District Craft Brew Scene?? :(

we used to have a DC only beer thread, maybe the good beer is listed in the there??

 

If you want to carry on a conversation and be taken seriously.. using Bruh ( or whatever all the young kid speak is now these days ), and actually complaining about you can't get good beer from breweries in dc.. well people are going to probably more than likely not take you seriously as an adult.

Probably not a good way to start a thread...

You barely been here 6 months, there is plenty of good and even great beer being made in dc, if also some i dont care for.

considering all the names you brought up you didnt even mention Right Proper. I suggest you check them out.

Heck i had the Klosch from Hellbender last weekend. Pretty tasty..

But if you're still striking out you can keep checking around for a bit or brew your own. Stick around for awhile.

Best of luck.

 

I think it was the word bruh specifically, because, ya know, adults use 'dude'.

 

I've read the majority of this thread, and I'm going to be in DC at the end of April. I am staying in Manassas for a wedding, but I will probably venture into the District for a day. I've mapped out parking and transit options for a beer tour around the city. I've got DC Brau, Atlas, Right Proper, and Bluejacket on the radar (for simple proximity's sake), but clearly there are some folks here that can steer me in the right direction.

In DC- Which few breweries should I visit if I only have a few hour window? And good beer bars with good food for the in-betweens?

Manassas/Haymarket- I've seen a Washingtonian DC area brewery map and see a decent amount of options in that area. Which ones are the best?

Beltway brethren, hook up a Midwesterner with some turista knowledge!

 

Of the breweries you listed, Right Proper is easily the best place to visit for beer/food/ambiance, assuming you like farmhouse style beers. There hoppy offerings are usually average. DC Brau is solid, if the current batch of wings is any good, but the brewery itself isn't worth the visit. It's a typical industrial park, not in a great part of the city. Bluejacket is a nice a venue, but beer and food both tend to be underwhelming for me. I've never been to Atlas.

 

I second right proper then taking an uber to somewhere more low-key then churchkey. Somewhere like meridian pint.

 

Manassas area: I liked Bad Wolf, didn't care for Heritage or Old Busthead. Bad Wolf had a vaguely laid back hippie vibe. Heritage had a weird military vibe (and when i asked for a taste of something they said "that's what flights are for"). Old Busthead, the person pouring saw my DC Brau shirt and asked me "Who is DC Brau?" I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The end.

 

Is Meridian Pint walkable from the Columbia Heights transit stop? Is it in a sketchy area?

 

yes

less sketchy than most of Detroit.

 

Not sketchy.

 

I'm planning a short trip to DC this coming weekend and would love to enjoy some good beers from the East Coast that don't distribute to CO while I'm here. From what I'm reading, with limited time, the bar scene is recommended over the local breweries.

So far, I've heard Churchkey and Meridian Pint. Is there another can't miss bar? Pizzeria Paradiso maybe? Brasserie Beck? If I want to get to one brewery, it sounds like Right Proper should be the one. What else would people recommend?

Also, where should I go for a good bottle shop? Chevy Chase Wine and Spirits gets the most reviews on BA, followed by Connecticut Ave and Whole Foods. Thanks.

 

@Caleb.

Bars: anything by Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Google them (they own Churchkey, Bluejacket. the Sovereign, Etc.). Anything by Meridian Pint's group, which includes Smoke & Barrel and Brookland Pint. And Right Proper, which is a brewpub. If you're looking for stuff in VA there are a couple others in Clarendon (Arlington).

Breweries: Aslin and Ocelot. They are 15 mins from each other in VA, though a 45 drive outside the District.

Bottle Shop: Calvert Woodley on Connecticut Ave. By far the best. Abyss is still on the shelf.

 

Awesome, thanks!

 

I'll be staying near L'enfant Plaza next week, which will be my first visit to the area in nearly 10 years. Are there any restaurants, bars, or bottle shops that have a decent craft selection within a 15 minute walk?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

The Partisan (Neighborhood Restaurant Group), Ironhorse, District Chophouse are all in Chinatown. You're on the green line, which is easy access to many of the other bars mentioned in the previous posts.

 

This has all been very helpful. I'll be in DC for work at the end of the month with three nights to spare. I've got some good brewery / brewpub recommendations and some beer bar recommendations that will certainly test my limits of beer spending. I hope to try many local offerings that I cannot get in NJ and a handful of non-local offerings that I'd otherwise not be able to find.

My hotel is a about mile north west of the White House, 9th NW at O NW. I'll be doing my own research but any bars or restaurants (not necessarily beer) in walking distance that you all recommend let me know! In fact I'd love a "DC's best" pizza recommendation. Thanks!

 

That area and walking is a ghost town at night, but you are on the green, yellow, blue and orange line and can get places easily. Blue Jacket is not far from there by Metro or cab.

 

Lived in NoVA for a couple years (until about 2 years ago). As an adult I've also lived in Chicago, norCal, and Indianapolis. From a distro standpoint, at the time I lived in those places, DC was far and away the best! The stuff you could find on tap on your average evening was incredible. The friendly distro laws make that possible but even in NoVA there are a number of quality places to grab a beer where you'd come across some outstanding brew.

The local beer in DMV, though, is comparative garbage, imho. OTWOA, for instance, is a solid beer, but there are 10 comparable beers made in Chicagoland blowing it out of the water (at least 5 cross my mind without even thinking about it). There's a brewery here in Indy (Deviate) that has at minimum 5 beers that crush the best thing I ever had locally in DMV. And in CA, I don't even need to give any detail...

All this said, when I moved to DC, it took me a couple months to "come to terms" with the lack of quality beer unique to the area. From a trading standpoint, I was basically done as my west coast trading partners were not overly interested in what I had to send once I was in DC. HOWEVER, the beer and food scene in DC is pretty epic. You've got little sandwich shops (Lost Dog), awesome pizza joints (Rustico, Firehouse, Paradiso), and a bunch of randoms with some $ food (Evening Star Cafe in Del Ray, Smoke & Barrel, Meridian Pint, etc.), that all have great beer. Don't even need to mention Churchkey. On a random Saturday I'd find out Dupont Paradiso had a bunch of Cantillon on draft and I'd go there and it wouldn't be busy at all. I'd look at the list for Meridian Pint on a Thursday afternoon and they'd have a bunch of rare Founders on tap and I'd go and get it easily. From a proximity standpoint, so many good places that are not that far apart from each other. Always some incredible stuff on tap that you'd be hard-pressed to find so easily just about anywhere else. The DC beer scene is not a big local one, but it's utterly fantastic, nevertheless. Feel good about that; embrace what you've got.

 

So you haven't lived here or visited in two years? One can tell given you're using OTWOA as a reference point. Ocelot and Aslin. And Right Proper and Bluejacket. Taken together, the DC/Baltimore region is the same size as the Chicago Metro Region. So I get to throw Union Craft in there as well. Anybody have any others they want to add?