Chocolate City Beer Brewery

I was lucky to get to meet Ben Matz and Jay Irizarry at Chocolate City Beer Brewery last Friday and get to see the building and taste their product (it was really good and not even carbonated yet!). I am impressed with both their knowledge of their craft and their commitment to grow a business that is part of the community. They have spent a lot of time cleaning out the building to get it ready and are currently waiting on electrical upgrades before they can officially start brewing for production.

While they are waiting they have been working on recipes, testing products and looking into ideas for improving their business. A few things that they are thinking of doing are adding beehives on the roof to harvest their own honey and recycling their waste products as fertilizer for local farmers or community gardens. They have also talked to DDOT about the expansion of the Met Branch Trail behind their brewery. I must admit that my favorite idea of theirs is to make a seasonal hard cider from local apples. While I am a huge beer fan I am an even bigger cider fan, so I was very excited.

A Spring launch is their hope and they will be having a launch party as well as selling to bars all over the District. I was told that we will most likely be able to sample their products at RFD, Looking Glass, the Pug and Wonderland. They will be posting a list of the bars selling their beer on their website as it becomes available. They may be able to sell kegs and large bottles from their brewery directly depending on production.

I am looking forward to them getting up and running and cannot wait to sample more of their products! I think that they are an excellent addition to our neighborhood.