I know many out there are avid or aspiring home brewers – including me (on the aspiring end here). On Wednesday, June 2, DC Brau hosted a home brewing tutorial at Little Miss Whiskey’s in the Atlas District.
If you have not heard about them yet, DC Brau is poised to become DC’s first in-district distribution-focused brewery since 1956. The founders, Brandon Skall and Jeff Hancock have been in beer for years, working with other brewers around the country and now are bringing their craft to us. The brewery will be in the Northeast on Bladensburg Road and they anticipate an early 2011 opening.
While brewing their “Belgian Pale Ale,” the enthusiasm Brandon and Jeff have for DC and their new venture is evident. They plan to name brews after neighborhoods around the district and even go “on tour” in DC to promote the beer and our local beer culture.
One of the most interesting points raised was about DC water. Brandon expressed (and Jeff later expounded on this for me) that he has been really pleased with the concentration of minerals in our city water supply.
When I asked Jeff for some suggestions and recommendations for new home brewers he told me:
- Keep things clean! This is probably the most important thing you can do to help you succeed.
- Do your research. Don’t just expect to be able to brew the first thing you see in a book or magazine – research, study, understand the beer you want to make before you embark.
- As for books, pick up Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels and Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion by the late, great Michael Jackson.
The back patio at Little Miss Whiskey’s was a great space for a mellow afternoon chatting about great beer. Also a great thanks to My Local Home Brew Shop and Maryland Home Brew Shop for supporting this event.
Tags: DC Brau, homebrewing, Little Miss Whiskey's Golden Dollar, MD Homebrew, my LHBS
I’m curious if Brandon and Jeff plan to serve beer at the brewery. My understanding of the challenge regarding breweries in DC are that 1: you need to use distributors to sell the beer (vs door-to-door like Boston and Brooklyn) and 2: you can’t sell alcohol on-site in a place designed for distribution. do we know if they’ve crossed these hurdles? dc is a joy for small businesses.
Tom.
We do not plan to serve beer at the Brewery. This is a production facility only. As for distribution, DC is one of the few places where we could self distribute if we wanted to, but we are also comfortable operating within the 3 tier system as we will have to in VA and MD anyway. Also, I come from that system, so I familiar with it.
DC follows the same 3 Tier Distribution system as everywhere else. Breweries are allowed to have tasting rooms where they offer their product free, but not sell beer directly to the consumer. Whether or not the brewery asks for donations or finds some other way to make a buck off of those who visit the brewery such as merchandise is another thing.
I’m from the Brooklyn Queens area and was not aware you could sell beer door to door legally…could you provide a link to an article or something you are referring to? Thanks
Terence, if you go to Brooklyn Brewery’s website in the History section you’ll see that Brooklyn Brewery had a team of sales people who beat the streets selling the beer. The three tier system has many different iterations (as i understand it) state to state. I was under the impression that DC was more restrictive in distribution (like VA and MD) vs allowing the producer to get involved the distribution (like Mass, Delaware, Oregon)
§ 25-110. Manufacturer’s licenses.
(a) The following licenses shall be issued to manufacturers of alcoholic beverages:
(1)(A) A manufacturer’s license, class A, shall authorize the licensee to:
(i) Operate a rectifying plant, at the place therein described, for the
manufacture of the products of rectification by purifying or combining alcohol, spirits, wine, or
beer; a distillery for the manufacture of alcohol or spirits by distillation or redistillation; or a
winery for the manufacture of wine; and
(ii) Sell the products manufactured under the license from the licensed
establishment to another licensee under this title for resale or to a dealer licensed under the law
8
of any state or territory of the United States for resale.
(B) A manufacturer operating a facility where more than 50% of alcohol
produced is sold for nonbeverage purposes qualifies for a reduced license rate.
(2)(A) A manufacturer’s license, class B, shall authorize the licensee to operate a
brewery for the manufacture of beer at the establishment described in the license.
(B) The license shall authorize the licensee to sell the beer manufactured
under the license to (i) another licensee under this title for resale; (ii) to a dealer licensed under
the laws of any state or territory of the United States for resale; and (iii) to a consumer. The
licensee may sell beer to the consumer only in barrels, kegs, and sealed bottles, which shall not
be opened after sale, or the contents consumed, on the premises where sold.
(b) A separate license shall be required for each establishment under subsection
(a)(1)(A)(i) of this section.
If we can is not the question we are concerned about. Given that there are only two of us, we are more worried we won’t have the time to do it ourselves. Aligning with the right distributor may be the better option.