A Bruins win in game 7 the night before helped aid a good night’s sleep and I was ready the next morning for a trip Southeast to Milton, DE — home of the Dogfish Head Brewery.

This being my second trip in three months, not much was new for me at the Brewery.  A friend had me look into availability of their recently released Hellhound (they call them occasional rarities), but distribution (even there) is extremely limited).

I sampled some Hellhound as well as some Black and Blue (brewed with blueberries and blackberries).  Both were very good, and very different from each other.  Hellhound, flavor through its bitterness profile, while the Black and Blue barked out sweetness that stated “….bring me to a patio, on a warm day….and lament when my capsule is empty!”.

I picked up a couple of bottles and made my way out to Rehobeth Beach, DE — home of their brewpub, where most of their beers are available on tap, not something you can say for beer joints around Massachusetts.

At the Brew Pub, I bellied up and ordered a Hellhound on draft, while perusing their menu.  This menu is a little more straightforward than the exotic goodness I have seen at the Victory BrewPub in Downington, PA, but many pleasing choices, nonetheless.

I opted for the indulgence burger, which is described on the menu as “piled high with one of our beer battered onion rings, melted cheddar, and bacon crumbles”, and then they add “consider yourself challenged!”.  Ha!  Lay it on me!!

Burger was decent, my choice of rosemary focaccia bread may have contributed to a bit of a dry finish to the burger.

Onion rings were very good, for a non-hand-dipped variety.  They were very large and tasty.

Accompanying this nice burger was my current Dogfish favorite, Burton Baton.  A beer to savor, a beer to swish around your mouth so that no part of the mouth is left out of the fun.  This party in your mouth is always over too soon!

This lunch rates as a “very good”, but, let’s face it, PB & J, served with these beers may warrant mention in Bon Appetit magazine.

After a day of beer, food and driving, it felt good to relax with the O’Brien family in the Federal Hill area of Baltimore.  Their friend Terry joined us for a sampling of Clown Shoes beer I had shuttled down from Massachusetts.

First up was Brown Angel Double Brown Ale — a little lighter than I expected, but an easy drinking beer that all three tasters enjoyed!

We chased away the Brown Sugar with a taste of Eagle Claw Fist, an Imperial Amber Ale.  Given my affinity for Amber Ales, I was excited to finally try this.  It was very good, with all three tasters approving of it.  I can’t claim that I wanted a second, but if someone served this to me, I’d instantly think that person was a “good shit”…. 

Lastly, for this brief pregame tasting was the beer everyone WANTS to love, mostly because of the cool name — Tramp Stamp, which is a Belgian India Pale Ale.  While Terry and I enjoyed it, Brendan pooh-pooh’d this choice and could not even finish his beer.

Off to the “Yard” to see the Red Sox take on “Buck” Showalter’s Orioles.

Nice Sox win, which they all are, but avoiding a sweep to the O’s was an essential thing for this early season.

In fact, it called for some celebrating with the local birds…

And who knew there were so many Oriole Birds over the years??  On a mural on our way out, I had to snap a photo of all the local birds.  Somewhere in that list, are the Orioles of old, the ones who don’t finish near the bottom of the AL East.

Well, a good night comes to an end — the last night of age 42 — I know, I know…I don’t look a day over…..(insert a low prime number here)…