A curious case in Ocean City/Fenwich Island

[MeridianFC]

Down the Ocean this weekend and had an interesting run in with some local micro, which as we all know is hard to come by. The wife and I were out (celebrating her new job, congrats can be sent via the normal channels) and had dinner at Catch 54 (formerly Sharks Cove) and I have to say the food was excellent and they had a few micros of on offer including Troegs Rugged Trail, Troegs Sunshine Pils (both bottles) and Catch 54 Pilsner (Twin Lakes Pilsner - draft). The later being the curious case.

I think the beer was mis-indentified as it was not in any way shape or form a pilsner, it was deep amber, bitter, and weizen like phenolic. It wasn't bad, just odd. Really odd. But not bad. But Odd.

So we supped all all the micros on offer and headed up Rt. 54 to Outriggers and they had another house brew on offer which was a Twin Lakes brew, labeled Outrigger Pale Ale, which tasted remarkablely similair to the "pilsner". It was less phenolic, still not bad, just odd. Had a very nice chat with the bar folks and found out that TLB are offering differing labeled brews around the area.

I've not heard of this brewery before and cast a quick eye at their website after getting back and wondered if anyone had any experience with these brews.

I'll have some more comments later.

[chazwicke]

Well you were lucky to find anything interesting at all. I'm happy that Troegs seems to have made some inroads. Assateague Island Oasis is the absolute best bet down there.

I have not sampled the beer from Twin Lakes but I had glanced at some info on them in the past.
Using the "Put Your Name Here" strategy is how Old Dominion built it's way from the beginning as well. Lots of places had their own named beer that was brewed by Old Dominion. From Clydes in the DC area to Chownings Tavern in Williamsburg. Most were standard Old Dominion products but some were actual contract recipes. Victory Amber was originally a contract beer for Hero's in Manassas which in it's day was a surprising beer mecca in that sheisthole town. Commercial contracts are a good way for a brewer to generate revenue while building their name and brands.

I just looked at the Twin Lakes Site. $22.50 for a brewery tour?! The handmade ceramic growlers look nice though.

So what did you think? Were the beers good? Any craft beer in the Fenwick / OC area is a plus.

[MeridianFC]

We just got back having been caught in the traffic related to the tragic accident on the Bridge. We didn't have it as bad as some having left early this morning, still it took us two hours to travel the three mile stretch of the Kent Narrows before the Bridge. When we got over and saw the parking lot on 50 East, which I counted at about 8 miles at noon, I figure it's going to take those folk at least five to six hours to get over.

As far as the Twin Lakes, it was ok. Just a bit odd as I mentioned. I can't tell if they were trying some new style (Pale Ale Weizen) or they just have a problem in their brewing/fermentation. Like you I'll support any craft beer I can find when down the Ocean.

[chazwicke]

Yeah that was a bad one. What a horrible accident.