Night Life Beyond the Beltway

The main bar area (that's the section with the "Melbourne Gaol" sign and a number of tables and wooden booths) is more Aussie than Irish. Dedicated to the legendary Australian bushranger Ned Kelly, it features a life-size replica of his famous metal armor. Behind it, wax heads peer through the bars of heavy prison doors. It's all very Madame Tussauds chamber of horrors -- fitting, since Kelly was executed in Melbourne Gaol in 1880.

Despite the other entertainment options, which include Texas Hold 'Em tournaments every Monday and regular screenings of Six Nations rugby games, live music remains the best reason to head to Ned's. The cover is usually not too bad (about $8), and there's a coat check, so you don't have to lug your jacket around as you hop from the bar to the dance floor and back.

The Original Steakhouse And Sports Theatre

43145 Broadlands Center Plaza, Ashburn;

571-223-0100

I've spent time at the ESPN Zone, which has, oh, 150 high-definition TVs, including a gi-normous 16-foot display. I've watched games at bars with dozens of televisions posted at every angle, so I didn't miss a single minute of a game. But I can't remember the last time I was as awed by a sports bar as I was by the Original Steakhouse and Sports Theatre a few weekends ago.

Sit at the long U-shaped counter and you're surrounded by 10 6-by-8-foot projection screens, all showing basketball or racing as large as life -- or larger. When they're all showing different games, it's a dizzying experience, but a lot of fun. It's hard not to be distracted, keeping your eyes from jumping from screen to screen. This is perfect for short-attention-span NCAA basketball viewing but bad for polite company. When the action is so in-your-face, you're going to lose track of conversation, unless it's yelling, "Did you see that?" while pointing at the closest movie-size broadcast.

Even the beers are outsized, but it's hard to say "no" to a large 22-ounce mug of Dominion Ale, especially when it's only $5.50. Bargain hunters will do well at happy hour, where the monster drafts are $2 from 4 to 7 on weeknights. There are nightly specials, too, including $1 bottles of Budweiser or $2 shots.

The high-ceilinged room isn't meant for large groups, especially if you're eating. (As you'd expect from the name, the restaurant specializes in cuts of carved bovine, though even the wings are available bone-in or bone-out.) There are TVs in the booth-filled dining room, though not as many and certainly not as large. There are even televisions in the foyer, so you can watch games while waiting for a table.

Vintage 50

50 Catoctin Cir. NE, Leesburg; 703-777-2169

Some of the freshest and best beer in Loudoun County flows from the taps at Vintage 50, a brew pub that has taken over the space formerly occupied by Thoroughbreds. What sets the new Leesburg bar apart is that the man concocting its ales and lagers is award-winning brewer Bill Madden, who ran the show at Capitol City Brewing Co. and Founders.

After running down the taps at Vintage 50, I've yet to be disappointed. His Extra Special Bitter is the best in the Washington area to wear that famous name, a solid, malty example of the British favorite. Point of Rocks Pale Ale is tasty without being overwhelmed by hops, and its Belgian cousin, a hard-to-find Belgian Pale Ale, is tart and surprising.

Madden is still making his delicate German Kolsch and the delicious Wee Heavy Scottish Ale recipes he has carried with him since Cap City. His cask-conditioned ales, served through an English-style hand pump, weren't available on my last visit. The bartender explained that they'd simply run out because they hadn't foreseen how popular the beer was going to be.

Everything coming from the taps sounds good, so it's best to order the sampler -- five-ounce pours of any four from the six or seven beers on the list -- before deciding what you want to drink.

Unlike at most other area brew pubs, Vintage 50's bar area is a separate, intimate affair not dominated by copper serving tanks or brewing apparatus. (Those are on your right as you walk in.) At one end of the room is a raised lounge area with couches, leather stools and low-slung tables, which could have come from a higher-priced joint downtown. It feels like a VIP area, which is slightly odd when juxtaposed against the rest of the bland-but-attractive decor: high two-person tables, flat-screen TVs and plenty of bar stools.

Aesthetic gripes aside, I'll be back for happy hour, which runs from 4 to 8 weekdays and features $3 pints. Tuesday is an even better value: $2 beers and $2 jumbo pretzels. If you need a souvenir of your visit, Vintage 50 sells growlers of its beers to go: $12 for the 64-ounce resealable glass jug, and $8 every time you have it refilled.

Fritz Hahn is the bars and clubs editor for washingtonpost.com.