Photo by theordinary.Drink of the Week: Schlitz
Where: The Red Derby
It seems like the media can’t get enough opportunities to paint D.C. as a city of fat cat lobbyists and contractors profiting off the backs of the hard working tax payer. The restaurant scene does its fair share of feeding the machine, from overpriced, mediocre steak dinners to weird VIP perks. Of course, glorifying the high-roller lifestyle doesn’t help the city’s reputation either. So this week, we pay tribute to the city’s working stiffs—the thirsty, the cash-strapped, the 99 percent, if you will—with a send-up to cheap, shitty beer.
There are many cheap beers on the market, but my favorite is Schlitz, “the beer that made Milwaukee famous.” The history of the Schlitz brewery reads like a capitalist love story. Once the best-selling beer in America, competition from rival Anheuser-Busch drove the company to pursue to some unorthodox cost-cutting measures. These included substituting corn syrup and hop pellets for malted barley and fresh hops and adopting shorter brewing times that necessitated a string of chemical stabilizers to prevent the beer from looking hazy or like mucus. This, combined with an uncomfortably aggressive ad campaign (colloquially known as “drink Schlitz or I’ll kill you”) helped drive profits into the ground. Ultimately, the failing brewery was bought out by Stroh’s (now owned by PBR) in the early 80s.
The good news is that Schlitz has returned to their 1960s formulation, pre-corn syrup and stabilizers. The beer’s taste, while wholly unremarkable, is also totally inoffensive. It’s drinkable, which is probably all that really matters in a cheap beer. The can proclaims that there’s just a kiss of hops, and the flavor does tend more to the sweet instead of bitter. I can’t say that it’s all that distinguishable from PBR or Natty Boh, but I like to imagine that Schlitz’s checkered past and relative scarcity makes it taste kind of like broken dreams and unicorn tears.
These days, Schlitz is increasingly hard to find in bars around D.C. This may be indicator of just how far Schlitz’s market share has fallen, or perhaps it’s just that there’s very little profit to be made selling $2 beers. The Raven, one of the few bars that sold Schlitz, has since swapped out the cans for pricier Natty Boh. However, if you want to experience the full “gusto” of a Schlitz, you can still find some at the Red Derby (3718 14th Street NW), priced at $4 for a tall boy.
Small Bites
Breakfast for Dinner
Jack Rose (2007 18th Street NW) is joining the eggs and mimosas crowd with the launch of their Sunday brunch menu on February 10. Offerings include a decadent-sounding pork belly and duck egg breakfast sandwich, french toast with housemade ricotta and bourbon pecan caramel sauce, and chicken confit hash. Meanwhile, brunch cocktails like a Bloody Mary with bourbon, bacon, and blue cheese, are almost a meal by themselves. Brunch will be served on Sundays from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., but you can get a special preview of the brunch menu on Monday night. The four course brunch tasting menu is $20 and is available from 5-10 p.m.
Where to Eat a lot of Wings Watch the Superbowl
For some of us, the Superbowl is just an excuse to eat an excessive quantity of wings, nachos, and seven-layer dip while some dudes in tight pants throw a ball. If your game day allegiances are primarily to your stomach, hit up Washingtonian for a comprehensive list of bars offering Superbowl food and drink specials.
