Find good beer: Dupont Circle Beer Guide

While Dupont is known for its nightlife, the bars that make up the scene here might not be what the DC Beer drinker is looking for. There are, however, a few beer places that stand out as necessary stops on any DC Beer tour.

Take the Red Line to the upscale Dupont Circle neighborhood and you’ll find a plethora of restaurants and bars surrounding a fountain and park. As a spoke in the wheel that is this neighborhood, you can fan out from the park in just about any direction and find good beer. Below you will find a compilation of the Dupont Circle area’s best beer bets. Scroll down the page, or click on the map below to go straight to the destination you are interested in.

Bars/Restaurants:

Pizzeria Paradiso

Pizzeria Paradiso

The new Dupont Pizzeria Paradiso is just a block up the street from its previous location but it feels a lot closer to the circle now. It is mostly restaurant and the actual bar space may get a little tight once everyone starts crowding it for some of their 180 bottles, 12 taps or 1 cask. Although it doesn’t have a dedicated beer basement like Birreria Paradiso, the beer selection will give the Georgetown location a run for its money. No need to hike out there now that we’ve got this place right in the circle. Too many beers to name, they’ve got stuff from Stone, Rogue, Dogfish Head, Fantome, Cantillon, Chimay, Bellhaven, Bells etc. Read our full review here. Check out other stories mentioning Paradiso…
Located at 2029 P St NW
Happy Hour: Tuesday and Wednesday 5-7PM it’s half price drafts.

The Big Hunt

The Big Hunt

A long time beer staple of the Dupont Circle area, the Big Hunt boasts a rather nice beer list and an explorer themed decor. They’ve got an outside patio, a basement bar, an upstairs with pool tables and just a whole mess of space to cram people. They have 27 taps to choose from including Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale, The Big Hunt’s Cheap Ass/Big Ass/Light Ass house brews, Green Flash Hop Head Red, Stone Levitation, Founder’s Porter, Founder’s Breakfast Stout, Bear Republic Racer 5, Stone Arrogant Bastard, Victory Hop Wallop, various Bells, Troegs Hopback Amber, and Brooklyn Lager. Combine those with the 15 cent wing night on Tuesdays and you can’t lose.
Website
Located at 1345 Connecticut Ave NW
Happy Hour: It’s $1 OFF all drinks Monday through Friday 4-7PM.

The Brickskeller

The Brickskeller

The Brickskeller is the old standby of DC’s beer culture. Sometimes maligned for missing beers on its comprehensive multi-page list of suds from all over the world, as lovers of beer in DC it is hard for us to hold a grudge. ‘The Brick’ is a landmark, a must see, and a corner stone for not only a place to find a much sought after brew but also a place to see talks from awesome brewers from all over the country. The Brickskeller’s events are top-notch and usually pretty affordable–and most of the time you get more beer than you’d realize in sample cups. The beer list is too extensive to list here and often its hard to nail down what they have in stock. My strategy: go there for what they have on tap first, then try to dig into their vast bottle selection–you will enjoy your experience much more this way. Read more about the Brickskeller…
The beer list.
Located at 1523 22nd St NW
Happy Hour: Nope. Go to RFD.

Kramer's

Kramerbooks and Afterwords

In the back of this bookstore is a restaurant/bar/cafe that has pretty good food and a serious beer list. Although not super long, there is always something for the discerning beer drinker. Just to prove they really are a beer destination I will put their whole beer list here (accurate 10/1/09). Drafts include: Original Sin Cider, Fordham Light Lager, Stella Artois, Magic Hat #9, Great Divide Samurai Ale, Bell’s Oberon ale, Allagash Belgian White ale, Abita Andygator Beer, Troegs Pale Ale, Hofbrau Maibock, Brooklyn Lager, Bell’s 2 Hearted Ale, Blue Point Rastafar Rye Ale, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Brooklyn Nut Brown Ale, Abita Turbo Dog, Rogue Mocha Porter, Bellhaven Scottish Stout. They also have a few premium bottles including North Coast Brother Thelonius Ale, Well’s Banana Bread Beer, North Coast Cru d’or Organic Ale, JK’s Scrumpy Organic Hard Cider.
Located at 1517 Connecticut Ave NW
Happy Hours: Haven’t heard of one, but they are open all night Friday and Saturday.

