Aussie travelling to Virginia for three months

Hey guys,
Being sent to Virginia (Ashburn) for three months in June and hoping to get some inside knowledge of some good places to get a tasty beverage. I'll have a car and some time to get around so doesn't have to be too close to Ashburn, can anyone suggest some nice pubs where I can try local fare? Also as I've never really tried into good US beers before, perhaps some places that aren't neccessarily local brewers but will have a nice range of things we don't get over here in Australia.
Thanks!

try anything that doesn't say

bud , miller , coors , rolling rock , yuengling , corona...


anyone else got anything?

Yeah there's a great beer over here that I never saw in the month that I was over there- Fosters, Australian for beer.

Not quite as good as VB or MB or well, Crown Lager or any of the others I had while over there. Welcome to the US. Cheers big ears!

Check out Old Dominion Brew pub in Ashburn. They make some pretty good brews, although last time I was there, there was no IPA to be found... bummer. The robust porter was good. They used to brew New river IPA and tuppers hop pocket ale, but due to hop shortage and corporate buyout, they no longer do contract brews. It is tough to find, but directions on website are pretty good.

Also check out Sweetwater in Sterling, good food there too.

If you can get down to DC (40 minutes or 2 hours in traffic) there are several (too many to even contemplate) great places to grab good food and drink.

+1 on the Old Dominion brewpub.

There's a Dogfish Head Alehouse in Falls Church, VA about 45 minutes east of Ashburn, near my place. Good food and great beer.

thanks guys! (well the more serious replies anyway hehe)

looks like the old dominion brewing place is less than a mile from where my office is going to be, that sounds like it could be a regular.

will be sure to check out dogfish head too,
cheers!

Forgot to mention - you could try Sweetwater Tavern in Centreville. Part of a local chain of restaurants, they have five of their beers on tap at a given time. Not too bad, and really good food, too.

THIS place has just about anything you could want.

ErikH said:

THIS place has just about anything you could want.

Click to expand...

Wow, i've never seen a beer list so huge, this should be a fun trip!

+2 on the Old Dominion, it's a good place, I didn't know they don't do the Tupper's anymore, that's disapointing. They also have a fun Beer Fest in the summer, you may not be around for that, but if you are it's fun. Although they didn't do it last year. I like the Dogfish head, but I'm not a fan of the Sweetwater tavern for food or beer, but everyone else seems to like it. You may also want to check out Vintage 50 in Leesburg. They're a relatively new (1yr) place that does all their own brewing on premises. They have quite a few beer/food pairing events throughout a month. Enjoy!

I've heard that Old Dominion is closing down. Maybe I am wrong but I just saw a listing on Craigslist for a lot of brewing equipment in the "Northern Virginia" section:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bfs/616567337.html

atarlecky said:

I've heard that Old Dominion is closing down. Maybe I am wrong but I just saw a listing on Craigslist for a lot of brewing equipment in the "Northern Virginia" section:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bfs/616567337.html

Click to expand...

Ooh I hope not,
It's apparently 0.9 miles from my office while I'm over there.

I heard rumors of that previously (right around the time they were bought out by Rams Head and AB).

I am heading there tonight to enjoy a beer with some old Verizon Biz co-workers. I will report back my findings. Well, maybe tomorrow. :cross: afternoon.

ErikH said:

THIS place has just about anything you could want.

Click to expand...

+1. Plenty of good stuff to try here. Lots of imports and domestics. They don't really have EVERYTHING on the beer menu, but still quite a selection. Gets pretty busy in the evenings.

alamout said:

Ooh I hope not,
It's apparently 0.9 miles from my office while I'm over there.

Click to expand...

Yea - Ashburn and Gainesville (where I live) is far enough out from DC proper that I just barely call them Washington Suburbs. If it weren't for the fact that so many people from this area commute to DC then I couldn't even call it that.

Really, you are closest to the wineries. Most people don't know this but Virginia has a large and growing wine business. In fact, here is a list of all the wineries within maybe 45 minutes of Ashburn:

http://www.virginiawines.org/wineries/r-northern.html

While the wines can't yet compete with California or Australia (IMHO), they are getting better as the vines age and the vintners get more experience.

alamout said:

Ooh I hope not,
It's apparently 0.9 miles from my office while I'm over there.

Click to expand...

I asked the bartender at ODBC tonight about future plans, and to his knowledge, they are stable now after the buyout. Business was brisk, although ALL of my favorite beers (New river pale ale, Tuppers *) were nowhere to be found. Apparently they arent brewing any contract brews any more, and the current list was mediocre at best. The coastal brewing beers (51% owners, with AB 49%) were all pretty forgettable. Good for lunch and a pint, but hit the brickskeller for a good list. Sad really.

check out the Dogfish Head Alehouse in falls church too.