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12 articles
Everyone remembers the tap list, but the designated driver at the table remembers something else entirely: whether the bar took them seriously. Here's how our team builds elaborate zero-proof drinks for the people who aren't drinking — and why that might matter more than our forty taps.
Behind our keg cooler sits a closet-sized room where imperial stouts and barleywines sleep in oak for up to two years. We followed our beer buyer through a tasting from the 2023 barrels to find out what time actually does to a beer — and why the oldest pour in the house runs $18.
Stouts were born in Ireland and perfected in Yorkshire, but our blackest pours come from breweries within a two-hour drive. We talked to two NoVA brewers about building dry, Irish-style stouts with Virginia grain — and why local beats imported tradition in our taproom.
A decade ago, this stretch of King Street was a craft beer desert. Today, it's one of the most walkable beer destinations in the DC suburbs. We talked to the landlords, barkeeps, and regulars who made it happen — and what it takes to keep it that way.
ABV, IBU, draft versus can, and why that IPA is sitting at the top of the menu — our bartenders break down the quiet signals hiding on every beer list. Learn to order like you've been reading tap handles your whole life.
Ever wonder who decides which beers earn a tap handle at our bar? We shadowed our draft list buyer through warehouse tastings, tough cut decisions, and the 80-kegs-tasted rule that keeps Old Town's best pint list honest.
We asked brewers and bartenders around Northern Virginia what they crack open before their own shifts start — and what they eat with it. Their answers were humbler (and hungrier) than you'd expect.
Virginia's craft brewery scene has exploded, and our tap list has followed suit — with more Old Dominion kegs than ever before. Here's who we're pouring, how we keep it fresh, and where your pint-by-pint tour of the Commonwealth should start.
The dining room gets the white tablecloth treatment, but the bar gets the bartender's full attention, the freshest pour, and the dishes nobody thought to put on the menu. A case for skipping the 7 p.m. booking and gambling on a 9 p.m. seat at the rail.
Why does that barrel-aged stout cost $14? What happened to the beer you loved last month? Our beer buyer sits down and answers the nine questions customers actually ask — no spin, no jargon, just straight talk about how a draft list gets built.
Cobblestones, colonial architecture, and some of the most ambitious tap lists in Northern Virginia — Old Town Alexandria has quietly become a beer destination. Here's how to pair a historic stroll with a perfectly poured pint, whether you're a local or crossing the river for the day.
Wine has had a monopoly on dinner-table credibility for too long. We match seven craft beer styles — saison to imperial stout — with real pub dishes, and make the case that the best beginner-friendly pairing education happens at a bar top, not a wine cellar.