December 3, 2007
Coalition of the Swilling: Winter Beer Roundup
This is a great time of the year for beer lovers. Winter, more than any other season, is when craft brewers get a chance to flex their creativity and brew some unusual beers that satisfy the palate and warm the heart. Although many have traditionally been called Christmas beers, most brewers these days are going with some variation on the "winter" theme, in a large part because of the stigma of seeing a "Christmas" beer on the shelf on December 26th. Winter beers tend to be malty, and many of them use varying levels of traditional winter spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc). Fortunately, the Washington area has no shortage of places pouring these winter beers.
RFD in Chinatown has by far the largest number of winter beers on tap: Magic Hat's Roxy Rolles, Clipper City's Winter Storm, Bell's Winter White, and the Dominion Winter IPA (a stellar pour, this one). According to the staff, a few others are on deck, and we assume that new winter beers will keep rotating in as the kegs empty.
If your tastes are tending more to the Belgian side of things, the bar at Brasserie Beck has St. Feuillien's Cuvée de Noël on tap, and an additional 15 winter seasonals by the bottle (if they still have any of the De La Senne Equinox, go for it: it's a silky smooth dark amber that hides the fact it's 8% alcohol by volume very well). The Belgians tend to spice their winter seasonals more moderately than the Americans do, perhaps because normal Belgian ales have a higher incidence of spice use. Americans don't drink a lot of spiced beer in general, so when American brewers spice them, they go all out. One notable exception to this immoderate spice use in the D.C. area is the Gordon Biersch Winterbock (pictured). It's all malt here, and although it has a moderately sweet finish, it's not too cloying and the 8.4% ABV is exactly what the doctor ordered on a cold winter night.
Other places have taken a more restrained approach to winter beers: Birreria Paradiso has just two winter taps (Brooklyn Winter, and the Weyerbacher Winter), and the Reef in Adams Morgan is doing "American Beer" month in December, with several seasonal taps (including Bell's Double Cream Stout and Cape Ann's Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout) but no actual winter beers. We didn't make it over to the Brickskeller, but we imagine there are at least a couple winter beers on tap upstairs, similar to sister bar RFD, and a good selection of winter beers in bottle. The woman on the phone didn't know what was on tap, so you'll have to throw chance to the wind and give them a try.
There may be many reasons that some places aren't going all-out on winter beers, but the one that makes the most sense is highlighted by something a friend said during a night of sampling these beers: "Sometimes the best winter ale is an Ayinger Celebrator, a superior beer available all year round." Schneider's Aventinus also makes a damn fine winter beverage; Paradiso has it on tap and it's certainly worth a try
Rustico in Alexandria (full disclosure: I bartend there) is opting to get all of the winter beer tasting done in one night: Festivus. Tomorrow night (December 4), there will be a Festivus pole, airing of grievances, feats of strength, and four winter beers on tap (currently the list is Tröegs Mad Elf, Bell's Winter White, Harpoon Winter Warmer, and Delirium Noël). Buy the beer, keep the glass while supplies last. Yours truly may be dressing up as Jesus for this thing...if that isn't an excuse to cross the river, I don't know what is.
As always, these taps are subject to change on a daily basis, so call before you go, or just show up and enjoy whatever is on tap. Most bars just order one or two kegs of each beer, so when they're gone, they're gone. Get out there and enjoy some good beer, winter seasonal or not. 'Tis the season, after all.
RFD
810 7th St., NW
202.289.2030
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
Brasserie Beck
1101 K St., NW
202.408.1717
Metro: Metro Center
Gordon Biersch
900 F St. NW
202.783.5454
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
Birreria Paradiso
3282 M St., NW
202.337.1245
Metro: Foggy Bottom or Rosslyn plus a shuttle, or use the Circulator
The Reef
2446 18th St., NW
202.518.3800
Metro: Woodley Park/Zoo/Adams Morgan plus a walk or the 98 Bus, or the 42 Bus.
Brickskeller
1523 22nd St., NW
202.293.1885
Metro: Dupont Circle
Rustico
827 Slaters Lane, Alexandria
703.224.5051
Metro: Braddock Road and the #4 DASH, or the 11Y Bus (afternoon rush only).
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Since the new Route 1 bridge near Rustico opened this weekend, getting there should be less of a Battan Death March. Had to leave a trail of empty Wollaver bottles to find my way back.
Other than the beer list, RFD sucks much ass. Don't even think about eating the food that comes out of that kitchen.
Good looking out Eric, I'll be out to Rustico one of these Sundays.
Denman, you're dressing up as Jesus for Chanukah? That's wonderful. He was a nice Jewish boy after all.
Now go light some candles or something.
Brickskeller, the bar you didn't get to visit, is having its Winter Holidaze Extravaganzee later this month--two nights hosting dozens of Mid Atlantic brewers showing off their winter beers.
But this probably isn't a very important winter beer event in DC, let's get back to talking about Rustico in Alexandria.
I would also like to write an advertorial for my bar--I'll be sure to pad it up front--please let me know your rates or whether DCist posts these gratis. Many thanks. - Nole.
cairo: yea, I assumed there would be a winter tasting at the Brick, but I haven't seen anything on DA's email list about it yet so I didn't mention it. It's been real fun in previous years (although I think it's usually held at RFD).
