DC/MD/NoVA Beer Updates (2021)

My first taste of Zombie Dust came when DC Brau's Wings Over Armageddon first came out and I was able to trade a six-pack for 3 each of Zombie Dust and Dreadnaught. While Zombie Dust had maybe the best aroma of any beer I have had, the taste did not match. I could not believe its high ranking. I had it last year in Cleveland on tap and this past summer in cans when it arrived in New Jersey and both times was underwhelmed. The Dreadnaught was quite good and I would like to try that and some of their other IPAs. New Jersey only got Gumballhead and Zombie Dust at the stores I frequent. There is an entire thread about 3 Floyds closing in the Mid America forum.
IMO the 3 biggest myths in a beer tasting different/worse are brewery expansions, being bought out, and being readily available

 

Sorry, the 3 Floyds thread is in the Great Lakes forum.

 

OG Wings was awesome and was the best beer DC Brau has ever made. They f'ed up that beer so bad. They should've renamed it, because it's so far from the original at this point. I long for those days many, many years ago.

 

So you're saying that it has been underwhelming for a while and not a result of the bolded?

Yeah, it was excellent. I haven't revisited but what is different about it? Did they change the hop bill?

 

Picked up a sixer of Zombie Dust this week. Canned 2/8. To my palate a malt bomb. Will pawn off on unsuspecting guests

 

My first taste of 3 Floyds came on a trip to Chicago in 2015. I rode the L all over downtown trying as many of their beers as I could find on tap. Again and again, I found myself underwhelmed in light of their high ratings and lofty reputation. Even when I got to try Dark Lord at a bottle share years later, I was shocked that a soy bomb like that could garner such consistently high praise. I've kept what I thought was an outlier opinion to myself on the assumption it's just a palate difference, and I basically shrugged it off when I heard word we would be getting distro. This thread makes it feel like I was just ahead of the curve.

 

I tastes like everything was changed, but I still think it is hopped with all falconer's flight. They definitely did no filter it in the past. It what the first hazy beer that was local and had this dankness about it that was so good.

If DC Brau is reading this...bring back OG Wings!

 

I'm very interested. Ten years ago while visiting relatives in Ohio I fell in love with Alpha King Pale Ale and whatever Double or Imperial IPA they were brewing at the time. Soon after they stopped distributing to that area and I've missed them ever since. Hope I'm not disappointed.

 

Man we need to get these young guns some actual malt bombs to recalibrate their tastebuds

 

I can vouch that he's not a young gun, neither in life nor at being a beer geek.

 

Feel like we've seen a massive influx of breweries distributing to DMV, speaking specifically about VA here. Equilibrium, Other Half, 3 Floyds, Charlestowne, Civil Society, Drekker, even some J Wakefield. These breweries are just here now. And I don't think there was a big hoopla around any of them except for 3 Floyds...which I'd call a legacy brewery. Very interesting to see this consumer behavior.

 

Haha, I do hope that came off with the intended lack of seriousness

 

Personally had the same level of hoopla for Other Half, the others just are not at the same level of sustained excellence and growth, even if some (many? All?) of the individual offerings may be superior

 

When Other Half first started distro in this area I would drive up to Downtown Crown and get their cans, having been at their brewery before and after expansion I loved their beers, but there is another drop off in quality. Aslin also comes to mind. The others you mentioned, I also tried (I even visited J Wakefield in Miami) and was not impressed with any of them...

 

I've only enjoyed 3 out of 10 DC brewed Other Half beers so far. I will revisit in a few months, but for now it's a total waste of money.

 

That’s a shame, keep waiting to hear that the tide has shifted

 

After having a few Zombie Dust beers, I regret making harsh comments on this thread, it is still a very drinkable beer. It could be that my palate has changed or that it just not what it used to be.

 

I may or may not have just picked up my third sixer this weekend.

 

Just got home from Wiley Gunthers where my wife and I had Zombie Dust on tap. Nice beer, very drinkable, did not have the strong hops aroma I remember and definitely not a top 25 beer. The keg of Gumballhead had just kicked so people are drinking 3 Floyds beer. We would like to try Deadnaught, but we are not going to make a special trip.