3 cheers for 3 Stars: Washington, D.C.'s newest brewery

It's official! 3 Stars Brewing —Washington, D.C.'s newest brewery— began selling its beers to the public on 9 August 2012.

3 Stars is the brainchild —and sweat-equity— of two homebrewers, now professionals, Dave Coleman and Mike McGarvey. Their three initial offerings —initially draft-only— are

• Pandemic Porter (an American 'Imperial' Porter at 9.6% alcohol-by-volume)
• The Southern Belle (an 'Imperial' Brown Ale at 8.7% alcohol-by-volume)
• Urban Farmhouse (a Belgian-style Saison at 6.5% alcohol-by-volume)

There are now five breweries in Washington, D.C.: two brewpubs, and three production-only breweries. Alone among them, 3 Stars holds the distinction of being a brewery and a home-brew supply shop. The brewery is located in the Takoma district of far northwest D.C. Read more here.

And, here —in a video from Washington, D.C. radio WTOP— Greg Engert, beer director for the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, reviews Pandemic Porter.


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• The name of the brewery, and the design of its logo, are heraldic cognates of the flag of Washington, D.C. From Wikipedia:

  The flag of the District of Columbia consists of three red stars above two red bars on a white background. It is based on the design of the coat of arms of George Washington, first used to identify the family in the twelfth century, when one of George Washington's ancestors took possession of Washington Old Hall, then in County Durham, north-east England. The flag was officially adopted on October 15, 1938.

• Learn more about 3 Stars Brewing at the website; Facebook; Twitter.
• One of the two release parties for 3 Stars Brewing was held at The Big Hunt, a multi-tap pub in the Dupont Cirle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., where 3 Stars' co-owner Dave Coleman had long been the beer director.
• The 5 breweries in Washington, D.C. are: District Chophouse (brewpub), Gordon-Biersch (brewpub), Chocolate City, DC Brau, and 3 Stars.