One word comes to mind when describing DC’s brewery scene—burgeoning. It was only ten years ago that the District welcomed its first craft brewery, and now, we’re seeing upwards of fourteen within the capitol limits alone.
In a single decade.
So, while you’re out and about this season, remember to support your local small businesses and stop by these incredible breweries in DC for a celebratory pint. We want to make sure they stick around… and that more DC craft breweries continue to pop up.
Types of Craft Beer in DC
You want it, we got it here in D.C. Basically, any style of beer can be found in Washington, D.C., as long as you know where to look. Lucky for you- we do.
- Ale (Blonde Ale, Brown Ales, Pale Ale, India Pale Ale)
- Lager
- Pilsner
- Porter
- Sour
- Stout
- Wheat
Where to find the DC Breweries
From downtown D.C. to the Navy Yard, you can find the top breweries in the city serving up Belgian style craft brew, IPAs, sours, porters and lagers. Many of the District’s bars and restaurants have embraced the local beer scene and are sourcing beers across the DC area to serve their customers.
Our favorite spots have beer gardens, tasting rooms and pick up locations, making it convenient to enjoy a pint no matter what life throws at your schedule.
I’ve even found many of these beers at a craft beer store near me. Don’t be afraid to sample a few during your next backyard party or happy hour in D.C. and find your favorite.
3 Stars Brewing Company
3 Stars Brewing Company was given its namesake based on the DC flag. And that’s sort of this brewery’s overall goal in a nutshell—to represent DC… in the world of craft beer.
Known for their creative mixes, they’ve released over 200 beers to date and have won a number of awards for their creations in only a short period of time. Their current menu is running a variety of IPAs, of course, but also a few sours and saisons.
You’ll find ciders, ales, porters, and stouts in the mix, too. Donate to charity when you buy one of their Humane Society brews.
Location and Hours
- Address: 6400 Chillum Pl NW, Washington, DC 20012
- Hours: Mon–Wed 2–5 pm, Thurs–Sun 2–8 pm
Seating & Services 3 Stars Brewing Company
- Indoor seating
- Patio seating: Thurs–Sun 2–8 pm
- Curbside pickup: Mon–Wed 2–5 pm, Thurs–Sun 2–8 pm
- Delivery: Thurs–Sun 2–6 pm
Food available
Yes.
Tours/tastings at 3 Stars Brewing Company
Tours are temporarily suspended; pick-your-own flights.
Atlas Brew Works
Atlas Brew Works is one of a few breweries to open in northeast DC in the last decade or so. And it’s expanded to a second location near Nationals Park, where it sports some thirteen TVs.
Atlas promotes environmental stewardship in several different ways—through its solar-powered facility, by packaging in cans rather than bottles, through water recapturing programs, and donating spent grain to local farms for feed.
They offer a standard line of tasty flagship brews, including the Ponzi, District Common, Blood Orange Gose, Bullpen Pilsner, Dance of Days, and Silent Neighbor. But they also offer several seasonals featuring lots of sours and darker beers, in particular.
Stop by with your pup and/or kids to watch the game at Half Street or for Tuesday’s trivia night at the Ivy City location.
Location and Hours
- Address: two locations
- Ivy City: 2052 West Virginia Ave NE, Ste 102, Washington, DC 20002
- Half Street: 1201 Half St SE, Ste 120, Washington, DC 20003
- Hours
- Ivy City: Mon–Sun 1–9 pm
- Half Street: Sun–Thurs 11am–10pm; Fri & Sat 11am–midnight
Seating & Services at Atlas
- Tap Room
- Patio seating
- Beer-to-go
Food available at Atlas
Food truck pop-ups at the Ivy City location; Half Street location has Andy’s Pizza on-site for dine-in and takeout.
Atlas Brew Works Tours
Yes, various times on Saturdays. Currently on hold.
Bardo Brewing
You’ll find Bardo Brewing on DC’s southeast riverfront just behind the ballpark. It opened in 1994 and had seven different brewers contribute to its opening line-up.
