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City Tap House
City Tap House
Photo: R. Lopez

A Dozen Places to Order a Beer Flight (or Two)

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City Tap House
| Photo: R. Lopez

Mockingbird Hill brought the city flights of coffee and flights of sherry. BLT has created Wagyu flights for those who want to sample a selection of the high-priced meats. And there are plenty of wine bars that offer the usual flights of wine (one Chinatown wine bar is even called Flight Wine Bar, after all).

But where should the indecisive beer drinker go? With the mushrooming of local breweries, there are more options for beer flights for those who trek to the brewery, but the hours many be limited to just weekends. Plenty of bars and some restaurants have beer flights on the menu. Some of these flights are super local, others are thematic and still others are DIY. Even Silver Liners can get in on the beer flight action. While the settings for these beer flights may be different, the result is the same: a sampling of brews for those who want a bit of everything.

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American Tap Room

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With the Silver Line open, this is now an option for carless readers. The American Tap Room in Reston has two different flights available: the local brews flight and the sunset flight. The first is all about local beers, and the second goes from a light beer and ends at a dark one.

Atlas Brew Works

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When the beer is coming straight from the brewery to the glass from the brewer himself, it doesn't get much more local than that. Atlas Brew Works - one of about a half dozen breweries in DC proper - has flights in its tasting in Ivy City on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Bluejacket Brewery

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The beers come in tasting glasses for a few dollars, so it's easy to create your own flight. Or just ask the knowledgeable bartenders who will customize a flight. And the brewery in Navy Yard is about to hit its one year mark, so who knows what new beers will be coming onto the list?

ChurchKey

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There's hardly a bar in this town more famous than ChurchKey. With dozens of beers available on draft, beer lovers can create their own flight by ordering a selection of 4 oz. pours. The flight can run two or three beers or a whole lot more.

City Tap House

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Downtown's City Tap House offers four beers for $15 with a selection of cask, pales, porters, pilsners, and a bunch of other brews - both local and not-at-all-local. These guys also let people know the next six beers that are on deck ready to be tapped once a keg is kicked. So the menu is changing all the time.

Glen's Garden Market

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The beer flight here only has local brews on draft. Seven of the eight drafts rotate all the time, with the eight being the house beer Port City Optimal Wit. So pretty much everyday, drinkers can saddle up for a different flight. And yeah, it's also a grocery store.

Kangaroo Boxing Club

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At this bar in Columbia Heights' 11th Street restaurant scene, $12 gets drinkers 5 oz. pours of all the four drafts available. And if that's not enough beer, there's the bucket o' beer option where imbibers can get 5 beers for the price of 4.

Lyon Hall

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There are four beer flights to choose from. "The Director's Set" is all about the seasonal and rotating beers, while "The Belgian" takes care of cravings for Belgian brews. The "Hop a Flight" is for those who like the beer with a hoppy bite, and the "Dark Side Flight" is not for those who like light beers, like lagers and pilsners.

Mad Fox Brewing Company

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As to be expected with a brewery, the flights here are incredibly affordable. Four 4 oz. pours of beer made at Mad Fox will only set a beer lover back $6.25. And the food here is well-loved so order a butcher's block pizza (loaded with meat) and go back for another flight.

Mad Momos

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Named for a Himalayan dumpling, this Petworth beer garden keeps 20 craft beers on its menu. The beers can be local or far away, but the selection changes all the time, so check out the blackboard for the specials. And of course, order some momos to go with the beer flight.

Right Proper Brewing Company

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Right Proper is almost as famous for its chicken sandwich as it is for its beer. There are eight beers made in-house and a few "guest" beers as well. Ordering a flight is never a problem, and with beers running the entire spectrum, there's something for everyone's palate. But the Haxan porter is where it's at right now.

Rustico

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Rustico has two locations across the Potomac - Ballston and Alexandria. The bottle menu is fairly extensive, but its draft list is much more manageable. Tastes of beers run from $2-4 so it's wallet-friendly to have a few tastes for a flight. There's no emphasis on local beers, so the drafts run the gamut both in location and flavor profiles.

American Tap Room

With the Silver Line open, this is now an option for carless readers. The American Tap Room in Reston has two different flights available: the local brews flight and the sunset flight. The first is all about local beers, and the second goes from a light beer and ends at a dark one.

Atlas Brew Works

When the beer is coming straight from the brewery to the glass from the brewer himself, it doesn't get much more local than that. Atlas Brew Works - one of about a half dozen breweries in DC proper - has flights in its tasting in Ivy City on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Bluejacket Brewery

The beers come in tasting glasses for a few dollars, so it's easy to create your own flight. Or just ask the knowledgeable bartenders who will customize a flight. And the brewery in Navy Yard is about to hit its one year mark, so who knows what new beers will be coming onto the list?

ChurchKey

There's hardly a bar in this town more famous than ChurchKey. With dozens of beers available on draft, beer lovers can create their own flight by ordering a selection of 4 oz. pours. The flight can run two or three beers or a whole lot more.

City Tap House

Downtown's City Tap House offers four beers for $15 with a selection of cask, pales, porters, pilsners, and a bunch of other brews - both local and not-at-all-local. These guys also let people know the next six beers that are on deck ready to be tapped once a keg is kicked. So the menu is changing all the time.

Glen's Garden Market

The beer flight here only has local brews on draft. Seven of the eight drafts rotate all the time, with the eight being the house beer Port City Optimal Wit. So pretty much everyday, drinkers can saddle up for a different flight. And yeah, it's also a grocery store.

Kangaroo Boxing Club

At this bar in Columbia Heights' 11th Street restaurant scene, $12 gets drinkers 5 oz. pours of all the four drafts available. And if that's not enough beer, there's the bucket o' beer option where imbibers can get 5 beers for the price of 4.

Lyon Hall

There are four beer flights to choose from. "The Director's Set" is all about the seasonal and rotating beers, while "The Belgian" takes care of cravings for Belgian brews. The "Hop a Flight" is for those who like the beer with a hoppy bite, and the "Dark Side Flight" is not for those who like light beers, like lagers and pilsners.

Mad Fox Brewing Company

As to be expected with a brewery, the flights here are incredibly affordable. Four 4 oz. pours of beer made at Mad Fox will only set a beer lover back $6.25. And the food here is well-loved so order a butcher's block pizza (loaded with meat) and go back for another flight.

Mad Momos

Named for a Himalayan dumpling, this Petworth beer garden keeps 20 craft beers on its menu. The beers can be local or far away, but the selection changes all the time, so check out the blackboard for the specials. And of course, order some momos to go with the beer flight.

Right Proper Brewing Company

Right Proper is almost as famous for its chicken sandwich as it is for its beer. There are eight beers made in-house and a few "guest" beers as well. Ordering a flight is never a problem, and with beers running the entire spectrum, there's something for everyone's palate. But the Haxan porter is where it's at right now.

Rustico

Rustico has two locations across the Potomac - Ballston and Alexandria. The bottle menu is fairly extensive, but its draft list is much more manageable. Tastes of beers run from $2-4 so it's wallet-friendly to have a few tastes for a flight. There's no emphasis on local beers, so the drafts run the gamut both in location and flavor profiles.

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