Vacation 2017 - Washington DC area Breweries

When I travel, now that the number of local breweries have grown, I try to visit local breweries as well as local restaurants.  I recently traveled to Washington DC and Greenville, SC and decided to try out the local breweries in each area.  Obviously, breweries weren't the only place that I visited, but it's a way to look at the culture of an area.  Because the Washington DC area encompasses two states and the District, I wanted to see something in each area, there was discussion about running out to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to get to Dogfish Head Brewery, but despite the fact that it isn't far as the crow flies, there really is no easy way to get there, so that was waved off.  We started things off in Washington DC at Right Proper Brewery.  Right Proper actually has two locations.  Their brewpub is located in the Shaw neighborhood,  near Howard University, and their production brewery is located in Brookland.  We went to the brewpub which is smaller, doesn't take reservations, and has a very comfortable feel to it.  The building was brick with hardwood floors, unfinished ceilings, and hanging lights.  There were also several very cool and slightly weird murals throughout the dining room.  We sat near something that looked like a blue radish with arms and their was another one on another wall of the Washington DC area with a raccoon zapping a panda bear near the zoo.  The food menu has a Southern vibe to it.  We arrived around noon, so we decided to go for brunch.  We started with a very good Smoked Salmon Mousse with Everything Bagel Chips and Housemade Bread & Butter Pickles.  Unfortunately, it was so good that it was mostly eaten before I remembered to take a picture.  It was a spin on Lox and Bagels done in the form of crackers and dip.  The bagel chips were crisp with a lot of flavor and were good even without spreading the very good smoked salmon mousse on them.  My only compaint is that we could have used more bagel chips.  For my main course, I went with what is becoming a brunch standard, Chicken and Waffles.  This version was done with Fresh Blueberries and Blueberry Syrup and Butter.  While it was good, I especially liked the slight tartness of the blueberry syrup, the ratio of chicken to waffle could have been a little better.  The chicken that was there was nicely breaded and was tender, juicy, and flavorful, but it would have been nice to have more.  Looking at the beer list, it appears that while they might not be exclusively a sour beer brewery, they do like sour beers.  I like sour beers as well, so I thought I would see what they did.  They don't do flights, so I got a couple of beers in their smallest size, so I could try more than one.  The beers that I got were Tropic of Capricorn, an American Brett Pale Ale and Kick, Kick, Snare Dry Hopped Berlinerweisse.  While both beers had a sour flavor to them, neither was exceptionally sour.  I did like both of them although I think that I liked the Tropic of Capricorn more which is surprising, because I generally like the berlinerweisse style more.

After enjoying Right Proper Brewery, we continued on to Silver Spring, Maryland to visit Denizens Brewing Co.  Located on a hill, it had a two level brewing area, both of which had beer gardens outside.  They also served food, but as we had just eaten at Right Proper, food was unnecessary for us.  The place had an industrial vibe, especially the basement with one wall looking like it was made from ductwork aluminum.  The upper interior taproom seemed smaller, so we ventured downstairs where we had to walk through barrel storage and by an entrance to the brewing area to get to the downstairs taproom.  It was raining a little when we arrived, so we really had no desire to sit outside in either of the beer gardens (which did look like they would be nice if it hadn't been raining).  The long bar in the basement was open behind it, so you could easily see the brewing area.  Other than the bar, there were a variety of tables to sit at.  They were black topped metal tables with metal chairs which looked more comfortable than the bar stools, so that's where we sat.  There was art hanging throughout the taprooms, but the series that caught my eye was the hipster Presidents (and Hillary Clinton).  There was John Kennedy, Barack Obama, George Washington, Hillary Clinton, Abe Lincoln, and Ronald Reagan.  They all cracked me up, but I think I liked Washington in a track suit best.  Denizens offered three set flights of four beers, although there was some overlap between the three.  Their flights were labeled Malty, Hoppy, and Seasonal.  While all had things that caught my eye, both the Malty and Seasonal flights had a Porter on the list and I wasn't terribly interested in a porter at that time, so I went with their Hoppy Flight.  In their Hoppy Flight was Lowest Lord ESB, The Mack IPL, Trainspotting Pale Ale, and Southside Rye IPA.  On the other flights were a couple of Tripels, a Red Ale, and the aforementioned Porter.  All of the beers that I had were hoppy and they were all pretty good, but they were all pretty similar.  There were differences and I did have a favorite, the Lowest Lord ESB, but my friend who is a home brewer suggsted that it looked as iff all beers were made using the same ingredients.

