Beer, Glorious Beer
Sing it with me: “It’s (almost) the most wonderful time of the year!!!” No, it’s not Christmas, Chanukah, or Festivus. August 20-28 brings about DC Beer Week -- and this year's line up does not disappoint. Teddy Folkman (Granville Moore’s) and his cohorts have once again organized a slew of dinners, tastings, meet-ups, and even a cruise to appease both beer geeks and n00bs alike. So get those hangover remedies ready for nine days of 16 oz. curls and the chance to try some of the rarities and classics that will be all over town. Here are some of our recommended picks, but there are many other events, with more constantly being added all over the city. Check out DC Beer Week for all the the latest information.
Friday, August 20
Rock & Roll Hotel
6 p.m. doors
D.C. Beer Week Kickoff
DC Nerd Nite and Rock & Barley Concert featuring Beer Director Greg Engert of ChurchKey and others. Nerd Nite presentations will be on the history of American Craft beer, why “Bud ain’t that bad” after all and a beer-inspired music event (with beer tastings) to follow. Tickets are $10 for either event or $16 for both.
Sunday, August 22
Pizzeria Paradiso
DC Beer Week Rare Beer Brunch
12 p.m.
Five Courses and featuring Lagunitas Lil’ Sumpin, Hitachino Nipponia, BFM Douze, Three Floyds Stay in School, and Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. $60/person
Craft Beer Cruise
6 p.m.
Cruise on the Cherry Blossom featuring over 20 different breweries, appetizers, and a whole lot more. $70/person. Space is limited to 150 people. To purchase tickets go to Craft Beer Cruise.
Monday, Aug 23
The Big Hunt
Baltimore Cask Night
6 p.m.
Oliver Ale’s Three Lions Ale aged three different ways specifically for The Big Hunt. Head brewer Stephen Jones will be on hand for meet and greet.
Granville Moore’s
7 p.m.
Join Susan Greene of Global Brewers Guild for an entertaining night of Belgian and Belgian-style American Beers and a 5-course dinner carefully pairing and integrating the beers with the food. $70/person. Space is limited to 35 people. Call 202-399-2546 for reservations.
Room 11
5 p.m.
Room 11 along with Victory Brewing present two beers rarely seen outside the Victory Brewpub: Mad King Weiss and Gassy Jack Bitter.
Dino
6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
3 Beers 3 Courses
Chef Dean Gold carefully pairs 3 of his favorite beers with three courses. $39/person
Trusty's
Burgers, Beer, and Bus Night
4 p m.
Have you ever dreamed of drinking craft canned beers while sitting in your old elementary school bus? Well now is your chance with the launch of the Bus Bar upstairs. Kickback with Butternut beer and figure out which lunch box you used to (or still) have.
Tuesday, August 24
Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe
Brooklyn Brawl Beer and Cheese Tasting
6 p.m. in the bar
Come and taste some of the finest beers from NY's largest Craft Brewer: Brooklyn Brewery. The beers will be artfully paired with Cheeses from International Gourmet. The beers include: Brewmaster's Reserve, Local 1 Lager, Black Ops (!!!), Brooklyn-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse, and Brown Ale.
H Street Country Club
Harpoon Pints for Putts
6:30 p.m.
The shot of your life. 1 Beer. 1 Putt. 120 feet. Sink it and walk away with a regulation totally sick $3000 Pool Table! If not, there’s still plenty of Harpoon goodness.
Justin's Cafe
Racing Dangerously
6:30 p.m.
Racer 5 IPA and five different flavors of pie from Dangerously Delicious Pies. Beer and pie? What else do you need? $10 for slice and a pint.
Star and Shamrock
Brisket & Brews
6 p.m.
Join Shmaltz Brewing Company and the Irish/Jewish cuisine of the Star and Shamrock along with tasty He'Brew ales for some creative pairings.
18th Amendment
Pizza Night with the 21st Amendment Brewing Company
7 p.m.
Pizzas will be hot and beer will be cold along with reps from 21st Amendment there to keep it all together.
Belga Cafe
Chimay Trappist Ale Vintage Beer Tasting
6:30 p.m.
Belga will host a tasting all of the Chimay Trappist Ales and will be treated to a vertical tasting of one of the world's finest beers: Chimay Grand Reserve. Chimay "Blue" will be served in three vintages in three unique packages, Chimay Grand Reserve 750 ml 2010 Vintage, Chimay 3L Jeroboam 2009 Vintage, and the extremely rare Chimay 6L Methusalah 2007 Vintage. $59 per person.
Liberty Tree
Smuttynose New England Beer Dinner
7 p.m.
4 Courses, 4 Beers from one of New England‘s legendary breweries. $40/person
Brickskeller
Dogfish Ancient Ales Tasting
7 p.m.
