It’s a puzzling sight, as everybody here seems to be well served. In fact, the “protest,” organized by Premium Distributors of DC, is actually a celebration of the 75th anniversary of Repeal, which took place on December 5, 1933 with the ratification of the 21st Amendment.

Across the city, revelers are toasting Repeal on a day that the Wall Street Journal has dubbed “Cinco de Drinko.” And Washington, as I write this, is bracing for an even bigger blast on January 20, when Barack Obama takes the oath of office. The DC City Council has passed legislation allowing bars to serve alcohol until 5 a.m. for the four days preceding the Inauguration. The media is predicting that two to three million visitors might try to crowd into the city for the swearing-in of America’s first black president.

“I was talking with a cab driver, and he said the closest available hotel rooms are in West Virginia,” Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, told me earlier in the week. Papazian had flown in from Boulder, CO for the association’s biannual Capitol Hill beer tasting. He confers regularly with Congress’s Small Brewers Caucus, a group of 37 lawmakers who keep abreast of developments in the craft brewing industry and strive to educate their colleagues. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), cofounder of the caucus, is a homebrewer who (according to the Congressional newspaper The Hill) enjoys sipping his homemade pale ales on the porch of his Springfield, OR home.

This city has a watering hole for every income bracket and taste. If you’re an intern or a college student on a budget, prowling around for cheap beers and half-price burgers, you can solve the country’s problems over a couple pitchers at such Capitol Hill dives as the Hawk ‘n Dove, Bullfeathers and the Pour House.

If you’re a K Street lawyer on an expense account, you can plunk down $40 at Brasserie Beck, DC’s premier Belgian-style bistro, for an 11.2-ounce bottle of De Dolle Oerbier Special Reserva fermented in Calvados casks.

Capitol City Brewing Co., the local brewpub chain, was offering InaugurAle, a golden ale spiked with orange blossom honey from Obama’s home state of Illinois. The District ChopHouse, another brewpub, was brewing up Barack Bock. Premium Distributors was augmenting its portfolio with Primo, an old brand from Hawaii (Obama’s birthplace), as well as a lager and ale from a new operation called Half Acre Beer Co. in Chicago.

Premium also offers Shiner Bock, but that brand might have been more in vogue eight years ago when president-elect George W. Bush was toast of the town.

Tavern Negotiations

Administrations come and go, but alcohol has always lubricated the cogs of government. The city of Washington was, quite literally, born in a bar.

In 1790 Congress voted to establish a federal city on the Potomac River. But before all those marble building could rise from forest and marsh, the real estate had to be obtained from about a dozen-and-a-half landholders, some of whom insisted on driving a hard bargain. Among these was an irascible tobacco farmer named Davie Burnes who owned a large chunk of territory between where the White House and Capitol Hill stand today. He once sassed George Washington himself, insisting that “had ye nae married the widow Custis … you would hae been a land surveyor today, ane a mighty poor ane at that!”

However, large amounts of liquor can alleviate even the most trying negotiations, and a congenial tavernkeeper by the name of John Suter kept progress from stalling. His establishment, called Suter’s Tavern or the Fountain Inn, stood in Georgetown, a village that preceded Washington, DC by 40 years but was absorbed into the District of Columbia after the Civil War. It was here that Washington and Jefferson lodged when they visited the future capital; it was here that architect Pierre l’Enfant laid out the city’s streets and avenues; it was here that the first parcels of land were auctioned off.

No one today knows where “here” was, because eighteenth century buildings lacked addresses. A marker commemorating Suter’s Tavern sits near Georgetown waterfront, around the corner from a multiplex movie theater. An alternate view places the tavern on nearby Wisconsin Avenue, on a plot of ground now partly occupied by an erotic novelty shop.

