Brickskeller

Ok, so what is the next best place in D.C. for beer selection if this place is closed? Thanks

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­OOOO!!! Sniff.
Crazy!!! This was my first bar! I was 20. I was in DC for the Washington Peace March just before the Gulf War. I was there with my amazing professor who knew the ins and outs of DC. 500 beers!!! Nude beer. A bottle of beer with a picture of a girl who’s clothes would come off as you drank. Can you beat that when you’re a 20 year old college student? No. This was a DC institution. I’m so sad. For people reviewing the food… go to a restaurant!!! This was a bar! Waaaaah! Nobody came up to me. Go the bar and get your beer! Geez! This place was a dive. Which is why I loved it. Now I feel like my parents… when I was your age there was a wonderful bar… Now YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!

I can’t believe this place closed; Brickskeller had an amazing beer selection and it was a favorite hangout of my DC poker buddies.
Then again, the food was pretty awful, it was dark and stuffy down there, the service wasn’t great (you couldn’t get much help selecting a beer from there 10-​page beer list) and there was absolutely nothing trendy about it.
They just had pages and pages of great beers from around the world to try. And that was why we kept going. But in the end, I guess Brickskeller was too «old Washington,» and was replaced with places like Matchbox, or even Blackfinn.

This is the easiest review I’ve ever written. Went here last month with a friend to celebrate some long-​awaited good news both of us received. Was very interested in the historical selection of beers, most importantly their stout options.
Walked in.
Were ignored.
Caught attention of waitress.
Were reluctantly seated and left with menus.
Place stinks, but not as bad as the attitudes.
Were ignored for an additional ten minutes (note: NOT crowded).
Tired of waiting.
Walked out.
I read the other day that this place might be closing next year. No surprise there. Can only imagine the hiring process for a place seemingly loaded with despondent shit holes, and from reading recent reviews, it seems they don’t even have many of the beers they claim anyway, so no loss.

Rumors abound that Brickskeller is going to be sold! Hopefully this isn’t true, or they keep it’s laid-​backness and the best beer selection in DC. Brickskeller is a DC institution! A facelift couldn’t hurt though.
Whatever happens, I will always think fondly of Brickskeller. If it closes down, I’ll be forced to go to its sister institution, RFD.
Don’t be an idiot and order a Bud light here. You are the in the mecca of international and domestic beers and you should try something new! They’re open until 2 or 3 am, so you have plenty of time to get through a few. Great place to go after happy hour to wind down (they don’t have a happy hour of their own, but they’re going on my hh list).
Service is friendly and knowledgeable, and it definitely doesn’t feel like you’re in the craziness of Dupont when you’re here. Food is typical greasy bar fare, but you’re here for the beer, right?
Yes, their dumbwaiter is manual and they will be out of half of their beer selection. Sit at the bar or give the server multiple options for your order. They have over 1000 bottled beers to select in the thick manual they call a menu see here:
, and you’ll definitely be able to get quite a few on tap. I’ll trust Christopher C’s expertise on their extensive German beer selection. I myself go for the Belgians, asian style beers, and west coast microbrews. They even have a more than decent representation from Africa and countries not known for their beer!

Four and a half stars. Wilfred recommended this awhile ago, so Hyunoo and I came here as part of the bar crawl on our friends’ chucation. It was hard keeping a leash on HP as he darted back and forth across the street with some severe drunken OCD. ;) My mates were quite appalled that I produced a lighter so easily for the smoker outside. Granted, the Asians in our crew was quite sloshed already, so fumbling down and up the stairs to find a table for six buried behind the white-​collar crowds was of no significance to us.
Our needs were simple so we didn’t hit any unavailable selections, but obviously from reading other reviews YMMV. Weird diner-​esque tablecloths, reasonably noisy and somewhat dimmed. I looked over the pictures I took here and honestly my camera barely made it off the table, nevermind actually getting any good food shots. WD ordered some sweet potato fries that came out hot and gently seasoned in good time. I gorged on them with whipped mayo buttercream. I love my starchy drunk food replete with fluffy dipping sauce; sad to hear they’re closing.

This place is awful. The service is terrible, the selection is poor, and the ambiance is nonexistent. First of all, the bar is located in an «inn» that is reminiscent of the Chelsea Hotel in New York circa 1978 (all it needs is its own Sid and Nancy). You walk downstairs into this basement dive bar that smells like a musty cellar and looks like the bar my uncle built in his basement. Many of the servers and hostess are slow (both physically and mentally) and very unhelpful. The food is horrible, and I’m pretty sure they have bugs and rodents crawling around in the kitchen.
I understand people visit this hole in the wall for the beers, but honestly, you can go to ChurchKey and get better service, food, ambiance (and be around better looking people) and pay the same as you would at Brickskeller.

