Rocklands Masters the Three B’s: Beer, BBQ and Bourbon

If you’re craving tasty, slow-cooked comfort foods paired with American craft beers, there is a place in the neighborhood just for you.

Pre-party dinner groups are a regular sight at Rocklands Barbeque and Grilling Company, which caters to a neighborhood crowd that includes workers from the FDIC (just up the block), George Mason University law students and faculty, and some 400 Bourbon Club members who sample the 75 different premium bourbons that beg comparison.

Along with seven American drafts (including Miller, Blue Moon, Sam Adams Boston Lager and Noble Pils and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale), Rocklands stocks an extensive selection of craft cans that includes several beers by Oskar Blues brewery in Longmont, Colo., including Ten Fiddy, (a dark, massively malty imperial stout), Old Chub (a Scotch ale) and Dale’s Pale Ale (an aggressively hopped pale ale, a great pairing with Rockland’s own brand of barbecue and hot sauces.)

“You are seeing a lot more cans come out of the craft breweries these days, which has always been the case with mainstream domestics, but we serve both here,” said Joe Nelson, bar and operations manager.

Other canned offerings include Pork Slap (a pale ale from a rural New York State brewery), Back in Black (a black IPA) and Hell or High Water (a watermelon ale), both from the 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco and Sea Dog Raspberry and Apricot Wheat from Maine. 

They do carry one bottled beer, however: Redbridge, the gluten-free offering from Anheuser-Busch. Rocklands also serves Rockland’s Coolant Root Beer on tap (brewed by Old Dominion Brewing Co.) for kids and thirsty groups outside in the sun on Rockland’s outdoor patio.

“I am a Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) man myself,” said general manager Brad Yoder, “but Joe [Nelson] is all about crafts, so our bar and carry-out beers are a good mix of styles and flavors.”

Yoder cut his teeth working as bar manager for six years in Washington, D.C. at Kelly’s Irish Times, where congressional interns still come to play fresh off Capitol Hill.

After graduating from L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Yoder was tapped to cook at Rustico in Alexandria under then-executive chef Frank Morales.

“He and [beer director] Greg Engert used to give me a shift beer each evening to try and broaden my horizons, but they quickly learned I am a PBR man and know what I like to drink,” said Yoder.

On a recent visit, I tried the barbecue Black Angus beef ribs - tasty and pinkish from hours of slow roasting.  I tried their potato salad and though it was not overdone with dressing, it reminded me of my grandmother’s version with hard-boiled egg, diced celery, fresh herbs and lots of pepper and some salt.  I’ll be back to check out their selection of barbecue offerings that looked promising, such as grilled Italian sausage and onions, grilled vegetables, grilled lamb and a fresh daily catch-of-the-day special.

I probably should have stopped by on Monday instead of Tuesday. “Here we have an all-day special on Mondays where you can get a free chopped pork sandwich when you buy any beer.  It has been going great,” said full-time bartender R.J., who grew up in California but made Boston his home for many years and graduated from Boston College.

Rocklands has locations in Washington, Rockville and Alexandria in addition to its Arlington restaurant at 3471 Washington Blvd. (across from Giant Foods). “Prior to December 2007, when we opened this location, we shared an adjacent space within CarPool, also in Ballston,” said Yoder.

It’s still too early in the 2012 presidential sweepstakes for Rocklands to commit to another limited-edition Barack Obama Hot Sauce, but it’s never too late for good beer and barbecue!