Dogfish Head Alehouse

Hey guys! So the last time I was in DC I didn't do any restaurant reviews, basically because I didn't go out all that much and the times that I did I was either with work people who didn't know about my blog (thus no pictures) or I went to a chain restaurant that really didn't need reviewing.

This time, however, I actually have two for you (the other to come next week). Tuesday night I went to Dogfish Head Alehouse in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

For you Boston folk, you can get Dogfish in the Boston area, but only a select few are available there. In DC, they have quite the selection. While waiting to be seated, I spied this sign on the wall that I thought was very indicative of the brand:

In looking over their menu, it was so hard to decide what to get. Every single beer they have on draft sounded amazing. Only two could be winners though (I'm a lightweight these days) so I had to choose. My first choice was the Midas Touch, which is brewed with barley, white muscat grapes, thyme, honey, and saffron.

This beer was AMAZING. One of the best I have had in a really long time. I would definitely recommend to order this beer if you ever get to one of their restaurants, or if you're lucky enough to have it sold near you, to buy it.

As far as the dinner menu goes, it is typical bar food. I actually thought that the menu had a great selection and the wood fired food offerings are a nice upgrade from your usual bar fare. For my entree, I went with the Wood Grilled Chicken Sandwich.

It was pretty good, although the two chicken breasts are unnecessary, one would be sufficient. The fries weren't anything to write home about, but fries are fries and are delicious no matter what. My coworker ordered the shrimp jumbalaya, which looked pretty good as well (you know, if I ate fish, which I don't).

After dinner, I ordered my second glass of beer. For my second choice, I went with the Palo Santo Marron, which brown ale with undertones of caramel and vanilla.

I really liked this one a lot as well, but not as much as the Midas Touch. It's a dark heavy beer as I'm sure you can tell by the photo. It is still definitely worth trying, especially if you like darker beers. For dessert I went with the bread pudding (always a solid choice) and it was absolutely perfect.

Clearly I ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture. I was just really excited to eat it! It had chocolate chips and was one of the most moist bread puddings I have had. An excellent way to finish off my meal.

A little disclosure about Dogfish Head beer. I believe the lowest ABV (alcohol by volume for you non-beer drinkers) is 7%...which is still higher than regular beer. Their highest ABV is 18%. So these beers are not messing around. I realized after the second one that I cannot HANG like I used to, folks. Wow. I had a nice buzz going and if I had dared to have one more, I would've had to be carried back to my hotel. This girl would've been a hot MESS. Clearly you get your money's worth at this place. All in all, I really loved Dogfish Head Alehouse and will definitely be heading back when I come back down to the area next month. My goal is to sample the entire beer menu!

Do you like trying new and different beers? What is your favorite? Or are you more of a wine person?