The Early Word on Bluejacket and The Arsenal

It's safe to say that D.C. beer drinkers were just a little bit excited about the arrival of a brewery and restaurant from the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Bluejacket has been packed since opening with Navy Yard residents and those willing to trek to the place from afar to see what it's all about. What's the early word? Here's what the first bloggers, Yelpers and others are saying about the Bluejacket brewery and its restaurant, The Arsenal.

The Variety News: On Facebook, visitor Thom says, "I've been able to go three times so far (twice just to the bar and once to the Arsenal) and tried lots of the beers so far (I can't get my untapp'd to load right now to check how many exactly), and I have been so impressed with the interesting styles, the great variety, and the quality of not only the beers but of the food and the staff as well. I'm definitely already hooked." [FB]

The Desire for Large Format Bottles News: Also on Facebook, Frank says, "I stopped in and had dinner 2 nights ago and had a great time! Been waiting for you guys to open since I moved to navy yard! My compliments to the chef, the short ribs were amazing! Wish I could have tried all 25 beers..we had to settle with just 8, but I will definitely be making regular stops in to try them all! I have a quick question, I recently read that you guys plan on selling large format bottles and I was wondering if you guys have a idea of a time table for that?" [FB]

The Avoid the Ingenue News: On Facebook, Christina said, "Stopped by for the first time last night and was very impressed by your beer offerings. Trouble, James and the Giant, Seersucker, Bombshell, the Wake, the Duel, Scarecrow, and Tooth & Nail were all excellent. *Really* good beers. Service was friendly, efficient, and polite even when you were slammed...As you can probably tell from the list above, we aren't unfamiliar with funky beers, sours, or wild fermentation. However, I found your Ingénue totally undrinkable." [FB]

The Hot Charcuterie News: Washingtonian's Anna Spiegel names the restaurant's hot charcuterie plate as the best thing she ate this week. "When it comes to house-made items, the "hot charcuterie" plate at the newly opened brewery Bluejacket stands out in both temperature and deliciousness. The plate arrives with a wedge of crispy pig's head terrine, paper-thin slices of seared tongue, and chicken sausage. The last isn't your typical gym-bunny indulgence: Thigh meat and chicken liver are blended together in rich, earthy coins, perked up with sweet cubes of pear." [Washingtonian]

The Dope News: On Twitter, @markhBLUEPOINT says, "@bluejacketdc place is dope. Come visit #craftbeer Greg is on point and has @bluepointbrewer…" [Twitter]

The Forbidden Planet Endorsement: Spirits writer (and Eater contributor) Kelly Magyarics tweets, "Still thinking about amazing brews last nt @bluejacketdc. Esp. loved hoppy, tropical Forbidden Planet & Figure 8 cask ale with fig, spices, coffee." [Twitter]

The Pretzel Stuffing News: Thrillist says, "Even the half rotisserie chicken slays it. Probably because of the pretzel stuffing (note to self, make subtle Thanksgiving suggestion to mom). Try it with James & The Giant -- a peachy (ahh... well played) Belgian strong blond ale. After consuming all of this, you might have to be... Roald (!) out of here. Lucky for you it's Metro accessible, so you just need someone to roll you as far as the train." [Thrillist]

The Great Space News: PoPville says, "But to be honest these photos don't even do justice to how cool the space is.  I highly recommend you check it out in the next six months before baseball season starts when this place is likely to get smashed crowded.  Two of my favorite beers from last night were the Forbiden Planet Kolsch and the Bombshell Belgian Blond Ale.  I seriously can't wait to go back and try some more." [PoP]

The Hearty News: Brightest Young Things says Bluejacket is "taking standard beer hall fair and expanding upon it to make it more locally sourced, adventurous in flavor and perfectly paired with the beers on offer (though the wine program, overseen by Brent Kroll is bound to be worth checking out as well). The opening event saw a sampling of those: pickled sausages with pickle pots, beef heart tartares, crispy hog head bites and fried pig tails all mingled happily with the more traditional samplings of beef, shrimp and lamb sliders, hand cut tater tots and assorted charcuterie and cheese trays. The heartiness is accompanied with a sturdy bread operation from MacIsaac (the warm beer pretzels with whole grain beer mustard were a hit last night) and a whole lot of classic pies as desserts." [BYT]

The Foursquare Shoutout: On Foursquare, Val A. declares, "Great beer, good food, good service, beautiful space." [FS]

The Baseball Fan News:UrbanDaddy jokes, "6: Approximate number of first pitches you'll miss next season because you won't want to leave here." [UD]

The Sophisticated News: EatMoreDrinkMore assesses, "Bluejacket offers great beer, a sophisticated yet comfortable environment, a restaurant with warm and inventive food, and it makes for a fun destination. Be sure to add it to your list." [EMDM]

The Wide Selection News: Bluejacket is currently earning 4 stars on Yelp with 37 reviews in. One is from Ashley W., who says, "The beer selection here. It's insane. I've never tried so many beers that I've genuinely loved all at one time." [Yelp]

The I Don't Like Craft Beer Review: On Yelp, Josh W. calls Bluejacket "the home of the DC's most pathetic bread roll. In the spirit of fairness I write this review with the lens that this place is a craft brewery restaurant for hipsters. I don't like craft beer and I am certainly not a hipster so this place was always going to be behind the get-go for the purposes of this review. I also need to point out that this place is joined to Buzz Bakery and I gave them a scathing review this weekend." [Yelp]

The Gluten-Free News: On Yelp, S.W. says, "Three words: gluten free brioche.  My boyfriend had been wanting to try this place since it opened so i snagged us a reservation and, after glancing at the menu, had made my peace with the fact that I'd probably only be able to eat one of their burgers wrapped in lettuce.  Before ordering I asked the waitress if they use breadcrumbs in any of their burgers (only the veggie) and she asked if I had a gluten allergy with no other prompting!!  They brought complementary fried chickpeas (amazing!) to the table to substitute for the bread and i was more than satisfied with the gluten free brioche bun on top of my lamp and pork burger." [Yelp]
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