Five miles and five pubs

Last Saturday, 19 adventurous souls walked 5 miles, stopping at 5 pubs in Columbia, Maryland. The five pubs in order were:

1. Ale House Columbia (brunch);
2. Pub Dog;
3. Frisco Tap House;
4. Sonoma’s Bar and Grill and
5. Second Chance Saloon (dinner).

That morning, it was overcast and cold with the chance of rain. Many of us met in the Oakland Mills Village center parking lot across from the Second Chan

ce Saloon.  We marveled at the attire of our resident northerner who braved the elements in his shorts and compression socks. We shuttled people to the Ale House, where we had reservations for 11:00am for brunch. Due to other obligations, cars were distributed to each of the pubs. This was not planned, but somehow magically happened!

Ale House Columbia

We stood shivering outside the Ale House a little before they opened. The staff took pity on us and let us in early. The Ale House is a very big place, with multiple bars, outdoor seating, lots of tall tables and a dining area. We all sat together at our table and waited for the stragglers to come in.

Most of us started with a ten ounce pour of Oliver’s Bishop’s Breakfast, one of the Ale House’s own brews. It is a solid oatmeal stout, tasting of roasted grains and a touch of licorice sweetness. Some find it watery, but I like the oatmeal creamy mouthfeel. Its complex flavors go well with food, especially breakfast. I ordered the Ale House Benedict with Jumbo Lump Crab, which was delicious! Others tried the chicken waffles, the Belgian waffles, and the breakfast BLT. The side of Brussel sprouts and the fried egg burger were both hits.

I wrapped things up with a Unibroue La Resolution, a Belgian strong dark ale. It has a nice gingerbread nose – a complex spicy Christmas beer. Since the alcohol by volume (ABV) is 10%, I ordered a 5-ounce pour. The Ale House offers difference size pours, a really nice option. We closed things out and left at 12:30pm. We were exactly on schedule and beginning the crawl.

Leg 1

The first leg of the crawl, along Dobbin Road is the least scenic and most unpleasant part of the trek. Herding 18 or so people through the auto repair shops’ parking lots on Dobbin Road is a bit tricky. And Dobbin Road, a main thoroughfare of Columbia, does not have sidewalks. Come-on Columbia, get your act together! It is only a ten minute walk, so perhaps I protest too much.

Pub Dog

We pretty much had Pub Dog to ourselves. We all warmed up at the fireplace near the entrance, then ordered our beers. Pub Dog makes their own beer and serves 2 drafts in small mugs (looks to me like 10 ounces). The 2 for 1 beers are inexpensive and a great way to taste a few beers with friends. I was disappointed with the Imperial Dog, finding it unbalanced for a double-IPA – way too much hops and not enough malt flavors. I am a huge double-IPA fan, and have enjoyed the Imperial Dog in the past. Others enjoyed the other mug, so perhaps it was just me that day. Next, I sampled a raspberry dog, which again I found disappointing, tasting like a light beer combined with a sour raspberry syrup. Here again, others raved about the other mug of raspberry, so perhaps my taste buds where a bit finicky that day. I did enjoy my taste of the chocolate oatmeal stout, thinking it was a good challenger to Oliver’s Bishop’s Breakfast. Some of us watched rugby on TV, others just talked, and a few played shuffle board. We left after 45 minutes, again, exactly on time!

Leg 2

The walk to Friscos started out with a surprise. We backtracked to avoid the steep hill, and several of the women decided to roll down the hill. (Sorry, no pictures.) We walked on the grass along Dobbin Road for about 15 minutes. Did I mention that Dobbin Road does not have sidewalks?

Frisco Tap House

For many of us, Frisco Tap House in Columbia is our regular Wednesday night haunt. Wednesday is pint night, where several beers of a brewer are featured. If you buy one of the brewer’s beers, you can take home a pint glass. Needless to say, we all have a lot of pint glasses. In addition, most of us are mug club members, having had 100 unique beers over the years.

They offer 50 beers on tap. Also, Frisco has its very own beers, Push, made on the premises. I have sampled a few Push beers, but to be honest, with all the world class beers available here, it is rare that I will take a chance on a Push.

On this Saturday, the pub crawl crew commandeered a corner of the bar area, taking a few high tables and some couches. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout was released the day before, so we were eager to sample this rare and wonderful beer. They had 2014 and 2016 versions, and they were both exceedingly delicious, with hints of molasses, licorice, coffee, chocolate and stone fruit all wonderfully mixed into this big beer of 14% ABV. Because of the high ABV, I lingered over my 10-ounce beer for more than the allotted 45 minutes. Egad, we were late for our next pub!

Leg 3

Walking along the last portion of the “sidewalkless” Dobbin Road was short, ending at the light at Oakland Mills Road. After a fairly challenging crossing, we made a left on a sidewalk, just in front of the Old Brick Church and a quick right onto a path, leading to Lake Elkhorn. Columbia has 90+ miles of pathways, which follow wooded areas for the most part. Many commented on the quiet beauty of the path, especially after the busyness of Dobbin Road. Lake Elkhorn had plenty of wildlife to enjoy, including, Canada geese, mallard ducks and a cormorant. We met many walkers enjoying an afternoon stroll.

Sonoma’s Bar and Grill

The path leaving Lake Elkhorn crosses under Cradle Rock right to Sonoma’s fron
t door. Sonoma’s is the Owen Brown Village Center’s bar. It’s a sports bar and the first stop that doesn’t make its own beer. Of the 10 taps, I chose to split a . It has the mildness of a lager with a seasonal, spicy sweetness. We clustered most of the small round tables together, so we could sit together. We watched Ohio State beat Michigan in double overtime. I am sorry I missed Michigan’s coach, Jim Harbaugh’s tantrum after the game. We were late, so I ushered everyone out to our last stop, the Second Chance Saloon.

Leg 4

We followed the path out of the Owen Brown Village Center past the East Branch Library, the Owen Brown Community Center and finally hitting Pamplona Road. Pamplona Road leads to the Oakland Mills Middle School, which we crossed and entered the Oakland Mills Village Center. We reached our final destination, the Second Chance, well before dark.

Second Chance Saloon

The Second Chance Saloon is my local bar. It has had many names over the years — the Last Chance, Fire Rock and even the Second Chance once before. It was a craft beer bar before craft beer was popular, having had 53 beers on tap. Years ago, I even attended a presentation there given by the famous beer connoisseur, Michael Jackson
.

Today, the Second Chance is Oakland Mills
neighborhood bar. Their burgers and wings are both terrific. For my dinner at the pub crawl, I had my favorite, the old bay wings. They have 18 beers on tap, with 9 ever changing. I split a Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout from Terrapin Beer Co. It is a sweet milk stout that reminds me of Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Milk. It is a perfect dessert beer. I finished the crawl with a go to beer, a Guinness Stout. This creamy Irish stout with a dry finish is one of the wonders of the world.

Round up

With of bit luck and a great bunch of people, our first annual Columbia Pub Crawl was a rousing success. Some are calling it the Turkey Trot, since it happened the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The comment “I didn’t know Columbia had a pub crawl”, was heard frequently on our trek. Well it does now. With the many pubs and breweries in Columbia and Howard County I think pub crawls have lots of potential.  In a future post, I’ll explain how I planned and organized the crawl.

Cheers!

Warren