I'm sorry if my inclusion of Rustico's beer event offended you guys. I don't think there's anything wrong with mentioning it, especially since I make sure it's clear that I work there.
oh please you didn't do anything wrong. folks post specific events all the time. who cares? keep your head up tuesday-night jesus.
and hce, i completely agree. rfd food is awful. just plain awful. and it's a shame too.
Disclosure statements always bother me, but damned if you do or don't I suppose. Hard to be a beer lover, work in the beer industry, and cover it with the objectivity of a journalist--or at least its hard to maintain your reader's perception of objectivity.
Like the above commenter re:RFD, Dave's bars get a lot of flack on a number of service/food/beer availability issues, but his work to build a beer community in DC shouldn't be overlooked. Anyone who goes to his events usually leaves with a different opinion about the Brick/RFDs despite the other stuff. I don't know who you talked to on the phone, and it's true Dave hasn't sent an email. There is mention of the event on his website though-- http://lovethebeer.com/
Mr. Cairo. I agree with you on the RFD/Brick front, but please: "objectivity of a journalist"? I don't think anyone visits the DCist for "objectivity" or "journalism". That said, Edenman's article is a good attempt, but I just can't shake the feeling he wanted to promote one event and cobbled together a half-assed summary of a few places to get a winter brew. It's just a shame since he left so many other places out and put all the emphasis on the Rustico event. It's not that I expected more, just wished for it... 'Tis the season, right? - Nole
sigh.
"Hard to be a beer lover, work in the beer industry, and cover it with the objectivity of a journalist" - nail on the head.
NoleRabid, do you have any recommendations for other places that are doing winter beers? I tried to hit everything I could think of. If Rustico seemed to stick out (location-wise) it's because I generally don't go to VA except to bartend. And I don't think I put all the emphasis on it at all: it's 4 sentences in a decent-length article.
edenman: fuck the haters.
I've never considered DCist an objective source. I'm not sure why some people want to hold it to the same standards as the Post. People bitch all the time that their pet event isn't listed on the music roundup, etc. DCist is not a comprehensive list of everything going on in the area. It's done mostly by volunteers. Some things will be left out. Get over it, and tell us about it in the comments instead of just bitching.
Oh and the VA/DC thing.. give it a fucking rest. That debate has long been settled.
oh politburo, you had me at "fuck the haters"
well written
and, i do appreciate every individual who works toward building a strong beer community in our area (including edenman, because that is basically all he wants to do). i just don't understand why the brickskellar food is pretty great and rfd food is the opposite of great
i don't hate beer, i love beer. wait what are we talking about again? sorry to bitch politburo, i was hoping it was more like a reaction to the feeling that The Brick was somewhat passed over in the article. Now that i think of it, it's annoying and reflects poorly on the bar that the people answering the phone can't rattle off the taps, the brick doesn't have that many... anyway Eric has a tough volunteer job to do here keeping the beer geeks happy.
watchmen-agreed, RFDs needs help. Compare their French dip to Le Enfant's. Where would you end up buying your Belgian beer?
cairo: hmmmm Beck's has a spectacular Belgian selection. Have you tried it yet? Amazing menu too. It's pricey but worth it. 11th & K Street, NW
And, are you recommending Le Enfant's? Drives me crazy that I still haven't checked that place out properly.
cairo: hmmmm Beck's has a spectacular Belgian selection. Have you tried it yet? Amazing menu too. It's pricey but worth it. 11th & K Street, NW
And, are you recommending Le Enfant's? Drives me crazy that I still haven't checked that place out properly.
I didn't mention this in the article, but I actually did swing by the Brick on the night that I did most of the tasting...but the upstairs was closed, and by that point I was wasted, so I (in a rare show of restraint) decided to just go home. I called on Sunday and Monday during the day, but they weren't open either time (I forgot there's no lunch on Mondays) and the people that answer the phones are the hotel desk folks. They can't be expected to know the tap list (though it would be nice).
Beck's does have a rather stunning Belgian beer selection--it nearly rivals Dr. Granville Moore's over on H St. NE. Beck's has a beer sommelier, afterall. They also do a good job of adding new beers just about every week.
I wouldn't recommend Le Enfant's for its beer, really--they have a handful of solid Belgian brews--through the Delirium Tremens distributor--but they rarely change it up. Stella, DT, Chimay, Kasteel and Affligem are usually available but not much else. The food, however, is pretty good. Especially the french dip, crepes and made-on premises yogurt. (Yogurt, however, is not a good beer accompaniment, though.) -Nole
yogurt and beer . . . ew
i completely forgot about granville moore's. good call. not the easiest location for me but i've been there a few times before rock n' roll hotel shows and loved that place. thanks nole.
Ah, interesting footnote to this article. While we've established it isn't meant to be objective journalism or whatever--it happens to be the only article from a blog within today's newsletter from the national Brewers Association. They have a discussion list and news roundup email for members. The other articles are all from local newspapers covering breweries news, etc. and then this one. Don't underestimate the power of RSS and DCist's volunteers! -Nole