Maryland Brewery Denizens Gets Into the Hard Seltzer Game Before Memorial Day

A spiked seltzer for the MoCo crowd

The Silver Spring-based craft producers at Denizens Brewing Co. are hoping to ride the fizzy wave of the hard seltzer trend, announcing yesterday that they’re releasing a lime-flavored variety in time for customers to sip while they observe “stay-at-home” orders over a long holiday weekend. MoCo Hard Seltzer marks a collaboration between Denizens and Montgomery County blog the MoCo Show. Six-packs ($9.99) can be ordered online for pickup at the original Denizens brewery in Silver Spring or for delivery through the company’s beermobile. Customers can also find the limited release at Beers & Cheers locations in Germantown and Gaithersburg, the Bottle Shop in Rockville, and at CAVA stores in Rockville and Olney. According to the announcement, lime is the only flavor for now, but blood orange cans are in the works. The 100-calorie, 5 percent ABV beverage enters the market at time when demand has been spiking for big brands like White Claw, Truly, and now even Bud Light and Corona. DC Brau became the first local craft brewer to release a line of seltzers when it rolled out its Full Transparency brand in November.

In other news ...

• Michelin-starred coastal Italian restaurant Masseria is delivering some special takeout Sunday to celebrate chef-owner Nicholas Stefanelli’s 40th birthday. The restaurant’s Masseria a Casa delivery service will send out a five-course dinner for two ($175) that includes a bottle of sparkling wine. Stefanelli will donate 40 percent of the profits to Martha’s Table and Children’s National Hospital. Check out the menu below, which Stefanellis says marks the return of Masseria’s foie gras cannoli, with one caveat: customers will have to assemble it themselves.

• Local scoop shop Ice Cream Jubilee is selling a pack of Asian-American flavors and donating proceeds to an organization that works to fight anti-Asian violence that’s on the rise during the pandemic. For $44, customers get five pints: red bean almond cookie, thai iced tea, roasted barley tea, matcha green tee, and a vegan coconut lychee lime.

• Washington City Paper has a report on what life is like for delivery drivers right now [WCP]
• More D.C. restaurants and bars, including big names like Gravitas, Pineapple and Pearls, Buttercream Bakeshop, are suing their insurance company over business interruption claims that have been denied during the novel coronavirus pandemic [WaPo]
• ARLNow reports that the Poke Bar in Rosslyn appears to be closed for good [ARLnow]
• DCist has a profile on Kith/Kin pastry chef Paola Velez, who’s running a Dominican doughnut pop-up in Northeast while she’s out of a job [DCist]