Aslin Beer Co. (2019)

Some of you may be interested.

 

Looks like a couple silent bottle releases at both locations today:

Alexandria 16.5%, Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout conditioned on Marshmallow, Peanut Butter and Banana....$30/bottle

Barrel Project 16127 8%, Barrel Aged Golden Sour conditioned on PawPaw fruit. In Collaboration with Horus Aged Ale...$15/bottle

 

Stopped by Alexandria on my way home from work. Glad they have this new space, especially closer to the city. I will never need to go to Herndon again in my life, and that feels good. Some observations:

-New space is HUGE. Once they get everything up and running I'm excited about how much more beer they will be producing.
-Taproom is LOUD. It was at maybe half capacity and it was too loud to really think or even hear the bartender. I was planning on hanging out for a bit, but wanted to leave immediately. You know what I mean if you've been there.
-Beers tasted good. I had half pours of Astro Zombie and Dunley Place. I know it's in the works but they really need some lagers on tap.
-Parking was a little tough, I'm not sure if there's more parking behind the building? The streets were lined with 18-wheelers
-I really like the separate gift shop that I assume will be used for can sales and growler fills.
-Took home some cans of Grasshopper. This is a fantastic 5% juicebomb.
-For two half pours and a 4 pack of Grasshopper ($15) it came out to $30 after tax and tip. Seemed kinda steep?

In conclusion, I think I will stop by every couple months for cans when I want them. But can't imagine wanting to hang out there for longer than one or two beers. But hey, they just opened and I'm sure they're working out the kinks.

 

This seems to be the biggest complaint.

More silent bottles today.

 

When I was there the line to get a drink was quiet long, as they only had two stations to get beer. I think it might be a weeknight only visit for me. I can't imagine what a weekend would look like.

 

Did anyone go this weekend?

 

How fast do can releases typically sell out? Do they usually last a few days like the new Hazy Orange Tears? Just found out my cousin lives <10 minutes from Herndon. Thanks in advance

 

Currently about 1-3 days depending on the beer, should change once they start brewing at the new facility (more like lasting a week+ with more variety).

 

FAQ section of the website says:

DO YOU FILL GROWLERS?

Herndon: No.

Alexandria: Growler and Crowler Fills are not yet available at this time. Later this summer we will have them in the Merchandise Room.

 

Hope they bring back the old school crowler labels

 

I was there Sunday afternoon and thought the crowd was reasonable. The tables were mostly full, but not many people stuck standing due to any lack of seats. They didn't have any stools at the bar or any designated ordering line, it was just functioning like a normal bar where you could walk up to any open spot and a server would come over to take your order. The bartenders were super attentive and I never had to wait more than a couple minutes for a beer.

 

My cousin is sending me a 4 pack of Hazy Orange Tears and Screech!

Anybody try Screech yet?

 

Hey everyone. I’m driving down to DC on Sunday and am planning on stopping in the new taproom. I’m wondering what the odds are that the release from today will still be available then. Any chance or is it unlikely? Would love to bring some stuff home. Thanks.

 

highly unlikely

 

They still have some bottles from last week at the taproom.
Some cans in Herndon

 

Anyone enjoying some of the in-house BA bottles at $80-100? haha.

 

Holy shit. Is that actually the price?

 

yes, for 500mL bottles. appears there are a number of people buying them based on untappd check ins.

 

They actually raised the price of Beaumont to $150 a few days ago, and it's now off the list. I heard they ran through three of the four cases they had when they opened the Alexandria spot, and rumor has it they're squirreling away the last few bottles in anticipation of the new Herndon taproom's opening. In other words, crazy as it sounds, people are jumping on it. I guess this is craft beer in 2019.

 

Does this signify another Trump win in 2020?

 

That's hilarious/ridiculous.

Based on stuff like that and that Brightest Young Things article where they're already mentioning expanding to Virginia Beach and Charlotte does not bode well, but hey, I've been wrong before. They could become another Modern Times I suppose.

 

In an IG post last week, they said they were addressing the noise issue and 'improved/increased parking', no clue how they plan to address the parking.

I'd like to see them allow outside food and/or other food trucks to serve food. I'm sure their food is fine but they just don't have many options.

 

If anyone cares to see the full bottle list, there are images on the most recent Google review. Nearly 30 bottles ranging from $20 - $100, prices seemed to be based on hype/ratings. No idea why they don't keep a list online for people to see, even w/o prices.

