ChurchKey

When ChurchKey opened on 14th Street in 2009, it reset what a serious beer bar could be in Washington. Fifteen years later, the bar still holds its position as the best craft beer destination in the District. The 555-beer program — 50 rotating draft lines and over 500 bottles and cans — is maintained with the discipline of a wine cellar and the curiosity of a research library.

The draft list changes constantly, prioritizing American craft breweries with particular attention to Mid-Atlantic producers that rarely make it onto any other city bar's list. The cask ales section, unusual for this part of the country, offers 4 to 6 real ales served at cellar temperature through traditional hand pumps. Ask the staff which cask is freshest before ordering.

The bottle menu rewards people who take their time. Belgian trappist ales sit alongside American wild ales, barrel-aged stouts, and vintage lambics that the bar has been cellaring for years. A knowledgeable server can walk you through the cellared selections without condescension — ChurchKey has always been serious about craft without being precious about it.

The room occupies the upper level of a historic building. The bar runs the full length of the south wall, with long communal tables filling the centre and smaller two-tops along the windows overlooking 14th Street. The crowd after work on Thursday and Friday is exactly what you want — people who care about what they are drinking, engaged in the kind of specific conversation that only happens at bars where everyone is ordering something interesting.

Best time to visit: Thursday evening for the full energy of the after-work crowd and the freshest cask selection. Saturday afternoon for a quieter, more contemplative session through the bottle list with proper bar seating. For more DC craft beer options, the bar links naturally to the broader Washington DC bar scene which has grown considerably since ChurchKey first raised the bar.