I have discovered Paradise, and it’s called The Brickskeller.
My wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this past weekend. Part of our celebration was to take a trip down to Northwest Washington, DC to visit the legendary Brickskeller.
I heard about the place very soon after I first moved down here, but just hadn’t had an opportunity to go until now. Why is it legendary? Well, they do offer a menu of over 1,000 beers. It has been in the same location since it opened in 1957, owned by the same family.
You enter through a door that would look more at home in the Tower of London than the edge of Georgetown and descend a flight of steps. All over the walls are display cases with vintage bottles and cans. All of them were, at one time or another, served there. (They’ve served over 5,000 different beers over the years.) At the bottom of the stairs is a relatively short bar, with a couple of small tables and some ubiquitous video machines. The ceiling is low, with ancient drop-ceiling panels and rugged beams. Everywhere you look there is exposed ancient brickwork.
It’s early yet, so the place is nearly empty. We indicate we’re a party of two and we’re led into the bowels of the place. It’s larger than it looks, with several rooms full of tables, with more exposed brick and display cases. The ceilings are low throughout; I’m 6’3″ and I had to duck more than once. We’re led to a small table by a long disused fireplace.
The beer menu is a wonder. Beers I’ve never heard of. Beers from countries I didn’t think exported beer. All the big beer making countries are well-represented; Belgium’s beer list is almost as long as the United States.
How many places have you been where having five different beers would exhaust their available selection? Here, we had less than 0.5% of the beers available to us. I was so agog at the beer menu that I could do little more than order (and I was out with my wife for our anniversary, so quizzing the waitresses wasn’t really an option), but all of them gave knowledgeable answers to questions from the other patrons.
We couldn’t stay long and had to leave just when the place started hopping. The place obviously has a rich history and attracts beer fans along the whole spectrum. I can’t wait to go back. I want to try their food, and perhaps one of their beer cocktails. And, certainly, to try another 0.5%.
If you visit our Nation’s Capital, you simply have to visit the Brickskeller. Take the Washington Metro Red Line to Dupont Circle. Follow P Street west for two blocks, then turn north on 22nd Street. You can’t miss it.