Well when I first went to Brickskellar, I was a bit offended that they had all the beers of the world except Korean beer. Likewise, my Indian friend was a little pissed too b/​c they don’t stock indian beer. And lastly, my Taiwanese friend was pissed b/​c they didn’t stock Taiwanese beer. Regardless, a couple of drinks afterwards we were all happy :)
Now for the review. This plac can be a little crowded and hot on the weekends, but it’s a great fun place to go to chill and have a drink.
It does have a bit of the «spilled-​beer» stench but hey. If you go it actually works out ok with the ambience. When I go now, I think it’ll actually feel weird if the place didn’t have that smell.
I love this place b/​c this is the only place in the DC area where I can get my local beer from the midwest (my favs: 312 by goose island, commodore perry by Burning River Ale). Prices aren’t too bad at $ 3-​$ 4 a bottle. Of the all the types of beers I have tried, the one that was the most noteworthy was the Tusker from Kenya. It has a completely different taste from any type of beer that I have had in my life (champagne like). I highly recommend it when you go next time (makes me wonder if it’s a mistake b/​c I’ll be banging my head against the wall if it’s all sold out next time I go). FYI, a lot of the beers on the list are sold out and it takes time to restock (months I think) so be prepared to have alternate selections in case they don’t have ones that you want.
As several people have already mentioned, I would simply come here for the beer. I have issues with the «cleanliness» of the kitchen and this place in general errr… at least I stay away from food and I stuff myself prior to coming here (it’s a spot to get a beer and chill before I go home anyway).

I have Three things you must follow to enjoy your trip to Brickskeller:
1.) Sit at the bar, and rellie on the expertise of the bartender (tip them well)
2.) DON’T eat food here, rats, bugs, bland fried food and slow service… you should be here for beer, get a $ 5 foot long before hand and let this place to what it does best!
3.) Don’t cry over spilled beer! This place has an EXTENSIVE list of beers, if they don’t have the one or two you reeeeaaalllllyyyy wanted that day, take it as a sign from above to try something you wouldn’t have thought to try!
Brickskeller is old English for potential beer heaven!

Meh.

Welcome to the basement of Brickskeller, here’s an overwhelming list of bottled beers — but don’t worry, they’re largely unavailable.
Oh, suggestion? Hm, let me ask someone else instead.
Oh, that kind of beer? Hm, let me go ask that guy again.
— — — — –
That was pretty much my experience at Brickskeller. The food was very meh as well. I won’t go out of my way to come back here.

It’s def got the ye olden pub feel and a beer selection to match but the service is almost non existent. This makes it both very difficult to keep your buzz going or your stomach full and for a pub whose job is to do primarily these two things, that’s a problem.
You are a successful business Brickskeller, so spend some money on extra waitresses and people will drink and eat more and you’ll be even more successful. Easy math.

came here on a recommendation from one of the pook’s old friends. we were really excited about this place and maybe we got our hopes up too high.
when we walked in we were greeted and carded. we were seated immediately since it wasnt too busy. i cant remember what the pook wanted but whatever it was. they were out of it. i ordered the framboise on tap because i wasn’t in the mood for beer beer. it came out in a champagne flute and i was pleased with it.
we ordered some food since we didnt feel like going anywhere else before we had to return our rental car. we ordered the cheese board and spicy wings to start and split the fish n chips.
the fish n chips were my favorite. the fish was shaped like nuggets instead of long filets. i usually break them into pieces so this was a nice treat to have it done for me. the fish was lightly breaded and had tons of flavor.
the cheese board… was something we could have prepared at home. we both thought that this app was like a cheese bread. we should have read the menu more closely. lol. it came with port wine spread, brie, gouda, pepperjack, and cheddar. the french bread it came with was warm and fresh.
th spicy chicken wings were dry. we asked for them without breading and i cant imagine how dry it would have been with it. the spicy sauce came on the side and it was generic buffalo wing sauce. the ranch and bleu cheese dressing was thick… too thick… like it looked gelatinous. no bueno.
currently the pook is not feeling well and the only thing we did not have that the other did was the beer. he chose the moretti? and a few hours later he was not in good shape. i’ll spare you the details!
unfortunately, we will not be back.

Part of the Brickskeller’s charm, I think, is that it’s somewhat amusing how many beers you need to have lined up in case the beer is not available. I went with a group of 7 people, and half of us got our first choice, but the rest of us took up to 5 beers to get one that was wanted. (In that case, my boyfriend wanted darker beers, so maybe that’s one weakness in their menu.) In my case, I found and tasted some beers on their menu that I hadn’t found anywhere else, so that was exciting for me.
I do not recommend the turkey, brie, and avocado sandwich. The bread is too thick, and there is not enough brie. My friends liked the mozzarella sticks — fairly average — and chicken tenders — though they were a little overdone.
For whatever reason, there was only one waiter for 30 – 40 people in the entire pub. He was obviously flustered and over-​worked, but he did a good job all things considered.
I’m glad I made it to this historical venue, but I hear it’s not what it used to be many decades ago.

