Over the summer, I wrote a 7-part series about my summer 2011 tour of Maryland brewpubs. In that same spirit, I offer my Winter 2011-12 DC Brewpub Tour, another multi-part series featuring even more local places to get great beer. I hope these posts encourage you to support the awesome DC-area brewing community and visit more of our local breweries and brewpubs.

Part 4: Mad Fox Brewing Company, Falls Church, Virginia

When Visited: December 20, 2011

Occasion: Tuesday Tappings. I recently signed up for the Mad Fox e-newsletter so I could get their announcements about specials and discounts.  Mad Fox taps a fresh batch of new beer every Tuesday and I was especially interested in the weekly Tuesday Tapping announcement.

Bonus: You get a coupon for a free appetizer as a thank you for signing up for the e-newsletter.

Double Bonus: If you come in on Tuesday afternoon and show a copy of the e-newsletter, your growler fill of the fresh brew is half-price.

The week before Christmas, the Tuesday Tapping featured Orange Whip IPA. I love IPAs, especially citrusy IPAs, so I decided to drop in for a half-price growler fill.

I arrived just after work and grabbed a seat at the long bar. There was a separate section of the bar devoted to express growler fills and there were a lot of people coming in with growlers in hand.  But I wasn’t in a hurry and wanted to sample the array of brews on the menu.

Beers Sampled: Mad Fox offers four-beer samplers. I ordered some food and leisurely worked my way through two sampler racks. I tried the:

• Defender American Pale Ale, a straight-forward and well-balanced American Pale (5.2%)
• Festivus Ale, a traditional English-style winter warmer (5.6%)
• Stir About Oatmeal Stout, a traditional Stout (5.0%)
• Reynard Black Saison, a Belgian-inspired dark Saison (8.4%)
• Kölsch, one of Mad Fox’s signature beers (4.4%)
• Kellerbier Kölsch, an unfiltered version of the house Kölsch (4.4%)
• Lindy’s Weiss, a traditional Bavarian-style  Hefeweizen (4.4%)
• Geordie Brown Ale, an English-style Brown Ale (5.0%)

I left with a growler of Orange Whip IPA (7.5%), which I enjoyed in the Boa Beer Bar at home. Mad Fox describes this brew as “dry hopped with Citra hops from our friends in Yakima at Hop Union. The kettle additions of Citra hops brings this brew in at a whopping 75 IBU’s and the hops flavors are much more pronounced with citrusy hints of pineapple, orange. This version is also loaded with malt flavors with plenty of crystal malt, medium to full bodied and deep copper colored.” I loved it.

Best Beer: Orange Whip IPA. Of course Orange Whip is a reference to the famous John Candy scene in The Blues Brothers.

I was most impressed with: Tuesday Tappings and half-price growler fills! The food and service are impeccable too.

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