Beer

So what is beer, anyway? Almost every nation makes its own.

• Beer is made from malted barley flavored with hops.

• Bitter is a beer brewed with more hops and a lighter malt than goes into mild. Lager (from the German verb 'to store') is a beer matured at a low temperature over a long period to produce a light beer.
• Stout and porter are types of dark ale, with a sweeter flavor, produced by brewing roasted malt.
• Malting the barley means causing the barley - while being soaked or 'mashed' in hot water - to sprout and produce enzymes that convert starch into sugar. At fermentation, yeast is added, then filtered out and the beer stored.

Beer in America is no longer limited to that uniform golden liquid that froths out of cans. The number of microbreweries nationwide producing 'boutique' beers with their own highly distinctive flavors keeps growing.

While bottles of their brews are readily available at DC supermarkets and liquor stores, there are several local brew-pubs and micro-breweries where you can drink them on the spot, with a good meal. Some of these offer tours, but phone ahead to check on details:

John Harvard's Brew House, 1299 Pennsylvania Ave NW, 202 783 2739

District Chophouse & Brewery, 509 7th St NW, 202 347 3434

Old Dominion Brewing Company, 44633 Guildford Dr, Ashburn, 703 724 9100

Virginia Beverage Co, 607 King St, Alexandria, 703 684 5397

Rock Bottom Brewery, 7900 Norfolk Ave, Bethesda, 301 652 1311

Baltimore Brewing Co, 104 Albemarle St, Baltimore, 410 837 5000

Sisson's, 36 E. Cross St, Baltimore, 410 539 2093

Brewer's Art, 1106 N Charles St, Baltimore, 410 547 9310

Wharf Rat At Camden Yards, 206 W. Pratt St, Baltimore, 410 244 8900

Ram's Head Tavern, 33 West St, Annapolis, 410 268 4545

For excellent Belgian beers on tap, go to Bistro du Coin at 1738 Connecticut Ave NW for Leffe Blonde, Leffe Brune, and Hoegaarden. (Aficionados ignore the Stella).

You can find Chimay at Pizza Paradiso, 2029 P St NW, Penang, 1837 M St NW, and Chez Antoine, 2427 18th St NW, which also serves Delirium Tremens and a selection of bottled Belgian beers.

The Bohemian Caverns, 2003 11th St NW, have a Belgian Beer Happy Hour on Tuesdays. Bottles are half price from 6-10 p.m. Some beers are on draft.

The Curious Grape, 4056 South 28th Street, Arlington, 703 671 8700 is an excellent wine store with a good selection of Belgian ales and microbrews.

R.F.D. Washington has a remarkable range of local and foreign beers on tap and in bottles, at 810 7th St NW, 202 289 2030. They also have English real ales in cask, stored scrupulously at 52 degrees and Belgian ales in keg, kept, along with their vast choice of bottled beers, at 40 degrees. You'll find barley wines, blonds, darks, goldens, India pales, and more, as well as wine by the glass and bottle, single malts, cocktails, and food.

The Brickskeller, at 1523 22nd St NW, 202 293 1885, in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, comes with the recommendation of one eatWashington reader who takes his beer seriously. He also gives high praise to Ireland's Four Provinces, 3412 Connecticut Ave NW, 202 244 0860, for the storage and care of its draft Guinness.

The Flying Scotsman is a Scottish pub on Capitol Hill at 233 2nd Street, NW.

Can't be bothered to drag beer home and live in Virginia? Call 703 724 9100 for Old Dominion Brewing Company's Beer Direct mixed 12 pack-minimum delivery service.

You want to brew your own? There are local home-brewing clubs where you can learn. Subscribe to The American Homebrewers Association, PO Box 1510, Boulder, CO 80306-1510, 303 447 0816, for a listing and five issues annually of Zymurgy, their home-brewing magazine.

For the equipment you'll need, go to:

Merrifield: Brew America, 2738 Gallows Rd, 703 207 0760

Rockville: Brew Masters, 12266 Wilkins Ave, 301 984 9557

Gaithersburg: Olde Towne Homebrew Supply, 302-B E. Diamond Ave, 301 330 8881

For a non-alcoholic beer that tastes almost like the real McKoy, Kaiserdom Malz is one of the best. Elsie's German Delicatessen, 14531 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Woodbridge, 703 494 6919, sells it, as well as over a dozen real German beers.

For beer festivals in mid-fall, keep an eye on the local press. These Oktoberfests are fun for the whole family, with folk dancing in German costume, traditional German food, games, and gallons of beer. Upper Marlboro hosts one of the most popular.

All manner of good beer information can be found at www.burp.org.

Related Ingredients...

Beers
Guinness