Hello from Vancouver Island!

Thanks for the introduction, looks like gong on 10 years for you. West coast of Canada must be beautiful, especially coming into Spring/Summer, Ive never been to Vancouver. What is a local favorite style/brew for you.

 

Welcome to the forums. It's always great to have interaction with a Canadian viewpoint in the forums, so dig right it.

 

Thanks for the introduction.
I look forward to maybe seeing you on the forums and hearing about the beer situation in west coast Canada.
Going to look up Driftwood Brewery.
Cheers!

 

Welcome @silversurfs ! I almost made it to Vancouver in 2003, but after being detained by the Canadian Border crossing above Glacier National Park for a few hours for absolutely no legitimate reason, I U-turned immediately back into the United States (was going to hit Waterford NP for a few days and then drive to Vancouver before heading back down through Seattle to meet a friend in Portland.

In terms of visiting DC, Churchkey maintained my sanity during work trips there once I found out about it. It's near Logan Circle, and while my primary interest was their cask selections, they also serve a broad range of styles from great breweries on draft and an extensive cellar worth checking out.

https://www.churchkeydc.com/

Cheers!

 

In DC, if you really want to visit a brewery, DC Brau is a modest but cool small brewery but is out of the city center. @ChicagoJ's suggestion is centrally located within DC and may be a better bet. I have never been but have wanted to check it out for some time.

In Virginia I like Vanish Farmwoods Brewery but it is about 45 minutes NW of Arlington/DC. Rustico in Arlington and Aslin in Alexandria may be good options depending on your location.

@cjgiant is more local to the area and I'm sure, has better intel than I.

 

Hello, @silversurfs. @BJB13 may have overstated my usefulness, but I would be willing to help out with some options on the Virginia side and the DC area, which is sort of spread out and there may be different options depending on where you are,going to be staying, what styles you might be interested in, and how much traffic you are willing to withstand. There's also the regional forums to check out as well and to get a few more opinions.

 

Sorry to put you on the spot, but I have great respect for your beer knowledge. Oh boy, did I just put you on the spot again? Perhaps I owe you a beer.

 

In Alexandria, you shouldn't be too far from Aslin's main production location for NEIPAs. The locals are complaining about a drop in quality from their hype days, but I'd say it's a place to get to and decide for yourself. Port City (one of my favorite locals) is also in Alexandria, and is more of a production facility with a tap room (sort of like DC Brau, which is almost the opposite side of DC from Alexandria). They offer a range of styles, usually including a couple plus pale ales/IPAs.

In DC, BlueJacket and probably Right Proper would be options for Saisons and sours, though neither is focused on that. ChurchKey (mentioned by @ChicagoJ) in DC and Rustico in north Alexandria are some decent craft beer places. I'd say if you get a chance to try an IPA from Ocelot or a saison from Wheatland Springs anywhere, I'd give it a shot (neither brewery is at all close to DC).

I have neglected the Maryland side (Silver Branch and Astro Lab come to mind as nearby options) and a bunch of smaller local brewers that you might find on tap, not to mention non-NoVa Virginia breweries, but this site is a pretty good resource.

Cheers, and hope you have fun when you get here!