Bluejacket to open in DC Tuesday, Oct. 29th

On a related note, does anyone know when Right Proper Brewpub in Shaw is supposed to open?

 

I know that the (assistant?) brewer is leaving his current job tomorrow to head down there, so it sounds like soon.

 

Already a line: https://twitter.com/TheYardsDC/status/395276946785181697/photo/1

 

According to the DC Beer blog post, they will selling bombers eventually but think Growlers should be drank fresh and people open, have some, and save for another time.

 

Anyone go to opening night last night? How was it?

 

It was busy, really busy. I was lucky enough to be towards the front of the line and a few buddies of mine were able to get seats at the bar, which made the entire experience easier. I thought they were prepared to deal with the crowd and to be blunt, they were working their asses off behind the bar. It was nice to see Greg and Megan behind the bar, helping out the staff with orders, filling waters etc. I did see some people waiting a considerable amount of time to get service, but that was clearly due to the number of people there, not the level of service. I didn't have anything to eat, but looking at the menu, I expect it to be very similar to what you get at Churchkey.

 

I can sum up my (beer) experience in a few words: hit or miss.

First off, the space is fantastic - appealing to the eye and well laid out - even if the location is a bit isolated for most in the city. Service was super slow (to be expected on opening night) but accommodating and mostly attentive. The food was superb and around the expected pricing, but the beer was the most surprising aspect.

Maybe chalk it up to high expectations and a lot of new takes on styles using innovative adjuncts, but I am still cautious to endorse their product. I felt this way previously based on the collaborations, and my opinion has not changed much after the opening. There is huge potential, but they're going to need to work out the kinks and really listen to their customers to figure out what's working and what is not.

Don't get me wrong, there were about half a dozen of the offerings that I absolutely loved (Panther, Seersucker, James, and the Wake to name some favorites), but there were even more that were off the mark, particularly the hoppy beers. I'm not sure if it's over-dry-hopping with Centennial or what, but they were almost all gritty and vegetal, like they had just been pulled off pellets and/or not properly conditioned.

Again, I have high hopes but they have a long way to go. Here's to hoping they keep around the winners while continuing to churn out new and interesting stuff.

 

^ that was pretty much my experience as well

 

I tried Bluejacket out last night. As grover37 said, the space is really wonderful. The food was also outstanding.

The beers, not so much. I went with a group so we managed to try them all. They have a few highlights, but I was generally disappointed in about 75% of their offerings. The kolsch (Forbidden Planet) was awesome. I also enjoyed the schwarzbier (Panther) the Bitterschön, and the imperial stout (The Wake) which hides it's booze well. The highlight though was the Figure 8 old ale on cask. It was outstanding, especially with the desserts.

The hoppy beers are a complete mess. I don't know what they are doing with these but they need a lot of work. There's a harshness and overall dirty feel to them that isn't pleasing in any way. One of our pours had so much sediment in it it looked like oatmeal. The gose (Ingénue) also smelled like really ripe blue cheese which was quite off putting when you're expecting a refreshing sour/saltiness.

I'm going to chalk it up to overreaching by trying to open with 20+ beers. Hopefully they can work out the kinks, but I'll definitely be waiting a while before I give them another shot.

 

There's a lot of sediment in the Heady Topper's I've been drinking and they still manage to taste pretty decent.

 

I know what typical sediment looks like. This was grey sludge that smelled terrible.

 

Went early for dinner last night (6ish) and was actually surprised to see open tables for walk-ins. The bar was pretty crowded though. The service ran smoothly and the food was great as others have said. Got to try 6 of their beers, and for the most part thought they were good. The standouts to me were the Cask of Figure 8 and the Tooth and Nail IPA. Wasn’t a fan of the Right Hand Man IPA, that’s really the only one I wouldn’t consider getting again in the future. Overall, for only being their second night open I thought it was a good showing.

 

I was 8th in line and had a decent seat at the bar. My service was good, despite the crowd, but I am sure some people probably waited a long time for a drink and may have been turned off. I was impressed at the different types of styles they offered, as well as some of the nuances they were able to create. The two versions of Wake and of Figure 8 were all very different. I will be interested to see what beers stick around...

 

I haven't posted anything in a while. I need to do better: The brewmaster, Megan, is a former military bandsman. Being a member of the Air Force Band, how could I not love that. Thanks for the intel. I plan on attending very, very soon.

 

My quick impressions:

Stopped by Saturday a few minutes before 4. There was a stumbling undead mass of people already swarming the door, not really queuing politely. Got a seat at the bar and service was great considering the crowds. Like others said, it's a nice space and used similarly to any of the other NRG locations. Similar menu as well.

Prices were between $2 and $3 for most small pours which was a little cheaper than I was expecting from them so that was nice. The samples are served in stemmed wine glasses with a very narrow mouth. A little awkward to drink from for me, but whatever. Also didn't appreciate the bartender sticking his nose in my glasses to figure out which beers he poured me.

The beers? Slightly better than I expected (I was nervous they were going for "let's make every possible style of beer poorly!" instead of "let's focus on a few things and do them well!"). Tried 15-ish of the 25; 3 or 4 were something I'd order again, most were competent but forgettable and 4 were drainpours.

As mentioned above the IPAs missed the mark and were biggest disappointment. Particularly the IIPA, Tooth and Nail, had a strong herbal and onion flavor, minimal bitterness, etc. All of the "hoppy" beers had a strong vegetable and herbal presence. Dry hopped stuff like the "kolsch" and the session IPA smelled incredible and were easily drinkable, but as mentioned before the nose didn't translate to the flavor at all.

With the pent up demand and hype for Bluejacket to open, the quality of the actual beers themselves are sort of irrelevant right now which should give them plenty of time to gracefully work out the kinks. Even the ones I thought were failures, I heard being ordered over and over again by others (because... IPA!!! WOO!!) so thankfully my opinions are irrelevant.