Pour one out for DC’s 3 Stars Brewing and Green Hat distilling

​On Friday, July 7, 3 Stars Brewing announced they were closing on Sunday, July 9 after a decade of production​​n Brewing.

After almost 10 years, We're closing our doors this Sunday Night.

Thank you DMV for all of your support! Over the years you gave us the opportunity to Experiment, Help Build a Community of Beer Lovers, & Celebrate with you, and we will always have love for you! pic.twitter.com/pqOdjuafDe

— 3 Stars Brewing Co. (@3starsbrewing) July 8, 2022

Based in Northeast D.C. 3 Stars opened in 2012 as part of the first wave of inside-the-Beltway Brewing. Port City from Alexandria was first overall with DC Brau opened before anybody else in the District.

Another class of 2011 goes goes bust

Of the breweries mentioned in this 2011 blog post, several are gone. Chocolate City folded in 2014. I am not sure if Washingtonian’s Brewing Co. ever got started. Portner had a brief run in Alexandria’s West End as a brew pub.

In 2014, I wondered when the “bubble would burst” especially after Chocolate City closed. Since then growth has continued and I lost track of how many breweries are open in the immediate Washington area. I’m trying to keep track though!

My experience with 3 Stars was admittedly limited. I don’t get out to breweries frequently, even in pre-pandemic times. The two lagers I had I enjoyed:

• Never Say Never – A Vienna Lager with a James Bond reference? That’s WFY fan service (we’re all hearing “We Have all the Times in The World” in a minor key as we read this). Maybe I ran into it at Total Wine or Ace Beverage?
• Mittenator Dopplebock – I think dopplebock is my third favorite style after marzen and Vienna Lager – my palette contains multitudes. Nigel the Brew Cat, aka Mittens will live with former 3 Stars staff.
• I also picked up a can of Diamonds are Forever when it was labeled in a baseball theme and had “District of Champions” on it. I never opened it. Beltway Brewing also has a District of Champions beer. I meant to get a photo them side by side.

For all the Nigel fans out there. https://t.co/X6dqPBSrtU

— 3 Stars Brewing Co. (@3starsbrewing) July 12, 2022

There has not been a lot of explanation about 3 Stars demise yet. The location, kind of out of the way in NE between the Red Line and Maryland border . The space inside was appealing, but they lost a year to the pandemic.

READ MORE: Beloved DC Brewery 3 Stars Brewing Company Is Closing – Washingtonian Magazine

Green Hat stopping DC production

On July 8, Green Hat, the District’s first legal distillery since prohibition announced their facility was closing.

And yes, the writing was on the wall for Green Hat produced in D.C., first after it was acquired by MGP in 2020, and again when MGP announced a major national expansion of the brand in 2021. It just was not going to be possible to distill that much gin in D.C.

— Fritz Hahn (@fritzhahn) July 8, 2022

Green Hat opened in 2012. I visited it as part of a 2015 birthday trip through Ivy City. I still have some of the gin — not my favorite, but I wanted them to succeed of course.

READ MORE: DC’s First Modern Distillery Is Closing – Washingtonian Magazine