Photo by Amber Wilkie

Given the fact that the District had four active breweries prior to prohibition (one where the Kennedy Center currently stands), the current state of beer affairs in our fair city could be seen as a glass that’s half-empty. But with the opening of the city’s first new breweries in fifty years coming in 2011, we’d rather look at it as a glass that’s half-full — and likely to keep filling in years to come.

It all started in April, when local beer start-up DC Brau started producing not only a brand of beer we could call our own, but also hope for other brewers to come. We’ve gotten two more so far — in August it was Chocolate City Beer, and now 3 Stars Beer has jumped into the game. Adams Morgan bar The Black Squirrel has also said they’d like to get into the act, Alexandria’s Port City is starting to work its way into the local beer scene and there’s even hope for a boutique brewery by Nationals Park at some point in 2012.

Back in March, our own John Fleury welcomed what he termed the “beer invasion”:

So what does this mean for us? It means fresh and local beer, made by those who have a passion for it. All of the people involved in these projects have been vocal members of the craft scene for years. Many of them have known each other for a long time. There have been a number of writers who have described this oncoming storm as a race, but I’ve never seen it that way. I see it as a scene, a family of people who are doing what they love at the same time. The music scene isn’t a race to see who puts out a record or gets signed to a label first. It’s a collective that knows they all bring different visions to the table, and this diversity is what will make the scene vibrant. When I mentioned how many people viewed it as a race and I disagreed, Dave Coleman of 3 Stars chuckled and said, “Race? These are products of our love and the market is so wide open. There is room for all of us doing our own thing. So why wouldn’t we help each other out instead of racing to the top?”

I agree. Let the invasion begin.

Of course, a few new breweries — and they’re small — won’t quickly change a drinking culture that for so long was, well, based around crappy mass-produced beers. Still, the city’s beer drinkers and enjoying more and more opportunities (check out these favorites from D.C. Beer), and the District’s laws are slowly changing to reflect that — in May, the D.C. Council approved legislation that would allow breweries to host tastings, while more recently a measure was introduced that would allow retailers to fill growlers.

And, in a personal favorite for me, we finally got Fat Tire beers, which for too long had to come from North Carolina or west of the Mississippi. Coupled with the very capable mixologists that occupy some the city’s better bars (including The Passenger, ranked amongst the country 50 best) and the designation of our own official cocktail, it’s been a great year for booze in the District. Maybe a few years from now we’ll regain the drinking heritage that existed before prohibition.