Definitive Washington DC visit thread

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bum732

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Welcome to DC! Bring more money than you think you need, everything is more expensive here. DC is known as the wild, wild west in beer distributing laws since there are none! So don't be surprised when you come across Surly or Three Floyds in a bar and/or bottle shop. But expect to pay a lot for these beers. Finally, new breweries are opening up every couple months in DC, so keep an eye out for them. New and exciting **** is always happening in Chocolate City (the actual city, not the brewery, which is awful closed).
Before scrolling down, be sure to check the DC beer website for an overview plus map of locations of bars, breweries and bottleshops. You can also check their events page, a great resource all-around. Below are the best of the bunch, from top to bottom. Enjoy my shitty list, and have a great stay.

Bars:

Churchkey: Probably the best beer bar in the DC area. Has the biggest beer events and generally an all-around great tap and bottle list. Taplist available on their restaurant website. Will also have 3-4 beers on cask. Bar food available, good stuff. Located near Logan circle.

Meridian Pint: Another great two-floor craft beer bar with about 20 beers on tap and a great bottle list. Website usually up to date, but can always check their Facebook as well. Decent food, suppose to have a great brunch menu. Located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.

Pizza Paradiso Dupont/Georgetown: Two locations, but somewhat smaller joints making killer pizza. Usually a very solid 10-15 beers on tap with many more in bottles. Can sit outside at the Dupont location in the summer. Tap menus well updated online.

Smoke and Barrel: Great little place with both a main floor and downstairs, similar to Black squirrel (both in Adams Morgan). Known mostly for their bourbon and their BBQ, but always has a great tap list.

The Big Hunt: More of a dive bar vibe. Has about 30 beers on tap, current taplist on their website. While they usually have some outstanding beers on tap, there have been issues with how clean their beer lines are in the past. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the Dupont circle area.

The Black Squirrel: Smallish bar with a huge tap list of great beers. Solid overall, draft list usually up to date on their website. Located in Adams Morgan.

Brasserie Beck: Very classy Belgian centric bar/restaurant. Food is phenomenal with a very solid Belgian beer tap and bottle list. Expect to pay a premium though. Located on K street, near Mt Vernon square.

Belga Café: Another fantastic Belgian centric restaurant. Food is more the emphasis here, but always has great Belgian beers on tap and in bottles. Again, expect to pay a premium here. Located on H street in Eastern Market.

Bier Baron: Very old school bar feel to this place. Known for their extensive bottle and can lists. Near Dupont Circle.

Regional Food and Drink (RFD): Pretty large beer bar, has about 20-25 beers on tap. Tap list usually current online. Definitely caters to the more novice beer crowd, you’ll sometimes see an outstanding beer on tap. Located in the Chinatown area.

Breweries:

DC Brau: Open M-F 4-9pm, Sat. 1-6pm and Sun. 1-5pm. You get 4-5 tickets to try anything on tap as you walk in. Tours are Saturdays only. They can and bottle most of their offerings, many of which you can find on the shelves, others you cannot. Check their website and Facebook for release details.

3 Stars brewery: Open Tue.-Thurs. 4-8pm, Fri. 4-9pm, Sat. 1-5pm and Sun. 12-5pm for growler and tasting hours. Not bottling or canning yet. Homebrew shop is attached.

Bluejacket: Headed by Greg from Churchkey, one of the newest DC breweries that is located in a large, brand new space that is absolutely stunning to look at. Located near the Navy Yards, the attached restaurant is called the Arsenal. 20 house beers on tap that rotate fairly frequently along with a number of guest taps and bottles. Beers were fairly mediocre before the firing of their head brewer. Should be interesting to see how they change. Food is fairly mediocre and got blasted in the Washington Post, but again, should improve over time. Good to check out just for the spectacle and the large number of beers to try.

Right and Proper: Located in the Shaw neighborhood across the street from Howard University, this new brewpub offers a rotating 4 house beers on tap that change fairly regularly. Emphasis is on lower alcohol, rustic, saison like beers, but IMO, producing some of the best quality beers (and very well priced) in DC. Will also have 4 guest taps along with some bottles and wine on tap. A lot of room inside with two separate bars and the food is excellent. Highly recommend.