Join Dogfish Heads national sales manager Claus Hagelman for an evening of rare huge and delicious "off centered" ancient ale styles brewed by the cutting edge Delaware brewery. $35 per person.
Wednesday, August 25
Nationals Park
D.C. Beer Week Night at Nats Park
7 p.m.
Join the Washington Nationals as they face the Chicago Cubs. For just $22, you’ll receive a Scoreboard Pavilion seat and a voucher for four complimentary Leinenkugel beer samples. GO NATS (and beer)!!!
ChurchKey
Heavy Seas Cask Night
6 p.m.
Heavy Seas invades Churchkey and attacks with hard hitters including oak-aged Loose Cannon in an actual oak cask, cask of Bourbon Barrel-Aged Heavy Seas Hang Ten, vintage Below Decks Barleywine, and many more.
Red and the Black
Troegs Night
6 p.m.
Glassware giveaway, Mad Elf in the Summer, Troegs Band, guaranteed fun.
The Big Hunt
Bitch vs. Bastard
8 p.m.
Flying Dog, Stone Brewing and DCbeer.com present “A Bitch and A Bastard”. A five-round tasting guided by local beer celebrities. Tickets available for $30 in advance and $35 at the door.
Downstairs in the Devil’s Kitchen
Washington City Paper presents DC Speakeasy “Fermented: A Night of True Tales About Beer.” $15 admission.
Capitol Lounge
Beer and Barbeque with Great Lakes Brewing Company
6 p.m.
Low country barbeque and other backyard cuisine washed down with some of the finest brews from Great Lakes Brewing including Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Commodore Perry IPA, Dortmunder Gold Lager, and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. $45/Person All Inclusive.
District Chophouse
Meet the Brewer Night
7 p.m.
Meet brewer, Barrett Lauer, and enjoy tours of the brewery along with half price beers.
Thunder Burger
Sierra Nevada Dinner
6 p.m.
Enjoy a four-course meal each paired with a different SN beer: Kellerweis Hefeweizen, Torpedo Extra IPA, Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale, and the limited 30th Anniversary Jack & Ken’s Imperial Black Barleywine Ale. In between courses Brad will discuss the different beers. Only 35 tickets available and are $40 per person.
Meridian Pint
Ommegang’s Belgian Bonanza
5 p.m.
Featuring Rare Vos, Belgian Pale Ale, 5 p.m.Scotch Ale, the classic Abbey Ale, Hennepin and 2008 Bierre de Mars.
Thursday, August 26
The Reef
5 p.m.
Rogue Ales Oyster Fest
3,000 Oysters, 3 Shuckers, 3 Levels, 7 great beers from Rogue Ales. Dead Guy, Kells Irish Lager, Imperial IPA, Imperial YSB, Orgasmic, Somer Ale, John John’s Hazlenut. Along with the Reef kitchen pairing food with some of Rogue's finest offerings.
Meridian Pint
Schlafly 5-course beer dinner
7 p.m.
Schafly Brewing Company present Dan Kopman Co-Founder and Brew Master of St. Louis Brewing. Special rare tastings of Schlafly beers paired with unique offerings from Meridian Pint's kitchen. $65 per person.
Biergarten Haus
Reissdorf Kolsch Firkins Night
7 p.m.
Taste some of the best Germany has to offer with local beer celebrity Bill Catron.
Friday, August 27
The Big Hunt
Michigan Beer Bash
7 p.m.
Featuring rare draft offerings from some of Michigan’s most well-known brewers. On hand will be reps from the breweries and the following rare offerings: Founders CBS and Nemesis, New Holland Beerhive and Imperial Hatter, Jolly Pumpkin Callabazza Blanca amd Weizen Bam, and an aged keg of Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale.
Shhhh…Bell's will also supply a secret surprise keg only available at The Big Hunt.
Meridian Pint (5-8 p.m.) and Belga Café (4-6 p.m.) will both be having happy hour specials featuring special beers.
Saturday, Aug 28
RFD
Firkin Spectacular
7 p.m.
Close out the weekend with casks from local breweries. An all cask access pass for $40 (incl. tax and gratuity) gets entry to the backroom to sample whatever you like. They're only offering a limited number of passes. After 8 p.m., you can also order any cask-conditioned beer up front for only $5.
Also Monday-Wednesday, “Elliot in the Morning presents DC Beer Week" in studio. Elliot will be promoting the night’s events and having local beer celebrities and craft beer venue reps in-studio each morning. You can also use the handy-dandy calendar , website, or Twitter to keep track of everything. And remember: don’t sit these out, many events will have some beers that won’t be here again for some time…or at all!