DC Brau: 2011

 

This is the first beer can filled in Washington DC since the Christian Heurich brewery closed in January 1956. I made this my COM for June, but didn't actually get the can for myself until July!

DC Brau

DC Brau is one of the new craft brewers that are opening throughout the US. The Washington, DC area is home to several new small breweries that have opened in the past few months, or are about to open. DC Brau opened in April 2011 and has been successful beyond their wildest hopes. I've been to several places in northern Virginia and was told that they can not keep up with the demand.

(Left, the DC Brau logo. Click it to visit their site. Link opens a new window or tab.)

 

I am very excited that brewing, and canning (!) has returned to DC. Heurich's last can to be filled in 1956 was an Old Georgetown, according to an email I received from a retired salesman who was there. After a fifty-five year gap, it's nice to see another DC beer can! There have been other DC breweries since 1956, including Gary Heurich's Foggy Bottom and numerous brew pubs, but DC Brau is the first DC brewer to can their beer since January 1956 and as a can collector that's the crucial point!

And yes, I am told that it is very good beer!

These are the two new DC Brau cans that came out in January 2012. To see all of DC Brau cans, check my DC Brau page.

The Brewery Tour

On July 16, 2011 my wife and I toured the brewery and I got a six pack of the cans (and the beer, they were full), and a t-shirt (gotta get a t-shirt!). The tour was a lot of fun. Check their Facebook page (link opens new window) for tour times and dates. Here are some highlights. Photos by my wife Annette and by me.

	Outside the brewery, behind a post office in an industrial/retail area in NE DC. They carefully checked our IDs before we went in. You have to be 21 and I'm more than twice that!
	The brewery "office" with the logo from the DC flag. The three stars and two bars are from George Washington's family coat of arms.
	Argh, blurry, but this is where they have small samples of the beer, plus other souvenirs, filled growlers and sold six packs of the cans.
	Brandon Skall, the company CEO, starting the tour.
	Fermenters.
	Lots and lots of cans to fill.
	The canning line.
	Cans in the filler on the canning line.
	The cans at the filling section of the canning line. First CO2 is forced in to expel the oxygen, then the cans are filled with the beer.
	The lids come down this and land onto the filled can. There is a bit of a "head" of beer on each can, so there is no room for oxygen to get in.
	The lidder attaches the lid.
	Cans packed and ready to ship. They are placed in six packs by hand! Right now the cans are only available at the brewery and at some restaurants.
	Here I am at the brewery. The grain is put into the hopper at right to start the process.

 

For some new craft beer cans from Virginia micro breweries please see my October 2011 COM.