No more Blob's of gemütlichkeit

[UPDATE 2008.10: Max Blob's great nephew has plans to reopen the dancehall, and is currently renovating it. Information at the new website at blobspark.net.]

Blob's Park has long been a Maryland oasis of German gemütlichkeit — and Eastern European celebration — located in Jessup, between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.

But, like the now few-years gone Haussner's Restaurant of Baltimore, Blob's Park is closing. In fact, New Year's Eve will be its final celebration of polkas and oompah and good lager.

A few hours after 2007 ends, a final accordion note will fade away, hundreds of dancing shoes will shuffle to a halt and Blob's Park, a gathering place for European immigrants and other lovers of old-world ways for four generations, will close for good.

Dance Hall Patrons Lament Last Call for 'Polka Time!'
Washington Post, 29 December 2007.

I've been to Blob's a few times — as a beer salesman and as a customer. 'One-and-two-and': with the surname of Cizauskas, I do polka!

Acių, Blob's.

DC/Baltimore: an opening and a closing

A juxtaposition.

Blob's Park, the long-time German dance hall and beer bar is reopening in Jessup, Maryland.

Ten months after the Eggrel family decided to close Blob's Park's Bavarian Biergarten, [Max Eggrel, the great-nephew of founder Max Blob] is pouring money into a massive renovation that will end with a reopening at the end of the year. <...>"It's in my blood," he said. "The place has so much history and such a following and I just felt I had to do it."

Oompah! Blob's is back
Famed beer garden to reopen in Jessup
By Marc Shapiro
HometownAnnapolis.com
20 October 2008

[UPDATE: Blob's announces its re-opening for 31 December 2008!]

Old Dominion Brewing, the long-time craft brewery of northern Virginia is closing in Ashburn, Virginia.

Coastal Brewing Company announced today that it will consolidate its operations by moving all brewing to the company's state-of-the-art facility in Dover, Del. The decision means that the company's brewery in Ashburn, Va., will be closed in 2009. <..>

"Our number one focus is clear: to continue making the high-quality craft beers that beer lovers have come to expect from the Fordham and Old Dominion names," said Garry Williams, CEO of Coastal Brewing Co. "But to deliver on that promise, we have to make sure we are running an effective business, particularly in light of the current economic situation. Operating two breweries in such close proximity is not cost-efficient, nor is it environmentally responsible, so it's just good business sense to combine operations into our most modern facility."

as quoted by Gregg Wiggins
reporter for Mid-Atlantic Brewing News
on DC-Beer, 21 October 2008

Alerted to Blob's Park renovations by Beer in Baltimore blog and to the Dominion closing by Musings Over a Pint.

Pic(k) of the Week: Willkommen Oktoberfest!

In the northern hemisphere, today is the first day of autumn, and the daylight hours already are noticeably fewer. In Munich, Germany, it's the first day of Oktoberfest, putatively the largest party in the world.

Jumping the gun by nine days, Gordon-Biersch brewpub in Tysons Corner, Virginia, celebrated the annual release of its Oktoberfest lager, on Thursday, 13 September, Brewer Grant Carson, bedecked in Bavarian garb, presided. The pub, plunked in a suburban mall, was filled that night. A traditional German band played beer tunes (Ein Prosit), and a 2-liter boot of Oktoberfest was passed around, folk sipping communally.

Carson told me that, six weeks earlier, he had brewed the 5.9% alcohol-by-volume, amber-colored lager with imported-from-Germany Wyermann malts (pilsner, Munich, Caramel, Melanoidin) and German hops (Hersbrucker). After fermentation, he lagered the beer (matured it at cool temperatures) in horizontal tanks during the intervening 35 or so days.

I found the beer to have a firm toasted-biscuit malt flavor, with a finishing touch —just a touch— of caramel sweetness. And, if you searched for it —I did— you noticed some floral Hersbrucker hop spiciness. Delicious! I invite 'hop heads' to join in the fun and become re-introduced to the intoxicating (pun intended) flavors of malted barley.



About.com Washington, D.C. posts a list of Oktoberfest-themed festivals in the greater Washington, D.C. area, some of which, such as Gordon-Biersch, have occurred already, and many of which will take place well into October (not quite following the time-line of the Munich festival).

