DC/MD/NoVA Beer Updates (2018)

My Guatavita and Iconoclast cans have "JUL 2018" printed on the bottom. It's a little hard to read

 

Cool. If I see them, I can actually buy them now. When they sent their first shipment to Mass, they did not have can dates. It seemed like a bad business practice to send beer far away without dating it, especially for a style (I believe both were IPAs) that tends to be best fresh. Glad they've rectified that, even if it's in their own way.

 

I picked up some Big Papi & Papa Chulo last week for some friends and both had dates on them.

Commonwealth changed head brewers around Dec/Jan -ish, and it maybe I'm slightly biased as a VB local, but imo they are really starting to dial it in lately.

 

had Iconoclast over the weekend and it's just as good as anything I've had from aslin,veil, etc.

 

Commonwealth has been my go-to for the past few months as they seem to be really dialing it in and it's pretty widely available in DC. In addition to CBC commonwealth is regularly stocked at - Glenn's Dupont, Odd Provisions and Sherry's Woodley Park.

 

When Commonwealth's stuff is good, it's really good, but man, they seem to be wildly inconsistent from beer to beer, even within the same style. I tend to pick up their new beers whenever I see them in case one hits (like Lethe, Tinta Rosa, Hansel, etc.), but so often I'm underwhelmed as in the case of New School | Old School, EveryWhen, Swoll, etc.

 

Ocelot's latest batch of Thought Control is legit. Fruity, resinous and a solid haze, bro. Also a bit more body than before. Check it out.

 

I finally had Uber Home recently and that shit is great

 

Anyone know if the Other Half pop-up at The Bruery DC will be open to everyone or limited to Bruery Reserve members?

 

idk but is there any truth to the rumor that OH is opening a brewery here?

saw that they're opening one in rochester, ny so i'm going to go with a "no"

 

if it's anything like the Lost Abbey pop-up, it'll be a week or so of member exclusivity and then open to the general public, if i'm reading their instagram posts right.

 

Ha, their member societies finally deliver some value!

 

Where are you seeing info about this? I'm already irrationally excited.

 

It's on the Churchkey events page on 8/18. CK is hosting an OH event the same day as the Bruery pop-up.

 

Yeah, it's pretty awesome. Struck me as the most NEIPA-like beer I've had from Ocelot. It seemed to more in their usual IPA style last time, if I can recall correctly.

 

Had this experience with Guatavita, it was good at first but the can I kept for a week was terrible (couldn't finish). Definitely oxidized and looked darker than I remember.

 

The same thing actually happened to my last 2 cans of Guatavita. After about 5 days in the fridge it was a completely different beer; not sure i've ever had a beer degrade so rapidly, especially cans that were purchased cold and kept in the fridge at home.

FWIW, all my Iconoclast cans were fine.

 

CK kind of blew up the spot for OH on that one. I'm assuming the brewery wanted to be the ones to announce their own can release. I didn't realize that it was just for Bruery members though. Well done on them for pulling that off if so.

I've heard from a good source that this is in fact happening, but the timeframe was never verified. Two of the owners have strong DC ties so it makes sense. I'd assume it's a bit down the line though, whereas Rochester seems forthcoming (they made a teaser post on Instagram). It would make sense seeing as how they've been doing Rochester can releases for a while, presumably to drum up excitement and now they may be doing the same thing in DC.

 

For all you Commonwealth fans, fresh drop in the city today, a couple new (to me) single hop IPAs, and Big Papi canned this morning. Get them while they're out there at the usual suspects.

 

Picked up some Guatavita at CBC the other day and cracked one tonight. It’s brown, oxidized, and awful.