“Beer Finds A Way”
“Hold on to your brews. This year, Friends of the National Zoo is turning Washington, D.C.’s best beer festival into a prehistoric party!”
With the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s “Dino Summer” theme, this year’s Brew At The Zoo had a Jurassic Park beer garden feel, but fortunately without the “running and screaming,” Ian Malcolm warned about. There was even a Jurassic Park style Jeep with dinos around it.
There were over 70 breweries at this year’s Brew At The Zoo, including some new independent craft breweries in 2 Silos, Board Room, Astro Lab, New District and Tucked Away to name a few. There was a four-way tie for my top rating among Schwarzbier by 2 Silos, Princess Peach by Board Room (only available in the VIP section), Peekaboo – Mosaic by Astro Lab, and Wit the Funk from The Bruery Terreux. I like Schwarzbiers more than most and 2 Silos’ was a very welcome change from the many pilsners, lagers and other light beers. Princess Peach was a refreshing peach sour on a hot and humid night. If you haven’t been to Astro Lab in Silver Spring, it’s worth the trip. Their Peekaboo – Mosaic IPA was my favorite IPA of the event. If you like Mosaic hops, you’ll like this beer. And as usual at Brew At The Zoo, the Bruery had one of the best beers. The sour Wit the Funk is exactly the type of delicious light sour one would expect from the Bruery.
Special shoutout to 2 Silos for their Planet Druidia Galaxy IPA. This name had all of laughing and reminiscing about the classic Mel Brooks’ film Spaceballs. It was also a delightful Galaxy hop IPA. Great artwork too.
Overall, it was another fun year at Brew At The Zoo with a wide variety of breweries and beers, some animals, several food trucks, and more.
Brew at the Zoo is a lot more casual than some other beer festivals in DC. It’s always a great time to have good new beers, hit a food truck or two, see a few animals, and hang out with friends.
Proceeds from the festival benefit the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s mission to save species. That’s a pretty good reason to drink beer.
A DC Journey 