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.