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Local Brewpubs


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As far as local beer, DC doesn't have good local beer, but if you really want fun obscure beers The Reef and Saloon are your best bets.
Say what now?

You obviously have not had the schwarzbier from Gordon Biersch. Or Cap City's Kolsch. Or Bourbon Stout from the Chophouse.

How are these local beers? That's like saying because Budweiser has a bottling plant in Maryland, it's local beer.

Chophouse is owned by RockBottom, Inc., more than 100 franchises nationwide. Gordon Biersch has 35. At least Cap City's 4 local locations qualify, but other than the decent Kolsch, the beer is forgettable and the food is memorable (but not in a good way.)

Many cities smaller than ours support numerous GOOD local brewpubs. It's a shame we don't have em.

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While not convenient at all to your location, Rustico (in Alexandria) has a private reserve beer list (you have to ask for it) and a license to sell beers for off-premise consumption. Maybe it won't help during this particular night, but it pays to know these things!

If you PM pizzaandbrew, he can probably tell you what he currently has in the locked compartment of the beer walk-in.

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How are these local beers? That's like saying because Budweiser has a bottling plant in Maryland, it's local beer.

Chophouse is owned by RockBottom, Inc., more than 100 franchises nationwide. Gordon Biersch has 35. At least Cap City's 4 local locations qualify, but other than the decent Kolsch, the beer is forgettable and the food is memorable (but not in a good way.)

Many cities smaller than ours support numerous GOOD local brewpubs. It's a shame we don't have em.

Franchise or not, the beers in question are very good, and unquestionably local. Even if they are chains, the brewers usually have flexibility in creating seasonal beers, and the brewers at our DC outposts are great brewers. I'll take issue with the dissing of the Cap City, too...their mainline beers are not going to suprise you, but they are well made and tasty, and the seasonals are often fantastic (I'm thinking of Fuel, the Tripel Double IPA, their Bitter).

I would like to have some local independent brewpubs too, but I'll enjoy the stuff we have for now.

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Franchise or not, the beers in question are very good, and unquestionably local. Even if they are chains, the brewers usually have flexibility in creating seasonal beers, and the brewers at our DC outposts are great brewers. I'll take issue with the dissing of the Cap City, too...their mainline beers are not going to suprise you, but they are well made and tasty, and the seasonals are often fantastic (I'm thinking of Fuel, the Tripel Double IPA, their Bitter).

I would like to have some local independent brewpubs too, but I'll enjoy the stuff we have for now.

I'm sorry, I can't even contend that Cap City's beers are well made- they are terrible through and through except for the Kolsch which is simply not terrible- not good, just not terrible. Their food more than makes up for a lack of terrible on that one. I've never met a RockBottom based beer I liked as well. The closest GOOD brewery we have to here is dogfishhead.
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I'm sorry, I can't even contend that Cap City's beers are well made- they are terrible through and through except for the Kolsch which is simply not terrible- not good, just not terrible. Their food more than makes up for a lack of terrible on that one. I've never met a RockBottom based beer I liked as well. The closest GOOD brewery we have to here is dogfishhead.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. And/or get moved to a different thread.

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I'm sorry, I can't even contend that Cap City's beers are well made- they are terrible through and through except for the Kolsch which is simply not terrible- not good, just not terrible. Their food more than makes up for a lack of terrible on that one. I've never met a RockBottom based beer I liked as well. The closest GOOD brewery we have to here is dogfishhead.

I guess Old Dominion has not made any good beer either. ;)

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I guess Old Dominion has not made any good beer either. ;)

Wonder why there are so few (relatively) OD tap handles in the District? Perhaps I'm wrong and of course I'm not a local but in my visits they've always seemed under-represented, I mean relative to their status as a 25-30,000 bbl brewery (IIRC) of decent (and some great, see Tupper's Hop Pocket Pils) beers, less than, what, 25 miles away from, say, 14th and U....

I've always assumed it was a distributor issue. But still.

And as to the paucity of brewpubs--growler or to-go sales would be nice but their absence in the district doesn't explain the lack.

Maybe real estate costs? A problem with brewpubs is all the extra back-of-the-house space requirements. Not fun when you're spending $45 bucks a foot; perhaps impossible when you're spending $60.

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I mean relative to their status as a 25-30,000 bbl brewery (IIRC) of decent (and some great, see Tupper's Hop Pocket Pils)

That's an OD product in the sense that it's their vats, but the recipe and oversight is Tupper's, not OD. Unless he's pulling my leg...

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That's an OD product in the sense that it's their vats, but the recipe and oversight is Tupper's, not OD. Unless he's pulling my leg...

right, but if you own a bar and want to buy a keg or a few dozen cases, Bob doesn't brew it, keg or bottle it, or drive it over to you.

And as to "oversight", I don't think they call him up and say, right, we're doing a Hop Pocket run today, need you here 0530-ish?

And I don't think he makes the sales call that gets the tap handle in there in the first place.

