last night hit up churchkey for bell's black note, bourbon cherry stout, and batch 9000. all beers were delicious. black note... that beer rules. it was a zoo.
also went to smoke and barrel last night. nothing blew me away. it was a zoo.
wanna know how big a zoo those two places were? i was at both, at the same time as stevewizzle, looking for him, and couldn't find him.
due to an unexpected turn of events at work last thursday, i was at Churchkey by 5:30. had an Allagash Confluence, a belgian/brett dry-hopped golden ale - recommended. thanks to my early arrival, at about 6:05 i had in hand a bourbon barrel-aged Batch 9000, and a Black Note. i wasn't paying attention when the server told me which was which (both are pitch black) so i had to take a sip of each to ID them. and that sip of 9000 blew out my taste buds. that was by far the most intense beer i have ever tried. bar none. after a single sip, i could barely taste the Black Note which is no slouch in intensity. i got the amazing mouthfeel of the BN but very little of its flavors. i left CK entirely satisfied, and a little bit tipsy.
i dropped by a member of the DC Homebrewers Club who was moving to CA. for an absolute pittance i walked out of there with a sizable haul of brewing gear, grains and hops. as if my palette wasn't blown out enough, i spent an hour there drinking his delightful flanders red. i let with a growler of 80% kolsch/20% flanders, a delightful mix that even my non-beer-loving BiL has been chugging all weekend.
i walked from Petworth to Adams Morgan stopping at Pete's Pizza in Columbia Heights. their slices were quite nice and they have $8 delirium.
i probably didn't need to stop into the Smoke and Barrel, but i did anyways. people looked at me funny as i walked in carrying buckets, carboys, and other assorted gear from the brewer's fire sale. i had the yakuza but didn't enjoy it nearly as much as i probably should have. the sorachi ace hops couldn't cut through. i had a bourbon black that fared better, but half-way through i had to throw in the towel and make my way home... i feared the consequence of finishing that glass.
stevewizzle, i looked for you at the CK and S&B and didn't see you anywhere. admittedly i spent most of my time at the S&B downstairs but i walked around upstairs twice. i'm not surprised that i didn't see you at CK, the were at least 5 bodies between me and the bar. i assume you were somewhere in there.
in a turn of events that i could have been predicted, i bumped into thedirector on the metro. it was one of those nights.