Baseball and beer. Pretty much a perfect pairing.

My annual baseball trip this year was to Washington thanks to already being in the city for some professional development. With five days to take in the sights of the American capital, I needed ample refreshment along the way to fend off the heat and humidity of the east coast in July.

On my first night in the city, I made it to Dacha Beer Garden under threat of a severe thunderstorm. Their outdoor garden is nicely covered and sheltered from the elements (thankfully!), and I couldn’t resist pairing a Joint Resolution hazy IPA from DC Brau with PEI mussels. Pretty good match and worth getting completely drenched on the walk back to the hotel when the storm hit with an amazing ferocity at the most inopportune time for me.

Conveniently located on the subway line that would take me to a Nationals game another evening, I pulled up a stool at Right Proper Brewery for a pre-game snack and drink. The deep fried cheese curds were delicious, and the “Raised by Wolves” pale ale was one of the best beers of my trip. Dry, bracing, and thirst quenching… I wish I could have cans of this beer in my fridge back home at all times.

Another beauty of a brewery that I was determined to visit was Bluejacket Brewery located a few blocks from the ballpark in the Navy Yard neighbourhood. The beers were across the board outstanding. That beer on the left below was a delicious blueberry gose that was perfect for a smoking hot afternoon in DC.

The snacks at Bluejacket were also amazing. Homemade chips with crab dip topped with roe paired exceptionally well with their “Lost Weekend” New England IPA.

Of course there were a few ballpark beers over the five games I attended in Washington. In the midst of an east coast heat wave, this gose by Dogfish Head went down very easy.

One of the things I enjoyed about this trip was the relaxed approach to the visit I ended up taking. Rather than a morning and afternoon touring historical and tourist sites, I chose instead to head to a bit of an out of the way neighbourhood to sample some craft beer and read a book. My first stop was at Red Bear Brewing Co to try a selection of their beers. The guava gose (second from the right) and a New England IPA (far right) were my favourites from some morning sampling.

My next stop was at Wunder Garten, an outdoor beer garden in the same neighbourhood. I was frequently making gose my beer style of choice on this trip on account of the heat and humidity. I nursed this one as I enjoyed my book and the presence of dogs all around in this dog-friendly beer garden.

Wrapping up my beer experiences in Washington, I spent a some time at the Dacha Navy Yard Beer Garden directly across from the ballpark before a Sunday afternoon game on my last day in the city. Another gose got me kicked off, this one from Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore. Delicious!

I really enjoyed this beer garden. I had a prime seat for people (and dog!) watching, and they had amazing mac and cheese liberally studded with bacon. This was a great way to wrap up a week of beer tastings around DC.