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The recipe may not be theirs, but the brewers at OD do the actual hard work involved in making those two great Tupper's beers (the Pils is especially good, IMHO). That said, some of their standard beers may not be great (Dominion Ale makes me weep), but as with the DC brewpubs, OD's seasonals are where these guys shine. The imperial pils, the kristalweiss, the dunkelweisse, the rauchbier...the list goes on and on. It's a shame they were bought out, but I'm looking forward to trying the new seasonals as they're released. There are still a bunch of great brewers out there in Ashburn.

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right, but if you own a bar and want to buy a keg or a few dozen cases, Bob doesn't brew it, keg or bottle it, or drive it over to you.

And as to "oversight", I don't think they call him up and say, right, we're doing a Hop Pocket run today, need you here 0530-ish?

And I don't think he makes the sales call that gets the tap handle in there in the first place.

No disagreement - the beer wouldn't exist without OD.

My point was the argument so far is that OD makes only ok beers, and their only great beer isn't entirely theirs.

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No disagreement - the beer wouldn't exist without OD.

My point was the argument so far is that OD makes only ok beers, and their only great beer isn't entirely theirs.

yes we don't entirely disagree, though I think, say, the Oak Barrel Stout is more than OK, certainly verges on great, as does the New River Pale Ale (which is however subject to the same "dis", that it's contract brewed or at least the recipe was developed by someone else)....but their spring beers have been phenomenal IMHO, from the Maibocks of a few years ago to the "imperial pilsners" of the last couple years, and....I don't know that this is proof of anything but if you go to www.beeradvocate.com there are a lot of heavily reviewed beers from there, with 3.75 and above scores....

I would say, again, they make a lot of good beer and some great beer, in relationship to their (IMHO) low number of tap handles in the District. But even if one states it as you did, that they make "a lot of OK beer and one great one"--aren't they a little under-represented in District saloons? I mean, there's no shortage of Bass taps.

And the question I posed in the post from which you quoted is, why is that?

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The Anniversary Lager I downed at the District Chophouse today was fantastic. Absolutely superb beer for a hot day. I think they're the best brewpub in the area, although their Bourbon Stout is foul for my taste. I wish Franklin's was easier to get to though. I've only been through that area twice, and both visits to Franklin's were great.

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The Anniversary Lager I downed at the District Chophouse today was fantastic. Absolutely superb beer for a hot day. I think they're the best brewpub in the area, although their Bourbon Stout is foul for my taste. I wish Franklin's was easier to get to though. I've only been through that area twice, and both visits to Franklin's were great.

I sometimes forget about the Chophouse, since the last time I went there was for food and beers a couple years ago. The food was great, but the beers did not impress. Will have to give them another try.

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What about Dogfish in Gburg. Their 90 and 120 minute IPAs are great as are most of their beers. The food is good pub food as long as you stick to the pub offerings.

I love their bottled stuff, but I've never heard a report that their food was anything short of atrocious, so I've never gone to the brewpub.

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Franklin's is OK; I tend to think all of their beers as "their version of" a better-known beer. Not just the style, but the beer itself. Of course, I can't think of any off the top of my head.

DFH in Gaithersburg is good, and DFH is one of the most interesting brewers in the country, IMO. Don't think they actually brew anything locally, though.

Frederick has some good brewpubs, and the one brewery there (no pub; forget the name, they brew Wild Goose and now Flying Dog) is great for a tour.

I have high hopes for the Hook & Ladder brewpub scheduled for Silver Spring, but I'm not sure they'll be doing any local brewing, either.

DuClaw is a Maryland chain with some good beers and OK food (and a very consistent corporate identity, for a small chain).

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Franklin's is OK; I tend to think all of their beers as "their version of" a better-known beer. Not just the style, but the beer itself. Of course, I can't think of any off the top of my head.

DFH in Gaithersburg is good, and DFH is one of the most interesting brewers in the country, IMO. Don't think they actually brew anything locally, though.

Frederick has some good brewpubs, and the one brewery there (no pub; forget the name, they brew Wild Goose and now Flying Dog) is great for a tour.

I have high hopes for the Hook & Ladder brewpub scheduled for Silver Spring, but I'm not sure they'll be doing any local brewing, either.

DuClaw is a Maryland chain with some good beers and OK food (and a very consistent corporate identity, for a small chain).

I totally agree about the creativity at DFH. I just wish they had the talent to brew something that was less than 6% ABV. That seems to be a serious problem for them. I haven't been to Franklin's enough to categorize it like you did. Could be possible. But I really liked my occasional visits there. Hook and Ladder could go either way. I like the two beers they're out with now but after talking with their marketing folks, I'm not too confident. That District Chophouse lager was better than both of the Hook and Ladder beers.

Why doesn't anyone grab some of the Legend Brewery product from Richmond?

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I totally agree about the creativity at DFH. I just wish they had the talent to brew something that was less than 6% ABV. That seems to be a serious problem for them.

They brew several <6% beers in Rehoboth, but for their business plan, it doesn't make sense to distribute them. People have (rightly) come to equate Dogfish Head with extreme and mostly higher alcohol brews.

However, the newly release Neo-Berliner Peche is touted as a great session beer, so maybe they're trying to buck that trend. Anybody had this one?

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