I Punish My Liver So You Don't Have To

Fellow DCFUD scribe Jason and I went to Dr. Dremo's in Arlington last night for a pint (or three) of beer. Dremo's has a few self-brewed beers, including their tasty James Brown, Redneck and Centennial Pale Ales, plus a decent selection of microbrews and imports. Usually, their taste is spot-on - Rogue Dead Guy Ale on draft, for instance, is one of the better beers to come from the Pacific Northwest, and Smuttynose Porter is always a good time.

But, just like every Chris Farley has his Rob Schneider, and every Empire Strikes Back has its Phantom Menace, Abita's Purple Haze is like that dumb kid in college who brought down the bell curve. It's full of raspberries - that fruit can kill a beer, as Oxford's Rasperry Wheat comes to mind - and this New Orleans' brewer uses way too much. It tastes like a torte without the cream cheese. Of Abita's roster of fine brews, this is their weakest.

I worked for Harpoon Brewery of Boston during the `90s microbrew boom, and got to taste-test the competition. Sounds like a post-college dream job, but for every quality Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, New Belgium's Fat Tire Amber or Boulder Brewing Company product I enjoyed, I had about 10 lousy, overwrought, overbrewed, overhopped beers from hell. It seemed every craft brewery in North America wanted to out-do each other with exotic flavors, especially with their seasonal brews. I still get the cold sweats thinking of Pumpkin Ale, Cinnamon & Nutmeg beers, Strawberry and Creme lambics. Sam Adams and Rogue both made Hazelnut beers, which sounded a lot better than they tasted. Frederick Brewing Company made an almost undrinkable hemp beer. My rule of thumb became - "If you can make a pie or hippie shoes from the ingredients, I won't drink the beer."

So, it was with a healthy bit of trepidation that I approached Dremo's Chocolate Donut beer. Beer's not exactly health food as it is, and adding an ungodly amount of sugar just seems unwise. But Dremo's home brews are usually quite tasty, and while I don't suggest dunking this Chocolate Donut into a cold glass of milk, it's a good, sweet beverage. You can definitely taste the rich, almost fudge-like chocolate. It smells like chocolate donut, and is thicker than many porters and some stouts. This would be a fantastic dessert beer.

Consider Chocolate Donut the port of beer.

Dr. Dremo's
2001 Clarendon Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201
703-528-4660
drdremo@msn.com