The citizens who frequented Suter’s establishment probably drank wines imported from France and Portugal, Jamaican rum, and ale from Philadelphia or London. But Washington, DC soon had a local producer. A physician named Cornelius Coningham, sometime in the mid-1790s, set up a brewery/distillery in a two-story stone house not far from where the Vietnam Memorial stands today. Coningham proffered strong beer and a weaker “table beer,” sold whiskey and vinegar on the side, and raised hogs on the offal from his vats. He later moved to an abandoned sugar refinery on the opposite side of town, and quietly went out of business in 1811.

You’re probably wondering whether a place this busy and intense can make room for a watering hole where you relax and enjoy a decent beer. Not to worry. It doesn’t matter if you’re attending the upcoming presidential inauguration, looking for a staff job, chaperoning your local high school’s government class on a field trip, or planning to attend a Nationals game, there’s a variety of places to quench your thirst.

For over 50 years, beer lovers have beaten a path to The Brickskeller (1523 22nd Street NW), which boasts the world’s largest selection of beer. It can be a bit tricky to find since it’s in the middle of a residential street with less-than conspicuous signage. Once you make your way up the front steps, you can either continue upstairs to the Dining House, or follow the footsteps of other pilgrims. Open the door immediately to your right and head back down to street level and the Down-Home Saloon. The Brickskeller won’t pamper you, but it’s one of those one-of-a-kind experiences—like sharing a table at the Hofbrauhaus or hoisting a pint in a London pub where Samuel Johnson once held court—that earns it a place on everyone’s “don’t miss” list of beer destinations.

Once upon a time, Paul was a researcher in academia. Much of his work was sponsored by Uncle Sam, which required him to make the occasional trip to Washington. On one of those trips, in 1978, he met a friend at the Brickskeller. This was before anyone heard of the phrase “craft brew,” and most of the beer sold in America was mass-market lager. In those days, the Brickskeller had a large collection of canned beer, much of it directly facing the bar in a row of coolers—which are still there. Paul had spent a lot of time on the road and tried many local brands, but he’d never tried some of the beer on display and in some cases, hadn’t heard of them. The beer was undistinguished, but the cans were colorful and the bar staff let customers take them home to add to their collections. To this day, Paul regrets his decision to unload his collection: he had no idea that someone would invent eBay and turn his clutter into wealth.

The beer list—actually, it’s almost a book—has everything from Abita to Zywiec, and everything in between. As you look at it, you’ll be amazed how many more brews you’ll need to drink before you even come close to sampling everything the world has to offer. But keep trying: as Beer Travelers, we can think of no nobler goal.

Absolutely Capitol

Our next stop is the Capitol City Brewing Co. located right outside Union Station (2 Massachusetts Avenue NE). It served as the Federal City Post Office until 1986. Now, after a painstaking restoration, part of the building has become the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

With its white masonry exterior it is a quintessential Washington structure, so we were surprised to find a sleek modern interior. The large, centrally located rectangular-shaped bar surrounds copper serving tanks and immediately catches your eye. The open design also boasts a spectacular staircase that leads to a second level with the fermentation tanks and an additional dining area.

Sitting at the bar, we shared a sampler. You can customize your own, choosing between five and eight glasses, depending on whether you just want the regular rotation, or the seasonals as well. We found all of the beers spot on, and we particularly enjoyed the kölsch, a style many American brewmasters struggle with. The food menu is pub/casual and reasonably priced for the location.

By the way, there are two other locations: 1100 New York Avenue NW (at the corner of 11th Street and H Street) and 2700 Quincy Street, Arlington, VA. The first was established in 1992 as Washington’s first brewpub since Prohibition and was part of the new downtown retail area in the renovated Greyhound Bus Terminal.

The Metro, Washington’s ultra-efficient public transportation system, makes it easy to get around town, so in just a few minutes we found ourselves at the Old Dominion Brewhouse (1219 9th Street NW). As you might gather from the name, this establishment specializes in serving beer brewed at its mother ship, Old Dominion Brewery. They have 11 Dominion tap handles with both ales and lagers; and here, too, you can make a sampler to suit your fancy. Guest beers included Murphy’s and Tennants. It’s also a place where you can order any fancy or complicated cocktail your mind can conjure.

