Saturday 11th of February 2012 11:56:57 PM

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Rock Bottom is a chain of (as of early 2012) 34 brewpub restaurants across the US, from coast to coast. They consistently produce a good variety of high quality beers, and while the franchise shares a core standard offering of beers, each location's brewmaster is free to create unique recipes too. A typical sampler at Rock Bottom includes: light Kolsch, crisp Gold ale, relatively mild Belgian White Ale, robust Red Ale, Brown Ale (usually Molly's Titanic), Milk Stout, Pale Ale (names vary), and hoppy India Pale Ale. Also, Rock Bottom celebrates Oktoberfest with a seasonal "Rocktoberfest" marzen and special menu of German cuisine. This Rock Bottom is conveniently located in a dense area of Bethesda, and there are also plenty of other restaurants and bars nearby. The brewpub has warm earth-tones of brick and wood, 2-story seating, a 10-chair bar, plenty of televisions, and a Brewer's lounge upstairs with two pool tables. There are about 7 beers on tap, but unfortunately the quality seemed noticeably lower than that of other Rock Bottom's I've visited, and the two beers that were cask-conditioned tasted somewhat musty. I hope this was an anomaly.

Wednesday 4th of February 2009 01:22:23 AM

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This person needs 3 or more reviews on the site for their scores to start counting.

If you're in the DC area, this is a brewpub worth checking out. 5 house beers always on tap, at least 1 and usually 2 cask beers available, 1 sometimes 2 seasonal beers available, and if you ask... a bottle conditioned Belgian-Style Strong Ale as well. 11 GABF medals, 6 World Beer Cup Awards, and 2 Chicago Real Ale Festival Medals. They must be doing something right.

The food is good. The service is fine. The beers are Great.

Don't expect double-this and imperial that... just expect beautifully crafted and balanced beers.