0.2 🍺 above average
In the Neighborhood
My peak fan boy experience during the craft beer boom was probably a “Total Tap Tower Takeover” by Stone Brewing at the Logan Circle beer bar ChurchKey in October 2010. There were 40 Stone beers on tap, including six designated as IPAs and another two-dozen containing 50 or more IBUs. A couple of hours into the event, Stone co-founder Greg Koch appeared behind the bar with a microphone and was greeted by waves of raucous cheering, chanting, and stomping. What followed was more like a high school pep rally than a Q&A with the iconoclastic provocateur who was then the face of craft brewing. Great beer, crazy vibe, though I couldn’t remember a word he said.
But the person most responsible for this unhinged celebration of hop-forward beer was Church Key’s beverage director and guiding light Greg Engert, who only one year earlier had finally realized his dream of creating the best beer bar in the DC. The legendary Brickskeller had long held that distinction, but by 2009, when ChurchKey opened, it was no longer enough to have the largest selection of bottled beer. ChurchKey opened with 50 taps, all temperature-controlled—an unheard-of refinement at the time.
Engert, an English lit major, had moved to the Washington area in the early 2000’s to pursue a PhD in “modernist fiction” at Georgetown University. Along the way, he began bartending at the Brickskeller during its zenith as the premier beer bar in the nation and holder of the Guinness Book of World Records for largest beer selection. But what really made the Brick a mecca for beer geeks in those days were its monthly beer tastings, featuring a who’s who of America’s craft brewing pioneers (Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada, Bert Grant of Yakima Brewing, Mark Carpenter of Anchor, Jack McAuliffe of New Albion, Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey and Port Brewing, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, Garrett Oliver of the Brooklyn Brewery, Larry Bell of Bell’s Brewery, Jeff Liebish of New Belgium, Geoff Larson of Alaskan Brewing) and a host of European innovators (Kris Herteleer of De Dolle Brouwers, Pierre Celis of Hoegaarden, Bruce Williams of Williams Bros.), as well as yearly appearances by “Bard of Beer” Michael Jackson.
The experience transformed Engert. He abandoned his academic career for one in the hospitality industry, replacing Nabokov’s Lolita with Cantillon’s Fou’ Foune. Drinking beer in DC would also be transformed.
In 2006, Engert teamed up with Michael Babin, founder of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, to launch the beer-centric restaurant Rustico in Alexandria, VA, which featured 50 draft lines (each temperature controlled), five handpumps for cask beer, and 500 bottles, representing nearly 100 styles from over 20 countries. A few other venues may have offered more bottles or more taps, but none were curated as expertly as Rustico’s. Engert brought a sommelier’s passion and knowledge to the role of beer manager. Rather than organize his beer list by style or nationality, Engert created an innovative organizing scheme based on seven “tastes”: Malt, Hop, Roast, Crisp, Smoke, Fruit & Spice, and Tart & Funky. Food items were paired with a specific beers, and Engert and chef Frank Morales created a series of food and beer flights called “Mosaics”: a trio of small bites and short pours, based on a culinary theme.
If the Brickskeller had defined the 20th century beer bar, Rustico became the model of what a 21st-century taphouse could be and the prototype for ChurckKey, which, when it opened in 2009, “put D.C.’s beer scene on the national map,” according to the Washington Post.
Like Rustico, ChurchKey featured 50 temperature-controlled taps, five beer engines, and over 500 bottled beers. The 70-foot upstairs bar was lined with printed church keys and overhung by cast-iron church lights beneath a tall, vaulted ceiling. Bar snacks included BLTs stacked with quail eggs, tater tots stuffed with foie gras, and grilled cheese sandwiches topped with truffles. Downstairs, the separate Birch & Barley restaurant’s “urban American melting pot” menu featured such dishes such as charred octopus with eggplant and capers, and risotto with beets and whipped goat cheese. Draft lines from ChurchKey were connected to Birch & Barley by a wall of metal pipes which Washingtonian magazine likened to “a grand beer organ in a cathedral of drink.”
And yet for all the gastropub small bites and grandiose design features, it was Engert’s ambitious beer program that set ChurchKey apart. Engert fully exploited D.C.’s laissez-faire liquor laws to skip wholesalers and order directly from producers. Epic tap takeovers from the likes of Hill Farmstead, Other Half, and Burial drew lines around the block. No beer was out of reach. For many, ChurchKey is where many geeks got their first taste of Heady Topper, Pliny the Younger, Cantillon’s Fou’ Foune, and other hard-to-find beers.
Perhaps NRG’s greatest contribution to D.C. beer culture was its successful revival of the beer festival. What started as a lively Oktoberfest in the parking lot of Rustico, in 2008, grew into a monster: Snallygaster. Originally held at Yards Park waterfront in 2012, the event’s increasing popularity forced organizers into moving it downtown where it would eventually fill four blocks of Pennsylvania Ave. with 8,000 celebrants, 25 food vendors, and 10 bands and DJs on two stages. It is certainly the biggest beer festival in D.C. and probably the biggest on the East Coast, featuring 450 hard-to-find beers from more than 175 breweries.
Throughout the 2010s, beer-centric venues from the Neighborhood Restaurant Group would proliferate and prosper: a new Rustico in Ballston, VA (2010), The Partisan (2014), the all-Belgian Sovereign (2016), Owen’s Ordinary (2016), and the Red Apron Burger Bar (2017). The only thing missing from the NRG’s portfolio was a brewery.
In 2005, Major League Baseball returned to D.C. after a 33-year absence. After three seasons at the decrepit RFK Stadium, the Washington Nationals moved into a new ballpark along the
Anacostia River in a former industrial region that had once been the largest naval ship-building site in the nation. The stadium (plus the relocation of the Department of Transportation) sparked a revival of the Navy Yard neighborhood that would eventually become D.C.’s largest waterfront development.
