ChurchKey turns 15 this weekend and what better way to celebrate than to take a look at how it all began. That’s right, we’ve got much of the original opening draft list, which presents an opportunity to reflect on how much has changed, or not, since 2009.
First, there are a few beers from that 2009 opening list that we’ve seen on 2024 menus, with good reason.
the new classics
Allagash White won gold at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival; it was on the opening menu and it’s on right now according to Untappd. Curieux, Allagash’s Jim Beam barrel-aged tripel, was also on the 2009 list and was available on the most recent menu on Churchkey’s site (PDF). In case you’re wondering, 13 ounces of Curieux cost $6.50 in 2009. Now it’s $13. And since 2009, Allagash has won 16 Great American Beer Festival medals.
Stone’s American Strong Ale Double Bastard was on the original menu, at $6.50. It’s still on tap–note: not the same keg, that would be weird– for $9, which is pretty impressive both in terms of staying power and price.
Churchkey also opened with Bell’s Two Hearted, which you’ve seen on their menu this year, and you’ll see it again! That is a promise, not a threat. Neighborhood Restaurant Group Beer Director and Partner Greg Engert guesses this beer is CK’s all time best seller, though with changes to point of service platforms over the years it’s hard to tell for sure. Just like Stone, in 2009 and 2024 there are multiple Sierra Nevada beers on tap. Pretty cool! Perhaps even more impressive than the staying power of Sierra Nevada is the condition you can regularly find Sierra Nevada Pale Ale casks on at Churchkey. Maybe you didn’t know Sierra Nevada manufactured casks of Pale Ale, and generally speaking they don’t. However, special exceptions are made for places like Churchkey or the Brick Store Pub in Decatur, Georgia where you may even find SNPA dry hopped with Chinook, Citra, or Comet, should you find yourself as lucky as Mitch Steele did at the 4:15 mark of this podcast.
the imports
All of the following beers were on tap opening night, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see them on a menu, at CK, The Sovereign, or Shelter/The Roost, in 2024.
Drafts in 2009 included products from 10 countries: the US, Germany, Austria, Canada, Belgium, England, Scotland, Italy, Japan, and France. Interestingly, the one French product was cider, and Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie remains a favorite amongst beer and cider nerds alike today. Since 2009, DC has had three cideries open, though one only stands today: ANXO.
the dearly departed, or, let’s remember some beers
A few breweries from the 2009 opening have been bought: Flying Dog, by FX Matt/Saranac; Lagunitas, by Heineken; Avery and Founders, by Mahou; Otter Creek, by Harpoon; Stone by Asahi, Goose Island by AB InBev… but only one no longer exists in any form: Climax Nut Brown graced the opening taps, and that New Jersey brewery is now closed. The success rate for staying in business over the last 15 years is pretty good for the breweries pouring at Churchkey in October, 2009.
the present: what’s on tap this weekend!
Jake Berg and Mike Stein jointly wrote this article. NRG provided the images.
