Beer is never my preference drink – I’m more of a wine drinker – but there’s something so fun about beer tastings.

When I lived in New Orleans there was a brewery down the street that offered free tours and tastings every Friday, so when my dad was in town we decided to check it out. I really enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at the brewing process, not to mention trying all the varieties was fun. Fast forward a few months later and I volunteered at beer tasting event, Tails and Ales, where I got to show off my knowledge of local Nola brews and pour samples.

When I moved back to Maryland, my friends set me up on a blind date – you might remember this was one of my 24 for 24. I was kind of nervous but figured we’d have enough to talk about based on the mutual friend factor (even if my friends flunked as matchmakers). While it turned out there wasn’t any chemistry there, the date was really fun! We ordered a flight of the bartender’s favorite beers for sampling. The activity gave us something to focus on and took the pressure off our initial conversation preventing potential blind date awkwardness.

So when I visited Brookland Pint I was excited to find their drink menu was twice the size of their lunch menu, and it looked like they had a couple of Commercial Beer Tap Systems to accommodate all that beer. Since we stopped by just after the Pope’s visit, all the beers were religious themed. We ordered up four of the bartenders favorites in 4 oz sampling glasses. Most of the beer on tap are brewed locally but a few are imported.

First up was the Chimay Premiere (Red). In my inexpert words, it was a pretty normal beer. Thumbs up.

Then we tried the Evil Twin Aun Mas Cafe Jesus. This was comparable to taking a strong, coffee flavored shot. Not my cup of… beer.

The Blushing Monk and I made great friends. Light fruit flavor but no over-the-top or gross sweetness.

The last beer was The Beast Grand Cru 2014. The honey, dates, molasses, etc. were very apparent in the flavor. This is liquid dessert, way too sweet for me.

While not every drink was my favorite, we had a lot of fun experimenting. And the food on the other hand hit all high notes for us. Like I mentioned before, the lunch menu is pretty brief. Their dinner menu is more extensive, but the lunch menu has all my new favorites – pimento cheese, sweet potato wedges, lentil barley burger and falafel pita – on it.

I was a little skeptical to try the pimento cheese. I lived in South Carolina and have been hard pressed to find anything worth my time since acquiring a taste for the dip at Di Prato’s in college. Turns out it is a pretty good second, especially considering I won’t be in Columbia anytime soon to indulge in the original favorite.

I was on the fence between fries and sweet potato wedges. Order the sweet potato wedges and eat them all up while their still warm!

I also got the lentil barley burger, which wasn’t as flavorful as I hoped but the avocado and sprouts made up for it. I much preferred the falafel pita I ordered when I went back 2 days – yes, 2 days – later to eat again. And two times is definitely not enough. I will, of course, be back for a fun beer tasting date night.