Last night, along with over 100 other people, I attended Crooked Run Brewing Shadow of Truth Release Party held at Beltway Brewing Company in Sterling VA. Crooked Run is located in Leesburg's Market Station (great bicycle access off the W&OD) and brew non-traditional English and Belgium styled ales at this location. However, they have decided to expand capacity in order to target a wider consumer base, and to meet these goals, have contracted out with Beltway Brewing (See my first visit to Beltway's facility).
And the first beer Crooked Run chose to distribute is their Shadow of Truth - a black Belgian tripel. The beer is brewed with debittered black malt as well as a smaller portion of Vienna malt. The result is an extremely smooth beer, not overly malty and which masks the 8.5% abv quite well. The finish is balanced with just enough hops for a smooth transition but not an abundance to override the flavors. The beer should be making it's Metro DC debut this week so check out Lost Dog Cafe, Whole Foods, Rustico, Fireworks, World of Beer or any of the other well represented craft beer outlets in the area. For me, I need to bike out to Market Station to try the remaining portfolio. Oh yea, almost forgot. The DC Sliders truck was on hand providing very unique sliders - try the Elvis if you see them. Cheers.