Two long-standing area establishments deserve special mention. Blob's Park in Jessup, Maryland —a Bavarian beer hall, beer garden, dance hall, and restaurant— has been open since 1933. It was closed in 2007/8, before being re-opened by the great-nephew of the original owner, German immigrant Max Blob. The Selinger family opened the Old Stein Inn in Edgewater, Maryland in 1983. Last year, son Michael and his wife Beth rebuilt and re-opened the restaurant and beer garden after a devastating fire.

See other round-ups of D.C. area Oktoberfests at: DCBeer.com, Washington Post's Going Out Gurus, and Mid-Atlantic Brewing News' Hop Tips.

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As to the world's largest party, here's what's happening in Munich, Germany, today through Sunday, 7 October.

Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the Munich event.

The Munich Oktoberfest originally took place during the sixteen days up to and including the first Sunday in October. In 1994, the schedule was modified in response to German reunification so that if the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or 2nd, then the festival would go on until October 3 (German Unity Day). Thus, the festival is now 17 days when the first Sunday is October 2 and 18 days when it is October 1.

—Wikipedia

From the official Oktoberfest website:

On Saturday, September 22nd, the Schottenhamel tent is the place to be, if you want to catch the official opening ceremonies. At noontime, 12pm, the lord mayor of Munich will have the honor of tapping the first keg of Oktoberfest beer. Once the barrel has been tapped, all visitors will then be allowed to quench their thirst. It pays to arrive early in order to experience the festivities up close and personal and it's quite common for visitors to come around 9am to secure good seats. The festival will last until October 7th.

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• More photos from the Gordon-Biersch tapping: here.
• Related story on the Munich Oktoberfest: Einstein's Oktoberfest.
• My 'local,' Mad Fox Brewing Company, in Falls Church, Virginia, is blocking off the courtyard in front of the brewpub on Sunday, 22 September, for a day-long festival including a traditional German band, a German-inspired food menu, the tapping of the brewpub's Oktoberfest lager —Hitzig Frau, and, very un-traditionally, 22 IPAs (very hoppy ales) from other mid-Atlantic breweries.
• Via TimeAnd Date.com, the autumnal equinox occurs on the U.S. east coast at exactly 10:49am today, Saturday, 22 September 2012. The autumnal and vernal equinoxes are the only two times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west.
• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, often posted on Saturdays, and often, but not always, with a good fermentable as subject. Commercial use requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.

New Year's Eve Firkin Fest

For New Year's Eve, Rustico Restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia is offering a double dose of good-beer festivities.

On the restaurant side, there's a fixed-price four-course menu: each course paired with beer. Reservations required.

• Baked Camembert with Housemade Orval Sourdough
  Paired with Kloster Wintertraum: Klostbrauerei Weltenburg, Germany.
  
• Maine Sea Scallops with Spooky Pumpkin Grits & Ginger-Andouille Gremolata
  Paired with Avec Les Bons Voeux: Brasserie Dupont, Belgium.
  
• Pineland Farms New York Striploin with Whole Grain Mustard “Knish”& Old Stock Macerated Medjool Dates
  Paired with N’ Ice Chouffe: Brasserie D’ Achouffe, Belgium.
  
• Tiffin Tin of Holiday Cookies
  Paired with Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout: Brooklyn Brewery, New York, NY.

But on the bar side, Beer Manager Greg Engert and his crew will be tapping 6 cask firkins (with others in reserve), beginning at 6pm and continuing until the Big Beer Toast at midnight ... and beyond. And, no reservations are required.

• WinterHook Winter Ale: Red Hook Ale Brewery, New Hampshire.
  A Winter Warmer from a brewery whose offerings are rarely seen on cask.
• Pomegranate Wheat Ale: Peak Organic Brewing Company, Maine.
  This beer has never been in the Mid-Atlantic before, let alone on cask.
• Fraoch Heather Ale: Williams Brothers Brewing Company, Scotland.
  Our choice for actual British ale served stateside.
• Snake Dog IPA: Flying Dog Brewery, Maryland.
  Very local and very fresh.
• Really Old Brown Dog: Smuttynose Brewing Company, New Hampshire.
  An amped-up version of their traditional Brown Ale, aged in the cask.
• Allagash Black: Allagash Brewing Company, Maine.
  Somewhere between a Stout and Belgian Strong Ale.

The other bubbled fermented beverage will be available ... if you must.

• What's cask ale? Go here.
• Caveat lector: I am employed by a northern Virginia wholesaler that sells Allagash, Brooklyn, and Flying Dog beers.
• Want to polka in the New Year? Maryland's fabled Blob's Park will re-open New Year's Eve. Go to www.blobspark.net for more information.