The interior is eclectic: breweriana, NFL team logos, and an unusual mural of DC icons. The sheer number of flat-screen TVs (including one inside the men’s room) gives off an unmistakable message: this is a sports bar. We half expected a talk show crew to set up shop and start fielding calls from antsy Redskins fans—and the pre-season hadn’t even started.

But that dream kept receding further into the future as one unprofitable brewing year gave way to another. Heurich figured he needed to sell at least 20,000 barrels a year to make his brewery viable. He sold one-fifth that amount last year.

On March 1, Heurich announced he was shutting off the taps. He figured that his Foggy Bottom Lager and Ale—made at the F.X. Matt Brewing Co. in Utica, NY,— would soon vanish from area outlets, and that the Washington Monument-shaped tap handles would reemerge as collectibles on eBay.

Heurich is the grandson of Christian Heurich, whose brewery on the Potomac turned out Senate Beer and Ale (and other brands) until it closed in 1956 and was razed to make way for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

A disillusioned Gary emailed his supporters, “As our predecessor, the Chr. Heurich Brewing Co., learned… the Washington area is unique among major urban centers in its relative lack of a hometown spirit, and as a native Washingtonian this is something that is deeply and personally disappointing.”

Is DC a bad beer town? In 2004, District residents quaffed 30.9 gallons per capita, higher than Maryland (26.1 gallons), Virginia (29.3 gallons), New York (23 gallons) or Pennsylvania (29.3 gallons). The selection here is unparalleled: two establishments, the Brickskeller and Chevy Chase Wine & Liquors, offer over 1,000 brands. And DC has spawned a successful brewpub chain: Capitol City Brewing Co.

But Washington, DC is also, to a large extent, a city of transients who bring along their own beer loyalties. And Heurich, with his real estate dealings and many charitable endeavors, never had enough time to grow his beer business.

Heurich intended to move to upstate New York, near the shore of Lake Champlain, where he plans to convert an old pinewood barn into a brewpub and do some hands-on brewing. He leaves behind one triumph. The stately brownstone mansion his grandfather built, a.k.a. “The Brewmaster’s Castle,” has (so far) stayed out of the hands of private developers and remains open to the public, thanks in part to Gary’s efforts. The 31-room late-Victorian home (complete with suit of armor, hand-carved breakfast nook, chandelier and other luxurious furnishings) is well worth a visit after you’ve done the museum circuit. Check out www.heurichhouse.org for more information.

Congressional Plaudits

As we went to press, the Brewers Association (the Boulder, Colo.-based group that represents the interests of professional and amateur beermakers nationwide) was seeking to have Congress declare May 15 to 21 as American Craft Beer Week.

House Resolution 753, introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) and Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-New York), would commend the craft brewing industry for “providing jobs, improving the balance of trade, supporting American agriculture, and educating Americans about the history and culture of beer while promoting the responsible consumption of beer as a beverage of moderation.”

As of mid-April, the bill was before the Committee on Government Reform, and had picked up 54 cosponsors. “Rep. DeFazio went on the floor and got 50 of his Democratic friends to sign in one day,” noted BA president Charlie Papazian at April’s Craft Brewers Conference in Seattle.

Come Back With That Keg!

The Washington, DC, area, which in recent years has survived terrorist attacks, a Beltway sniper, a serial arsonist and innumerable political scandals, is now being menaced by a keg thief. A bandit in a blue pickup truck is estimated to have snatched as many as 400 empty kegs from local bars over the last couple months, according to the Washington, DC, City Paper. The thief, it’s believed, is returning kegs to liquor outlets for the $10 to 20 deposit or selling them for scrap metal. The Department of Homeland Security has yet to post a reward.

You’d be naïve to think so.

