Capitol City Closes After 33 Years

In 1956, Christian Heurich closed his namesake brewery, where the Kennedy Center now stands. It would be another 36 years before a brewery opened in Washington, DC. Since 1992, Capitol City Brewing Company on 11th and H Streets NW has provided beer and food to DC residents and tourists alike. The first commercial brewery in the District since prohibition, Capitol City kept the lights on, but now it’s time to go. While “brewing company” is accurate, perhaps restaurant is the better moniker, as the brewery functioned more as one throughout four decades in operation.

It is worth mentioning that Cap City owners Urban Adventures Companies are better known for haircare, Bang Salon, and fitness, VIDA, than brewpubs and restaurants. In a social media post, the brewpub writes, “33+ years, countless pints, and one unforgettable run. Cap City, the District’s first post-Prohibition brewpub, opened its doors on August 23, 1992. This August, we raise our final glass. 🍻

Please join us for our last rounds of great food, cold beer, and a heartfelt goodbye to the community (and team!) that made it all happen. Our last day is Thursday, August 28, so let’s close this chapter the way we opened it: together. We can’t wait to toast with you all month long.”

At one point during the 33 years Capitol City Brewing operated, they had four locations, though they will close with only one, which last made beer in 2001. In addition to the DC’s downtown restaurant, there was one in the Postal Square Building by Union Station, a Baltimore Inner Harbor iteration, and a larger brewpub in the Shirlington neighborhood of Arlington that provided beer for the others.

The list of brewers who worked at Cap City is impressive. Martin Virga, who founded Gunpowder Falls Brewing in Pennsylvania just south of York, was the original brewer in 1992 before Bill Madden took over. Madden directed Cap City’s brewing operations for over a decade. When the downtown location ceased brewing in 2001, fermentation tanks eventually made their way to Leesburg, Virginia, with Madden, who opened Vintage 50 there. Cap City moved their brewing to Shirlington and the brewing company ceased making beer in 2018, with Atlas Brew Works taking over production on a contract basis.

“The Capitol City Brewer DNA is spread all over the local industry with a few of us becoming brewery owners or working at other successful breweries that have come and gone,” writes Madden. “To name a few in operation… DC Brau, Port City, Ornery, Ocelot, Cedar Run, Full Distance, [and] Vibrissa, along with those no longer in business like District Chophouse, Mad Fox, Heroic, and Vintage 50….Capitol City Brewing Company had quite an impact on the local brewing scene.”

Following Madden’s departure Mike McCarthy, who would go on to brew for DC Brau, Ocelot, and founded Vibrissa, expanded production. In 2016 his Sunnyside Dweller with Ocelot won Gold in the Great American Beer Festival’s Category 33: Kellerbier or Zwickelbier, besting 68 competitors in the category. McCarthy currently brews at Adroit Theory.

“Nothing but good memories of brewing there,” McCarthy tells us. “The scene was obviously a lot smaller than today but DC always had a great customer base that wanted new and exciting beers. Many great brewers had their hands on beers served at that location even if it was brewed in Virginia. Bill Madden,Travis Tedrow, Matt Ryan, Micah Krichinsky, James Gentile, Kristi Griner, Mike Morris, Kevin Kozak, and Pete Velez all have had their impact on the beer and brewing culture at CCBC.”

McCarthy transformed Cap City’s Shirlington Oktoberfest celebration into the largest in the area. The reins passed to Kristi Matthews Griner in 2013, and her Amber Waves, an American Amber Ale, won a Great American Beer Festival medal in 2014. Griner describes the Capitol City Oktoberfest as “the biggest mid-Atlantic beer festival for a very long time” when reflecting on her time as brewer. Griner moved on to Port City, but more recently Atlas brewed Amber Waves for Cap City, along with a Kolsch-style ale, Capitol Kolsch. We don’t yet know the fate of any Cap City beer made by Atlas; it could be dumped or sold by that brewery.

“Sad to see Cap City close as that was where I started my brewing career back in 1995,” writes Madden. “Gotta say though, for any restaurant or brewpub they had one incredible run since opening in 1992. Beer focused establishments rarely make it that long.”

Travis Tedrow brewed at Cap City, before running brewing operations at the Gordon Biersch Navy Yard location which closed in 2020. Tedrow eventually left GB Navy Yard to run Jasper Yeast, a yeast supplier based in northern Virginia. “I was pretty bummed when Cap City closed the last working brewery in Shirlington a handful of years ago. It was great that the downtown location stayed open and contracted two beers with Atlas, but the actual brewery culture ended when the brewery equipment was sold. The company provided a great opportunity to learn the brewing business and develop a valuable skill set when the craft industry was rapidly expanding.”

With an impressive collection of medals for various beers brewed at Capitol City, we asked Griner if she thought medals hold value. “[C]raft beer is in hard times, you know nobody cares any more for the most part. And when you do bring home some hardware, you know that there’s some professionals who are still there in the world who are still judging your product and saying ‘good job’ saying ‘you all are nailing it.’”

She mentioned the recent winning of Cedar Run brewer Matt Ryan, taking silver in the porter category for his Ol’ Prince William Porter at the Virginia Beer Cup. “I did really some of the best work of my career there, you know, both as far as the beers that we put out and also, I think, in the different teams that we had there over there… We had some great talent roll through and some wonderful networks that were put together,” said Griner. Tedrow echoed that sentiment, writing “[t]he absolute best part was getting to meet and work with the other brewers, many of whom I’m still close friends with to this day. The brewery alumni list for Cap City is pretty impressive, and I enjoy having that connection.”

It is worth noting that the brewers who made beer at Capitol City were the reason for its success. It grew from being the first brewery in DC since 1956 to being the largest mid-Atlantic Oktoberfest organizer. And while restaurant owners may not care about beer as much as their brewers, the care that went into brewing in Capitol City continues today with former Cap City brewers all over the DMV, earning medals and brewing quality beers.

Jake Berg and Mike Stein jointly wrote this piece, big thanks to Bill Madden, Kristi Griner, Travis Tedrow, and Mike McCarthy for their input.

Want to read the full press release on the closure? Here you go.