DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA / SPRINGFIELD, VIRGINIA
In town for surprise birthday party to celebrate my Uncle Ed’s 60th birthday May ‘02, found godsend Total Wine & More in Springfield. The store’s wide selection forced me to fill up trunk with much-needed Weeping Radish, Blue Ridge, and De Groen’s brews (all brewed in Maryland), Dominion Octoberfest and Octoberfest Special (Virginia) along with North Carolina middleweights from Rock Creek and Wild Goose.
The only D.C. bottled beer I scored was Olde Heurich Maerzen, though JOHN HARVARD’S BREWHOUSE on Pennsylvania Avenue (closed since ’07) and CAPITOL CITY BREWPUB on Massachusetts Avenue were worth the trip for pints of stout and draft samplers. In July ’07, had Fortunato family reunion at Uncle Ed’s new Fredericksburg estate, buying Williamsburg Washington’s Porter, Legend King James Ale, Speakeasy Old Godfather Barleywine, and five Blue & Gray beers at local Total Wines.