DC Beer Week 2015 Events & Highlights:
DC Beer Week is back, baby. The 7th annual week-long beer fest, held this year from August 9th to 16th, offers a huge range of brewtacular tastings, outings and parties. Here’s a rundown of some of the highlights.
Official daily flagship events
- Sunday, August 9 – Brewers on the Block at Suburbia: Beer Week kicks off as 20 regional breweries offer tastings outside of Union Market. General admission tickets cost $35 for access from 2 to 5pm, with VIP tickets costing $60 and getting you in an hour early.
- Monday, August 10 – DC Brau’s 4th Annual Crab Fest at Quarterdeck: Head to the Quarterdeck in Arlington for all you can eat crabs with $1 DC Brau drafts, and $5 DC Brau pitchers. Tickets cost $45 and are available here.
- Tuesday, August 11 – Port City at the National Building Museum: You don’t need to drive three hours to Ocean City to visit the beach. Instead, visit the interactive Beach exhibit at the National Building Museum for Port City’s big party. Tickets include three beers and a commemorative glass. More beer and food will be available for purchase.
- Wednesday, August 12 – RFD’s Coast to Coast Tap Takeover: All 45 tap lines at RFD will showcase American craft breweries, with all pints costing just $5. Find regional brews from across the country. A $5 cover goes to the St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
- Thursday, August 13 – The DC Total Tap Takeover at ChurchKey: ChurchKey will go in the other direction, keeping it entirely local, with DC brews on all 55 of their draft and cask lines. It’s the largest all-DC craft beer tasting and tapping ever.
- Friday, August 14 – DC Beer Week Takeover at High Velocity: More tap takeovers! Visit High Velocity at the Washington Marriott Marquis to get the weekend going properly.
- Saturday, August 15 – Devils Backbone’s “Deutschland in Dupont”: Head to the Sauf Haus Bier Hall in Dupont for a wide range of Devil’s Backbone German-style brews, along with pretzels, sausages, and hopefully, plenty of lederhosen.
- Sunday, August 16 – The DCBW Local Beer Scavenger Hunt: Last but not least, from 12 to 5pm on Sunday take part in a scavenger hunt as you visit six bars hunting for beers from 12 local breweries, with clues and prizes along the way. Teams of up to four accepted, registration encouraged 48 hours in advance.
More Events Around Town
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BrewHaHa at Old Ebbitt Grill
The annual BrewHaHa is a huge celebration of both food and drink, with nine local brewers paired with nine local chefs for a cocktail-style party and tasting held in the Atrium of the Old Ebbitt Grill. Each brewery will showcase two beers, with each chef creating a dish to pair with and enhance them.
Breweries include DC Brau, Flying Dog, Evolution Craft Brewing, Atlas Brew Works, Hellbender Brewing, Port City, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Denizens Brewing and Old Ox Brewery.
Chefs include Old Ebbitt’s Executive Chef Sal Ferro; Executive Chef Anthony Lombardo of The Hamilton; Executive Chef Russell Jones of Jack Rose Dining Saloon; Executive Chef Nathan Beauchamp of The Fainting Goat; Executive Chef Travis Kern of Boundary Stone; Executive Chef Jeff Eng of Tower Oaks Lodge; Executive Chef Nathan Anda of Red Apron Butcher; Executive Chef Logan McGear of Smoke and Barrel, and Executive Chef Michael Friedman of The Red Hen.
The event lasts from 8 to 11pm, and you can also expect music and other festivities. All inclusive tickets cost $65 and are available here.
Local Brews Local Grooves at The Fillmore
Washington City Paper is hosting Local Brews Local Grooves at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Saturday, August 15th. The event will showcase four bands and three DJs, but more importantly, more than 50 beers from 18 breweries.
General admission tickets cost $25 and include five samples, which can be used for either beer or food. VIP tickets cost $40 and include 10 samples, with early entry and other extras. More tastings can also be purchased.
You can buy tickets online here.
Wunder Garten’s Outdoor Beer Battle
On Saturday, August 15th, beers do battle across multiple categories as local brews, regional selections and German beers engage in sudsy warfare. In addition to the beer, find music and other entertainment, yard games and food trucks.
Dress in homage to the country you believe brews the best – flags, costumes and patriotism all encouraged. Festivities last from 4 to 10 pm. Tickets cost $7 including two tastings.
Barrel Hosts Alltech & Smuttynose
Barrel will host two Beer Week events. On the 12th, they’ll feature Alltech Distilling & Brewing for a Kentucky Bourbon Beer night. Four of their beers will be available on draft, and all pints come with a KY Bourbon pint glass to take home. Flights will also be available for $12.
Come back on the 15th for a Smuttynose tap takeover, with 8 Smuttynose beers, including some hard to find experimental offerings.
City Tap House Hosts its Own Beer Week
Why stop at one event? That’s what City Tap House wanted to know. So they’re playing by their own rules and hosting an entire week’s worth of special events. The lineup includes:
- Sunday: Stoudt’s Tap Takeover on Sunday, August 9
- Tuesday: “If King George Won” featuring English craft beer on draft
- Wednesday: “How to Start a Brewery” Panel Discussion/Q&A with Local Brewers
- Thursday: Cider & Mead Tap Takeover
- Friday: “Monkey 3 Way” featuring Victory Golden Monkey Tap Takeover and Banana Food Specials
They’re not done yet, either. In tandem with 3 Stars Brewing, City Tap House is releasing a new house exclusive beer, Persica Rising. It’s a dry, crisp Saison with a mild hop bite and a subtle peach finish. Find it on draft for $6, or $5 during happy hour. Stay on the lookout for additional seasonal variations and experiments.
New Columbia Distillers & DC Brau Team Up
New Columbia Distillers has teamed up with DC Brau for a special project just in time for DC Beer Week. They have distilled some DC Brau beer into a spirit they’re calling Eau de Brau. It’s made in the style of an Eau de Vie, with a single pass through the pot still and one column.
It’s a white whiskey-esque spirit, but has hops from the beer. They describe it as having a distinct hoppiness on the nose, with the palate dominated by crystal malt flavors and a bit of grainy hop notes.
There are only a few hundred 375ml bottles available. They’ll be sold at the distillery starting this Saturday for $22.
They’ll also be on hand at ChurchKey for the event listed above on the 13th.
Of course, there will be plenty more beyond this, from the raucous to the educational. Visit DCBeerWeek.net for more info and stay tuned for updates and additional event postings.
