3 Stars Brewing Growler Hours. Photo by ekelly80.

3 Stars Brewing Growler Hours. Photo by ekelly80.

While many bars and restaurants are feeling the lull from the dog days of summer, D.C. Beer Week 2013 starts Sunday and packs upwards of 180 events into seven days of exploration and appreciation all things beer. All over the city, events ranging from your standard “Steal the Pint” and trivia events to the swanked-out formals at the Heurich Mansion cater to everyone who loves beer. So while we normally pick out our favorite events for the sudsy week and link to sites to view all the events at once, just the flagship events, or events by the day and see what piques your fancy, we propose a different way to tackle the biggest DCBW yet.

1) With many parts of the city that were once drink deserts now flourishing with cocktails, beer and wine, why not choose events based on a particular area?

  • Currently spend most of your time on H Street NE? Pick a day to head over to Dupont and hit up Big Hunt, Scion and Crios, Pizza Paradiso, Afterwords Cafe and Bier Baron.

  • Haven’t been to the Adams Morgan area since your college days and remember only crap swill, SoCo out of a condiment bottle, and Jumbo Slice? Head over and experience the new Adams Morgan with Jack Rose, Smoke and Barrel, Black Squirrel, and Tryst.

  • Or maybe, just maybe, you even want to hit some of the solid events across the river in (gasp) Virginia. Sometimes you just have to live on the edge….

    2) Have you been meaning to go to Ripple, Kangaroo Boxing Club, Carving Room, or Smith Commons but keep sticking to your same ol’ watering hole because it is close to home? Why not pick a few of those bars you continually hear about and spread those drinking wings out a bit. You may not only find a new place you like, but realize it isn’t as far as you think.

    3) With the influx of beer into this town over the past few years, we’ve gone from a city that was happy just to have a decent IPA to a destination for some of the most adventurous and innovative brewers in the world: Spanish beers, Italian beers (yes, far beyond the typical Peroni) and forward-thinking American brewers are all creating new styles and hybrids along with using some novel ingredients and processes to really push the boundaries of what we perceive beer to be. Sure, we all like a well-balanced lager. Every beer has a time a place. So with that mindset, go out and try some beers you may have heard of that you were a little intimidated to try, or simply go out on a limb and try something you’ve never heard of or can’t even pronounce.

  • Pizza Paradiso is doing an event with gueuzes and goses (pronounced “goozez” and “goh-sahs” respectively) which are excellent for the hot weather. Tart, refreshing, and low in alcohol, these beers are finally getting the recognition they deserve in the US beer scene and are a personal favorite here at DCist.

  • If you’ve been a fan of the popular American IPAs and are a little intimidated by the foreign sounding Belgian style ales, head over to Granville Moore’s event that pairs Ommegang’s with discussion of the intersection of faith and beer.

  • Maybe you remember that cloyingly sweet “hard” cider you had in college, are noticing all the new ciders coming out and wonder why anyone would want to drink those apple abominations? Head over to Meridian Pint and try the new cider revolution that is creating beautifully complex ciders and meads fit for any beer snob’s palate.

    In the end, D.C. Beer Week is a celebration of not only beer but of beer culture and how it has developed in the city. This is a wonderful time to venture out of our normal bastions and experience something new and perhaps discover and appreciate some aspects of beer that may walk a bit on the wild side. You may even like it more than that typical well-balanced lager.

    But you’ll never know until you try.

    • Filed Under: beer, dc beer week, DCBW,