Bottle Shops:

Chevy Chase Wine and Spirits: Probably the best beer store in the District. Definitely outside the city proper in the Chevy Chase neighborhood, but well worth the trip. Very unique in being a small place where you need to ask for certain beers. They will usually display one bottle and the price for a 6-pack or case. Ask and ye shall receive.

Magruders (Chevy Chase): Right next door to Chevy Chase Wine and honestly, just as good. A bit of a hidden secret, but great beer selection overall. May need to ask if you’re looking for something special, usually kept in the back.

Connecticut Avenue Wine: Tiny place in Dupont Circle, but one of the few places to get out of market beer (Surly, 3 floyds, Deschutes, ect). You’ll be paying a premium for those beers, but you won’t find them anywhere else in the area.

Rodmans (Wisconsin Ave): Another great beer store located near Chevy Chase. Similar to Magruders in being a small grocery store with excellent beer selection.

Whole Foods (P street and Georgetown): Like many Whole Foods that sell beer, usually a really solid selection. P Street even will have rare beers on tap that you can get a pint or growler of.

D’Vines: Located in Columbia Heights, usually has a very solid beer selection and sometimes even better tap selection that you can get a growler fill of. A little overrated, in my opinion, but a good place to stop by if in the area.
 
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Might be worth mentioning Port City here. Just a suggestion given it's the RIGHT over the river and the only brewery open 7 days, and the only one you can sit down and have a few pints at. Also, the beer is delicious.
 
Sure, i was keeping it strictly to the district, which is why i kept out anything from NoVA and MD. Maybe you can make the definitive NoVA list ;). You could even merge it with this if you wanted. I live in MD, so I'm not super familiar with that area.
 
Churchkey: Probably the best beer bar in the DC area. Has the biggest beer events and generally an all-around great tap and bottle list. Unfortunately, their website is ****, so not tap list online, but you’ll never be disappointed. Will also have 3-4 beers on cask. Bar food available, good stuff. Located near Logan circle.
.

Little tip: Go to the Birch and Barley website and they publish and update the tap list there.
 
New brewery alert. Bluejacket opens next Tuesday (for real).

bluejacket-040_opt.jpg


Holy **** they must have spent an insane amount of cashmoney on this. I really hope the beer will be good.
 
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I can't wait to see how much they charge for everything. Should set some new dollars-per-ounce records by the looks of things.
 
I'm blown away by the pics, it's like the nicest brewery i've ever seen...and it hasn't even opened yet. God knows how much money they poured into it. They better be making some top-notch ****.
 
Wasn't sure if there was an official DC thread going (didn't see one), so I thought I'd start one. This can include the more general DMV area as well, unless otherwise specified.

Anyway, I'm looking for some Founder's Breakfast Stout, and so far have struck out at the last 3 places (two WFs and a TW). Any idea who might have some?
 
bum732 created the DC visit thread, but there is no 'heads up/bottles coming' thread that I'm aware of.

Don't have any visuals on FBS, but a call to Macgruder's on Conneticut would probably be in order. That's where I've always bought my Founder's before.
 
Wasn't sure if there was an official DC thread going (didn't see one), so I thought I'd start one. This can include the more general DMV area as well, unless otherwise specified.

Anyway, I'm looking for some Founder's Breakfast Stout, and so far have struck out at the last 3 places (two WFs and a TW). Any idea who might have some?

If you are still striking out there's a ton out here all over the place still in Northern Virginia.
 
I think that's why I was perplexed as the stores I checked were in NoVa. Maybe I just had bad luck. Macgruders does have some - thanks!

Unrelated: in my quest I managed to find a pack of Schlafly's TIPA.. good stuff! Any idea how often that's released?
 
Breakfast stout in abundance at the liquor store at the corner of K and 14th (across from Lima). I can't remember the name, though.

As for backwoods, there may also be some at Schneider's still. NOVA had a 2 part drop, for what it's worth
 
Confused about the OTWOA currently at DC Brau. Anyone know if it's cans/growler, and what batch? I believe they last canned on 10/18, but I'm surprised they'd have anymore (yet apparently they do). Is this a new batch?
 
Found some Abraxas at MacGruders. Sitting on the floor in the box today. 24.99 a bottle was the surprise of the day when I made it to the counter. wtf!
 