Consider the case of Debra Bolton, as reported in the Oct. 12, 2005 Washington Post. Bolton was pulled over just after midnight for driving without headlights on. After admitting having a glass of wine with dinner, Bolton received a roadside sobriety test. The officer, believing he saw signs of intoxication, handcuffed Bolton and took her to the station, where she blew .03 on the Breathalyzer. Safely within the limit, right?

Right, but it didn’t matter. Bolton was charged with DUI anyway, and spent several months—and more than $2,000 in legal fees—getting the charges dropped.

The District of Columbia, like many states, has a loophole in the law that allows police to arrest drivers below the .08 limit if they show obvious signs of impairment. But most states set a level—typically .05— below which a person is presumed to be sober. Not DC. If you test positive for any measurable level of alcohol, you could (until recently) be prosecuted for DUI.

Driving Customers Away

The Post subsequently reported the case of a man pulled over for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. He blew an infinitesimal 0.0… but was arrested anyway because he admitted having a bottle of Heineken earlier in the evening. A judge threw out his case, but not before the unfortunate motorist had spent a night in jail.

The arresting officer in the Bolton incident, the perhaps inappropriately named Dennis Fair, defended his actions to the Post: “If you get behind the wheel of a car with any measurable amount of alcohol, you will be dealt with in DC… Anything above .01, we can arrest.”

But that’s not how Fair’s boss (DC Police Chief Charles Ramsey) interpreted the law. “He’s wrong if he’s saying that,” Ramsey was quoted. “It’s not coming from me and certainly no policy I’ve instituted.”

Not even the Northern Virginia chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving would defend DC’s zero tolerance policy. “It’s not MADD’s position that if you have a glass of wine, you shouldn’t get into a car,” stated chapter president Patrick O’Connor. Other critics charged that limited law-enforcement resources should be put to work collaring drivers who are repeat offenders or are seriously over the limit.

And this makes sense. The average BAC for drunk drivers killed in accidents is about 0.16. Even MADD, on its Web site, notes that about 80 percent of the drivers involved in alcohol-related accidents had BACs of 0.08 and above.

DC restaurateurs, meanwhile, complained that the District’s zero tolerance could drive customers into neighboring Maryland and Virginia, costing DC millions in tax revenues. One bar owner suggested that maybe we should test our elected officials daily for alcohol, and hold them to a 0.0 standard to make sure they remain “clearheaded and clear-thinking.”

The DC City Council passed a temporary measure setting .05 as the limit below which motorists would be presumed to be unimpaired. But they left a gray area (between .05 and .079 BAC), where you can be sent on your way—or hauled off to the city lock-up—solely at the discretion of the officer who pulls you over. As little as two standard drinks within the space of an hour can put you into this danger zone.

False Positives

The controversy over DC law comes at a time when some experts are questioning the validity of roadside sobriety tests. Failure to walk a straight line might be a sign of intoxication—or could indicate an inner-ear infection or bad ankle. Nystagmus (a jerky movement of the eyes associated with too much drinking) can also be the result of not getting enough sleep.

In the case of Ms. Bolton, Officer Fair claimed that he asked her to recite the alphabet from D to X and that she stopped at S. Bolton asserted that she had simply misheard the request—a not unreasonable explanation.

Spurgeon Cole, a forensic scientist at Clemson University in South Carolina, decided to conduct an experiment. He had 21 of his students—all completely sober—perform the walk-and-turn and one-leg-stand tests that police commonly employ in judging sobriety. Cole videotaped the students and showed the tapes to police officers. In 46 percent of the instances, the police misjudged the individuals as being impaired.

Indeed, the one-leg stand may involve having the subject balance on one leg, foot six inches off the ground, toe pointed forward, while counting from 1,001 until told to stop. Could you perform these acrobatics with enough precision to impress an officer, while standing on a dimly lit road with a flashlight shining in your face?

Until a baseline performance is established for sober individuals (of various ages and genders), sobriety tests “are in the same category as tarot cards,” Cole groused to the Post.