Aslin Beer Company's Kai Leszkowicz on Starting Small, Trying Stupid Things, and the Future of NEIPA

A few years ago, after the Aslin tasting room had to close and the production side wasn’t fully ramped up (or meeting demand), I saw the crew at Ocelot one Sunday. In a very brief conversation they mentioned wanting to get a tasting room open again to get more/closer feedback from their customers.

They’ve apparently had some issues finding and opening a good spot to re-open a tasting room. Sort of wished the article went into that a little.

Either way, looking forward to a time when I can sample a few beers in a tasting/tap room and then grab the interesting things to go.

 

Love these folks and love their beer. I wish them all the success in the world.

 

Good read. I'm excited for their Alexandria location to open up. Hopefully they can have a tap room open soon as well.

 

I’ve had a couple of they beers and enjoyed them!

 

I wish these guys made more stouts, cause the few stouts I've had from them have been exceptional.

 

A friend hauled back some of their stuff from his trip, and both beers I was able to try were absolutely delightful.

I'd really love to try more.

 

A note for anyone eager to try some of Kai's beer but unable to get to DC or Northern Virginia: Aslin will be pouring at Extreme Beer Fest in February.

 

I can't tell whether you're being sarcastic or not. In their short time of existence, they have released 270 different beers, 53 of which have been stouts. They put our seven versions of the same stout on Black Friday alone.

 

They were selling growlers of the Black Friday stout for $50 at Total Wine in Fredericksburg

 

Had some for the first time this week. The orange starfish pale — super tasty at 5%. They are legit. Can’t wait to try more.

 

I've been enjoying a couple of NEIPA's lately. Brewed beermosa's. And some people think the style is just getting started. Doesn't thrill me. But one thing I've learned in this space is best summarized as "to each his own." You like 'em? Go for it!

 

Wow, that's crazy. Who would even want 64 ozs of a 16.5% stout? Unless you were throwing a party. 16 oz cans were the usual $8 at the brewery.

 

Given the size of the brew house they turn out amazing beers. A testament to the second shift brewers :-). I think fruited berliners are their best beers.

 

The one time I got to the brewery was when visiting inlaws (they're 11 hours away from me). I managed to get there just as they started the upgrades (maybe the same time as your story?) and so had no beer for sale in cans or growlers. Man was I bumming it - I drove down just so I could bring ample amounts of beer back... which I did, just not Aslin Ocelot made the trip back up though

Never heard of them at the time though. From the first taste I knew I had found a stupidly good NEIPA brewery.Been wanting to get back ever since.

 

Not surprised it was priced that high, these guys were recently selling bottles for $75 (plus tax and tip, so nearly $100, on site consumption only) for a 500mL bottle of a BA stout at their recent pop-up. The same bottles they sold at the brewery for $15 (to go).

 

I've only had their beer once at a Nationals game in the Aslin Beer Garden, this past season. It was Selfish Predator. A very tasty double IPA! Lots of tropical/grapefruit flavors very smooth. However, the price point had me at one and done. I don't know if it was marked up because of location (I would assume) or whether that is their normal price. Either way, I purchased a few more local craft beers inside the stadium for a lot less.

 

How much did you pay for each?

I remember hearing they were charging $9 or so per can in their beer garden, whereas beer on draft (typically low abv plae ales and the like) in the stadium goes in the $12-$15 range.

 

Each can was priced differently depending on style and ABV. I don't remember the exact amount but it was about $12 with tax for one Selfish Predator.

 

Yeah, demand was huge for a time - with hours long lines at some points. We stopped going for a few months after they went cans only. Production did finally catch up and we headed back.

Nice “consolation prize” in Ocelot, IMHO. Cheers!

 

This is the stuff of hype. These beers may well be damned good, but I just don't care.