Green Hat Gin is now available for sale.
Many things in life should be done with moderation. Clicking on articles on this website, however, is not one of them. And in 2012, when it came to stories about D.C.’s drinking habits, DCist readers were gleefully indulgent.
Whether it was the introduction of new beverage manufacturers, a beer controversy that enveloped the White House, the weather’s impact on the booze supply or the legislative punch churned up by the D.C. Council, our readers were thirsty. Here are some of the biggest boozy stories of 2012.
Gin: If 2011 was the year for District-made beer, 2012 belonged to the harder stuff. John Uselton and Michael Lowe became D.C.’s first professional distillers in over a century when they opened New Columbia Distillery. We visited them in giddy anticipation back in January when they started working on their Ivy City facility. Nine months later, on a crisp spring day, they rolled out Green Hat Gin, a juniper-laced quaff that that stands well against mass-distributed behemoths like Tanqueray and Hendrick’s. And though D.C.’s official cocktail, the Rickey, is a lame choice, Green Hat holds up with a whiff of vermouth, a splash of tonic or, simply on its own.
White House/Pete Souza
Presidential Pub: The White House first started making its own beer in 2011, using honey cultivated from its garden’s beekeeping operation. But it wasn’t until late August when petitioners, using the White House’s online petition site, demanded that if President Obama is going to brew his own beer and share it with his political allies—he ought to give the recipe to the people. It was a member of the D.C. Homebrewers club who filed the petition, and after a few weeks of clamor, the White House complied.
Later on, we met up with the home brewers, and attempted to replicate one of the White House recipes for ourselves. Our requests to do a bottle swap with the president, however, went unanswered. We can say that the final product is refreshing and buzzy, if a tad bit sweet.
Then again, the recipe does call for a full pound of honey. And though the petition site has since descended into self-parody, it’s nice that it worked out in this instance.
Late-Night Ales and Sunday Sales: D.C.’s liquor laws are some of the patchiest in the nation. Until very recently, blue laws prohibiting the sale of hard liquor on Sunday ruled the books, all bars and restaurants were required to close at 2 a.m. and novel concepts like wine pubs were prohibited. But Mayor Vince Gray introduced extended bar hours in his 2013 budget as a way to boost the city’s coffers. More drinks equal more government revenue, after all. The revisions of D.C.’s liquor laws later included allowing stores to open on Sundays and the introduction of restaurants and bars that might make their own wine. And when the D.C. Council passed the alcohol reform package earlier this month, surely many bottles were cracked in celebration. for those extended hours, a selection of bars and restaurants got to serve as trial balloons on Columbus Day and Thanksgiving, with some even staying open until the sun came up.
Photo by Marcellina
From Derecho to Democratic National Convention: It’s true that between Three Stars Brewing Company, D.C. Brau and the forthcoming Atlas Brew Works, the District has plenty of beer to boast about. But the single most popular brewery according to our pageview count actually hails from Alexandria.
Not that we should hold that against Port City Brewing Company; it’s ales and lagers can be found routinely on the draught lines of D.C.’s best beer bars, and for good measure. But it was a freak weather incident that made the company a viral hit. When a wild derecho storm blew through the area on June 30, Port City Brewing Company, like much of the Washington area, was thrown into darkness. A few days’ blackout is inconvenient, but tolerable, for most; less so when you’re brewing 13,000 gallons of beer, which is how much Port City had sitting in its tanks when the power went out.
But owner Bill Butcher was able to turn his worrying into the best kind of result: beer. When the lights came back on, Butcher turned the jeopardized beer into a California common, a style that is fermented at higher temperatures. The Derecho Common made to the bars as a quenching reminder of Mother Nature’s wrath.
Still, that wasn’t it for Butcher. In September, he traveled to Charlotte, N.C. to address the Democratic National Convention. Port City Brewing Company, Butcher told the delegates, was founded in 2010 with the help of a Small Business Administration loan made possible by the 2009 stimulus act. And now Butcher’s beers are seen all over the D.C. area and are expanding further. If that’s not good government spending, we don’t know what is.
