The DC metro craft beer scene is indeed alive and well. I say this for many reasons, but I mostly attribute this growth in local craft beer production and availability of beers to our local market to the influx of craft beer culture that we’ve seen over the past few years. Every day, “average” beer drinkers are becoming craft beer drinkers, fans, and even full-blown craft beer geeks. Either way, the increased interest in beer culture makes our area prime real estate for breweries looking to expand. I recently got a chance to chat with New Belgium Media Relations Manager, Bryan Simpson about New Belgium’s growth and expansion into the DC metro area. Here’s some of what he had to say:
DC has always been on our radar. We really don’t hopscotch across states to go after others. From a sustainability standpoint, it makes more since to keep growing outwards instead of driving through states to deliver beer to other markets. Our last expansion was in 2009 where we went after five new states. In 2010, we took a look at our production to see where the dust settled before we started expanding again. For us, growth is a measured approach; we always have to address our capacity for all markets before expanding to new ones. We don’t want to get in a situation where we are over-committing and under-fulfilling and end up having to pull out of a market. We want to avoid that at all cost. To support this market, we had to expand our infrastructure through additional tank space, canning lines, and expanding our wood beer at the same time. This approach is very capital intensive, but to do this right, it took some time.
New Belgium will officially be available today, Monday, August 22nd in DC, Virginia and Maryland. We worked with Premium Distributors to get a list of where you can find New Belgium in our area. The following will be available only in 22oz bomber bottles:
Fat Tire
Hoptober
Trippel
Ranger IPA
Kick (New product from Lips of Faith series
Clutch (a sour ale)
Super Cru (20th Anniversary Lips of Faith beer)
Here are the venues where you will be able to buy New Belgium’s beers. We’ll keep expanding and updating this list as we hear about more places!
Ed. Note: Thanks to John Fleury and DCist who provided a great map visualizing many, if not all, of these locations. Check out the map here!
DC
Retail:
Magruder’s – 5626 Connecticut Avenue NW
Tenley Market – 4326 Connecticut Avenue NW
Rodman’s – 5100 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Barrel House Liquors – 1341 14th Street NW
D’Vines – 3103 14th Street NW
DeVinos – 2001 18th Street NW
P Street Whole Foods – 1440 P Street NW
Cairo Liquors – 1618 17th Street NW
A-1 Liquors – 1420 K Street NW
Connecticut Avenue Wine and Spirits – 1529 Connecticut Avenue NW
Modern Liquors – 1200 9th Street NW
Schneider’s Liquors – 300 Massachusetts Avenue NE
1 West Dupont – 2012 P Street NW
Bassin’s – 4877 MacArthur Boulevard NW
Martin’s – 1264 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Ace Beverage – 3301 New Mexico Avenue NW
Barmy Wine – 1912 L Street NW
Best Supermarket – 1507 U Street NW
Burka’s – 3500 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Calvert Woodley Liquor – 4339 Connecticut Avenue NW
CC’s – 3401 14th Street Northwest
Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits – 5544 Connecticut Avenue NW
Circle Wine & Spirits – 5501 Connecticut Avenue NW
Cleveland Park Wines – 3423 Connecticut Avenue NW
Dixie Liquors – 3429 M Street NW
Friendly Food Market – 1399 Half Street SW
Harris Teeter – 1201 1st St NE
Harvard Liquors – 2901 Sherman Avenue NW
Hayden’s – 700 North Carolina Avenue SE
Pearson’s – 2436 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Riverside Liquor – 2123 E Street NW
S&R Liquors – 1800 I Street NW
Sherry’s – 2627 Connecticut Ave NW
Sunset Liquor – 1627 1st St NW
Tenley Wine & Liquors – 4525 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Van Ness Liquors – 4200 Connecticut Avenue NW
Wagner’s – 1717 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Whole Foods Georgetown – 2323 Wisconsin Ave NW
Restaurants/Bars:
Meridian Pint – 3400 11th Street NW
ChurchKey – 1337 14th Street NW
Asylum – 2471 18th Street NW
Atomic Billiards – 3427 Connecticut Avenue NW
Belga Cafe – 514 8th Street SE
Cajun Experience – 1825 18th Street NW
Granville Moore’s – 1238 H Street NE
Laughing Man Tavern – 1306 G Street NW
Lou’s City Bar – 1400 Irving Street NW
My Brother’s Place – 237 2nd Street NW
The Pug – 1234 H Street NE
Thunderburger – 3056 M Street NW
The Ugly Mug – 723 8th Street SE
Union Pub – 201 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Virginia
Retail:
Total Wine – 1451 Chain Bridge Road, McLean
Arrowine – 4508 Lee Highway, Arlington
Shoppers Food Warehouse – 6360 7 Corners Center, Falls Church