Has anyone been to Blue Jacket recently? I'm thinking about headed to the brewery tomorrow maybe. Also considering the NYE party they are throwing. I guess 160$ isn't ridiculous for a ticket, but I rarely go out for ticketed NYE events.
 
Has anyone been to Blue Jacket recently? I'm thinking about headed to the brewery tomorrow maybe. Also considering the NYE party they are throwing. I guess 160$ isn't ridiculous for a ticket, but I rarely go out for ticketed NYE events.
Haven't been yet but the girlfriend and I were given two tickets to the NYE event as a Christmas gift. $160 for any open bar in DC is fairly standard, let alone an open bar with options like bluejacket.

Edit: standard for an NYE open bar I mean.
 
Haven't been yet but the girlfriend and I were given two tickets to the NYE event as a Christmas gift. $160 for any open bar in DC is fairly standard, let alone an open bar with options like bluejacket.

Edit: standard for an NYE open bar I mean.
Perhaps I will meet ya there Steven! 99% sure the wife and two friends will be in attendance.
 
Has anyone been to Blue Jacket recently? I'm thinking about headed to the brewery tomorrow maybe. Also considering the NYE party they are throwing. I guess 160$ isn't ridiculous for a ticket, but I rarely go out for ticketed NYE events.

Beer was good. I went within the first 2 weeks of opening. it was full of the worst hipsters imaginable. was really hard to get a drink and a 3 hour wait for a table. I don;t go into the city very often so I hope it's settled down a bit. will definitely go to pregame some nats games next season tho
 
Spent a few hours at Blue Jacket with bum732 yesterday. Tried their entire line up (20 draft, 5 cask). There were some highlights and some bombs.

Highlights: The Panther (schwarzbier), Black Eye (porter), Scarecrow (Saison), Scarecrow on cask w/simcoe, Mexican radio (Milk Stout),

Bombs: 9lb hammer (DIPA - smelled terrible/tasted terrible), Seersucker (berliner - too wheaty), Trouble ( Oud Bruin - smelled solventy)

Overall, a cool spot to hang out at. Foodwise, I ordered their Texas Burger Deluxe and it was delicious.
 
Spent a few hours at Blue Jacket with bum732 yesterday. Tried their entire line up (20 draft, 5 cask). There were some highlights and some bombs.

Highlights: The Panther (schwarzbier), Black Eye (porter), Scarecrow (Saison), Scarecrow on cask w/simcoe, Mexican radio (Milk Stout),

Bombs: 9lb hammer (DIPA - smelled terrible/tasted terrible), Seersucker (berliner - too wheaty), Trouble ( Oud Bruin - smelled solventy)

Overall, a cool spot to hang out at. Foodwise, I ordered their Texas Burger Deluxe and it was delicious.


Shame about the berliner and the oud bruin. Going to still try the berliner myself though, I'm a berliner fiend and typically don't mind wheatyness. Worth a shot since it's an open bar.

I'll absolutely be checking out the highlights you mentioned!
 
Shame about the berliner and the oud bruin. Going to still try the berliner myself though, I'm a berliner fiend and typically don't mind wheatyness. Worth a shot since it's an open bar.

I'll absolutely be checking out the highlights you mentioned!
Perhaps they will have Forgotton Planet on tap for the NYE event. T'was a shame their most raved about beer wasn't on tap yesterday. Oh well, I will be back! Enjoy the festivities. Wish I was there!
 
Shame about the berliner and the oud bruin. Going to still try the berliner myself though, I'm a berliner fiend and typically don't mind wheatyness. Worth a shot since it's an open bar.

I'll absolutely be checking out the highlights you mentioned!
How was the NYE event? Any thoughts on the beer?
 
Was an awesome event. Beer was also great. Mexican radio was probably the highlight though. Was expecting it to be packed but it was actually really reasonable.

They also waited on us hand and foot all night, too. At one point my buddy off handedly said 'man, I could go for some wing.' Turned out one of the wait staff members heard and wings were on our table in 5 minutes.
 
Anyone else going by DC Brau tomorrow for Growler hours? I'm driving in from Fairfax. Figure may as well try the new IPA!
 
I'm a maybe. An all mosaic hop DIPA sounds pretty tasty. I'll let you know.
 
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