The Livin's Easy

We are creatures of habit here at Dumbarton's Beer. We happen upon a style of beer and latch on like a parasite fish to a shark. This past winter we put away our share of stouts - coffee stouts, oak barrel-aged stouts, stouty stouts.

This week we are reminded that mid-Atlantic summers are hot, hazy, humid with a chance of late-day thunderstorms (strong in some areas). Who needs Doug Kammerer?

Summer is basically here and we need a new regular brew. Something we can call "user friendly". So, we went searching and by searching we went far and wide to one grocery store. See, the key to being user friendly is easy access. If it's the best summer beer ever but is hard to find it's not, by definition, user friendly. It should also be at least moderately budget friendly. Paying $15 for a sixer is not an option for an everyday beer. Actually, paying $15 for a sixer is virtually an abomination but that's for another day.

Being wrong all the time pays off

All of this led us to Troegs Hopback Amber Ale. Troegs is one of those brewers where you get more quality than you pay for. The brothers will never compete with Budweiser or PBR in terms of price but you can't beat bang for the buck.

Hopback Amber Ale is an American Amber Red Ale. Because we're aiming for an everyday brew we'll skip the particulars. It's a nice red brew with a caramel sweet foundation followed by mild hoppy bitterness.

Hopback is well balanced, which is key because sweet can become too much in the summer season. It's not particularly refreshing but real beer should never be described as "refreshing". We pictured it in a glass but we implore you to drink it straight from the bottle.

Best. Joke. Ever.

It's Friday and tomorrow is the end of the world so this is the best we can do. We hope to get one last post in before 6pm tomorrow.

Don't Buy Alcohol in Maryland

Today Governor Martin O'Malley signs into law the first tax increase on alcohol in more than 10 years. While we opposed the increase we appreciate that the elected officials in Maryland were clever enough to raise the taxes from 6 to 9 percent. According to reports, the increase will generate approximately $85 million in revenue for the state.

The self-proclaimed watchdog of the alcohol industry, the Marin Institute, calls this a defeat for big alcohol and a victory for public health policy. According to PR Newswire, Vincent DeMarco of the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative said "The new alcohol sales tax increase will save lives by reducing underage drinking and over-consumption while also providing much-needed revenue to fund critical health care and community services in our state."

Sure, and Maryland Lottery funds really do benefit the Maryland public schools.

Don't worry Marylanders we don't just report problems we also present solutions. Purchase your alcohol in another state (or constitutionally-chartered special district). Our geospacial mapping staff tells us the majority of Maryland residents live within shouting distance of Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, DC Pennsylvania, and even Delaware. Sorry Baltimore, you're probably screwed - it's a bit of a hike for you in every direction but you can come to DC grab some beer and catch a Nationals game (aside from the uniform colors and stadium design you will never know it's not the O's).

"The True Grail Will Bring You Life, the False Grail Will Take it From You"

It wasn't easy but after saving the world from Nazi's we found the holy grail - of beer. Dr. Jones has nothing on us.

OK, so we didn't save the world or find the beer but we really do have our very own bomber of 2009 Dark Lord by the 3floyds. Our good friend and colleague HH has special connections. Rather than doing the smart thing and keeping all the Dark Lord for family and friends HH decided to share it with this fledgling blogger. For our seven loyal readers you should be warned that we will hardly be as gracious.