Best Bets
Best beer selection
Fritz Hahn | Updated 11/06/2009
Need a cold, refreshing drink? These bars move beyond the usual mass-market taps and are perfect for beer hunters looking for something new.
Birch & Barley and ChurchKey
Washington, DC
The new multi-level beer bar offers 50 drafts -- D.C.'s largest selection -- plus 500 bottles and five traditional English-style cask ales. There can be nightclub-length lines to get in at peak times on weekends.
Birreria Paradiso
Washington, DC
One of the coolest beer bars around has an esoteric, rapidly changing list of 16 drafts and 80 bottles to go with the restaurant's gourmet pizza.
Brasserie Beck
Washington, DC
Attention, Belgian Beer fans: This stylish bar is run by a knight of the Belgian brewer's guild, and some of the ales are served nowhere else on this side of the Atlantic.
Granville Moore's
Washington, DC
Pick one of more than 50 Belgian ales to accompany the award-winning mussels at H Street's laidback gastropub.
Magnolias at the Mill
Purcellville, VA
A turn-of-the-century mill is a picturesque setting for a bar with many interesting craft beers and frequent beer dinners.
R.F.D. Washington
Washington, DC
The Brickskeller's sister bar has dozens of beer on tap and big-screen TVs for sports viewing.
Rustico
Alexandria, VA
More than 250 different types of ales, lagers, ciders and stouts are on the menu at this neighborhood spot, and beer dinners and special events are always on tap.
The Brickskeller Saloon
Washington, DC
Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as "the bar with the largest selection of commercially available beers" -- more than 1,000 fill the thick menu. (They do run out of the more obscure selections, so it's smart to have a backup choice ready.) There are also a dozen taps at the upstairs bar.
The Red Derby
Washington, DC
Here's a novel idea: An all-can beer list that ranges from cheap domestics (Natty Boh!) and American microbrews to imports from England, Belgium and Russia.
The Saloon
Washington, DC
The neighborhood tavern has no television, soft music, communal tables and a very interesting selection of German and Belgian beers.
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