Craft Beer Guide: Know Your Beer Geeks

Hipster Swillers

Beer of choice: Their bicycles may cost a
month’s rent, but when it comes to beer, it’s Pabst Blue Ribbon and
Schlitz all the way.

Frequently seen: Drinking Miller High Life at
American Ice Co.

Show disdain for: Everything, but pricey craft
bottles in particular.

Homebrew Crew

Beer of choice: What-ever concoction they’ve
most recently brewed in the basement.

Frequently seen: At monthly homebrew-club
meetings and Meridian Pint’s homebrewing competitions.

Must-have accessory: A jerry-rigged kegerator
for pulling drafts at home.

Belgian Buffs

Beer of choice: Any-thing Belgian, preferably
a super-rare monastery beer or a high-gravity quadrupel.

Frequently seen: Quaffing a Chimay Cinq Cents
alongside moules frites at Brasserie Beck.

Role models: Trappist-monk
brewers.

Hopheads

Beer of choice: Aggressively hoppy, bitter
IPAs such as Sierra Nevada Hoptimum.

Frequently seen: At
Pizzeria Paradiso’s annual JulyPA, when drafts at all three locations are
IPAs throughout the month of July.

Random knowledge: The
Humulus lupulus plant, from which hops are derived, is in the
same family as cannabis.

Sour Scenesters

Beer of choice: Tart brews made with wild
yeast or bacteria, such as Belgian lambic or, locally, B.W. Rye #4 Gose
from 3 Stars and Oliver Brewery.

Frequently seen: Puckering up at one of the
sour-beer takeover nights at Meridian Pint in DC’s Columbia
Heights.

Mecca: Where the Wild Beers Are, an annual
sour-beer festival for the “bacti-curious.”

Locavores

Beer of choice: Fresh ales and lagers brewed
within a 50-mile radius of Washington.

Frequently seen: Toting a well-worn growler
bag to refill at DC’s Chocolate City Beer—or road-tripping to Frederick’s
Flying Dog Brewery.

Go-to accessory: A three-star tattoo inspired
by the District of Columbia flag (and by DC Brau cans).