DMV Breweries: All you Need to Know

Beer lovers rejoice! There are tons of great breweries in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. We are big beer drinkers and hikers, so we’ve definitely gone to our fair share of breweries in and around D.C. Here’s my take on five of them. There are certainly more I want to visit (Devil’s Backbone, 3 Stars), so I’ll be sure to update this list as I go to more.

Port City (Alexandria, VA)

We can’t seem to stay away from Port City. The brewery has a great selection of beers that changes all the time. While Port City is widely available in stores in the DMV area, you can only get some of their beers at their brewery location (like their popular Ways & Means IPA). We haven’t taken their tour ($12 a person), but it’s definitely next on our list.

The brewery has a nice atmosphere as well. It’s always busy but never too crowded, and parking there is easy. They’ll often have live music on the weekends as well as the local NFL games. We especially love playing on their two free arcade game machines. They have many events too (beer yoga, trivia, “pedals ‘n pints”). If I lived closer and it was easier to get there during the week, I would definitely consider joining them for “joggers and lagers!”

Heritage Brewing Brewpub (Arlington, VA)

We discovered this little hidden gem in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington and love it! Heritage Brewing is definitely small, so I would go at an off-hour or have a back-up plan just in case. Unlike the other breweries on this list, Heritage is also a restaurant and has excellent food (and they roast their own coffee). We devoured their cheddar and scallion scones (after already being stuffed from dinner beforehand).

They only have about six of their own beers, but they also have a wide selection of other local beer on tap. It’s definitely great if you’re looking for a good beer closer to D.C. (and it’s metro accessible too, right next to the Clarendon metro station). We got a flight and then we got some sort of beer cocktail with a dark beer and some of their coffee. It was unique and so good!

For more of a true brewery experience, their headquarters tasting room is located in Manassas, VA. I haven’t been, but I’d definitely like to check it out when I’m in that area.

Atlas Brew Works (Washington, D.C.)

Atlas Brew Works has a huge selection of beers, more than I’ve seen at most breweries, and some were certainly unique. My then boyfriend got an apricot IPA (The Precious One), and I got a pumpernickel stout that had been aged in red wine barrels (Barrel Aged Silent Neighbor). Honestly, my beer was so strange and I wouldn’t recommend it, but it was so cool to try something so different. They definitely have a huge selection of different beers that seems to change often. I definitely want to go back to try some more.

The brewery has an incredible atmosphere. Located in Ivy City, our drive there was definitely pretty quiet until we got to Atlas and the street was lined with cars (but still easy enough to park on). It seemed like everyone was there the Saturday night that we went, but luckily the space is large enough that we didn’t have any issues, even with several birthday parties going on. Their tap room stays open later than some of the others on this list too (until 11 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and until 10 p.m. other days of the week), so you can plan to spend more time their if you’d like. While not exactly metro accessible, Atlas isn’t too far from NoMa, making it easy to get to for those without a car.

D.C. Brau (Washington, D.C.)

Living in the D.C. area, you see D.C. Brau everywhere in stores, so I was excited to visit this brewery, although I ended up a bit disappointed. The beer selection was minimal, almost exclusively IPAs, and the atmosphere was really dead. We visited on a Saturday night and hardly anyone was there. They do have half priced pints on Fridays, so maybe that’s a more popular night.

If you are an IPA lover and looking just to have some good beer, then D.C. Brau might be the perfect atmosphere for you. They did have some of their seating deep within the brewery, so it was cool to sit and sip my beer right next to where they brew. I’m sure a tour of the facility would be interesting too (they’re free), but overall I was disappointed. At least the brewery is very easy to get to by car. It’s in a very industrial and empty area deep in Northeast D.C., and they have parking on site.

Flying Dog (Frederick, MD)

Flying Dog is one of my favorite breweries, and we’ve gone several times after hiking in Maryland. They always have a wide variety of beers on tap that changes somewhat often. I’m a sucker for their nitro version of Bloodline (a blood orange ale). Their atmosphere, like Port City’s always feels busy but is pretty relaxed. We’ve never had issues parking there or finding a spot to sit, and we’ve only gone on weekends.

Aside from normal brewery tours, Flying Dog also offers more in-depth tours and beer classes, which look SO COOL. We haven’t done any of them, but writing this makes me really want to take a tour and then enroll in one of their “Beer Geek Tours” or a class like “Pairing Beer and Chocolate.” How fun? Even if you can’t take a class but want to learn about beer, their brewery is filled with books on beer and brewing that we’ve enjoyed reading during our visits.

What DMV breweries do you like? Please share in the comments below!

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