 

Jesus, seeing those prices for 2019 bottles is off-putting. That $100 Harrisonburg stuck out first, that beer was released what, a little over a month ago for $30? Went through the rest of the list and see what you said about price based on ratings, pretty shitty to see a brewery price gouging like that. But, I guess that's become the norm with some of the stouts in this style. If people will pay it, they will charge it.

 

Aslin has a crack team of guys monitoring the secondary market so they can replicate it.

 

Man, that crap really turns me off of their brewery/brand. I was thinking about planning a trip up there soon but now I am having some second thoughts about that.

 

Drink their IPA's, milkshakes, pastry stouts, and fruited sours and ignore the stuff with the garbage prices and you'll be fine. No reason to cheat yourself out of great beer because you dislike part of their business model.

 

Plan your trip sometime after they are brewing on the system in Alexandria, at least you'll have some options for take home beer and hopefully they'll have addressed the sound issue by then.

 

To both above options, that still supports a business that actively participates in a characteristic that I'm really not fond of in the craft beer community (gouging prices/charging obscene amounts of money based on hype). There is plenty of same-tier quality beer being produced in the state from breweries that don't pull that kinda shit. To each their own, and some people may not care or think twice about that sorta stuff, but for me I'd rather not support that sort of practice.

 

Any places you recommend? Will only be in DC/Alexandria area for 2 nights and I welcome other recommendations

 

There aren't any breweries in Alexandria/DC that are as good as Aslin. Bluejacket and Right Proper are pretty decent, but not "same-tier."

 

With DTC doing numerous OH releases I haven’t had to go to Aslin, I do not support their price gouging and might never go back once OH opens their tap room. Plenty of other options out there. Supported Aslin pretty much from day 1 but can’t justify doing it any longer, don’t get me wrong the beer is good but no need for the pompous attitudes and all the other shit they are trying to sling instead of focusing on beer.

 

By Other Half, do you mean the brewery that charges $300 for entry into a five hour beer festival? No, no price gouging there at all.
https://greencity.otherhalfbrewing.com/

 

Because that isn't taking that $300 price tag out of context at all

 

Sorry to offend you RKP, I am sure aslin never puts out a bad beer in your mind. Even when they expanded at Herndon and should of dumped many batches they sold.

 

The recent beers I've had from Bluejacket have been pretty good to very good but whenever I go to the brewery, it feels like a NRG money making venture and it's lacking in...soul or authenticity. If that makes sense. It's got a very corporate feel to it. That's disassociated with the quality of the beer, but part of the experience.

Right Proper makes great beer but they're not catering to the haze boi demo. Their production is about draft and grocery store sales, not line up at the brewery to collect haze. I don't think it's fair to say they're a tier below when they're playing a different game.

I prefer Ocelot's hops to Aslin but they're now much further away from DC than Aslin's Alexandria location.

 

I'm not such an alcoholic that I was there trying every beer of every batch they produced when they expanded, but I have no complaints about anything I've ever tasted from Aslin, which admittedly is a small fraction of what they've produced.

And $100 for a bottle of beer or $300 for a beer festival is ridiculous. Aslin and Other Half won't get my money on either of those prices, I'm not a millionaire. However, they will get my money on their more reasonably priced four packs.

 

Now, I'm no businessman or legality expert, but I imagine hosting a beer fest has a lot of overhead fees (licenses, liability, rentals, etc). Of course, I'm sure these top tier breweries charge a premium for their events over a local beerfest pushing core brands and seasonals, but to compare that to a brewery charging $30 for a bottle of beer, "selling out of it" on that day only to hold an unknown amount back to resell the exact same beer 4-5 weeks later at more than a 200% price increase. Come on man that's way different.

Anyway, I didn't even intend to get deep into an argument here, just was expressing my opinion originally. I don't want to clog this thread up with superfluous bickering (more than I already have, I should say). Definitely not trying to change your mind or influence your habits either, so forgive me if I come off that way.

I'm not as familiar with the DC/NOVA beer scene as I am with Richmond and Southeast VA, so can't offer much help. Churchkey (bar) is located in the District itself and while I've never been, I have heard good things. They carry a great draft and bottle list, likely to find Answer, Veil, etc as well as out of area offerings that not many places carry.