Virginia/D.C. Trip: Quick Finds on the East Coast

Holed up in a recently built Holiday Inn on the edge of Prince William State Forest, and near the Quantico Marine Corps facility, I set out to find some local beers to sample. I didn’t have to look far. In the small bar and restaurant in the lobby of the hotel they had something on draft called Old Dominion Lager. My meager notes describe it as “a Virginia brew” with a light golden color and medium lacing. A pretty plain offering but typical of this sort of beer, I think and the advantage here is in the freshness. The stuff is brewed just up the road so the assumption is that when you sample Old Dominion at the Dumfries Holiday Inn, you’re getting the best product they have since it hasn’t been shipped all around the country before arriving at your table.

Here’s the Old Dominion website. Pity to see that they’ve suspended operations at their brewpub.

The suspension of brewpub operations is likely due in part to the company’s recent acquisition by a consortium that includes Anheuser-Busch. The Beer Activist spells it all out for us rather nicely. He makes the point that now that they are tied to A-B, the folks who make Old Dominion will be more focused on sales and marketing and may neglect their role as “good business citizens within the local community.” The closure of the brewpub proves the point, I think.

In between tours, side trips, lunches and meetings, I managed to take the rental car out into the neighborhood and pick up some local beers, specifically a six-pack of Yuengling Traditional Lager and a mixed six pack of beers from Saranac Brewing. Let’s go over those quickly, shall we?

The Yuengling Traditional Lager pours a nice golden bronze color and looks pretty good in a plastic Holiday Inn cup, I have to admit. The beer exhibits a mildly roasted smell and was actually a darker color that I’d expected. Taste was slightly malty and sweet and fairly light. I’ve been told that Yuengling products do not have much of a shelf life and there’s a fine line between a good bottle of Yuengling and one that’s past it’s prime. All the more reason to enjoy Yuengling products during a visit to the eastern U.S.

Here’s a link to the Yuengling website.

Here’s a link the official Yuengling Brewery Blog!

About midway through my stay I became nervous that I might miss out on trying anything else while in Virginia, but I managed to find a traditional grocery store not far from the hotel (Eureka!) where I discovered a plethora of local beers. So much so, that it took me a moment to figure out my game plan. I opted for a mixed six-pack of beers from Saranac Brewing and sampled four of them in the hotel room.

Saranac Pale Ale had a sweet grassy smell and gave a nice pour. Mildly hoppy smelling in the glass, it has a slightly sour, mildly grainy taste.

Saranac IPA was only slightly hoppier than the pale ale. It had the same bronze gold color as the pale ale, with a robust head of light tan. This one was surprisingly sweet and not overly hoppy with a dry finish. The label claims this is “very hoppy in both aroma and flavor.” I don’t go in for hopped up beers but this one’s just right in my book.

Saranac Brown Ale smells surprisingly hoppy and pours a nice brown color with a sturdy head and heavy lacing. There’s a mild alcohol bite in the finish but the overall taste is light.

Saranac Adirondack Lager was evidently once called Adirondack Amber – I’m too lazy to chase down the reason for the name change but I’ll wager there were lawyers involved. This one smells like cheese in the bottle and in the glass – mozzarella or Parmesan, I think. It pours a light bronze color with a thin head. It tastes like cheese, too, though not necessarily in a bad way, I guess. Of the four Saranac beers I tried, this one was my least favorite. All in all, I think Saranac brews some worthy beers. Here’s a link to the Saranac website.

I squirreled away two bottles of Saranac and a bottle of Yuengling in my checked luggage for the flight home. Given the buzz about the shelf life of Yuengling, I suppose I’d better dig that one out of the fridge and drink it today, huh?

On my way out of the Virginia/Washington, D.C. area (yes it rained during my drive back to Dulles, too) I lingered at Moe’s Bar and Grill in Concourse D. Moe’s is a decent enough place; the service was good and the food not too expensive. I had a quesadilla and a glass of something called “Moe’s Ale” all the while thinking of my experience earlier this year with a six-pack of Moe’s. Remember? Moe's Backroom Blunder? Remember how Moe redeemed himself?

I don’t know if Moe’s Ale (on tap at Moe’s Bar and Grill in Dulles) is made by the self same Moe who makes Backroom Lager, etc. Here’s what my notes say for Moe’s Ale: Malty smell. Red/amber color with a nice light tan head and heavy lacing. Watery taste but slightly thick mouth feel. Tastes like cereal, corn or cornflakes at the finish. This wasn’t a bad beer frankly; I just wish I knew more about its origins.

For a second round, I had the waitress draw a glass of Yuengling’s Lager and found it to be slightly hoppy and sweet but really reminiscent of Moe’s Ale. At this point the first beer and the quesadilla may have beaten down my taste buds, but I’d have to say the bottled Yuengling I tried earlier in the week was better than the draft Yuengling I had at Moe’s.

Here’s a review page for Moe’s Bar and Grill at "Yelp."

That’s it for the D.C./Virginia trip. Since returning from the east coast, I've been to Utah, but now I’m settled back in at the ranch and sampling whatever comes my way. The beer diary isn’t keeping up with the tasting notes, I can tell you that! I'll post a couple of my Utah discoveries in the next few days.