By John Rosnow
Sunday, March 2, 2008
My friend Melissa and I decided to head out to see some of the local sites. We started out to Maxi’s Bar, but it did not seem to exist, so after we scouted the neighborhood, we jumped on the Metro and headed up to the Clarendon exit. We walked about a block to The Liberty Tavern <http://www.thelibertytavern.com> Nice place, kind of noisy with all the people, but a great beer selection. I had a Magic Hat #9 and Melissa had the Brooklyn Lager. They also had Stella Artois, Dog Fish Head Pale Ale, Guinness, Harp, Bell’s Brown Lager, Bell’s Oberon, Lagunitas IPA, Brooklyn Lager, and Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen in addition to Pabst Blue Ribbon and Miller Lite. The Magic Hat #9 was light amber in color and had a fruity taste to it. It was a very drinkable beer. The Brooklyn Lager was a darker amber in color and had a good combination of malt and hops.
Next stop was Rira Irish Pub <http://www.rira.com/arlington/home.html>. I had a pint of Smithwicks there. They also had a very good tap selection. As soon as we sat down, my boss and his girlfriend came in so they joined us for a beer. We had to vacate our seats as the band was about to start to play, so we headed on to the next bar.
We stopped at the Iota Club and Café <http://www.iotaclubandcafe.com>, but they wanted $12 cover charge and we did not want to pay that for only stopping for one drink. It looked like a nice cozy place.
We walked about another block and came to Kitty O’Shea’s <http://www.kittyosheasva.com>. This place was small, and had a very neighborhood feel to it. We had some Buffalo Chicken Wings and some Donegal Chips (homemade potato chips with cheddar cheese, bacon, sour cream and chives). Both were excellent. My beverage of choice was a Black Velvet (Guinness beer and hard cider). It was very tasty.
The next stop was King Street Blues <http://www.kingstreetblues.com>. I had Samuel Adams White Ale. It is a Belgian style witbier and very much like Blue Moon. They also have their own beer, King Street Blues Roadhouse Red.
My boss and his girlfriend decided to head back to their place and Melissa and I went to Ireland’s Four Courts <http://www.irelandsfourcourts.com>. They had live entertainment. Ronan Kavanagh was a singer and did a great job. Mostly classic rock and roll. We will have to make sure to go back and hear him again. To cap off the night I had a Magner’s Cider <http://www.magnerscider.com>. It was golden in color and had a strong apple nose to it. It was very well balanced, not too sweet, and not too tart.
We started back down the street and passed Dr. Dremo’s <http://www.drdremo.com> taphouse which unfortunately closed the end of January. It was a great local bar with several excellent beers on tap.
