By popular request....

well, semi-popular, anyway.........

Alvinne Podge Imperial Stout 10.5%: bright, porter-color,complex woody nose............. packs the flavor of what I would more likely call a strong red ale than a stout, very malty but almost no roast to speak of, fruity, semi-sweet........... once again, one wonders if draft lines were misidentified..... or maybe I'm just too British-American in my expectations.

Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux 9.5% Farmhouse/saison..... hazy yellow/pils color, nice head.... VERY nice, crisp, grainy, light spice/pepper, medium dry, begs for a touch more malt sweetness to balance the white pepper flavor notes, lingering finish of herbs, hop bitterness, and pepper once again.

de Glazen Toren Saison d'Epre-Mere 7.5%, served by mistake instead of ordered Saison Gewurz (trying like heck to put an umlaut over the U, but the character map doesn't seem to work with Blogger): similar appearance, less head, nose I can only describe as buttered citrus (did someone order lobster?), much fuller body and flavor, seemingly that counter-balancing sweetness I sought from that previous entry....... similarly dry and peppery, but washed off the tongue by that sweeter finish.

Ed comes up to me and asks, "Escargot?" Of course, the only response I can come up with is "T car broken down, U car waiting for a driver......" I'm handed off the last three of a now-cold order of escargot and frites. Speaking of which, what else is on today's food menu? Let's see..... Mussels (natch), frites with Aioli Mayo, Cheese Plate (seven cheeses, some Chimay), Apps (the aforementioned escargots); ham/chicken/veggie sandwiches, Endive salad, Vol au vent (chicken stew), regular and buffalo burger with Chimay cheese.........

So far, I've seen staff from Clipper City, Franklin's, Growlers of Gaithersburg, and Mahaffey's walking through the door, as well as two other MABN writers. More to come, no doubt.

Okay, let's keep the saison thing going: Ommegang Saison de Gewurz, the only "new" Ommegang here for my sampling..... cloudy yellow/amber, nice head, definite Belgian-styled nose, VERY spicy/full of flavor, almost sandpapery on the tongue...... a little rough, but a nice change-up.........