Brickskeller front entrance: a tranquil scene.

I finally made it the fabled Brickskeller, an establishment in Georgetown in Washington DC that everyone compares to the Toronado in San Francisco and is on everyone’s list as one of the five best pubs in America.

Although I met the proprietor Dave Alexander several years ago at the Great American Beer Festival, I hadn’t been in Washington for a long time. I finally got to the district this weekend and Saturday night, I ducked out of Savor and took a $7.50 cab ride to the Brickskeller, 1523 22nd St. NW.

No one ever says it, but the Brickskller’s nothing like the Toronado, the famous Bay Area pub on Haight in San Francisco. There’s no gringe, just 20-somethings smoking cigarettes on the front steps. No bikers, no panhandlers, no BBQ joint across the street and certainly no junkie panhandles. The Brickskeller neighborhood is quiet (by my Bay Area standards) and tree-shaded.

Inside, it’s very “Eastern”. At least that’s how I view it: two levels, both a warren of small rooms and passageways. Carpet on the floor (yes, carpet). Subdued lighting. Bustling waiters º the Toronado has no food.

The only similarity is the beer list. And even that is different. The Toronado has a chalk board and endless rows of taps and no-nonsense bar staffers who know a lot about beer. Owner Dave Keene has a back room cellar with an absolutely huge stash of kegs and beer.

Dave Alexander has the same sort of cellar. But he also has a printed beer list; it’s 10 pages long, in very, very small type from Abita to Thirty-Three Ba M’ba from Vietnam. After going A–for Abita to Y for Young’s Special Ale, the list goes on country by country. Oh my. Fairly awesome. Unfortuantely, after two days at Savor I was completely beered out.

What to do? I’ve been writing about the pending merger of Magic Hat, South Burlington, VT. and Pyramid Breweries (Seattle-Portland-Berkeley). Have never tried their beer, so the bar staffer, Rachel Murray brought me a sampler of Magic Hat’s best-seller: Circus Boy Hefeweizen.

It’s a very,. very light straw. decent foam that fades. Slightly yeasty-mildly spicy hefe nose. Very mid taste, quaffable with a tiny, mild follow with just perhaps a tiny sour note from the yeast. I give it TWO STARS. A very drinkable hot weather beer, but nothing to write home about.

Pyramid’s best selling hefe is a bigger, much more enjoyable beer.,

After that, I looked through the list and found the lone cask ale on handpub and ordered a pint: Williams Brothers Joker. I didn’t realize it at the moment, but this beer comes from Bruce Williams, of Glasgow, Scoland, the maker of Fraoch Heather Ale. This is an excellent beer, made followin an ancient Scots recipe that uses heather instead of hops.

Loved Joker. It’s a 4.3 percent, malty cask ale, soft on the palate, a perfect beer for the end of a long, beery weekend.
Gonna’ have to hunt for Fraoch when I get home. And home I’m going. Sitting in the Baltimore airport at the moment.