The Beer Traveller

I only had limited time in DC as I was hoping to make it to Cary, NC for some free room & board.  I checked my usual source www.goodbeermaps.com for a list of local breweries, but for some reason this one map was not coming up.  Off to google & what pops up but Capitol City Brewing Company. What better place to hit than the first brew pub to open (1992) in our nations capitol after prohibition.  One of the only smart things the Gov’t has done; although it was preceded by the dumb-ass decision to outlaw alcohol in the 1st place.
The place was a little hard to find as they are actually located on the backside of what their address states.  Needless to say, if there is Beer…I will find it.  Kelly was lucky enough to be taking care of me as I ordered both a Blackend Ahi Tuna salad & Beer Sampler; not in that order.  I received more looks than usual as I started snapping photos & taking notes in this town of VIPS & extra security.  It was almost fun seeing how nervous I could make people.  Also noticed I was a lil’ underdressed for this establishment. My uniform of Beer Traveller shirt, shorts, & Birks stuck out like a Democrat @ a Ron Paul rally in this sea of suits. The Beers were better than expected considering the other crap that comes out of this city.  For the most part they were pretty average with the exception of the Extra Pale which received an Exceptional.  Unclear (like most things in DC) what makes it ‘extra’ since it had less hops & less bite than their regular Pale, Pale Rider Ale. Either way I’ll take a good Beer when I can.  The Capitol Kolsch was decent, but nothing special.  Fuel, the imperial coffee stout, was definitely strong (10% AWV), but somewhere lost the taste of both coffee & roasted malt.  The Hefe was very fruity & Likable.  ESB was all bite w/ no flavor, but the English Strong came back strong & balanced.

It was than off to do the tourist thing & Kelly was a dear in pointing me in the right (I was actually already there) direction.  Capitol City is a well done place with great food & decent brews.  They also have 2 other locations, one of which brews all their beer.