Luna Grill

A reasonably priced diner in Dupont that also has a few good beers. From what I remember, they had Flying Dog on the menu.
Located at 1301 Connecticut Ave NW

Bread and Brew

Bread and Brew

We’ve written a pretty long form article on these guys before. Basically they are an eco-friendly themed cafe and sandwich shop with a nice secret in the basement. Go down there stairs and you will find a beer bar! They’ve also got artisanal pizzas and upscale foods to pair with your beer. Last time we checked they had drafts of Bells Kalamazoo Stout, Avery IPA, Brooklyn Lager, Allagash White, Stone Arrogant Bastard, Sam Seasonal (summer), and Sierra Nevada. (Actually when I visited the Arrogant Bastard Draft was waiting to be tapped again while they finished a keg of Hebrew’s Bitter Sweet Lenny’s IPA.) Craft cans and bottles include Clipper City Pale Ale, Oxford Organic Amber, Oxford Organic Raspberry Wheat, Flying Dog Pale Ale, Peak Organic Pale Ale, Bells Oberon, Abita Purple Haze, Abita Harvest Wit, Brooklyn Brown, Stone Levitation IPA, Stone Arrogant Bastard Oak Aged Dogfish Head 60 Minute, Dogfish Head Midas Touch, and Aventinus. We will be heading back there soon to update the list. Click here to read our full review of this cool beer bar…
Located at 1247 20th St NW
Happy Hour: $1 Off Drafts 4-8PM Everyday.

Logan Tavern

Logan Tavern

This P Street Tavern across from the Whole Foods has a nice selection of beer on the menu. The place has a few rooms so there is some space to move around in this hot neighborhood. They’ve got burgers and wings as well as baby back ribs and calamari as appetizers. As of this posting they had Allagash White, North Coast Pilsner, Sam Adams and Victory Hop Devil on draft. In bottles they had Brooklyn Brown, Chimay Red, Dogfish Head 90 Min, Harpoon Cider, Pilsner Urquell, Rogue Mocha Porter, Sam Adams, Stella Artois, St. Louis Framboise Lambic.
Located at 1423 P St NW
Happy Hour: Monday-Friday 3-6:30PM All good beers are $1 off.

Hank’s Oyster Bar

Beer and Lobster Rolls? Sounds like heaven right? The secret about Hank’s is that its run by the same guys behind CommonWealth Gastropub up in Columbia Heights. That means they’ve got good beer too! As of this post they had Brooklyn Pilsner, Troegs Pale Ale, Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale and Allagash White on draft. In bottles they had Pilsner Urquell, Stoudts American Ale, Sam Adams, Yuengling and Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout.
Located at 1624 Q St NW
Happy Hour: They have a $1 Oyster Happy Hour but no drink specials have been confirmed.

Stoney's

Stoney’s

A stone’s throw from Logan Tavern and P Street Whole Foods, Stoney’s is another logical choice in this part of the Dupont Area when Church Key has yet to open. You can get a few Bells beers here, some Stone Arrogant Bastard, a Double Daddy IPA on one of the 7 drafts. Beyond the beer, this place is known for its burger. I think they have a solid bacon cheese burger. One secret to this place is that even on the most crowded nights in the bar area, usually you can get a table in the back if you are cool with ordering food.
Located at 1433 P St NW
Happy Hour: None that I know of but the beers are well priced.

Stores:

Connecticut Ave Wine and Liquor

For such a small store with a big focus on wine and sandwiches, these guys have crammed in a ton of variety. I saw Victory 12, Brew Dog Punk IPA, Brewer’s Art Resurrection and Arcadia’s pumpkin beer there recently. Almost every available Dogfish Head bottle is there as well as a great selection of Rogue, Stone, Avery, 21st Amendment and Belgians. They have a few local beers in their cooler and they’ve also been known to host Flying Dog beer tastings. Here are more features about this place…
Located at 1529 Connecticut Ave NW

Cairo Wine and Liquor

A really small store near Safeway at 17th and Q Street, this place has a pretty intense collection of single bottles. Lots of 750MLs like Unibroue and Rogue. They have a bunch of Dogfish Head here (including 120 Minute) as well as a number of Belgians including some Framboise and Choufe. The are a pretty good source of new Bells beers and Victory beers. If you like Urbock, they have bottles here. They’ve also got a full line of St. Peter’s British-style ales.
Located at 1618 17th St NW

Wine Specialist

The Wine Specialist

The Wine Specialist, despite its name, has a serious selection of craft beer. That’s probably not even the best thing about this place tho. It’s a bit south of Dupont Circle, but it is worth the hike because they seem to have a beer tasting of some sort every week! See more stories about The Wine Specialist here…
Located at 2115 M St NW

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods is a powerhouse of craft beer selection. Often it is the first place to carry things never before seen in the city. They had pretty much every Oktoberfest beer you could find in the city in stock when I checked. They also brought in 21st Amendment before most other places and are pretty good at making Goose Island and Founders stuff available as well. They have a devoted shelf that seems to house mostly imports and a open cooler with lots of domestic stuff. Click here for related P Street Whole Foods stories…
Located at 1440 P St NW

Tags: Bar Reviews, Bear Republic, Beer Guide, bells, Brickskeller, Cairo, Cantillon, Chimay, Connecticut Ave Wine and Liquor, Dogfish Head, Dupont Circle, fantome, Flying Dog, Founders, Green Flash, Hank's Oyster Bar, Kramerbooks, Logan Tavern, Luna Grill, P Street Whole Foods, Pizzeria Paradiso, Restaurants, Rogue, Stone, Stoney's, Stores, The Big Hunt, Victory, Wine Specialist