Yes, you read that correctly: Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) has a can of Steel Reserve on his desk.

While taking in this otherwise staid video on the District’s bag tax, a DCist tipster happened to glance into the background at the Councilmember’s desk — and sure enough, right next to the conventional globe and the token office plant is a can of Steel Reserve. Now, Wells has been known to ooze nerdy cool before — take, for instance, the fact that he said he owns cuff links made from both D.C. state quarters and old D.C. streetcar tokens — but…Steel Reserve? On the desk of a D.C. Councilmember? It just didn’t seem like a normal knickknack.

We contacted Charles Allen, Wells’ Chief of Staff, to see if he could shed any light as to precisely why — besides, perhaps, an enjoyment of one of America’s finest “high gravity lagers” — Wells was showing it off. Allen told us that Wells received the can — which is cleverly wrapped in a black disposable bag — as a cheeky gift after he fostered through a ban on sales of single containers of alcohol in Ward 6 in October 2008, which was, coincidentally, also right around the time he was working on the plastic bag tax legislation.

“It’s fun to see who gets thrown off when they’re looking at the desk and their eyes stop at the can of Steel Reserve,” Allen added.

I have to admit: the idea of Wells’ meeting with business leaders (like, say, Walmart) with a can of Steel Reserve in a plastic bag sitting out in the open is pretty rad. Keep it real, Mr. Wells.