Victoria Gastro Pub, the Columbia brewpub that we named a Best Restaurant last year and Best 'Burbs Bar in 2009, now has growlers for sale. These glass jugs are usually sold at breweries and brewpubs so customers can get some of their favorite beers to-go. This past week, Victoria started selling 32-ounce growlers (about half the size of typical jugs) of their 24 rotating drafts, which currently include Schlafly Coffee Stout, Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat, Baltimore's-own Oliver’s Coventry Cream Ale, and many others.

The growler itself will cost you $15 and then it will be yours to come in and fill as often as you'd like. The prices for filling the growler will vary, of course, depending on the type of beer you choose. The pub is also very specific that the growler cannot be drank on-site and is meant strictly to be enjoyed elsewhere. They can be purchased anytime from opening until midnight.

This is good news for beer enthusiasts, as growlers aren't prevalently sold or filled in the Baltimore area. But these massive beer jugs are great for many things, especially if you want to have a few people at your house and drink straight-from-the-tap, fresh, craft beers without the bar atmosphere.

[Image: courtesy of Victoria Gastro Pub]

This past Friday, I traveled up to Philadelphia to see Girl Talk, aka DJ Gregg Gillis, perform at The Electric Factory. He also made some closer stops (Rams Head Live! on Monday, 9:30 Club on Tuesday), but I thought catching the Friday night show (that last on this tour) in his home state of Pennsylvania would be a guaranteed good time.

And I was right. I've seen Girl Talk before (at Virgin Fest a couple years ago), but this was my first time seeing him headline. Since 2002, Gillis has been putting out albums full of digital mash-ups and sampling from a huge variety of artists. He's been accused of stealing music from those artists (his latest album samples nearly 400 songs), but Gillis maintains that the brief snippets he uses are covered by the copyright law's "fair use" principle. (Plus, most of his music is available for free on his label's website).

Since his music is a collage of other songs, his shows, in turn, become huge dance parties. The sold-out crowd at The Electric Factory certainly looked ready for a dance party, with glow bracelets, neon clothes, and sunglasses. The crowd was definitely skewed younger—most people were college-aged and in their 20s. The Electric Factory is a pretty big venue (akin to 9:30 Club), and it has a fenced-off bar area to the right of the stage, as well as balconies on top. It seems like the type of place where you can always find a good view.

Gillis opened his set with "Oh No," the premeire track on 2010's All Day. The song is a great example of Gillis's ability to mash up seemingly random song that layer together flawlessly. Mash-ups include Ludacris's "Move Bitch" over Black Sabbath's "War Pigs," Call Swag District's "Teach Me How to Dougie" over Jane's Addiction's "Jane Says," and Missy Elliott's "Get Your Freak On" over the Ramones's "Blitzkrieg Bop." One of my favorite samples on his new album is in "Let it Out," where he layers Rhianna's "Rude Boy" over Fugazi's "Waiting Room." Pure brilliance.

Girl Talk then plowed through his recent discography, playing most of All Day and 2008's Feed The Animals. The low point of the show definitely came when Gillis, a Pittsburgh native, played Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" and the crowd dancing on stage (always a requisite at Girl Talk shows) waved terrible towels.

But, that was really the only negative of the high-energy, hour-and-a-half set, which included a version of "Shout" that puts any wedding dance to shame. While the main focus of Girl Talk shows is the music, he gives you plenty of other distractions. There was a giant video board, and he blasted confetti, shot toilet paper from a gun, and dropped balloons from the ceiling. The latter might have been my favorite moment when, towards the end of the show, Gillis played "Every Day," which samples John Lennon's "Imagine" about halfway through. As soon as that iconic piano started, the netted balloons fell from the ceiling in what was a really beautiful moment.

Then he played an encore, or what he called an "after-party set," which included old favorites off of Night Ripper. It certainly seemed like Gillis went all out on Friday, as he kept saying how excited he was to be back in his home state on the last Friday of his tour. To get a good idea of what the show was like, check out one fan's perspective in this YouTube video.

[Image: courtesy of flickr.com/photos/sxt]

On Tuesday night I attended a media dinner at RA Sushi, which was promoting its new food dishes and cocktails. Most of the food we sampled was a welcome addition, especially the deceivingly spicy shishito peppers and the refreshing pacific roll (albacore, cilantro, jalapeño, and cucumber rolled with avocado and mango salsa).

But, what really caught my attention were some of the new cocktails on the menu. I love how sushi restaurants around town get creative with their drink lists—adding Asian twists and unique flavors. RA is a great example. The other night, I sampled the ginger blossom, pictured, a fun take on a typical gin drink. The drink is made with Hendrick's, St. Germain, muddled strawberry, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and a splash of ginger ale. The flavor combination was tangy and spicy, a good compliment to any sushi dinner.

Another drink I tried was the delicious dragon bite (Bacardi Dragonberry, strawberry purée, lemon juice, yuzu, and a splash of soda). This drink had a very tart taste—likely from the yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit—with sweet undertones provided by the strawberry flavors in the rum. This was a deliciously well-balanced, light cocktail.

There are tons of other creative cocktails at sushi restaurants around town. Another good example is Tatu, the funky Asian restaurant in Power Plant. They have a couple of fun drinks, including the Asian pear martini, with Asian sake, pear vodka, and apple juice. They also have sake sangria, which is muddled with lychee fruit and tangerines—a refreshingly mild twist on traditional sake.

RA also boasts an extensive sake list, so I'm hoping to do some rice wine sampling soon!

[Image: courtesy of Profiles PR]

As I mentioned on my blog, there were a few different concerts going on New Year's Eve. I attended J. Roddy Walston and The Business at Rams Head Live! There were three opening bands—newbies Alto Verde, local rapper Mickey Free, and power rockers Beard (who were a perfect intro to the headliner). Before the show, J. Roddy was hanging out around the bar, drinking beers, and chatting with fans. He said it felt good to be home after an exhausting, whirlwind tour to promote their first major label album, on Vagrant Records.

Rams Head Live! provided a complimentary Fordham beer toast (who needs Champagne?) and, just after midnight, J. Roddy Walston and The Business took the stage. The frontman toasted the crowd, wished them a Happy New Year, and then the band blasted their way through a cover of AC/DC's "Highway to Hell." They then powered through their self-titled album, including favorite "Don't Break The Needle," piano-driven "Brave Man's Death," and screamy "Uh Oh Rock & Roll." They also covered Little Richard's "Lucille" and played humorous throwback "Sally Bangs." Other great live tracks included the 50's-like "I Don't Wanna Hear It" and the preachy "Use Your Language."

It was cool to see J. Roddy on a bigger stage. Though the setting was less intimate than their usual venues, their sound was more explosive. And the crowd was just about as energetic as J. Roddy himself—with his signature hair flipping and piano pounding. But the audience didn't get as raucous at typical J. Roddy shows, I guess because there was a sense that, since it was New Year's Eve, you had to keep it a little classy. But their typical climactic ending of "Used to Did" had everyone belting out the lyrics and head-banging along. The show got out a little before 2 a.m., giving fans nearly two hours of rock and roll to ring in the new year.

[Image: courtesy of flickr.com/photos/miscelena]