DC Brau Brau Pils

Where in Town: Bayou Bakery, 901 Pennsylvania Ave. SE

Price: $6/12 oz.

Enjoying More Kegroom
When it opened in 2011, DC Brau became the District’s first new production brewery in more than half a century and, since then, it has experienced staggering growth. Having quadrupled its capacity, the brewery’s once near-empty warehouse is now full of tanks, enabling Head Brewer Jeff Hancock and his team to add even more variety to the 100 or so beers they’ve already created. The expansion means they are more easily able to meet constant demand, with space to take on time-consuming styles, like lagers, which require several weeks, or even months, of TLC before they are ready to swill.

Pils With Joy
One such new offering is Brau Pils. The German-style Pilsner was released in April as a fourth member of the brewery’s main lineup, alongside the Public, the Corruption, and the Citizen. Like other light lagers, this 4.9-percent-alcohol, golden-hued brew is dry, refreshing, and easily quaffable. Brau Pils pairs a touch of the malty sweetness of a crusty baguette with an earthy, grassy hop bitterness, thanks to a strain of Hallertau hops, a defining ingredient for the style. Those who prefer high-gravity, hop-forward beers like DC Brau’s On the Wings of Armageddon or Solar Abyss aren’t as likely to be dazzled. But Brau Pils is an impressively executed clean, crisp, and intentionally subtle beer. Find some on draft or in eye-catching yellow and green, hop cone-emblazoned cans throughout D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

Photo by Tammy Tuck