When I lasted check in on the local/regional brewery scene, the commonwealth of Virginia had just cleaned up at the Great American Beer Festival. I was also trying, mostly in vain, to get local Oktoberfest. Port City was the only local märzen I got my hands on, though I found some Old Dominion which was originally from Ashburn, but is now brewed in Delaware.
Bluejacket finally opened in D.C. near Nationals Park. I have not been there yet.
The District has a burgeoning beer scene and USA Today is on it:
Sometimes I get the feeling Port City and Bluejacket are racing each other to get the most media coverage.
Heavy Seas, a Baltimore brewery, is opening a taproom in Rosslyn (ARLnow.com). I’m a fan of the märzen (a recurring theme in this post), which is sold year round.
MEANWHILE, FURTHER OUT
Leesburg has become a great town to drink beer with lots of brewpubs and other small operations. – The Post
I think Devil’s Backbone Vienna Lager (Roseland, Va.) is going to become my regular beer after I get through all of my Oktoberfests. It tastes great on draft at the Vienna Inn too. By the way, the 21st was the fifth anniversary of Devil’s Backbone (Blue Ridge Life). That’s an old photo of it from two summers ago.
SEASONAL RECAP
Though not limited to this region, I sampled several Oktoberfests of various spellings this year.
Shiner Octoberfest (Shiner, Tex.)
Great Lakes (Cleveland, Ohio)
Port City (Alexandria, Va.)
Leingkugel (Chippewa Falls, Wis.)
Gordon Biersch
Dominion (Dover, Del.)
Samuel Adams (Boston, Mass./Trexlertown, Pa.)
Yuengling (Pottsville, Pa/Tampa, Fla.)
Hofbrau (Munich, Germany)
No Flying Dog this year, but that’s okay, I was not a big fan anyway.
