DC Beer Week: Cask Night at District Chophouse

Two of the events I planned to attend during DC Beer Week were limited and required tickets. The Founders Beer dinner was the first and Cask Night at District Chophouse was the second. Originally they planned to have 10 local casks available along with food. You get a serving glass and have at it for a few hours till the casks are kicked. Before the event they said they would have 12 casks but I only counted 11 for some reason. I got tickets for Lewis and myself. It was hard to get out of work with a proposal due that day but you gotta maintain your priorities!

When we showed up they said they weren’t ready but after a minute or two we headed upstairs and started drinking anyway. They were ready. It was nice to have 12 casks sitting around the room without any lines. I think there were about 80 tickets sold. It got a little crowded in their upstairs room but I never waited for anything. It was all self serve. The beer line up:

Capital City Brewing Company, of Washington, D.C., and Arlington, VA

Peat Me Up Scotty: 5.7% abv Scottish Export Ale, primed with fermenting Kolsch wort

Du Claw Brewing, of Bel Air, MD, etc.

Bad Moon Porter: 6.5% abv, aged in a Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrel

Franklin's Restaurant & Brewery, of Hyattsville, MD

Ludicrous: 6.3% abv, sour-mashed rye saison

Gordon-Biersch Brewery & Restaurant, of Rockville, MD

Gose: 4.4% abv, wheat beer brewed with slightly salted water, and fermented with lactic bacteria

Heavy Seas Brewing, of Baltimore, MD

Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA: 7.3% abv, dry-hopped with varities of hops: Ahtanum, Cascade, Centennial, Palisade, Simcoe, and Falconers Flight (a proprietary blend from Hop Union)

Lost Rhino Brewing, of Ashburn, VA

New River Pale Ale: 5.4% abv, "extremely aromatic American-Style Pale Ale."

Mad Fox Brewing Company, of Falls Church, VA

Wee Heavy: 8.6% abv, strong Scotch Ale, primed with Virginia honey

Oliver Ales, at the Pratt Street Alehouse, in Baltimore, MD

Strongman Pale Ale: 9% abv, dry-hopped with Sorachi Ace

Rock Bottom Brewery & Restaurant, in Bethesda, MD

Atom Smasher: 9.4% abv, 'English-Style' BarleyWine

Sweetwater Tavern, of Centreville, VA, etc.

Pale Face Summer Wheat (A L'Orange): 6.1% abv, HefeWeizen primed with orange liqueur

The beers were pretty tasty. I’ve only had a few previously which is nice. Lots of local beer folks were there. I talked to a bartender and server from Mad Fox who both work in the brewhouse. The brewer Charlie was there but I didn’t talk to him. I talked to Greg Kitsock from the Washington Post for a bit. I also talked to Tom Cizauskas who is a beer blogger and wholesaler. He said he gets scooped a lot on beer stories because he can’t write about certain stuff he is involved in. A Lost Rhino rep was there, not the guys I met on Tuesday night, who said he does fabracation for all the local breweries. I also talked to the brewer for the District Chophouse who I recognized from Brickskeller events. He is a cool guy to talk to. I recognized and talked to a few other beer geeks that I commonly see at events.

My favorite beers of the night were Loose Cannon, Lost Rhino’s Pale Ale, Strongman, and the Wee Heavey. I think the Loose Cannon was my favorite as it was excellent in the cask form. They had lamb chops, meat balls, pizza, pasta salad, and hummas to eat. Lewis left around 8:30 or so and stayed for another hour or so. They had a raffle to give away growlers that you could fill at the end of the night. Lewis’s ticket was one number away from winning. I swapped info with some people. It ended up being a great event. I definitely wasn’t the only one who was rather intoxicated at the end of the night.