DC March 26 to 30 (CBC)

The best beer bars in the city are all hosting events- Churchkey, Meridian Pint, Smoke & Barrel. Those are your best bets for finding anything even remotely similar to CC in DC, but don't get your hopes up. If you have a car, you can make your way to DC Brau and 3Stars for their growler hours (if they have them that week). The Bier Baron in Dupont is a place that has a great selection, but tends to get overshadowed by the bars I mentioned above. realistically, your best bets for anything rare/ vintage are CK, MP and S&B. Hope you enjoy your time in DC!

 

Where is your hotel, if you are staying near the convention center there are tons of great places. One idea is to do this. If you are looking for a really good meal without the crowds. Below ChurchKey is their restaurant Birch & Barley, great food and the same beer list as upstairs. Make a reservation go have a meal and enjoy all the beers they have at Church Key without dealing with the crowds. Near the convention Center, Match Box solid food, small but OK draft list. Zaytinaya small play Mediterranean food. Jaleo, Spanish Tapas, Grafiato, small plate Italian (we love our small plates here in DC). Tons of great places in walking distance. District of Pi, It's a St. Louis deep dish pizza and a lot of Schlafly on tap.

 

Great location, I work in the building across the street. (going away from the convention center). I plan on attending some of the events. If you need any advice or anything feel free to send me a message. I do some stuff for a beer review sites and will be going to events meeting people etc. Should be a fun week.

 

Definitely hit up the Passenger on 7th and NY Ave, just across the street from the east side of the convention center. Two doors down is their pop-up space that's been rotating concepts--I believe during that week it'll be a coffee shop run by a local coffee roaster during the morning, so if you're into coffee I'd recommend stopping by there too.

Also, if you're looking for a good lunch or dinner, Mandu over on 5th and K NW has great korean food. They've got only 4 or 5 beers on tap but they're always fantastic. I've recently had some Evolution, Epic, and Founders there.

 

http://www.dcbeer.com/cbc2013 has a pretty good list of the events taking place at various bars around the city that week.

 

I second the vote for Mandu. Your hotel is at 9th and K, and Mandu is at 5th and K. There's also a restaurant next door called "Kushi" that has a decent selection of unusual beers as well.

And as someone mentioned, Matchbox is good. It's on 7th and H, so again, very close. There's also Iron Horse and Rocket Bar, up 7th which both have decent drafts. RFD is right there as well, and has a huge selection of bottles and drafts. It's the Bier Barron's (formerly Brickskeller) sister restaurant/bar, and used to be the "it" place for beer lovers. It's still great, but so many other great places have opened over the last few years.

 

I always find it amusing when people mention Churchkey, Meridian Pint, and Smoke and Barrel, and fail to mention the Paradiso locations in the same breath. They have the best happy hour prices, and they're doing a Bruery takeover at one location and a Three Floyds/Surly takeover at another. Not too shabby.

 

Sweet! Love that spot, but you're right - it's easily forgotten. Thanks for the head's up on The Bruery takeover. Love their stuff; will def have to go.

 

Anyone know how long the legs typically last on those nights? Am going to Churchkey around 10 at night, would love to try Tweak if its not drained dry by the time I get there.

 

Agreed. While none of their locations boast as numerous a taplist as churchkey, every paradiso location has a consistently excellent day to day selection. Lots of their events/tap takeovers seem to fly under the radar and aren't nearly the clustercuss that occurs at some of the other locales. Also, all drafts are half off 5-7 during the week (on tues/wed in dupont). Can't beat full 20 oz pours of Aventinus for 3 bucks a glass in such an expensive city.

 

My biggest problem w/ Paradiso is the size of the Dupont location. Often very difficult to get a comfortable spot at teh bar. Very intrigued by the 3Floyds/Surly takeover at that location, though. Had not heard about that event among all the other CBC items. Hope they post a draft list prior....

 

The Dupont location for lunch is one of my fav spots. My custom pizza, and that taplist, devine. So many beers and pies, nice sunny room less crowds. The happy hour, if you arent there by 5 it is a zoo, but it a great deal. Loved having Iris on tap one day when nobody even cared.

Lots of fantastic dining options, all depends on what you want..