Washington DC has one of the original beer geek bars in the country, the Brickskeller (http://www.lovethebeer.com/brickskeller.html). I discovered this place through Michael Jackson’s pocket guide to beer, and I visit and bring my family and friends there any chance that I get. The Brickskeller is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, and I was fortunate enough to have a business trip to DC that required an overnight stay, so I chose to stay at the Brickskeller Inn for the night.
The Brickskeller is in the basement of the Inn, and has almost 2000 bottled beers. What’s especially nice for me is that they have a lot of beers from different countries that are hard to find elsewhere. For instance, my first beer of the evening was the Madonna White beer from Romania that I had with a Buffalo burger that was cooked to perfection. The Brickskeller is off the red line at Dupont Circle, and there are a lot of embassies in that area. And although the bar downstairs is nice, I was looking forward to moving to the upstairs bar where they had a few beers on draft.
The upstairs bar opens around 6, and offers a little more space as well as providing some TVs. Since I was staying in the building, I went upstairs and watched some baseball while enjoying a Dogfish Head Festina Peche on draft. I came back later and met some nice folks at the bar. I split a Charles Wells Banana Bread beer (and yes, it does taste exactly like banana bread) with a gentleman named John. He later returned the favor by splitting a Great Divide Samurai beer with me, a beer that was predominately made from rice.
Now I have to confess that the rooms were as advertised, a European style hotel. The folks were nice enough and I had already prepared myself for having to share a bathroom, and there was air conditioning.
However, they didn’t have a key to the room and I had to go to the main desk to have myself let in each time I left the room, which was inconvenient (to say the least) throughout the night, especially after sampling several beers. I loved it as a beer geek and the general adventure, but I’m pretty sure I can’t recommend the place to others. Still, my room was just above and to the right of the entry awning, so that was pretty cool.
The next day I got lunch at the District Chophouse (http://www.chophouse.com/RockBottomWeb/CH/Home.aspx) on my way back to the airport. The Chophouse brews their own beer (surprise, surprise) and has excellent steak. I got a nice Hefe-Weisse to go with it, and noticed that the following plaque was at the bar where I was sitting: “This spot is eternally reserved for DAVID NIBLACK in memory of good stories, good beer and most importantly a good friend.” Although the bartender didn’t know David, a search on line indicates that he was a lawyer who taught at the DC law school and passed away in 2000. It was a nice tribute to someone who was probably a fan of local beer. - 4299
The Brickskeller is in the basement of the Inn, and has almost 2000 bottled beers. What’s especially nice for me is that they have a lot of beers from different countries that are hard to find elsewhere. For instance, my first beer of the evening was the Madonna White beer from Romania that I had with a Buffalo burger that was cooked to perfection. The Brickskeller is off the red line at Dupont Circle, and there are a lot of embassies in that area. And although the bar downstairs is nice, I was looking forward to moving to the upstairs bar where they had a few beers on draft.
The upstairs bar opens around 6, and offers a little more space as well as providing some TVs. Since I was staying in the building, I went upstairs and watched some baseball while enjoying a Dogfish Head Festina Peche on draft. I came back later and met some nice folks at the bar. I split a Charles Wells Banana Bread beer (and yes, it does taste exactly like banana bread) with a gentleman named John. He later returned the favor by splitting a Great Divide Samurai beer with me, a beer that was predominately made from rice.
Now I have to confess that the rooms were as advertised, a European style hotel. The folks were nice enough and I had already prepared myself for having to share a bathroom, and there was air conditioning.
However, they didn’t have a key to the room and I had to go to the main desk to have myself let in each time I left the room, which was inconvenient (to say the least) throughout the night, especially after sampling several beers. I loved it as a beer geek and the general adventure, but I’m pretty sure I can’t recommend the place to others. Still, my room was just above and to the right of the entry awning, so that was pretty cool.The next day I got lunch at the District Chophouse (http://www.chophouse.com/RockBottomWeb/CH/Home.aspx) on my way back to the airport. The Chophouse brews their own beer (surprise, surprise) and has excellent steak. I got a nice Hefe-Weisse to go with it, and noticed that the following plaque was at the bar where I was sitting: “This spot is eternally reserved for DAVID NIBLACK in memory of good stories, good beer and most importantly a good friend.” Although the bartender didn’t know David, a search on line indicates that he was a lawyer who taught at the DC law school and passed away in 2000. It was a nice tribute to someone who was probably a fan of local beer. - 4299
"No soldier can fight unless he is properly fed on beef and beer." - John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough
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