It’s completely outdoors, with a pavilion, and hosts private events at no additional cost for the space itself.
Their menu includes a lot of IPAs and lagers, plus a few porters and stouts. You can also find a lambic, a cider, and a radler there—perfect for summertime on the riverfront.
Location and Hours
- Address: 25 Potomac Ave SE, Washington, DC 20003
- Hours: Mon–Thurs 5 pm–midnight; Fri–Sun 1pm–midnight
Seating & Services
Outdoor seating only at this time.
Food available
Order pizza next door and bring it over to enjoy with a local craft beer.
Bardo Tours/tastings
Self-guided tours are available.
Bluejacket
Bluejacket is a well-renowned DC brewery with the added benefit of a full restaurant on the premises.
They regularly rotate their selections, but their classics include Chimbley Sweep (a schwarzbier), Nowhere Lullaby (a dopplebock), and Love Language (an English-style bitter).
They’ve currently got a healthy selection of IPAs, a stout, and a couple lagers available. Their two sours—Warm Wishes and Warm Up JumpStart—are real attention-getters, featuring raspberry, passionfruit, and vanilla.
Location and Hours
- Address: 300 Tingey St SE, Washington, DC 20003
- Hours: Sun–Thurs 11 am–10 pm; Fri & Sat 11 am–midnight
Seating & Services
- Indoor seating
- Outdoor seating
- Carryout
- Delivery
Food available
Yes.
Bluejacket Tours/tastings
Yes.
Capitol City Brewing Company
Capitol City Brewing has been open since 1992 and was actually the first DC brewery to open since Prohibition.
What’s interesting with Capitol is that, in addition to its own flagship beers—Amber Waves and Capitol Kölsch—it shares some love and offers a number of local brews from other area breweries as well.
Find rotating selections from Frederick, Maryland all the way south to Richmond, Virginia.
Location and Hours
- Address: 1100 New York Ave NW #710W, Washington, DC 20005
- Hours: Wed–Sun 11 am–9 pm
Seating & Services
- Indoor seating
- Outdoor seating
- Takeout
- Delivery
Food available
Yes.
Capitol City Brewing Tours/tastings
Flights are available.
City-State Brewing
City-State Brewing is a newbie to our nation’s capital, and we should be seeing its big debut sometime around Memorial Day weekend of 2021.
Not only will it offer a brewery with taproom, it will also be an arts venue and event space.
It will offer five new brews, each inspired and named in honor of the District. Try the 8 Wards IPA, The Brookland saison, the Self-Determinator lager, the Holy Go-Go dubbel, or the Equal Marriage dark wheat.
Location and Hours
- Address: 705 Edgewood St NE, Washington, DC 20017
- Hours: Mon–Thurs 3 pm–midnight; Fri 3 pm–1 am; Sat 10 am–1am; Sun 10 am–11 pm
Seating & Services
- Indoor seating
- Outdoor seating
City-State Brewing Tours/tastings
Still waiting for them to announce their tours and tastings.
DC Brau Brewing Company
DC Brau has come to be known as a local staple, and this year officially represents a full decade in business for the company. In honor of the anniversary, DC Brau will be releasing a new variation of its #1 flagship brew—The Public—each month.
Other flagships include The Citizen, The Corruption, In Session, Joint Resolution, The Imperial, and Brau Pils. They craft a variety of rotating IPAs, as well as a few different hard seltzers.
DC Brau are staunch believers in giving back to the community, hosting regular events, and openly note their premises is a Safe Space and a hate-free zone.
Location and Hours
- Address: 3178 Bladensburg Rd NE, Ste B, Washington, DC 20018
- Hours: Mon–Thurs 3 pm–midnight; Fri 3 pm–1 am; Sat 10 am–1am; Sun 10 am–11 pm
Seating & Services
- Tasting room scheduled to reopen in June
- Curbside pickup: Thurs–Sun 12–4 pm
- Delivery in DC and NoVA
- DC: Tues–Sat 12:30–4 pm
- NoVA: Wed & Sat 12:30–4 pm
- Specialties: The Public, The Citizen, The Corruption, In Session, Joint Resolution, The Imperial, and Brau Pils
Food available
No food is available at DC Brau.
