Where In Town: Smoke and Barrel, 2471 18th Street NW

Price: $7.00/16 ounces

Pearly Greats

Care for some brine with your brew? If the thought of slurping a raw oyster makes you quiver like, well, an oyster, Port City Revival Stout may be the next best thing. A nod to the centuries-old British and Irish tradition of hermaphroditic bivalve pub snacks—often served with dark beer—it’s the latest local example of the oyster stout craze since Flying Dog Brewery’s tasty if dubiously dubbed Pearl Necklace. Oyster shells from Virginia’s War Shore Oyster Company are used in its creation, adding minerals to the brewing water. The invertebrates themselves make an appearance, too; they’re added to the beer during the boil. Port City, in turn, is kind enough to donate five percent of the proceeds to restoring oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay.

Black Magic

Revival Stout is like the beguilingly handsome cousin of Port City’s porter—a good thing indeed, since the porter is probably the brewer’s best year-round beer. Under a foamy head in the color of burnt caramel, the beer is nearly black, with a pleasant smell of roasted malts, coffee, and iodine. Creamy and dark, with a slight tang and almost no sweetness, this brew is good enough to order by the dozen.

—Daniel Fromson