Roeg's Picks for 2012: Best Multi-tap Bar

Best Multi-tap Bar: My favorite multi-tap bar has to have more than the most taps, it has to a really good selection of draft beer and be able to keep the lines fresh.  New beers are a necessity, and hard to find new beers makes one place to stand out from another.  It also helps if they offer smaller pours (my top 3 all offered 4 oz pours) so that you can try more beers.  Here are the places that stood out to me:

Gold: Church Key, Washington, DC – The Church Key (http://www.churchkeydc.com/) is highly recommended by Draft magazine, as well as the government workers that I do business with.  I went this summer with family, and looked forward to sampling lots of brews.  Several casks were new to me; Epic Hop Syndrome Lager and Hopulent IPA,and the New River Pale Ale.  On draft the best beers were; (1) Washington OC, a Quad made with pureed plums (a collaboration between Blue Jacket and the Bruery), (2) Union Craft Old Pro Gose, and (3) Mad Fox Oak Aged Wee Heavy  Many beers, good food, and always something new on draft.  Is there anything better than that? 

Silver: Bier Abbey, Schenectady, NY - The Bier Abbey (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/The-Bier-Abbey/136963939674123) recently opened close to work and offered a fantastic selection draft selection.  A great place to hangout, I especially appreciate them posting their draft list on Facebook periodically so I know when I need to stop in.  The owner has a in with a NY beer distributor, so there is always something new available.  And for food, try their home cured pastrami sandwich or their BLT.

Bronze: Rustico, Arlington, VA – Rustico (http://www.rusticorestaurant.com/) is a gourmet pizza place that has a great menu and an even better beer selection.  I got the lunchbox special, a soup (corn chowder), a salad (cucumber, tomato, and mozzarella), and a half of the brisket cheesesteak coated in jalapeño cheddar cheese.  For beer, I tried the two available casks; Baltimore’s Pratt Street Alehouse Bishop Breakfast stout and Utah’s Epic Mid Mountain Mild.  On draft, I got a wonderful rauchbier from a Bluejacket and DC Brau collaboration called Embers of the Deceased.  I also found a rare specialty beer, the 25^th Anniversary Harvest Ale from English brewer JW Lees.  Rustico has another location in Alexandria, and we both agreed this would be a great place to stop in anytime.

Honorable Mention: The Capital Alehouse (http://www.capitalalehouse.com/) has several locations that specialize in Virginia microbrews (they could have been included in the best regional bar category), but the Glen Allen location had the largest tap selection.  We tried the Hardywood Park Virginia Blackberry, an O’Connor Green Can Gold Ale, and a Wild Wolf Ginger Lager.  Another great place is Meadhall in Cambridge, conveniently located near the Kendall Square T stop and providing a huge selection of obscure beers.

"The mouth of a perfectly happy man is filled with beer." – Egyptian Proverb