Two words: American Tragedy.
Seriously, every time I have been here, those words have run through my head. You look around and get a little depressed seeing the people around you. Kind-​of like you would looking around at people at Kings Dominion. Or Medieval Times. Not that I would REALLY know because I would never go to those places. But these are probably their cooler but somehow equally sad cousins. Come to town. Drinking beer in a sad, dark place.
Overall it’s really not that bad, and they do have a TON of beer. BUT they are also liars. They put together a 5000 page menu of beer, and then you ask for beer 1.
«Nope, we’re out.»
«Ok, how about beer 2?»
«Nope.»
«Beer 3?»
«Nope.»
«4?»
“Uh, let me check. No.”
«Ok, so what beers DO you have?»
And then you settle on something mediocre, irritated that they didn’t have the first 4 you asked for. I like Alex V’s term: beer roulette. Which you will lose.
I’m also not really a beer connoisseur so I guess I don’t have the appreciation one should have of this place.
But anyway, I think almost everyone should experience this place at some point. I just try to keep the American Tragedy in my life to a minimum so I keep my visits spaced out to about once a year.

Don’t Do It. Resist the urge to get anything besides the beer.
Go for the Beer. Go for the banter. Go for the BEER.
It was a warm Thursday evening when the cube and I decided to explore Georgetown and Dupont Circle. I had heard stories of the brick joint serving 1k plus beers. 1000 beers, really? My beer gut smiled in joy…
We stepped through double doors and were greeted with a «your ID please!» Once allowed in, we plopped on some bar stools and asked for a menu. Did I just say menu? HA! It was more like a paper pamphlet with pages and pages of beer names across various continents. Africa, India, Europe, the US, and El Salvador. Of all things right, I had to fly to DC to encounter some Suprema!!!
Loved the delivery system of the beer-​and if you go to the second floor-​you will see what I mean. Waitress was sweet, and offered us some good tips. After having the pumpkin ale and some HORRID HORRID spinach dip with bread, we bounced like bandits in the night.
Again.I stress my point:
Don’t Do It. Resist the urge to get anything besides the beer.
Go for the Beer. Go for the banter. Go for the BEER.

This place is getting 4, not 5, and my reasoning will follow…
I have been going to the Brickskeller since I discovered it 6 years ago. The first time I went with a couple friends, one of whom really wanted to try new and different beers. The other pretty much just ordered American Microbrews that weren’t too exciting. Either way, I think this shows the wide range of beers you can drink here.
On some occasions, I have the best experience here (usually upstairs), and this usually correlates to the server/​waiter. Sometimes I’ll get one of the real experts who knows the beer, knows what they have in stock and can give me good advice. This was the case for my first few visits. Being able to say:
«I’d like a German beer, that’s not too heavy, and not more than around $ 10.» And getting a few options. Of course you can ask a more detailed set of questions around a particular beer, which is great.
Other times, I have been here and if I am not sure what I want and have questions, I would probably have more success on an iPhone using google. I think my gf once asked for a heifenwiezen suggestion and the waitress looked and said «Widmer.» Seriously!!!
I am going with 4 stars because of the absolute awesomeness of the beer list. The loss of a star is due to two main things. The above reason for lack of assistance and the second reason is the stock. So many times have I come to get a certain beer and they are out. Then i give them 2 back ups and guess what? They are out of those too.
Overall this place is pretty sweet and there is something to be said about sitting in a dark basement with brick walls and very little light sipping on a Schneider Hefeweizen.

Bar food and the finest beer selection you’ll find anywhere. That’s it.
Don’t expect great food (it’s not BAD, but I would consider it a bit below par), don’t expect clean bathrooms, but do expect a good time for a group of friends and a knowledgeable and fun staff. They (wait staff, cooks, the place as a whole) do what they do and they’re good at it. «It is what it is» sums it up pretty well.
Would have received five stars if they had more beers (no joke). Last time I went I’d say ¹⁄₃ of what we ordered wasn’t in stock.

As a beer lover, I REALLY wanted to like Brickskeller. Unfortunately, it has slipped to unacceptable levels. When I first went there 5 years ago, it was a different experience. Eager wait staff, ample beer selection, adequate food. Now, try ordering off their impressive beer menu. You will find that more than half of your orders are out of stock. The surly waitstaff couldn’t care less about your order to start with, and act annoyed that you are bothering them. My French Dip came out cold with soggy fries.
Try their sister restaurant, RFD, in Chinatown. Their selection is smaller but they have drafts, a nicer space, and a still impressive selection.
When it was a better quality place, I had no problem venturing to its out of the way location. Now, it isn’t worth it at all, not even to show out of town guests. If only we had a Yardhouse chain restaurant here, even that outdoes Brickskeller as we know it today.

This was a pretty cool place. First, its claim to fame has to be its beer collection (over 1,000!). They have beers from ALL over the world, from places like Germany (which you’d expect), to places like Ukraine (which I didn’t know made beers). The prices are also all over the place. Plenty affordable and ever cheap beers (I saw some as cheap as $ 4.95) and a couple über high priced brews (I think the most expensive I spotted was $ 69).
The food here was less impressive. We got the spinach and artichoke dip for starters, which came with bread, but not enough of it. Even after we ordered another loaf, there was plenty of dip left. The dip itself was ok, but nothing worth getting again. I also got the Buffalo burger, which was recommended by the server, but I found it fairly dry and plain. The fries were likewise unremarkable. So I’d recommend sticking to this place for beers, and get food elsewhere.
The server was very nice, and the vibe was pretty cool though…