Metro DC Brewery Discussion Thread

Here now. At the end of the line. At least 60 people in line waiting outside. Inside looks packed too. Mug club member who was walking out said one of bartenders didn't think beer would last till 2. Might be waiting for nothing.

 

Thanks for the updates, guys and girls. Sounds like it's not in the cards. Space Reaper here we come.

 

think that is tomorrow

 

Yep, no danger of them running out either.

 

Many angry wives in DC today. Aslin was pretty unprepared for the hype today. Beer is great, but hopefully they figure out how to manage the lines for the next big release. I showed up 3hrs ago and still have not gotten my crowler (counting line to enter and waiting for crowler). I guess we'll have to treat this like other major releases and expect this next time. Maybe the Thursday release next week will go better.

 

Is it legal to prefill crowlers? Seems like that would speed things up, at least early on in the day.

 

I almost mentioned this yesterday, but it looks like a ticketing system may be needed/warranted. It would probably stavr off the lines at opening and allow regular patrons to actually come have a pint rather than be scared off by the salivating masses.

Speaking of, I am headed to Treehouse/HF in a couple weeks if anyone is looking to trade a crowler or two...

 

FYI, Neutrino is out at Aslin. Other three are still going.

 

So, uh, who's gonna get some Space Reaper?

Worth the 10 min drive?

 

I think that's tomorrow

 

Hearing Master of Karate and Orange Starfish both kicked. I'm not actually there to confirm, so take that for what it's worth.

 

Confirmed by Aslin's Twitter. I guess it was worth the wait..................

 

I think i'm gonna take a rain check on Aslin until they increase their capacity. Great beer, but waiting 3 hours in a NoVa strip mall for 2 crowlers isn't really my idea of a good time.

I just hope Ocelot continues to be an oasis of hype-free great beer in this insane market.

 

Wait, they're filling the crowlers "live" while hundreds of people are standing in line (outside?)? I've never been there. This whole time I thought surely they were ready to go and people were just walking up and paying, and if you wanted to fill your personal growler, there was some other sort of line. I bet the guys filling are hating life. Jeez.

They obviously wouldn't want to fill so many grolwers there were many left at the end of the day, but if they had beer/ were open tomorrow I'm sure no one would complain about walking up and getting one that was filled 24hrs previous.

 

To answer my own question, here's what the FAQ on their site says:

"Can you pre-fill a crowler for me? I won’t make the release today.

No, we cannot. By Virginia Law this would be a violation of our license to do so. We know you like our brewery and want to try everything you can. It is important to us to STAY OPEN and provide you with that opportunity."

I know Veil does pre-filled crowlers, but I guess it's possible they're operating under a different license.

 

3+ hour wait for me as well. FWIW, I finally walked out with my crowlers around 1:30. I heard two guys parked by the crowler station that appeared to know the guys working it whispering to one another that they were told that they were "about to run out in another 30 minutes" from what the crowler guys said. That was around 1:30'ish. Sounds liked they were right...

Really feel for the people who were still standing in line when I walked out that likely had no clue that they had zero shot to get a crowler of either Starfish or Karate.

 

The wording of that kind of makes it sound like "can I pay over the phone and you hold it for me until I pick it up another day?" which just sounds like an additional and unnecessary PITA for them. Although perhaps they are simply under some kind of brewpub license without any official "packaged" beer license, whereas Veil appears to both do crowlers and more traditional 12oz/16oz canned beers as well.

As with everything at these small places, probably an evolving system as scale and customer count drive their logistics. Thanks for the info btw.

 

I hadn't had Red Invasion before and listed it on my sheet when I was in line outside but thought it kicked since it wasn't on the scroll when I got inside, so scratched it out and put down The Duke instead, got home and saw crowlers labeled Red Invasion. It also tastes very much like The Duke when I had it at the source today. Was my crowler mislabeled or are they the same beer?

 

ahhh ok cool thank you!