DC Brau Tours/tastings
Complimentary tours on Saturdays
District ChopHouse and Brewery
District ChopHouse is not only a fine brewery, it’s an upscale restaurant with an extensive wine list, too.
They offer a small, but well-rounded, selection of standard brews, including a lager, an IPA, a Scottish, a stout, and a Belgian pale ale.
They’re located just outside Capital One Arena, so stop in for a steak or some fresh seafood before a game. Or, opt to grab a few brews to-go.
Location and Hours
- Address: 509 7th St NW Ste 1, Washington, DC 20004
- Hours: Mon–Sun 12–10 pm
Seating & Services
- Indoor dining
- Delivery on DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates, Uber Eats
Food available
Yes.
Hellbender Brewing Company
Hellbender Brewing Company was named after the local endangered Hellbender salamander, and hangs its hat on sustainable brewing practices. It was the first brewery on the east coast to brew using a mash filter, which drastically reduces both water usage and grain usage, thus increasing overall efficiency.
Stop in for a free tour on Saturday to see the process for yourself.
They currently offer four brews—a kolsch, an IPA, and an American red ale—as well as a limited release trappist-style triple brew in support of Black-owned businesses.
Location and Hours
- Address: 5788 2nd St NE, Washington, DC 20011
- Hours: Wed–Fri 4–8 pm; Sat & Sun 1–7 pm
Seating & Services
- Outdoor patio
- To-go
Food available
No.
Hellbender Brewing Tours/tastings
Free tours Sat 3 & 5 pm
Other Half Brewing: DC
Other Half Brewing is actually a Brooklyn-based brewery with a DC location.
They tout 96 pages of IPAs, Imperial IPAs, and stouts online and, should you place an order for delivery or pick-up, a free bag of Doritos will accompany your order.
Other Half offers hour-long virtual tastings as well, and has pop-ups at a few locations throughout New York state.
Location and Hours
- Address: 1401 Okie St NE, Washington, DC 20002
- Hours: Mon–Thurs 12–8 pm; Fri 12–9 pm; Sat 10 am–9 pm; Sun 12–7 pm
Seating & Services
- Indoor seating currently closed
- Outdoor seating
- Curbside pickup
- Delivery
Food available
Yes.
Other Half Brewing Tours/ tastings
Virtual only.
Red Bear Brewing Co
Red Bear Brewing Co is a relative DC newbie based in NoMa. They hail from Seattle and are the District’s only 100% gay-owned brewery.
They offer a healthy array of brews—an IPA, a porter, a witbier, a stout, even ciders and seltzers. But the beer that really seems to be making a big splash is their Skookum, a Pacific Northwest Red Ale with hints of grapefruit and pine, which “is only brewed while listening to Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains while wearing an appropriate amount of flannel.”
They’re vocal supporters of Black Lives Matter, and Gay and Trans rights, and have made specific efforts to curtail unconscious bias.
Location and Hours
- Address: 209 M St NE, Washington, DC 20002
- Hours: Sun–Thurs 11:30 am–10 pm; Fri & Sat 11:30 am–midnight
Seating & Services
- Indoor seating
- Patio seating
- To-go
- Delivery: Temporarily unavailable
Food available
Yes
Red Bear Brewing Tours/tastings
Tours temporarily suspended; 5 oz. tasting flights of all products offered.
Right Proper Brewing Company
Right Proper Brewing has two locations—one in Shaw and one in Brookland. The Shaw location features a southern-style brewpub food menu, in addition to a cheese counter, perfect for pairing.
And the Brookland location sports a full taproom with tours.
Their flagships include a witbier, a pale ale, and an American-style light lager. Right Proper Brewing is a big supporter of the arts and of shopping local; you’ll find them at several different area farmer’s markets any given week.
