Washington, DC
Beers on Tap: None in the cellar. There's a separate restaurant upstairs with taps.
Sometime after that, I headed down to Washington, DC for a long weekend of city-slicking fun. There are a number of topics I could do a write-up on, but for the purposes of this blog, one place stands apart from the rest: The Brickskeller.
Deep inside the beer Mecca.
If you’re a beer lover living in the D.C. area, either you already know about Brickskeller or you don’t know how to use Google. The Brickskeller has more than 1,000 bottled beers and has held the Guinness World Record for largest beer list. (You've also got to love a place that owns the domain name "lovethebeer.com." Big props for that.)
If you want to try a beer from Trinidad, Guatemala, Ethiopia or Lebanon, this is your place. If you don’t want to try a beer from one of those places, they’ve got approximately infinity American beers, too. So don’t be a downer.
I went with my sister and girlfriend at the end of a night of bar-hopping, at something like midnight or 12:30 a.m. To get into the bar, we had to walk up the stairs of what looks like a hotel, then immediately turn right and walk down into a brick cellar. I can only assume “Brickskeller” is what comes out when you try to say “brick cellar” after a few heavy-hitting brews. The bar was dark, but cozy, and the walls had plexiglass cases filled with funny-looking old beer cans – interior decorating at its finest.
I had a Stone Ruination IPA, Brittney had an Allagash White, and I have no idea what my sister had. I have no idea what she had because earlier, we had attended a happy hour that offered half-priced bottles of wine. Party!
The Ruination was strong, super-hoppy, and delicious. We also shared a cheese plate – a hot loaf of bread accompanied by cheddar, pepper jack, brie, and two other cheeses that I’ve forgotten (again, happy hour). Unfortunately, we only stayed for one round, because it was getting pretty late at that point. It’s probably a blessing in disguise, because it would be easy to spend a fortune in that place.
So, if you’re a beer lover visiting DC, Brickskeller is a necessary stop. I mean, just look at that beer list. It’s like the Library of Congress, but of beer. So it’s only fitting that it’s located in our nation’s capital. God bless America.
Ryan
I went with my sister and girlfriend at the end of a night of bar-hopping, at something like midnight or 12:30 a.m. To get into the bar, we had to walk up the stairs of what looks like a hotel, then immediately turn right and walk down into a brick cellar. I can only assume “Brickskeller” is what comes out when you try to say “brick cellar” after a few heavy-hitting brews. The bar was dark, but cozy, and the walls had plexiglass cases filled with funny-looking old beer cans – interior decorating at its finest.
I had a Stone Ruination IPA, Brittney had an Allagash White, and I have no idea what my sister had. I have no idea what she had because earlier, we had attended a happy hour that offered half-priced bottles of wine. Party!
The Ruination was strong, super-hoppy, and delicious. We also shared a cheese plate – a hot loaf of bread accompanied by cheddar, pepper jack, brie, and two other cheeses that I’ve forgotten (again, happy hour). Unfortunately, we only stayed for one round, because it was getting pretty late at that point. It’s probably a blessing in disguise, because it would be easy to spend a fortune in that place.
So, if you’re a beer lover visiting DC, Brickskeller is a necessary stop. I mean, just look at that beer list. It’s like the Library of Congress, but of beer. So it’s only fitting that it’s located in our nation’s capital. God bless America.
Ryan
