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Once again we bring you the week in organized beer fun. Read on for our picks but for details on any event click on it in our D.C. Beer Events Calendar above.
Cocktail-focused Wisdom in Capitol Hill is having their first of hopefully many “Beer Club” events this week. On Tuesday at 7:30pm, beer expert John Brown will guide a tasting of seven beers from Europe: Žatec Bright Lager from the Czech Republic, Samuel Smith Winter Welcome and Taddy Porter from England, Ayinger Ur Weisse from Germany, Lindemans Faro and Rochefort 8 from Belgium, and Traquair House Jacobite from Scotland. Admission is $25 and includes light fare (shared cheese and bread plates) and glassware from the breweries. You can buy tickets online.
For the nerdiest of beer nerds and beer geek hopefuls, we suggest “The Pursuit of Hoppiness” Tasting at the Brickskeller this Saturday at 1:00pm. Hosted by the Smithsonian Resident Associates lecture program, this three-and-a-half-hour tasting seminar will be led by hop expert Ralph Olson. Olson grew up in the U.S. hop hotbed of Yakima Valley, Washington, and has worked in the hop business for over 30 years. According to the Smithsonian site, the tasting will feature “an array of beers that showcase the flavor characteristics of different hop strains: piney, sprucy, lemony, grapefruity, peppery, and musky.” The event is coordinated by Jim Dorsch, editor and publisher, American Brewer, and Greg Kitsock, editor, Mid-Atlantic Brewing News and beer columnist for the Washington Post. Resident Associate members can get tickets for $65 but non-members will pay $82. Yes, it appears the price for knowledge is high.
Additional events this week include a special tapping of Founders Backwards Bastard at ChurchKey on Monday and a four-course paired dinner at Commonwealth featuring beers from Great Lakes Brewing Company on Tuesday. In regular weekly to-do’s, Room 11‘s Monday night guest tap is North Coast Le Merle this week. For your trivia fix, Biergarten Haus closes a six-week tournament on Tuesday with a blow-out bash including prizes for just about everyone, and Meridian Pint hosts Trivia Masters to run their team games on Wednesday.
Send submissions for the D.C. Beer Events calendar to thelagerheads@gmail.com.