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).