Location and Hours
- Address: two locations
- Shaw Brewpub & Kitchen: 624 T St NW, Washington DC 20001
- Brookland Production House & Tasting Room: 920 Girard St NE, Washington DC 20017
- Hours
- Shaw: Sun–Thurs 12–9 pm; Fri & Sat 12–11 pm
- Brookland: Fri & Sat 12–8 pm; Sun 12–6 pm
Seating & Services
- Indoor seating
- Patio seating at the Brookland location
- Pickup
- Delivery
Food available
At the Shaw location.
Right Proper Brewing Tours/ Tastings
Tours are available at the Brookland location.
Supreme Core Hard Cider
Supreme Core Hard Cider and its sister company, Kilig Spritz, specialize in ciders and spritzes only. Their apples are sourced from local family-owned orchards, and their two main creations are the Pounda Gold and Ginger Lime ciders.
Stop by their Ivy City taproom or the Dupont Farmers Market to test out some super creative ciders, like a dry rose cider with hibiscus bloom, a blueberry and lemon cider, or a whiskey and vanilla cider.
Kilig offers four different hard seltzers, including raspberry rosé and grapefruit.
Location and Hours
- Address: 2400 T St NE, Washington, DC 20002
- Hours: Fri 3–7 pm; Sat & Sun 12–8 pm
Seating & Services
- Indoor seating
- Patio seating: Thurs–Sun 2–8 pm
- Curbside pickup: Mon–Wed 2–5 pm, Thurs–Sun 2–8 pm
- Delivery: Thurs–Sun
Food available
Yes
The Public Option
You’ll find The Public Option on Rhode Island Avenue in Langdon.
They offer eight different brews at any given time and make it a point to keep the selection well-rounded with three dark beers, three paler beers, and two experimental brews.
The Public Option believes the traditional American restaurant tipping system is flawed and biased, and that it’s time to try something new for the sake of restaurant employee livelihoods. As such, they pay all their employees a minimum living wage of $15 per hour and have an official no-tipping policy.
Location and Hours
- Address: 1601 Rhode Island Ave NE, Washington, DC 20018
- Hours: Thurs–Sun 2–8 pm
Seating & Services
- Indoor service currently suspended
- Patio seating: Thurs–Sun 2–8 pm
- Front door pickup: 2–6 pm
Food available
Various pop-ups; order in allowed.
Breweries Further Afield
Breweries In Maryland
- 7 Locks Brewing
- Astro Lab Brewing
- Black Flag Brewing Company
- Calvert Brewing Company
- Chesepiooc Real Ale Brewery
- Crooked Crab Brewing Company
- Denizens Brewing Co
- Elder Pine Brewing and Blending Co.
- Franklins
- Guiness Open Gate Brewery
- Hysteria Brewing Company
- Jailbreak Brewing Company
- Manor Hill Brewing
- Patuxent Brewing Company
- Pherm Brewing Company
- Saints Row Brewing
- Sapwood Cellars Brewing
- Silver Branch Brewing Co
- Streetcar 82 Brewing Co.
Breweries In Virginia
- Adroit Theory Brewing
- Aslin Beer Company
- Audacious Aleworks Brewery
- Board Room Brewing Company
- Caboose Brewing Company
- Chubby Squirrel Brewing Company
- Crooked Run Brewing
- Fair Winds Brewing Company
- Fire Works Pizza
- G34.3 Brewing Company
- Heritage Brewing Co.
- Hops N Shine
- Mad Fox (permanently closed)
- New District Brewing Company
- Ocelot Brewing Company
- Ornery Brewing Company
- Port City Brewing Company
- Rocket Frog Brewing Company
- Settle Down Easy Brewing Co.
- Solace Brewing Company
DC Brewery Tours
City Brew Tours
City Brew Tours operates in a number of cities across the US and Canada—DC included—and comes highly recommended by the likes of Thrillist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Washington Post.
Their in-person tours are currently suspended until September of 2021, but they’re offering a few different virtual tours in the meantime.
Participate in a beer and cheese pairing course, a private beer making experience, or go on a national brewery tour—all online.
