Beer of the Week

The beer: Stings Like A Bee

The brewery: Idiom Brewing Company, Frederick, Maryland

Description (from Untappd): "'Sting Like a Bee' is a bold reimagining of malt liquor crafted with a smooth body, layered malt richness, and just a whisper of honey for natural balance. The sweetness is subtle, the flavor full, and the finish disarmingly mellow. Strong enough to make an impact, yet polished enough to keep you coming back for another round."

Would I buy it again? Imperial lagers are pretty rare, so I knew I had to try this particular beer out. And just as I hoped, it was very good. Mellow, but also deep. Pleasantly malty as well. And at 6% ABV, it was much easier to drink than most other imperial beer varieties. This would be the point where I'd say I'd gladly buy this beer again, and I would ... but there's a problem. Idiom Brewing, staple of Frederick's downtown beer scene, is closing on February 15th. Now, there are good reasons for that closure — the owner tried to do too much at once, attempting to expand production and add in-house food at the moment the beer business began to drop off — but it still sucks. Idiom has such a nice spot on Carroll Creek, with a ton of outdoor seating. It was the obvious choice when you wanted a beer downtown in warmer weather. And while their beer could be hit or miss, they had a large menu so there was always something for everyone. It's a shame to see them go.

Shocker: People Like Well-Designed Municipal Golf Courses

It's always cool seeing a golf course I've played show up in the news, especially when it's positive and it's a course I genuinely liked. So, after the absolute disaster that's befallen the DC municipal golf courses (and the less said about it, the better), this article from Golfweek on Wilmington Municipal in North Carolina was very much appreciated.

The eighteenth hole at Wilmington Municipal.

It doesn't actually say all that much about the course, and obviously the sort of work they've been doing isn't exactly exciting, but that logistical work on irrigation and the like still matters a lot. And it just goes to show that when you invest in public golf, you will be rewarded. As I mentioned in my review (read it here and here), when we played the course, it was very busy, but the round still took comfortably less than 4 hours. We rarely waited, and that's because Wilmington Municipal is well designed but user friendly. It's tough losing golf balls there, and that matters for pace of play. It's also great for the course's bottom line — fast rounds means they can get more people out, which means more money for them.

So, it's pretty safe to say that, as Wilmington Municipal approaches its 100th anniversary, it's doing better than ever. If only DC were so lucky as to have a course like it.