olde School" barleywines...one from 2009 and the other from the year 2000. Yes, Y2K. Twenty-one years ago. 

These are the last of the kegs, and after these are gone, we're taking out the draft system. So only one thing to do - fire up our Gruber growler filler, load in some fresh jugs, and release the beer made when Bill Clinton was president.

I'm not going to review all three, but will spotlight the 2000-vintage: Pours lazily from the growler, with absolutely no head or carbonation, even when agitated. 

Look at that deep, subtle, beautiful color. The tasteful hue.

"Oh my God, it even has a watermark."

I'm really surprised. This is probably the best we could have hoped for - a malt bomb, thick as a cookie, all while still retaining some of the original flavors. It's definitely past its prime, make no mistake, but the win here is that it's not skunked or sour or stale. The alcohol sweetness that come with most barleywines are still present, yet muted, and the "core" barleywine flavors have rounded out to a smooth, soft, boozy brew. The texture is a bit off since there's no carbonation, but it's still recognizable as a barleywine. Very neat.  

The rule typically is don't age beers, even the ones you're supposed to, beyond 5 years. We're just really lucky this one wasn't gunky, sour trash. 

Monte Xanic Bodega Vinícola - 2019 white blend and 2018 "Calixa" Chardonnay

Today's wines are a first for me - hecho en México! A few weeks ago, I was meeting with a sales representative for a wine merchant and in his brand book were a half-dozen Mexican wineries. You don't hear much about winemaking in Mexico, as tequila, mezcal, and light beer dominate public perception of Mexican alcohol exports. However, the first vineyards in North America were planted in Mexico by the Spanish in the 1500s. According to WineFolly.com, there are over 170 wineries in our southern neighbor, with the majority located in the Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California, where Monte Xanic Bodega Vinícola is located. While it's not California alta in terms of production, a confluence of environmental factors make the inland climate of Valle de Guadalupe similar to the Mediterranean, which obviously is great for growing grapes. 

So this 12.00% ABV white blend is comprised of 98% Chenin Blanc and 2% French Colombard. I've had Chenin Blanc extensively (we had a great South African expression in the bin deals at D'Vines for years) but never Colombard. According to my research, Colombard is a genetic descendant of Chenin Blanc and another grape, Gouais blanc. Colombard hails from the Charente department of southwest France, also home of the city of Cognac and the famous eponymous beverage. I really enjoyed the South African Chenin we had, but since terroir varies even from town to town, this Mexican variant is all new to me. Let's dive in. 

There's not much aroma in the glass, but as it warms up, it projects a bit of...lime? Hold the Corona jokes, please.

I think this will be one of my new favorite still white wines. It combines the crispness of Chenin Blanc (makes sense as that's 98% of this blend) with a very pleasing salinity - ocean spray, with attendant notes of pears, minerals, and earth. But here's where it gets fun and funky - on the finish, it has a surge of that mallow flavor you get with a buttery California chardonnay. The butter finish is totally unexpected, and really fun. 

Overall, a lovely bottle of wine, and one that I will be ordering in my professional capacity as a buyer for the store. It's reasonably priced, as well - $13.99 - and is a nice "in-between" that would pair nicely with chicken dishes, alfredo, and the like. 

Monte Xanic also does a Chardonnay, which I noticed in the brand book. Hey, you know what? Let's do the Chardonnay too. I special-ordered a bottle in the next shipment, and here we go:

Ok, there's a little barnyard element to the nose - a little sour. Reminds me a bit of something made with Brettanomyces. Way different than the blend.

Well, the flavor of the wine isn't barnyard at all.  It's much fuller in body than the other wine, and brings a pleasing tang, buttery texture, and flavor notes of peaches and nectarines. It lacks the flinty, mineral nature of the white blend, but makes up for it by adding a substantial body. Fans of California oaked Chardonnays would like this for a slightly lighter option, and at $15.99, it's a good buy.

Red Bear Brewing - "Krampus Shuffle" quadrupel & "Scream Inside Your Heart" barrel-aged saison

A few days ago, I was in NoMa running some errands for a friend and found myself within one block of Red Bear Brewing, located in the U-Line Arena. Back when I worked at my old job, one of our buildings was a block away and we used to hang out after hours at Red Bear. Last May, I also did an in-depth interview with founders Simon Bee and Bryan van den Oever (along with a lot of beer!) Well, it has certainly been a minute since I went to a brewpub, and I had some time, so I figured I'd stop in and support our DC brewing community and see what they had on tap. 

The first thing that caught my eye on the tap list is "Krampus Shuffle", a 10.20% ABV Belgian-style quadrupel. Quads are not super common these days, it seems, and it's always interesting to see how brewers put their mark on an established style. I ordered a 10oz snifter (in a socially-distant way, using their no-contact method of ordering through an app.) 

I had my first experience with this style many years ago and have reviewed numerous quads on this blog, but none local. Most of the ones I've tried seem to be heavy, which is the archetype for this kind of beer. Red Bear's variant is much lighter, actually. It's super fresh, naturally, as I'm sipping it sitting only twenty feet from where it's made. I'm surprised by the light body and silkiness of the beer; in my experience a lot of this beers are big and boozy and therefore quite thick. True to style, there's pronounced malt and biscuit notes with a healthy dose of raisin, cloves, and caramel sweetness. The finish is a bit grainy with a dash of spice. Overall quite nice, and good to see this style being made locally. Another good one, along this same flavor profile and body, is "Silver Century" from Silver Spring, MD's Silver Branch Brewing Co.  

Rather than keep drinking on-site, I noticed they had a crowler machine as well as some special-release stuff for sale. I'm a big fan of "off season" beers, and so when I saw "Scream Inside Your Heart", a 6.60% ABV barrel-aged saison, I snapped it up and took it home. 

This saison is aged bourbon barrels from Republic Restoratives, a local DC distillery which makes fantastic stuff (their "Borough Bourbon", aged in Armagnac casks, is excellent.) I cracked open the 750mL of "Scream" and poured into a Belgian glass. It generates some funky, woody aromas, and I let it warm up for about five minutes. 

I really like this - it's super funky, thanks to a major dose of Brettanomyces yeast which gives that "barnyard" flavor. As the beer develops, there's also a crispness, when paired with the solid tang from the oak-aging, gives quite a punchy flavor. What's most interesting to me is the body of the beer - it's pretty serious and makes it one of the heavier saisons I've ever had. There's not much bourbon sweetness or spice, though, so good for folks who like bourbon-barrel beers but don't like the flavors that usually come from that. Overall, the beer is similar to Boulevard Brewing Co.'s "Saison Brett" (which has seemingly gone away), so this is a great replacement for that. In terms of food pairings, I matched this with homemade, oven-baked macaroni and cheese with mushrooms, gouda cheese, sundried tomatoes, and panko. The crispness and gentle spice of the beer formed a nice counter to the thick, cheesy dish.