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Dining Out with Two American Nomads

Capitol City Brewing Company

Being a frequent visitor to Washington DC it is necessary for a girl to carve out a little space for a brew or two. Luckily there is a joint called Capital City brewing Company just across the street from where I usually find myself working. This is a downtown DC hot spot, you will always wait to be seated for meals and bar stools are at a premium. There is good reason to wait, the beer rocks. They have four house brews that are available year around; Amber Waves Ale, Capitol Klosch, Prohibition Porter and Pale Rider Ale. Their seasonal are just as interesting and full bodied. This is not a place for a lightweight, the brews are strong and complicated; it's hard to just sample one. I say sample but you know what I am talking about.

On my last visit I dove into a Capital Klosch, a fav of mine. It's an American style wheat, rich fruit flavor but filtered. The usual banana taste is missing but not the smooth wheat.


As an unusual venture I tried the Red, it is unfiltered and surprisingly smooth. It was a great parring with a fish meal. I should note the food is not bad either. Sort of fancy bar food, all prepared well and lighter then just fried fish and chips.
They cannot fill a growler, DC law prohibits them from selling their own brews. Oh well I'll just have to belly up again. You can expect another review in the future from this place. Stop into one of their three locations, I am parcial to the Downtown pub.

Atwater Block Brewery

Thinking that we might have found a gem in the city of Detroit we found ourselves at Atwater Block Brewery on Friday night. Well that is not the case, this is one of the only true Microbreweries in Detroit but there is nothing special going on here. The place from the looks was built to be a high class joint but with the shady character hanging about something tells me it never lived to its full glory. The brews were average, service bad (the bartender does it all) and the food terrible. This is not a place to come for a nice evening. If you are hard up for a micro and in a bad mood then you might enjoy it here, otherwise hit up one of the many other bars that tap area brews.

Big Buck Brewery

After trying to visit two other locations we found success in seeking a Big Buck Brewery in Gaylor, MI. This very tourist oriented brewery features house tabs and a few other selections. You can guess that we stuck with the craft beers. The friendly service and yummy grub warmed us up for a fun evening. This visit was a little different then most since we all stuck to the same tab. I truly enjoyed the Raspberry Wheat, a great summer heff. The slight tart of the raspberry cut the sweet dirty wheat. I had my fill and would come back for more, I hope this is a seasonal would be a little out of place in winter. Josh bellied up for the Old Ale, a non traditional IPA. This is follows that trend to mix and cut IPA with other flavors to lighten the bitter taste. We had a special guest with us, a tour friend Robert, he was a little more adventurous trying the Farmhouse and Buck Naked Light. After sampling both he preferred the smooth flavor of the Farmhouse. The brewery has recently installed a distillery and will be unveiling a series of flavored vodkas in mid summer. I look forward to see how they do. All and all I will return!!!!

Hopcat - Grand Rapids, MI

With so many seemingly good stops in Grand Rapids following the advise of the desk clerk from the hotel was our only idea. His favorite spot is Hopcat is downtown, a freshly revived downtown. This local legend is a hot spot for good food, a HUGE variety of brews and good music. Their 48 active tabs and rotating nightly specials left us with a heavy task, what is choose. I think we did alright even with one from a local brewery that we plan to visit on our next trip. My advise let the server know what you like and ask them to pick, plus tip well.


Grassroots Saison - Great Lakes Brewing Co.; Josh thought this was the perfect way to start and will add it to the list of try again

Mad Hatter - New Holland Brewing Co

Hop Rocket, Arcadia Ales

St. Louis Framboise - Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V; Very berry baby, liked it was one was enough

Bavarian Bliss - Arbor Brewing Co; This is from a local brewery that we will revisit

Red's Rye - Founders; Another local we will review

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