The neighborhood’s potential was not lost on NRG. Three blocks from the stadium, Babin and Engert found a former boilermaker facility large enough to house a production brewery and adjoining restaurant. With its expansive walls of windows and exposed metal frame, the building presented a spectacular setting for what would become the Bluejacket Brewery and Arsenal restaurant and bar, which borrows its name from the colloquial term for enlisted sailors.
After a year-long renovation, Bluejacket opened at the end of the 2013 baseball season. A spacious patio seats 100 with wide views along tree-lined Tingey St. and down 4th St. toward Yards Park, the marina, and public dock. Inside, beneath a 50-foot high ceiling, brilliant natural light floods the three-story, 5,600 sq ft. building. The main dining area comprises 85 seats arranged along communal long tables and a row of booths. The 45-foot long zinc bar sits beneath a breath-taking view of the gleaming brewhouse, situated on three levels in a classic gravity-fed layout.
Michael Tonsmeire, co-founder of Sapwood Cellars, has called Bluejacket the “Disney World of Brewpubs, they’ve got a little bit of everything.” Like specialized heat exchangers that allow beers to be served at three different temperatures: 42°, 48°, and 54°. Two separate barrel rooms: one for aging “clean” beers like imperial stouts or barleywines and the other for mixed fermentations. And a variety of fermenters: conical, horizontal, and open, plus a coolship, complete with louvered windows, for wild fermentations during the cooler months. In fact, 16 of the brewery’s 18 fermenters are sized at 15 barrels to accommodate single batches from the 15-barrel brewhouse—unusual for a production brewery. It’s a configuration that allows brewer Josh Chapman to indulge in “as much experimentation and boundary-pushing as possible.”
I last visited Bluejacket on an overcast wintry day in early January. Even without direct sunlight, the interior was well-lit and airy, needing no artificial illumination. As I grabbed a stool at the bar, the early-80s new wave sound of the Pretenders filled the acoustic space with jangly, melodic pop, before segueing into the driving Muscle Shoals garage rock of Brittany Howard and the Alabama Shakes. Like the beer selection at other NRG venues, the music is carefully curated: three customized playlists alternate throughout the day.
The 21 draft selections also conformed to NRG’s standard organizing scheme: four “crisp” beers (a helles, an export-strength lager, a pilsener, and a kellerbier); six hoppy beers (a pale ale, three hazies, a red IPA, and an imperial hazy); three malty beers (a Mexican-style dark lager, a best bitter, and a barleywine); three roasty brews (a schwarzbier and two dessert stouts); two “tart and fruity” beers (a strawberry Berliner weisse and a cherry and raspberry kettle sour); one “fruit and spice” offering (a dry-hopped wheat beer), and two beers on cask (a best bitter and English-style brown ale).
The two cask beers were light, softly carbonated, and super fresh tasting. Though it was a shame to see three of the five hand pumps idle, two varieties were twice the number I’ve seen at any other bar in the past year. Yellow Diamonds (5.5 ABV), a husky Dortmunder-style lager surprised me with some dank notes. But, as usual, I was here to taste the hazies. I ordered all four.
For most of the past year, IPAs saturated with New Zealand hops have dominated craft brewery menus. Bluejacket’s beer list was no different. Dream Merchant’s (7%) blend of Nelson, Wakatu, and Rakau impressed me the most. The all-Riwaka Waves (7%) was zesty and bright. And the lone DIPA, Brand New Vandals (8%), hopped with Nelson and Citra, was rich and flavorful. But the highlight for me was Bluejacket’s signature all-Citra hazy Lost Weekend (7%). It’s more of a West Coast/New England hybrid, cloudy rather than hazy, but plenty juicy, with a fairly bitter, grassy, resiny finish. It was quite a revelation when it debuted in 2014; no other brewery in the DMV had done anything like it. Twelve years later, it still impresses.
Arsenal’s menu has simplified and gotten less cheffy than the early days (gone are the Fried Hog’s Head Terrine and Braised Lamb Neck Cassoulet) but still offers the best food of any brewery in D.C. with entrées from $18–$32 and sandwiches $17-$20. The double smash burger is one of the best around and the deep-fried square tots are easily a notch above.
Arsenal also serves brunch on weekends and features over 50 Scotches and whiskeys by the shot.
The brewery’s loyalty club, Bluejacket First Class, is an excellent value for frequent customers. One hundred dollars gets you a four-pack of your choice; 10% off all cans, bottles, and merch; a free meal on your birthday; and first access to all ticketed events, including Snallygaster. Plus, your first beer, every visit, will only set you back one dollar. An upgrade ($225) to the Officers Club nets you three four-packs, 10 rare and barrel-aged half-liter bottles, and 10% discounts on cans, bottles, and merch, as well as tastings and beer dinners at all NRG venues, including Snallygaster.
BLUEJACKET BREWERY
300 Tingey St. SE
Washington D.C. 20003
OPEN
Sunday — Thursday: 11 am — midnight
Friday & Saturday: 11 am — 1 am
KITCHEN HOURS
Monday — Thursday: 11 am — 10:30 pm
Friday & Saturday: 11 am — 11:30 pm
Sunday: 11 am — 9:30 pm
BRUNCH
Saturday & Sunday — 11 am —3 pm
NUMBER OF TAPS
21
SPECIALTIES
5 beer engines
AVERAGE ABV
6.0
IN-HOUSE 1/2-LITER BOTTLES
6
OTHER ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
11 wines by the glass
6 house cocktails
1 cider
19 bourbons
10 ryes
8 single-malt Scotches
7 single-barrel whiskeys
5 sour-mash whiskeys
NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
5 NA beers
2 house mocktails