I have a friend who claims culinary greatness for a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup served on a chilly day.
She might be right. Except that I would add to that a pint of cask bitter.
And those were on my menu last evening at Arlington, Va. restaurant Tap & Vine. Except that I had substituted truffle-oil fries for the sandwich.
Outside, it was a cold December night. But inside, the rustic house-made tomato soup was warming, the aromatic fries belied carbohydrate guilt, and the firkin cask of Winter Storm Imperial ESB (Clipper City Brewing) was spot-on delicious.
What's the difference between beer on draft and beer from a cask, I was asked.
The first is beer on TV, I replied. The latter is HDTV.
Multi-tasking Joy Reinhardt, co-owner of Tap & Vine,
holds the first pint from the firkin ...
... and conducts phone business.
holds the first pint from the firkin ...
... and conducts phone business.
- Tap & Vine tapped the firkin to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition.
- More photos here.
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Just missed you at Tap and Vine the other night. We were sitting down for our first of three rounds when you were wrapping up.
ReplyDeletePlease bring some more cask ale down Arlington way!
Will
Arlington
i can understand the grilled cheese and soup - try sprinking grated cheese straight onto tom soup - wonderful...
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't know that putting Clipper City Winter Storm in a cask makes it a bitter. So if I put Heineken into a cask will I get Small Craft Warning?
ReplyDelete