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| Pint Night at Dahlia's Pour House |
Our first destination that evening was Dahlia's Pour
House (2695 Post Street – 904.738.7132). It was Pint Night there
featuring the creations by Bold City Brewery. Pint Night is very
popular at Dahlia's – so get there early to be able to snag a pint glass or
two!
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| TJ from Pele's and Robin and Jennifer from Bold City Brewery |
Companion and I selected and shared the following Bold City
beers while sitting at the bar:
Bold City Irish Red
Malty and just the right amount of bitter on the tail end.
Bold
City Brewery Duke's Cold Nose Brown Ale
This
is a mild brown ale which is easily drinkable. A slight nuttiness and sweetness
are present.
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| I snagged that shirt! Mine! |
Bold City Brewery 1901 Red Ale
This is not your standard Red Ale. This is a very
‘malty’, ‘roasty’ and complex Red Ale. The roasted flavor comes from the high
presence of roasted barley. With a very minimal but high alpha hop addition,
this Red Ale has become a favorite among patrons.
Bold City Brewery Chinook IPA
The Chinook IPA is brewed with a single hop variety. The
Chinook hop gives this IPA a nice floral aroma and the addition of caramel
malts adds a hint of sweetness.
Bold City
Brewery E-St. Ale
An Amber Ale
brewed specifically for European St. Cafe restaurants. It's known as their
"Lamp Post Ale".
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| BCBTCB ... translation; Bold City Beauties taking care of business |
To view more photos from Dahlia's Pour House for Bold City Pint Night, please visit the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.336383976447218.79311.181100418642242&type=3
Dahlia's Pour House
Our next stop was Billy's Boathouse (2321
Beach Blvd – Jacksonville Beach (904.241.9771).
Since it was our first visit, we had a little trouble
locating it using our GPS, but find it, we did. Being situated adjacent to
Nipper's, the presence of the bridge over the Intracoastal blocks a direct view
of the establishment.
We entered and after a minute or so were led to a table near
the rear of the restaurant. The hostess said our server would be with us soon. She
was wrong. After seven minutes had passed (we were timing it), the
hostess re-appeared and said our server would be there momentarily. Wrong
again. The place had very few patrons at that time, by the way.
I needed to “powder” and went downstairs to do so in a
restroom obviously minimally maintained (companion later confirmed the mens'
restroom was the same). When I returned to our table, there were two
glasses of water there which had arrived ten minutes after we were seated. I
asked companion if our server had taken our order and he responded that she
hadn't – just dropped off the water, said she's return soon and quickly left.
Good lord – enough of the waiting - and it was obvious the server was poorly
trained and was well on the way of ruining a first impression.
I walked up to the bar and asked the bartender (Jamie) if we could move from our table (aka “Land of the Lost”) to the bar. Jamie affirmed we could and was very pleasant during the balance of our stay. Rest assured, she alone salvaged my first impression of Billy's Boathouse.
Their drink specials of the evening included margaritas, so
I decided to swerve a little off my usual beer-centric path. It was good – but
I realized how much I do indeed now much prefer craft beer. Several beers are
available but nothing especially noteworthy – a good dose of “craft” would make
the bar more attractive to me, of course.
As we were eating, companion continued his description of
the game of Cravitz which he had started the evening before:
In modern times, scoring through the four attended goals
could be either on the ground (known as a woomick and worth 17 points) or
through the air (known as a dermish and worth 11 points). Scoring through the
“Chumb Goal” was worth 6 points, via either dermish or woomick. The hitlibitle
must always be used to propel the purnunkle - any touching of the purnunkle by
hands, head or other body parts (intentional or not) resulted in a penalty.
Penalty shots were taken from the “Chumb Line” in front of the “Chumb Goal”.
Failing to score via penalty shot in the air through the unattended goal forced
the team failing to score to put the purnunkle back in play by one of their Frummerts
from the “Chumb Line”.
To me, my impression was that Billy's Boathouse needed a
good scrubbing, stem to stern and some formal and focused training of wait
staff. Other online reviews of the establishment include a significant number
indicating slow or non-existent service. I never make my decisions on whether
to visit a bar or restaurant based on those reviews, but my experience there
that evening supported what I had read. Unfortunately, Jamie can't tend the
bar AND wait all the tables by herself!
All this said, I must say the tacos were great and Jamie was
a professional and effective bartender. When I go back, we'll just sit at the
bar so as not to risk being “lost at sea” in the dining area.
Billy's Boathouse (2321 Beach Blvd –
Jacksonville Beach – 904.241.9771)
The featured brew was the Cascade IPA – a single hop
– single malt creating weighing in at 6.5% ABV. Good stuff!
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| Fellow patron at Green Room Brewing |
Green Room Brewing
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