I tried (and liked) some Melon Dog beer
Last night, I decided to cap off a relaxing weekend with a couple mugs of Melon Dog beer at the Pub Dog.
If you recall, this is the stuff they ordered made because I blogged about it a year ago.
For what it was, it was great -- it had a sweet, Jolly Rancher-ish taste and went down smooth and quick. If you like Dog Pub's other fruity beers, you'll like Melon Dog too. I'm sure it will be a summertime hit.
As I walked up to the pub, a woman was hula-hooping outside.
"Free shots if you do a hula-hoop," she said ...
I wasn't in the mood for free shots (or hula-hooping), but I was tempted. On the way there, I wondered if I would have trouble getting a bar stool, but the place was almost empty at 8:45 p.m. When the hula-hooper came back inside and sat down on a stool, one of the bartenders practiced rolling the hula-hoop up the stairs. There wasn't much else for him to do.
The only other patrons (at least the only other ones I saw) were down at the end of the bar. Besides the hula-hooper, there was a guy and a gal. The guy was laying it on thick, trying to impress her with the awards his college TV station had won. Heh.
The Pub Dog's two-for $4 10-ounce mugs of microbrews can be addictive, and I had to pry myself away from the bar after only two mugs. It was Sunday night, after all.
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
I would point out that the beer in question is NOT as candy/soda-sweet as your description seems to imply--rather, it's a refreshing lightly-flavored beer with a solid dose of watery (duh) red watermelon flavors, with just a hint of the white/green rind as well.
Posted by: Alexander D. Mitchell IV | June 22, 2009 8:28 AM
ok, but not nearly as good as that offered by the boston beer works.
Posted by: mr. boh | June 22, 2009 10:15 AM
I scored her digits, bro! Won some sweet awards for that college TV station back in the day.
Posted by: The Guy at Pub Dog | June 22, 2009 10:28 AM
Alexander, I said it was sweet, but not sickly sweet. It's certainly not as sweet as Fruli. I'm with boh -- I liked the Boston Beer Works watermelon better. But Pub Dog's Melon beer is good.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | June 22, 2009 3:52 PM
I actually really, really enjoy a small glass of Fruli with french toast at brunch. Calling Fruli a 'beer' in my mind is a bizarre stretch as it really is very sweet, but it has its own thing going on and of course it falls into that "oh well belgian beers are very sophisticated and they don't have that fake american beer flav-bleheblebleh."
As for the melon dog, I have to throw my hat in and say I don't care for it. Much like Fruli it just doesn't taste like a beer so much as a fizzy jolly rancher in near beer. I think in a vacuum it's a pretty refreshing drink - it's certainly light as the breeze in terms of "drinkability", but as a beer it's just not... beerish enough. Maybe it too would go well with french toast, but definitely not pizza.
m2c
Posted by: Evan | June 23, 2009 12:24 PM