In this country, it often means burgers and fries. Many of the brewpubs opening in Washington have much more ambitious ideas of pub fare. Both menus also offer burgers and other sandwiches, but nipping down to the pub for a pint and a quick bite isn't necessarily cheap. To check out area brewpubs, The Washingtonian assembled a panel of local beer judges and took them on a three-night tour of six places. We asked them to taste the beers both for adherence to style and for taste, that is, to consider both the expert's and the consumer's points of view.
Some brewpubs offer a dozen or more beers.
In the interest of time, and of sobriety, we sampled no more than five brews at each place. Below, Jim Dorsch summarizes the beer tasters' findings. Thomas Head's food reviews are based on these and other visits. The 176-seat Virginia Beverage Company on King Street in Old Town Alexandria keeps about ten house beers and three or four homemade sodas flowing from its 18 taps, with five guest beers on the remaining handles. The panel found VBC's beers to be on the light side, but several enjoyed the India Pale Ale, which they thought well balanced for the style.