DC Breweries

Beer. Ale. Cold Ones. Brewskies. Cervezas. Libations. Delicious golden brew of the Gods. The drink of choice since ancient times, our ancestors did something right! Sorry various Wonders of the World. Most of you don't exist anymore. Beer does, and it's thriving. Our Founding Fathers couldn't get enough of it. President James Madison wanted to create a National Brewery (we already had a national bank, so why not?) complete with a Secretary of Beer (seriously, best job ever!?). Congress said no. Always ruining the fun that Congress. Shame on them. Oh well. With their resurgance in populairty, home and craft brews have taken a bite out of the monopoly of brewing giants like Budweiser (thank God). Microbrews allow for more experimentation of flavors and the ability to highlight local ingredients. DC certainly isn't immune to the new craft brew craze (we don't want to call it a fad, we hope it's here to stay) so we've included a list of local brewies for you to enjoy responsibly.

Probably the most well known brew-stitution is the first packaging brewery in the District since 1956, DC Brau. Short story is one day two DC residents got tired of there never being any local brews on tap or for sale so they started their own brewery. Every Saturday from 12-4 they have FREE tours and tastings during their Growler Hours. What is a growler you ask? A growler is a full half gallon, yes half gallon, 64 fluid ounces of glorious beer. That equals out to about 4-5 pints of delicious, fresh, beer. Where have growlers been all your life you ask? Beats me. But you can buy them and have them filled at DC Brau.

Choclate City Brewery building in Brookland.
The next stop on our hoppy tour is Chocolate City Beer, a nanobrewery. As the term suggests, nanobreweries are even smaller than microbreweries. Small amount of beer, sometimes only around 7 kegs are produced per batch. Currently the brewery is featuring four brews. A British-style bitter, an IPA, a black lager, and a copper ale. Most people have probably only tried an IPA before out of that list. Here's your chance to try something new. 12:30 to 4:30 every Saturday they have growler (see they're everywhere) sales. No need to drive, you can enjoy all the ale you want, Chocolate City Beer is Metro accessable, located near the Brookland stop on the Red Line. 

One of the newest entries to DC's Brew scene is Atlas Brew Works, opening just this past September. Atlas, located in the Ivy City neighborhood of Northeast DC, debued with three beers. Atlas brews can be found at several restaurants and bars throughout the city and they have a handy map on their website to help you find the closest location to home. Their tasting room is open on weekends and check their homepage often as they are frequently holding brew and food inspired events and occaisonal brewery tours. Follow them on Twitter @AtlasBrewWorks

The next two entries on the tour along the golden brew road are brewpubs. Because nothing goes better with beer than food. The first brewpub in Washington, DC since the dark ages of Prohibition is Capitol City Brewing Company. They have 4 core brews available year around but usually have 7 or 8 brews on tap at any given time because they are always rotating seasonal and specialty brews. They offer a beer flight so you are able to try several at once. And their food is perfect for complementing any style ale as it ranges from traditional pub fare to local specialties like crabcakes.

District Chophouse would probably be defined as a 'classy' brewpub. Because steaks make everything have more class. And they are delicious. Mmmm....steak. Sorry, we were distracted, back to the ale! District Chophouse offers 8 ales available all year and also offer special beers throughout the year that they brew on-site. Just like in school, they have a chalkboard. This one; however, lists each ale and describes their body, bitterness, and style among others. Learning never tasted so good!

Last but not least, 3 Stars Brewing Company has one of the most varied selection of brews on this list. They have everything from IPA's to porters to lagers, to brown ales and more. These guys do growler hours on Saturday and, if you need a little push to help get you through the end of the week, Thursday nights from 5pm-8pm. Follow them on Twitter! @3starsbrewing

DC's love of crafted spirits isn't limited only to beer. Ivy City seems to be a hot spot for spirit producers of all kinds. It was recently announced that the city's second distillery, One Eight Distilling, will open sometime early 2014. It will begin producing vodka, gin, and unaged whiskey with the hopes of eventually also producing rye whiskey and bourbon. New Columbia Distillers opened up in 2011 as DC's first (legal) hard spirit distillery since Prohibition and their Green Hat Gin is a hit. They have tastings and tours on Saturdays from 1-5pm, so if you want to see how gin is made or have never tried it and are curious, come on down! By the way, it's great with tonic water and lime on blisteringly hot DC summer days. 

And so friends, this concludes our blog of DC's locally-crafted, delicious brews. We hope you get out and let your taste buds explore. Just do it responsibly. Enjoy!