Day 278, Oct 5 / Mad Scientist #6

Day 278 / October 5, 2011

Mad Scientist #6

Sixpoint Craft Ales / Brooklyn, NY

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Short bartenders need not apply.

To celebrate that day some forty-odd years ago when a certain odd forty-something beer drinker was born, I went out to dinner last night with the family, as is customary in some Western cultures.  My birthday, my pick of restaurants.  A new restaurant from the owner of a few other well-liked establishments opened recently, and was positively reviewed in last weekend's Washington Post Magazine (link).  Virtue Food & Grain in Old Town Alexandria, VA, opened a couple months ago in the building occupied for years by Olsen's Books and Records, and which actually housed a feed store many, many years ago.

The decor of the building is very cool, with exposed beams and brick.  There's a bar, dining area and patio on the first level.  A wide wood, iron and cable staircase leads to the second level, which has its own bar, lounge area and dining area.  In the far back is another room with a pool table, old school video games, and windows that slide open to give a wide view of the Potomac.  The upstairs also has 3 porch-swing style seats in front of open windows (with railings), and a sculpture of the midsection of a male angel (torso and wings) hanging from the ceiling.  Now that was a little creepy.

The downstairs bar has 20 beers on tap, at two tap stations.  But this arrangement is unlike any I've ever seen.  Suspended from the ceiling is a large upside-down T-shaped pipe, with 5 tap handles connected to either side of the T.  Bartenders need to reach up to pull down the tap handle and draw your beer.  Anybody under 5' 2" would have a problem reaching the taps - maybe they have a stool down there!

Actually, the reason they have it set up like this is that they've got the same tap selection at the upstairs bar, so they only had to run one set of tap lines, and then split them to feed both the upstairs and downstairs bars.  It also gives more room for people to dine at the bar.

Virtue has a great selection of draft, bottled and can beers, including many American craft brews.  The bartender poured me a taster of The Bruery's Autumn Maple beer, which is brewed with yams, molasses, maple and spices you'd expect in Thanksgiving dishes.  Interesting, but not for me.

I went with the new beer in town.  Brooklyn, New York's Sixpoint Brewery just started distributing in Virginia, and I was fortunate to find one for my birthday beer.  And to top it off, Virtue had Sixpoint's Mad Scientist series #6 on tap.  The Mad Scientist series is a very limited release (both quantities and time) beer, that will be released on draft only to select bars and restaurants.  The Mad Scientist # 6 is a wet hopped strong ale, which poured a cloudy, orangey color. The taste of hops was very present, as was as unidentifiable fruity taste.  Overall, it was very good, very fresh.

I’ll be on the lookout for other Sixpoint beers in my local stores!