Seasonal beer gets me every damn time. So when I received an e-mail from Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza yesterday afternoon informing me of their new beer lineup, I quickly rearranged my dinner plans. What better to go with a tall glass oflimited-edition suds than a wood fired pizza from Ella’s?

Their new beer lineup includes Brooklyn Oktoberfest, Uinta Wyld Organic Extra Pale Ale, Troegs Troegenator, and Bell’s Two Hearted Ale on tap, with another half-dozen or so in bottle, such as Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale and Cape Ann Brewing Fisherman’s Pumpkin Stout.

Sitting at a table outside with a perfect late September wind in the air, a view of the International Spy Museum, and anOktoberfest in hand, I was a happy camper, to say the least. I started off with an order of subpar mozzarella carrozza, which was sort of a crude take on the fried Italian rice balls (or as we say back in Jersey, arancine) that I used to get as a kid at the annual Feast of San Gennaro. But the real reason I’ll keep coming back to Ella’s is the fantastic pizza. I had a pie with buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil, and an addition of prosciutto on top. The crust was perfectly crisp with a hint of smoke, and the dashes of olive oil and sea salt gave it tremendous flavor. Although I could have used a bit more sauce, it wasn’t a make-or-break kind of deal.

Although it was Ella’s new beer announcement that prompted this visit, it still doesn’t compare with Pizzeria Paradisio‘sBirreria selection. And while I was enjoying myself with a sidewalk table, the indoor atmosphere is no where near as inviting as Comet Ping Pong‘s. But for all its shortcomings, Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza at 901 F Street NW makes up for it with its consistently damn good pizza.

Photo by Adam Sonnett via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license