After Silver Spring, we traveled back to Lorton, Virginia to a brewery that, given the name, I would have put on the coast and not in a business park.  Fair Winds Brewing Company is located in a business park and doesn't seem to have any connection to the water, but all of their beers follow a sailing theme.  As opposed to Denizens, the Fair Winds is located in a large single floor space with high ceilings that looks like it was a warehouse at one point.  Part of the curved bar is located near the entrance, but it curves back into the room.  Other than the bar, there are several large communal tables, one of which we sat at.  They do not serve food, but it is BYOF and there was a food truck in the parking lot when we were there.  The beers seem to have quite a variety in color and flavor both and flights consist of 4 - 5 oz pours of the drinkers choice.  I went with Quayside Kolsch, Siren's Lure Saison, Sessions in the Abyss Session IPA, and Dank and Stormy Imperial IPA.  Of these, I liked the kolsch and the IIPA best.  The kolsch being light and crisp and a good summertime beer and the dank and stormy being big and very flavorful with a very definite dankness to it.

While I mentioned we decided not to go to Delaware, that does not precisely mean that we did not go to Dogfish Head.  A few days after we did our brewery tour, we stopped at the Dogfish Head Ale House in Fairfax, Va.  While they might not specifically brew here, it is owned by Dogfish Head and does feature their beers and did have food.  We stopped for lunch on the way to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport.  Located in a stand alone restaurant in front of a strip mall, it kind of reminded me of a Chili's (as far as location and heavy use of wood in the design).  The food served was a bit more upscale than that served at Chili's.  We had some very good starter's starting with Smoked Cucumber Cups which were hollowed Cucumber Cups filled with Goat Cheese and topped with Smoked Salmon and Dill.  We also had Pop Pop Shrimp which were Popcorn Shrimp served with a Spicy Sauce over an Arugula Salad.  Both of these were very fresh and flavorful, but I was a bit overwhelmed when my burger arrived.  Called the Alehouse BBQ Burger, it was enormous and I was unsure at first how I was going to eat it.  It consisted of two 4 oz Wood Grilled Hamburger Patties basted with BBQ Sauce, topped with Cheddar Cheese, Applewood Smoked Bacon, and Onion Rings and a Wood Grilled Bun brushed with BBQ Ranch Sauce.  I did eat the onion rings separately which did make it somewhat smaller but I saw that I was going to be committed to eating it once I picked it up because there would be no easy way to put it down without it exploding.  It was a very good burger even if it was enormous and hard to eat.  As far as the beer was concerned, they had a set flight.  Many of the beers I was interested in, but I might have chosen differently on others.  It started with the Namaste Witbier, went to Dogfish Head standards, 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPA, the Indian Brown Ale, which is a combination of a Scotch Ale, a Brown Ale, and an IPA, Raison D'etre, their Belgian Ale made with Beet Sugar and Golden Raisins, and Romantic Chemistry IPA, their seasonal.  Of their beers, I have liked all that I have tried.  I knew that I liked their 90 Minute IPA more than the 60, and Raison D'Etre was a favorite.  I had Namaste before and thought that while it is good, it isn't really that distinctive.  The Indian Brown Ale, I had not had before and I was really surprised at how good it was.  It had elements of all three beers that it was a hybrid off, but it was all its own as well.  I was very interested in Romantic Chemistry, but it took a few drinks to impress me.  It was the last one that I had so it may have taken a few drinks to clear my palate.  It was an IPA made with Mango, Apricots, and Ginger.  The apricots were obvious in the nose, but it took a few tastes to get the mango and the ginger finish.  After several drinks, I was able to decide that it was a good beer.

The breweries that I tried in DC all had something to say for them, and it was a lot of fun exploring, though there were definitely a few that I would return to more readily than others.