Pure Wine and Stone at Alewife

Sometimes you're just lucky enough to have a couple of good places to eat, and this is clearly one of those times. I've had back to back weekends of glorious dining experiences, at both Alewife in Baltimore and Pure Wine Cafe in Ellicott City.

Alewife hosted a Stone Brewing Company event, offering 40 different Stone beers, many rare and old. I was floored by almost everything I tried that day. Best of the best would have been Stone's smoked porter with chipotle pepper. Similarly, their Mad Man Mix - a blend of 10 different years of their russian imperial stout, their sublimely self righteous ale, and some chipotle pepper was spicy and delicious. Their Vertical Epic 07.07.07 aged in red wine barrels was also impressive, tangy and light, with full flavors. Finally, one of their best that flew under the radar for me was their bitter chocolate oatmeal stout. Extremely creamy and smooth, with a lot of excellent chocolate flavors, this was a big surprise.

I also tried their smoked porter with vanilla, which was good but couldn't compare to the one with chipotle pepper, their aged russian imperial stout and their russian imperial aged in bourbon, both of which were dark and delicious, but a little boozy at times. Overall it was a really excellent time, and the beers were fantastic.

I also lunched, the other day, at Pure Wine Cafe. On main street in Old Ellicott City, it's a tiny little bistro with an amazing menu. I had Dogfish head's festina peche, delicious as always, as well as a tasty white wine named Infamous Goose. Really though, the food stole the show. Kobe Beef meatball sliders, truffled fries with pepper aoli, my god. Just amazing.

Hope your weeks are full of good beer and good food - til next time! Cheers!