RFD has closed. The last remnants of the Brickskeller have been swept away forever.

Reads 1933 • Replies 12 • Started Tuesday, July 11, 2017 12:33:27 PM CT

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Message radagast83 beers 12431 º places 427 º 12:33 Tue 7/11/2017 https://www.popville.com/2017/07/after-15-years-rfd-closes-in-chinatown/ Good riddance. Like the Brickskeller, it was past its prime and coasted on a reputation that it garnered well before the craft boom occurred in DC, as well as piggybacking on decades of history at The Brickskeller (The Guinness record holder for number of beers not available on a beer menu). They squandered what they had at both locations in my opinion.
Message solidfunk P beers 20023 º places 1037 º 13:17 Tue 7/11/2017 I didn’t mind the place, but it always seemed like its tap list was made up of the scraps of whatever was left over after Meridian Pint, Churchkey and pizza paradiso had gone through the distributors.
Message nimbleprop P beers 15421 º places 134 º 13:34 Tue 7/11/2017 People who are new to the area don’t realize how big a deal this is. Brick and then RFD were the pillars of the DC beer community before Churchkey was ever even a concept. Sad to see how they deteriorated over time.
Message radagast83 beers 12431 º places 427 º 14:05 Tue 7/11/2017 Originally posted by nimbleprop People who are new to the area don’t realize how big a deal this is. Brick and then RFD were the pillars of the DC beer community before Churchkey was ever even a concept. Sad to see how they deteriorated over time. Absolutely. Brickskeller was a regular haunt of mine from about 2006 until 2009 when it just became too frustrating to visit, and that was before Churchkey had even opened and before I discovered Pizzeria Paradiso or The Big Hunt (I actually hadn’t been to The Big Hunt until about 3 years ago). Other than The Brick, Dr. Dremos was the only other "beer" place I really visited with any regularity. Dremos was known as Bardo Rodeo in the 1990s, and they brewed their own beer there. Eventually they stopped brewing, and they got their beer contracted through Shenandoah Brewing in Alexandria. (I still have fond memories of getting pitchers of James Brown Ale and playing pool). Dremos closed in 2007. If I’m not mistaken, the owner re-opened just a few years ago as Bardo Brewing in DC. Pizzeria Paradiso opened in Dupont in 1991 (they moved locations in 2009), making it pretty much the oldest continuously open "beer" establishment open in the DC area if I’m not forgetting anything else. Though it feels like it should be the oldest, The Big Hunt apparently opened in 1992. -Churchkey is almost 8 years old (opened October 2009) -Meridian Pint just turned 7 years old (opened July 1, 2010)

Message Travlr beers 33894 º places 4585 º 14:55 Tue 7/11/2017 Sad about the loss to DC’s beer history (although I’m not old enough to remember the Brick in its heyday (I did go to closing night)) or Bardo. Happy that RFD and the Brick are put out of their misery, as I am a supporter of euthanasia.
Message DCLawyer beers 3007 º places 236 º 18:26 Tue 7/11/2017 RFD was my first go-to beer bar when I got into craft beer 5 years ago, as it was 3 blocks or so from my office. Then I found Ratebeer, you guys, and Churchkey (in that order). Wrote off RFD shortly thereafter, except for the odd times it would put on KBS or BCBS variants a month after everyone else. I will, however, miss the spirited Premier League debates I would get into with a couple Arsenal fan bartenders.
Message nuplastikk P beers 9843 º places 73 º 02:09 Wed 7/12/2017 Still have some beer menus from Brickskeller circa 2001. Definitely a classic spot. RFD not so much. Could go for a Paradiso happy hour.
Message radagast83 beers 12431 º places 427 º 15:53 Wed 7/12/2017 Originally posted by nuplastikk Still have some beer menus from Brickskeller circa 2001. I think they were still using them in 2010. I kid... They were horrendously out of date though. Impressive list, but I still distinctly remember that they didn’t have 10 beers I asked for (I asked for 4 beers they were out of, then asked them to get me any Victory beer they had, then I told them just to grab me something and they brought back a terrible lager). If a bar ever did that to me in 2017, I’d have asked for my check and never gone back. The best waiter I had there introduced me to Port Brewing Santa’s Little Helper. After two failed attempts he brought back 2 beers in the style of what I was looking for and a bottle of that. I asked him to leave all three. I only saw that guy there once, which makes me think he got a better job elsewhere soon afterwards.

Message radagast83 beers 12431 º places 427 º 16:20 Wed 7/12/2017 Originally posted by DCLawyer except for the odd times it would put on KBS or BCBS variants a month after everyone else. They did a $10 a ounce pour of Sink the Bismarck and Tactical Nuclear Penguin, probably my fondest memory there. I went to Chocolate City’s grand opening there (I had gone to see Julius Caesar at the Shakespeare theater and stopped in afterward). The girl I was on a date with said her beer tasted like fermented dirt. Fun times!
Message DCLawyer beers 3007 º places 236 º 16:43 Fri 7/14/2017 Did they ever clean the lines?
Message nimbleprop P beers 15421 º places 134 º 21:01 Fri 7/14/2017 Originally posted by radagast83 I went to Chocolate City’s grand opening there (I had gone to see Julius Caesar at the Shakespeare theater and stopped in afterward). The girl I was on a date with said her beer tasted like fermented dirt. Fun times! The forums need a "like" function for these types of posts.