Support

A Taste of Green Hat Gin and a Bit About Why it Took so Long to Get Here by Jeremy Barr

Jeremy Barr is a writer and journalism student. A native of suburban Maryland, he now lives in Mount Vernon Square. He last wrote about his experiences finding a group house.

On Saturday, I tasted Green Hat Gin, billed as the city’s first legally distilled spirit in a century, for the first time. It is produced by Ivy City-based New Columbia Distillers, which began selling .75 liter bottles in early October. I picked up my bottle — part of batch #9, according to the label — at Schneider’s of Capitol Hill, which sells it for $35. (John Uselton, co-owner of New Columbia Distillers, used to be the store’s beer buyer). An employee told me that demand for the product is such that they keep it near the front of the store, rather than on their floor-to-ceiling sale walls.

Seeing as that the city now has three breweries — with the addition of 3 Stars Brewing this summer — I got to thinking about why New Columbia Distillers is by its lonesome. I also wondered why it took so long for the country’s most-stressed out city to have a locally-produced spirit to turn to.

Luckily, DC’s has its very-own alcohol historian. I reached out to Garrett Peck, who literally wrote the book on the city’s hooch history. Prohibition in Washington, DC: How Dry We Weren’t tells the story of a city flush with liquor — dispersed at more than 3,000 speakeasies — at a time when its lawmaker residents had outlawed it.

Continues after the jump.

The book introduces George Cassiday, known as “The Man in the Green Hat” (so, Green Hat Gin) because of his penchant for wearing a green fedora. A legendary bootlegger, Cassiday hawked liquor out of Congressional office buildings before being arrested, bottles in hand.

Over email, Peck shed some light into why he isn’t surprised by how long it took for DC to get its first distillery:

“The microdistillery boom didn’t really start until fairly recently, around 2005. That may seem shockingly late, given how popular craft brewing has been for decades, but it’s true. In that sense, DC isn’t all that late to the microdistillery party, since this is an industry in its infancy.”

Finding adequate space to house brewing and distilling operations has been an issue. “These are quasi-industrial [operations] that require special zoning; DC doesn’t have much industrial space anymore,” he said.

Peck pointed out that many distillers have a background in brewing, as “to distill anything, you first have to brew a beer.” And in that sense, DC was behind the curve on building a craft brewing industry.

“The craft brewing market began bubbling up in the late 1970 with home brewers and small brewers like Sierra Nevada. Most cities developed significant craft brewing industries – heck, just look at Baltimore up the road – but DC lagged significantly. Our last brewery (Christian Heurich) closed in 1956; we didn’t get a craft brewery until 2011 (and since have added two more – with our fourth, Atlas Brew Works, coming online in 2013).”

The permitting process for DC’s first microbrewery in more than half a century, DC Brau, presented challenges. But new companies, including New Columbia Distillers, have been able to learn from their forerunners’ travails, Peck said.

Concerns about demand for beer also contributed to the delay.

“No one really knew if DC would be a beer drinking city again. It’s long been a cocktail and wine city, but would people take to beer? Yes, as it turns out, we do.”

I think we can all agree with that.

Recent Stories

1817 Columbia Road, NW Not just Namak! A couple storefronts down Easy Tiger Tavern has sprouted some new signage/awning:

Wegmans is located off Wisconsin in rear at 41 Ridge Square, NW Last year’s was awesome. Mark your calendars – April 5-6!! “Experience the excitement of Tokyo’s famed Toyosu Fish…

2000 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Thanks to Brian for sending: “The Paul at 2000 Penn has closed as of last Saturday, not many left at this point!” Looks like the only…

Thanks to Dan for sending this great shot. If you spot a hawk, any interesting wildlife or celebrity skateboarder Tony Hawk, and get a good photo please send in an…

Calling all bookworms, thrill-seekers, supporters of the arts, and ping-pongers at all skill levels! Sign up for Paddlestar Galactica, the ping-pong tournament supporting 826DC’s youth writing programs.

826DC is a local nonprofit that offers free writing programs, homework help, and publishing opportunities for DC students ages 6-18, in our Columbia Heights writing center and in learning spaces across the city.

Paddlestar Galactica helps keep writing education 100% free and accessible for all of our students! It’s also extremely fun.

This year’s games will be Saturday, April 27th, 1 PM to 4 PM at SPIN DC. It’ll be a chaotic afternoon of ping-pong, costumes, terrible Battlestar Galactica puns, and good cheer. We’d love to have you join us!

Read More

Submit your own Announcement here.

Well-Paid Maids, the only certified living-wage cleaning service in the DMV, has added a new service to its online booking menu: office and building cleanings.

This includes offices, building lobbies, shared amenity spaces and more throughout D.C., Arlington, Alexandria and more.

Unlike so many other cleaning services, you can feel good booking Well-Paid Maids to clean your office or building. Cleaners get paid a starting wage of $24 an hour. Plus, all employees are offered health, dental, vision and life insurance; 24 paid days off per year; 100% employer-paid commuting costs; and more.

Read More

Submit your own Announcement here.

Vakili Band at Pie Shop!

Three band rock n rolll lineup at DC’s Pie Shop! Vakili Band with “if you know, you know” DC rockers, Lot 18, and the many minds and songs of artist Kind of Christine.

“If you love Vakili Band like we

×

Subscribe to our mailing list