Washington DC Trip...where to go?

Breweries: Other Half and Right Proper.

Bar/Eatery: The Sovereign

 

Bluejacket gets my vote. Excellent food, above average-excellent beer all of which is Bluejacket-brewed. Owned by NRG, same people as Churchkey, Sovereign, etc., both of which I also recommend for beer/food

 

Churchkey has a sister bar, Shelter, if you're over near Capitol Hill.

 

I'd agree with the above. Neighborhood Restaurant Group (NRG) has good beer/food.
Other Half DC is good, but it's on a bit of an island in terms of other stuff around there (the BBQ joint nearby is pretty good though).
If you venture into Virginia, there's Dominion Wine and Beer in Falls Church, which has great drafts, food and to go cans/crowlers.

 

Maybe the Bruery Store is worth a stop. There are some really good bottles in there. Most of what I believe is worth doing in DC is already listed above. Depending on when your trip is scheduled, Snallygaster is a great beer festival. Lately it's been the second Saturday in October.

I hope you get some good suggestions. I would love to learn about some hidden gems in the city.

 

@AlcahueteJ Da Boss and i are staying at The District by Hilton end of October/early November and found Aslin within a 13-minute drive. Curious to hear Aslin opinions from the locals. Churchkey is within 15 minutes which is cool. Glad to see Bluejacket is a 20-minute drive away. Looking for local recommendations as well!
Cheers!
Tom

 

Aslin's quality is not what it used to be, check the thread just a few down and you will get a sense pretty quickly. Buyer beware if you see any of their cans around, they don't date them and they can/may sit.

 

If you've never been, it wouldn't hurt to hit up Aslin. Personally, I wouldn't. I'd rather hit up one of the NRGs, ChurchKey and other spots. Some people who haven't had Aslin certainly love it, but when you used to get it back in the day (vs the quality of today), it's nothing short of disappointing. If I were you and taking an Uber to a brewery somewhere, I'd go to Other Half DC instead.

 

Port City does the best German style beers in the immediate DMV, hands down. English ales (and Belgians as well) goes to Silver Branch in Silver Spring.

 

This statement leaves me very confused. You wouldn't go to Aslin b/c it's so disappointing, but you're recommending it to @arizcards? Hmm, scratching head!

 

I don't want to speak for beerman, but I might say that Aslin is a bit over-hyped. It's worth visiting if you set realistic expectations.

If you're heading down to the ballpark to catch a game, the Atlas tasting room on half street had a game day special with 2 slices of Andy's pizza and a beer for ~$10. Good time to visit Bluejacket too, it's close. It isn't the best for beer selection, but if you're looking to get plastered, the Diamond Club seats at Nats park include all you can drink draft beer and wine. The buffet isn't bad either. Day of the game, you can probably score tickets for $80-130. Think Sam's Summer, Toasted Lager, or Leinenkugel plus the macro beers on draft. I've been to a few MLB parks around the country and seats this close behind home plate usually cost at least this much and include nothing.

Andy's is a good slice, but I prefer Wiseguy pizza. They have a few locations in/around DC.

 

yeah stay away from Aslin. There are so, so many better locally brewed options

 

A friend of mine lived in the DC area for a lot of years has always been a fanboy of theirs and now has poured for them at several festivals this summer in NC. Aslin has recently started distributing in Western NC and i have found their beers to be pretty decent. With that said there has been a few misses that my friend has brought into our beer tasting sessions.
Cheers!
Tom

 

I take it as "buyer beware"!
Cheers!
Tom

 

As a guy who supported (and traded/trades) Aslin from the OG Herndon days, I would say stop by the Logan Circle location and not try to go to Herndon or Alexandria. The problem with Aslin is that they expanded too quickly and scaled up their production but did not master consistency. Unfortunately this is still happening. The batch quality suffered and you had flagship beers like orange starfish tasting like crap. It's not all bad though as the fall from grace doesn't mean they are undrinkable but you have to be more scrutinous of each beer by trying before you buy. If it tastes like crap on tap, it isn't going to taste better in cans. YMMV but if I was in DC, I would stop by Logan Circle before Churchkey.

 

To be fair, this has been true since they scaled up that very first time at the industrial park in Herndon.

 

Churchkey may be your best bet for lagers, depending on what's pouring. They always keep an updated tap list online. A month or so ago I went there and they had Suarez and Bierstadt lagers on tap, arguably the best lagers in the US and maybe the world.

 

It's hard for me to remember a drop in quality at Herndon with IPAs. That may be part due to memory or lack of regular consumption. That being said, the older stouts were better imo than the newer ones produced at Herndon.

