It’s time for Friday Happy Hour, highlighting a drink we’ve recently enjoyed, every Friday at 4pm! Please share your favorites as well.

I may be against eating meat but I am totally in favor of day drinking. When Addison arranged a ChurchKey for brunch on Sunday, I asked to tag along. As a vegetarian, I wanted nothing to do with the Luther – I just wanted to socialize and drink beers at noon.

Noon seem early for a bourbon-barrel aged wild ale – but by the time we wrapped up the multi-hour brunch session, several glasses of Goose Island Dominique had made their way to our table. I think everybody ordering beer at the table had at least a small glass.

Goose Island produces the very delicious Bourbon County Stout, which is aged in used bourbon barrels. After they age the stout in those barrels, they recycle them again to age a wild-yeast farmhouse style ale to produce the Dominique. The barrel-aging infuses the beer with a bourbony, spirituous quality and vanilla note, which blends perfectly with the more tart, sour, and rustic flavors.

The fascinating thing about this beer is that it seems to be so balanced that it really appeals to a wide variety of tastes. Everybody with whom I have sampled this seems to enjoy it. When I found myself at ChurchKey again with another beer nerd, his sip of mine turned into him ordering himself another glass. (I forced myself to have something else and ordered a different Goose Island, the Pepe Nero, for my next drink.)

It does not go overboard in any single direction which may not impress the heads who want something really intense or distinctive. Instead, the beer has a certain elegance and subtlety – without being boring.

Brittany Martin

Brittany has tried to leave DC, it just never lasts. She has lived in Chicago, California, and China – but she always comes back home. Brittany is a drinks, nightlife, and style correspondent for We Love DC. Between columns, you can find her on Twitter, Tumblr, or standing by the bar. Email her at brittany(at)welovedc.com.