 

Yeah, I used to go to Herndon a lot starting just a month or so after they opened. When they got the bigger system, the problems started. Not that they didn't make some really good beers at times, but nothing like the very early batches of Mind the Hop and Orange Starfish. Those were world class.

 

I like Atlas's location by the ballpark... which is good because I think the other might be closed for now. DC beer is hurting a bit now after 3 Stars went the way of the dodo. If you're willing to cab it then definitely get your way to Port city. The way i see Port City is they don't hit any home runs but they hit a lot of doubles. Its rare they miss on a beer.

Other half just kills it. I hate to recommend them because I don't like "second venue" "second city" venues because it feels unauthentic. I like OG places when I can. However you can't deny they produce quality even for a non-sour non-IPA guy like me. Even when they make a lager its out of this world. Crazy.

If you have a car and time I'd consider running out in the direction of dulles and beyond but i won't say anything unless you do because that opens up a whole new list. My personal preference is Ocelot when you get out that way, even further takes you out to Old Ox and to the often forgotten Lost Rhino. The beer scene outside the beltway to me really is mostly Routes 7/267/Dulles Toll Road. However I live on the other side of reality so I don't get over there as much as I'd like.

 

Aslin's not even the best brewery in Herndon anymore.

 

This.
My personal expectations are very high on Aslin from those days of lining up at Sunset Park for growler fills. Based on that past experience, I generally don't visit (aside from the occasional W&OD trail stop in Herndon).
However, I would still recommend going there - just because I'm jaded doesn't mean others will have the same experience.
To the other post: totally agree that if the draft sucks, don't buy the cans. They do still churn out some very solid beers, but you have to pick and choose nowadays.

 

What else is there now that's good? Haven't been out there in a while.

 

I believe the post was referring to Juicy Brewing Co. which took over Aslin’s original spot in Sunset Park Blvd in Herndon.

ps-I have never been there myself, just not into juicy beers these days (pun intended).

 

That's who I meant. Their IPA's are better than Aslin's current IPA's, their smoothie sours are fantastic (and better than Aslin's). and their non-trendy styles (lagers, hefes, non-adjunct stout) are good as well. No barrel-aged stuff yet.

 

An underrated move is to hit Other Half and Red Bear Brewing in sequence. It's a long walk but we ended up Lyfting it on a hot muggy day. Two great and completely different vibes; solid beer at both. Hitting both in sequence shows the range of DC beer experience.

 

My wife and I are coming into town this Saturday and Sunday, mostly hit up the museums around the national mall. We are staying at a hotel near the convention center.

It looks like of those places, Churchkey is the one within walking distance. Are they usually slammed for dinner on a Saturday night? I don't see anything on their website about accepting reservations.

Any other suggestions for places with the combination of good food and beer in that part of the city?

 

How are the food places that are also within The Roost?

 

Lost Generation Brewing has their Grand Opening this weekend.

 

Honestly Bluejacket has been awful in my experience. Mediocre beer, hipster crowd. Pass.

 

I agree with everything here

 

If you don't go to Churchkey during your DC visit, then ya fucked up.

 

We did go to Churchkey. Got there around 7 on Saturday night, had dinner then stayed for more rounds of drinks as we watched the entire Phillies game on the TV's above the bar. Great taplist, and the food was very good. I loved how they served Belgian strong ale, barleywine, and imperial stouts at higher temperatures like they should be.

We were kind of shocked that over the course of those 5 hours, the place was never completely full, neither the tables nor seats at the bar. Is DC just that much of a commuter city that popular places aren't overly busy on the weekends?

 

I don't have the answer but have noticed the same thing. It's definitely a post-Covid phenomenon.

 

It used to be very crowded on weekends. But then they shut down for 2 years during covid and reopened this past April. I think a lot of people forgot about them or maybe less people are into craft beer now. Not entirely sure. Glad you enjoyed it though.

 

For 2 years? That seems crazy - places around here typically only shut down during the first wave, or went take-out only for a period of time.

 

They are part of a restaurant group that pretty much all shut down at one point or another. At the same time, they expanded online alcohol (and food) sales. With DC having such gray alcohol laws the venues can pretty much sell any hootch they can get their hands on.

Regarding the smaller amount of people, that is amazing. Historically every time we went there (and it was always Saturday for sports) it was 2 deep at the bar. I have to go back and check it out now that you don't have to box people out to get a beer. I do recall someone saying in the DC NOVA thread that the fidens takeover was packed but not surprised there as they are the current hotness.

 

I wonder if part of the reason that they were closed for so long was the renovations. I also don't remember them serving stouts, barleywines, et al at higher temps pre-Covid (someone can correct me on this). That might have also been part of the renovations. I miss that place so much.